In the sunset years of China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, the powerful dowager empress Cixi unexpectedly puts her four-year-old nephew on the throne as the new emperor of China. The Sunset Emperor tells the story of this boy, his struggles with his aunt, corrupt and scheming courtiers, eunuchs and palace women.
Here, we enter the closed and regimented world of the Forbidden City, where the young emperor’s reforms and modernising dreams clash with the old guard with disastrous consequences for all. We follow him through his hopes and disappointments as he navigates intrigue, wars, plots and humiliating flight from foreign invaders. Emperor, reformer, prisoner, loved, hated, praised and belittled, a tumultuous destiny he never chose but tried to shoulder.Based on thorough study of historical sources and records, The Sunset Emperor is not an invented tale, but offers a vivid and true portrayal of the stormy final decades of imperial China and a unique window onto life in the cloistered and dangerous world behind the palace walls.
Ijen Kim 