:00:00. > :00:00.the Royal Australian fleet into Sydney. Fantastic. —— centenary
:00:00. > :00:14.anniversary of the first entry of the Royal Australian fleet into
:00:14. > :00:16.Sydney. 20 years ago Yun Chang's Wild Swans became a worldwide best
:00:16. > :00:22.seller. She followed it up with Wild Swans became a worldwide best
:00:22. > :00:24.devastating 900 biography of the man she believes was a tyrant. Now she
:00:24. > :00:41.towering figure in Chinese figure she believes was a tyrant. Now she
:00:41. > :00:43.towering figure in Chinese figure Was she, as popular legend had it a
:00:43. > :00:56.and a moderniser? Your central Was she, as popular legend had it a
:00:56. > :00:57.and a moderniser? Your central character was a remarkable woman,
:00:57. > :01:05.emperor's lovers and her son became character was a remarkable woman,
:01:05. > :01:10.emperor's lovers and her son became emperor in name, but she engineered
:01:10. > :01:19.a coup against the rulers and took control herself. She was a natural
:01:19. > :01:29.politician, yes? She was. She was a politician in a rather modern way.
:01:29. > :01:34.Her call was a popular one, because she got eight regions appointed
:01:34. > :01:38.Her call was a popular one, because her husband and she made her say the
:01:38. > :01:45.de facto ruler. The regions were going to carry on with her husband's
:01:46. > :01:51.policies and the previous emperor's policies to keep the laws of China
:01:51. > :01:52.closed. These had been zraS rust because western powers are invaded
:01:52. > :01:57.in the opium wars and China was because western powers are invaded
:01:57. > :02:03.doing well under this policy? It was disastrous. Under her husband,
:02:03. > :02:08.because of the policies, the old palace was burnt down. Because she
:02:08. > :02:13.was a woman she could not take power openly and she was literally behind
:02:13. > :02:17.the throne, because her son would sit in the throne and she would
:02:17. > :02:20.the throne, because her son would meetings of the council from behind
:02:20. > :02:28.a yellow screen? They didn't see. Well, yes, there is a picture in my
:02:28. > :02:32.book, which shows the audience hall. At the time China had strict male
:02:32. > :02:40.and female segregation. She couldn't At the time China had strict male
:02:40. > :02:42.officials were all male, so she would have to sit behind a silk
:02:42. > :02:50.prosecution trait themselves in would have to sit behind a silk
:02:50. > :02:56.prosecution trait themselves in five—year—old son would occasionally
:02:56. > :03:01.be put on the throne, but it was a crippling position, but she launched
:03:01. > :03:03.point of the book and perhaps the a modern China. This is the key
:03:03. > :03:05.point of the book and perhaps the most controversial, because the
:03:05. > :03:17.the end of her life perhaps is a most controversial, because the
:03:17. > :03:22.the end of her life perhaps is a project of modernisation. You say
:03:22. > :03:31.beginning? Yeah, because it started in 1861, when she seized power.
:03:31. > :03:33.beginning? Yeah, because it started acknowledged. They were common
:03:33. > :03:42.knowledge, but they were always detractors do have something to
:03:42. > :03:47.knowledge, but they were always In 1900 there was a rebellion and a
:03:47. > :03:50.lot of Chinese peasants effectively very anti—western formed gangs which
:03:50. > :03:55.rampaged around killing foreigners. As a result of that, western powers,
:03:55. > :03:59.America, Britain, Germany and Japan all invaded. It was a disastrous
:03:59. > :04:03.war. Beijing was badly knocked destruction and she herself had
:04:03. > :04:06.war. Beijing was badly knocked flee with the court and didn't get
:04:07. > :04:13.back for 18 months to Beijing. She backed the Boxers and that doesn't
:04:13. > :04:20.sound like the move of a pro—western moderniser. She didn't back the
:04:20. > :04:29.Boxers for a very, very long time. Until western powers gave her an
:04:29. > :04:34.pronounce a legal —— illegal this organisation, which was xenophobic.
:04:34. > :04:41.She couldn't and wouldn't be seen as somebody who just did what western
:04:41. > :04:44.powers told her to do. She was facing the prospect of the invasion.
:04:44. > :04:50.Then she realised at this point facing the prospect of the invasion.
:04:50. > :05:00.something that happened right at the misguidedly thought she could use
:05:00. > :05:02.something that happened right at the very end of her life. It turns out
:05:02. > :05:15.Machiavellian to the most extreme very end of her life. It turns out
:05:15. > :05:16.degree, isn't it? Well, the thing is this — that the day before she died,
:05:16. > :05:20.when she few she was going to die, this — that the day before she died,
:05:20. > :05:22.when she few she was going to die, she poisoned her adopted son, who
:05:22. > :05:32.was the emperor. But who was her she poisoned her adopted son, who
:05:32. > :05:35.was the emperor. But who was her involved in the plot to assassinate
:05:35. > :05:42.her before. She knew that if she had died and he was alive China would
:05:42. > :05:48.land in the lap of Japan. The reason is the Japanese had been trying
:05:48. > :05:48.land in the lap of Japan. The reason turn her adopted son into a puppet
:05:48. > :05:54.of theirs. They had been trying turn her adopted son into a puppet
:05:54. > :06:00.kidnap him. Why was it that her successors as rulers of China in the
:06:00. > :06:05.20th century were so keen to blacken her name? Well, I mean, after she
:06:05. > :06:10.died, three years later, China became a republic. The leaders — the
:06:10. > :06:19.subsequent political forces in nationalists, then the communists,
:06:19. > :06:25.wanted to say how they rescued China from her. She had made a mess of
:06:25. > :06:31.China. She was a despot. She kept China in a Medieval misery and it
:06:31. > :06:37.was they who had started the mod eRpisation and opened the doors
:06:37. > :06:40.was they who had started the mod modernisation and opened the doors
:06:40. > :06:43.for China. It's not true. Compared to their rule, Mao caused the death
:06:44. > :06:48.of well over 70 million Chinese to their rule, Mao caused the death
:06:48. > :06:54.rule was incredible. I have been peacetime and compared to that,
:06:54. > :06:57.rule was incredible. I have been looking at the Chinese regime and
:06:58. > :07:00.it's trying to go back to Mao's days, because the Chinese regime
:07:00. > :07:13.faced in the last years of her life, days, because the Chinese regime
:07:13. > :07:16.faced in the last years of her life, development, prosperity and the
:07:16. > :07:20.faced in the last years of her life, rising expectations and they had to
:07:20. > :07:27.decide where to go next. The current regime in Beijing decides to go
:07:27. > :07:29.decide where to go next. The current to Mao's time and she decides to
:07:29. > :07:33.push ahead, not wind the clock back, but to push for political reforms.
:07:33. > :07:46.wanted to introduce the vote. That but to push for political reforms.
:07:46. > :07:46.wanted to introduce the vote. That constitutional monarchy like ——
:07:46. > :07:56.monarchy, but unfortunately she constitutional monarchy like ——
:07:56. > :08:01.project, but in her will she said this is what she really wanted to
:08:01. > :08:04.do, that China belonged to the Chinese people. Thank you very much.