The Empress And Mrs Conger

This is the story of two women from worlds that could not seem farther apart--imperial China and the American Midwest--who found common ground before and after one of the greatest clashes between East and West, the fifty-five day siege of the Beijing foreign legations known as the Boxer Uprising. Using diaries, letters and other sources,The Empress and Mrs. Congertraces the parallel lives of Empress Dowager Cixi and American ambassador's wife Sarah Pike Conger, which converged to alter their perspectives of each other and each other's worlds. Grant Hayter-Menziesis the author ofImperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Lingand the biographer of stage and screen stars Charlotte Greenwood and Billie Burke. "Sarah Conger's story is worth telling for many reasons. She occupied a point in time that makes her interesting, but the author demonstrates that she is interesting in her own right-a flawed and fascinating individual whose story we want to read not for what we learn about Chinese history, but for what we learn about a woman profoundly typical of her era and class leading a life of determination in the belief that the right combination of positive attitudes and common sense must win out over adversity." - Timothy Brook, University of British Columbia

"When I went to Brazil in 1890, I was always comparing and contrasting that country and her people with my country and my people; and to me, mine were always superior...the attitude of superiority I had taken made it impossible to accumulate anything [of value]. When Sarah Pike Conger and her husband, Ambassador Edwin H. Conger (Civil War Major), left Brazil to take a new post in China, she could not have been more excited. But within months of their arrival, the violent Boxer Rebellion broke out. In letters to family and friends, Sarah Conger details her fascination with China and the Chinese and the desperate anxiety of the 45-day siege of the foreign legations during her husband's tenure. Though death and destruction were part of their early experience in China, the Congers came to love the country. They visited royalty and Mrs. Conger seemed especially impressed with the Dowager Empress, of whom she writes a great deal in this book and with whom she became friends. They also visited Japan during their trips to and from China and she records the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Long out of print, this fascinating book is available for the first time as an affordable, well-formatted edition for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

A collection of short pieces suitable for children, divided in two parts: Part I—Old China, and Part II—Young America. The pieces in the first part are anecdotes of Conger’s life in Peking. She and her husband, the American ambassador, experienced the siege of the legations during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and stayed on afterwards. Mrs. Conger became friends with the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi and her court. Tzu Hsi, as a mark of affection, gave her several Chinese puppies, whose stories are told.

First Published in 1986. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Published in the year 1986, With The Empress Dowager Of Chin is a valuable contribution to the field of Asian Studies.

Originally published in 1976, this is the first of two volumes of the selected letters of George Ernest Morrison, The Times correspondent in China in the late Imperial and early Republican period. Few people were in a better position to observe and comment on the events of those years. The first volume of correspondence ends with the revolution and the collapse of the Manchu dynasty in 1912. The second volume covers Morrison's career as political advisor to the first President of the Republic of China until his death in 1920.