Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

out as a noble-born concubine of the Emperor, and even as a seventeen year old she had worked her
way up step by step through the hierarchy of his harem and bore the sole heir to the throne. The
imperial father, Emperor Xian Feng, died shortly after the birth, and the ambitious mother of the new
son of heaven took over the business of governing the country until he came of age, and de facto
beyond that. When her son died suddenly at the age of 18 she adopted her nephew, who ascended the
Dragon Throne as Emperor Guangxu but likewise remained completely under her influence until his
death.
Officially, Ci Xi supported Confucianism, but privately, like many members of the Manchu dynasty
(1644-1911) before her, she felt herself attracted to the Lamaist doctrine. She was well-versed in the
canonical writings, wrote Buddhist mystery plays herself, and had these performed by her eunuchs.
Her apartments were filled with numerous Buddha statues and she was a passionate collector of old
Lamaist temple flags. Her favorite sculpture was a jade statue of Guanyin given to her by a great
lama. She saw herself as the earthly manifestation of this goddess and sometimes dressed in her robes.
„Whenever I have been angry, or worried over anything,” she said to one of her ladies in waiting, „by
dressing up as the Goddess of Mercy it helps me to calm myself and to play the part I represent ... by
having a photograph taken of myself dressed in this costume, I shall be able to see myself as I ought
to be at all times” (Seagrave, 1992., p. 413).