Alice Poon, author of The Green Phoenix, a novel of Old China, currently lives in Canada but she was born and educated in Hong Kong. She grew up devouring Jin Yong’s martial arts and chivalry novels, all set in China’s distant past. That sparked her ambition to write historical novels of her own.
The Green Phoenix tells the story of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, born a Mongolian princess, who became a consort in the Manchu court and then the Qing Dynasty’s first matriarch. She lived through harrowing threats, endless political crises, personal heartaches and painful losses to lead a shaky empire out of a dead end. The story is set against a turbulent canvas as the Chinese Ming Dynasty is replaced by the Qing. Xiaozhuang guides her husband, her lover, her son and her grandson to success against the odds, and to the creation of an empire that lasted for 250 years.
So, over to Alice…
I was first drawn to the historical character of Bumbutai (Empress Xiaozhuang) when I watched, back in 2003, The Secret History of Xiaozhuang (孝莊秘史), a Chinese TV historical drama series about her life, which centred on the heartbreaking story of forbidden love between her and Prince Dorgon. Since then I became obsessed with her, and the idea of writing about her kept nagging at me. When I finally succumbed to the urge years later and began to read up historical materials on her, I became even more entranced by her political acumen and charismatic and selfless qualities. I was convinced that her contributions to humanity as a female leader in China’s patriarchal history had been grossly underrated. At the same time, I was aware that her story had never been introduced to Western readers. The Green Phoenix is a novelised account of Bumbutai’s life.
For me, the greatest charm about Bumbutai is that she was born to the famed Borjigit clan in the exotic Mongolian steppe, being directly descended from Genghis Khan’s full brother, Khasar, an expert archer and valiant warrior. I imagine her birth and childhood spent in a nature-loving nomadic realm determines her free-spirited character.
Bumbutai first meets Dorgon, a young Manchu Prince, and falls deeply in love with him on his visit to her homeland in the sprawling Mongolian steppe. But, by her grandfather’s arrangement, she is to wed Dorgon’s half-brother and nemesis, a much older and ambitious warrior who has his heart set on conquering Ming China, and who is to become the first Qing Emperor. At that point in history, the Manchus are a prowling neighbour perched on China’s northern border, who have their eye on its vast fertile terrain and material wealth.
At the Manchu (Qing) court, as a young consort trapped between duty to her native Mongol tribe and an all-consuming love for Dorgon, Bumbutai is tempted to taste forbidden fruit. These emotional struggles are to shackle her for much of her adult life.
A turbulent canvas depicts a Manchu (Qing) court plagued by internecine conflicts and a Ming court beleaguered by factional duels, ingrained corruption, peasants’ rebellion and ferocious border wars with the Manchus. The failing Ming Empire finally collapses, triggered by a Ming general’s precipitous surrender to the Qing in revenge for the peasant rebel leader’s abduction of his beautiful concubine.
This background is illuminated by the story of Bumbutai’s struggles to survive the menacing patriarchal Manchu court and, upon her husband’s unnatural death, to enthrone her only son in concert with her lover Dorgon amidst treacherous contention, as she is duty bound to ensure the imperial lineage carries Mongolian blood. When a bad twist of fate later befalls Dorgon, she is faced with threats to her life and her son’s life. By sheer stamina, wits and innate love of peace, she circumvents numerous perils subsequently to guide her son and grandson in leading the shaky, multicultural Qing Empire out of a dead end to peace.
Details: The Green Phoenix is published by Earnshaw Books in paperback and eBook. Priced in local currencies.
