Portrait of an Empress

Kit Chan's Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress is once again playing at the Esplanade. Kit Chan's voice is one of my favourites. I remember playing her songs to African American friends and they, too, were totally mesmerised even though they had no clue what "xin1 tong4" was about. My Indian American roommate only complained once after I set the song on replay mode on my PC, forgot about it and went off for 3 hours to do my 5 weeks' worth of laundry so that I would not have to wear PJs to class.

Of all the Empress Dowagers in the Chinese history, Cixi was probably one of the most well-known, remembered mostly for her appetite for power, and her role in the Qing dynasty's downfall. In Kit Chan's musical, American artist Kate Carl goes all the way to Beijing to paint a portrait for Cixi.

But my all-time favourite is still Xiao Zhuang, best known as Grand Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang Wen, Emperor Kang Xi's grandmother. Much to my annoyance, official history never had comprehensive records of women of the time. However according to most written articles on Xiao Zhuang, she was a highly intelligent lady and an important behind-the-scenes political force that influenced at least 3 generations of Qing rulers. She mediated political struggles and helped the dynasty avoid military upheaval. She managed to protect her young son Shun Zhi and grandson Kang Xi's reigns from scheming princes and generals. Most remarkably, she achieved all of that without undermining the emperor (and hence the stability of the dynasty), unlike Cixi who resorted to putting her emperor on house arrest, and according to some, had a hand in the death of her own son and her fellow Empress Dowager Ci'an.

Of course, one school of thought was that, Xiao Zhuang was only able to control the affairs of the Qing court because of her relationship with Prince Dorgon, her late husband's brother and her son's regent, and possibly the most powerful military leader of the time. Historians seem divided as to whether Xiao Zhuang ended up marrying Prince Dorgon. But there appears to be no doubt that the duo shared a special relationship.

Xiao Zhuang was reportedly the most beautiful maiden of her time in Horqin, Mongolia, where she came from. Unfortunately there was no Kodak in those days, and the court paintings I found portrayed her as a slightly plump, middle-aged woman. I wonder what she looked like in her youth.

This probably does her no justice at all. It was a rather strange few evenings painting the imaginery Xiao Zhuang, with the canvas set at eye-level on the easel. At one point it felt as if I was applying eye shadow for her face-to-face. (If you feel creeped out, it was really not that creepy... I was just having a nice chat with her about her Prince Dorgon.... Ok. Just kidding.)

Personally, it was a rather slow and enjoyable journey, imagining the imprint she made in the sands of time in the then-glorious Qing dynasty. I suppose I am just a sucker for stories of great women in history.