For viewers of the HBO television series, one of the most intriguing characters in Game of Thrones is Lena Headeyâs villainous and manipulative Cersei Lannister. From the outset of the series, we come to know Cersei as a scorned woman defined by an abusive marriage , an incestuous love affair with her brother Jaime, and the successive deaths of each of their children. Although her characterâs experiences are exploited for dramatic effect, they draw thought-provoking parallels with what many historical dowagers confronted during their tenures. In truth, regents and dowagers who counselled boy rulers predate historiography. From ca. 1478 BCE to ca. 1458 BCE, one of several of Egyptâs female pharaohs , Hatshepsut, ruled for some 20 years as regent for the boy pharaoh Thutmose III.1 Another example from antiquity is the influential Roman woman Cornelia Africana (d. ca. 115 BCE), mother of Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus, during the height of the Roman Empire. In medieval Europe, Eleanor of Aquitaine (d. 1204) and Margaret of Anjou (d. 1482) wielded considerable power and influence , while Catherine II the Great (d. 1796) ruled over one of the most prosperous and dynamic periods in the history of Imperial Russia. In the interests of both fans and scholars, however, this chapter takes a perhaps unexpected turn in exploring points of convergence between the fictional Cersei Lannister and Chinaâs factual Empress Dowager Cixi, who governed China during the final years of the Qing dynasty (1861â1908).2
It is striking how events and characters from the fictional world of Westeros in Game of Thrones, with its seven diverse kingdoms, are so frequently analogous to historical empires and kingdoms of the past. The most obvious of comparisons and, according to its creator and author George R.R. Martin, the one that served as the initial inspiration for his epic series of books is the Wars of the Roses fought between the ruling houses of York and Lancaster for more than three decades in England during the fifteenth century.3 It is perhaps in this historical conflict that we find Martinâs inspiration for the character of Cersei in partisan accounts of the lives and influence of Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville .4
In addition to his narrativeâs exploration of warring political rivals, both in the characters and the ideas they represent, are there any parallels to history outside the experience of premodern Europe? When guiding students, or possibly even fans , to understanding the role Empress Dowager Cixi played in the making of modern China, it is useful to draw comparisons to fictional characters such as Cersei in Game of Thrones, so that we might better recognize how dowagers such as Cixi functioned historically. Despite the fact that Martin clearly draws upon European history as the main source of inspiration for his novels, Cixi served as head of state for one of the worldâs most populous and dominant civilizations, and as such she became one of the most powerful women in the world. This demands an honest exploration of how the questions of queenship and authority raised by the various contributors to this volume could be applicable beyond merely the western tradition.
Dowagers of Imperial China
With a complex history of women who have ruled as regents or dowagers, the theatre of late Imperial China serves as a unique platform for studying gendered power in global history. Empress Cixi wielded influence at court during a time when China was becoming increasingly visible to the western world and, as the last in a long tradition of regents who had advised and governed for young emperors, she represents a unique case-study for powerful female dowagers. Moreover, Cersei Lannisterâs very particular penchant for cruelty and shrewdness throughout the Game of Thrones television series offers us a point of comparison with several notorious dowagers from Chinaâs imperial history. Empress LĂŒ Zhi (241â180 BCE) consort of the founder of the Han dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han, became one of the most powerfulâand brutal regents of her day. The Grand Historian Sima Qian noted that Empress LĂŒ became so jealous of her husbandâs preference for one of his concubines that she cut off both her hands and feet, gouged out her eyes, had her ears burned off, and gave her poison that rendered her mute. Dead, or dying, she was further humiliated by being thrown into a latrine.5
During the Tang dynasty, the reign of Wu Zetian , or Empress Wu as she is more commonly known, began her political career as the wife of Emperor Gaozong , seizing the reins of government for herself upon his death and ruling as Chinaâs only empress-regnant from 683 to 705 CE. Although very little is known about her reign, analysis of public and other related internal events suggest that she took significant measures to expand her empire and consolidate her power-base. Among these were her decision to relocate the capital from Changâan to Luoyang, closer to Chinaâs geographical centre of commercial activity and the ways in which she transformed the relationship âbetween ruler and bureaucracy.â6 Like Cersei Lannister, Empress Wu filled her court with advisors and ministers loyal to her rather than from the ranks of the civil service, and her reign initiated a trend of autocracy that continued to evolve in subsequent centuries.7
Throughout Chinaâs imperial history, female regents frequently took advantage of a crisis in male leadership, when emperors were either too young or too weak to rule, or both. By the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, âfemale power because of male weakness remained the single formula for the empowerment of women.â8 It was one that âpredicted not only the protocol and expectations for female rulership , but also the way such rulership was framed and interpreted.â9 Moreover, having already borne children, these women were no longer required to produce offspring and, having attained legal personhood often denied to other women, dowager empresses such as Cixi fulfilled unique gender roles for their time and place. In diverse cultures, many elite mature women were endowed with legal and social privileges that differed from those of younger women, or women whose husbands were still alive, assuming gender roles more frequently applied to men. By studying the ways in which such privileged women conformed to, or transgressed, societal expectations of them we can better understand gender norms and digressions in the societies that produced these women. Likewise, in her ascent to power within the fictional world of Westeros in Game of Thrones, Cersei Lannister remains a consistent and dominant presence determined to challenge male rulership . This is apparent in a pivotal moment in the first season of the television series wherein Cersei warns Ned Stark that he should have taken the Iron Throne for himself when he had the chance. Her staged entrance to the scene, presented from Nedâs point of view, with the sun in his eyes and Cersei looking down on him, is meant to imply her dominance and command over Ned.10 In late Imperial China, Cixi similarly exercised political power most often reserved for men.11
Modes of Statecraft
In terms of traditions of governance, statecraft in Imperial China can be traced to the teachings of Confucius, the basis of which, by the Han dynasty, came to constitute a kind of âImperial Confucianism,â or even an âamalgamâ of Legalist-Confucian Statecraft.12 Chinaâs âGolden Ageâ of philosophy also produced the Legalist political thinker, Han Fei, âChinaâs Machiavelli ,â13 or the âBig L.â Writing during the Axial Age,14 Han Fei criticized Confucius and his disciples for their naĂŻve doctrines of self-cultivation and benevolent rule, arguing instead for a specific body of laws to govern society with severe penalties for disobedience to be âaccomplished by concentrating power in the hands of a single ruler and by adopting governmental institutions that afforded greater centralized control.â15 For the ruler, one central concept of Legalist governance was the concept of shu , or âadministrative tech...