Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Barbarians at the Gate
Episode: The Dowager and the Dynasty
Description: How does a teenage girl from Beijing’s hutongs end up ruling the world’s largest empire—without ever technically sitting on the throne? In this episode, Jeremiah traces the improbable ascent of Empress Dowager Cixi, who entered the Forbidden City as a minor concubine and departed as the most powerful woman in Chinese history.The story begins in imperial catastrophe: the Xianfeng Emperor dies in the wake of the humiliating looting of the Summer Palace, leaving behind a four-year-old son and a power vacuum waiting to be filled. Cixi, her fellow empress dowager Ci’an...