Macht aan het Chinese hof

Keizerin-weduwe Cixi in dagelijkse kleding

In het boek 'Empress Orchid' van Anchee Min ben ik nu op het punt dat de latere laatste keizerin van de Chinese Qing dynastie opgeklommen is van concubine cq echtgenote nummer zoveel tot de geregelde geliefde, en nog belangrijker, raadgeefster van de keizer.

Hoofdstuk 12 begint zo:

"In assisting Emperor Hsien Feng, I became familiar with two people who carried great weight in the court and yet whose views were diametrically opposed to it. One was Su Shun, the head of the Grand Council. The other was Price Kung, the Emperor's half-brother."

Uksun Sušun (1816 – 1861)

"Su Shun was an ambitious and arrogant Manchu in his forties. He was a tall man with a vigorous frame, and his large eyes and thin, slightly hooked nose reminded me of an owl. His bushy eyebrows were uneven, one standing higher than the other. He was known for his wit and explosive temper. He represented the conservative party of the court."

"Su Shun was effective and ruthless. He concentrated on a single, highly visible case of corruption involving the Imperial civil service examination. The exam was given annually and touches the lives of thousands throughout the country. In his report to Emperor Hsien Feng, Su Shun charged five high-ranking judges with accepting bribes. Also in the report he presented ninety-one cases in which test scores had been mishandled, and challenged the past year's first-place winner. To restore the reputation of the civil service, the Emperor ordered the beheading of all five judges and the first-place winner. People sheered the action, and Su Shun became a household name."

Yixin (1833 – 1898), Prins Kung of Gong

"The other man whose opinion Emperor Hsien Feng valued was Prince Kung. The Emperor once painfully admitted to me that his own talent was nowhere equal to Prince Kung's. His other half-brothers, Prince Ts'eng and Prince Ch'un, were no match for Prince Kung either. Ts'eng was known as "a loser who thinks himself a winner," and Ch'un as "honest but not too brigh."

En dit alles tegen een achtergrond, zoals The Guardian het omschrijft:

 Beyond the palace walls, meanwhile, China is being torn apart by western invaders and domestic rebellion. Hsien Feng disintegrates under the nervous strain, forcing Cixi to educate herself in government.