{"product_id":"the-women-who-ruled-china-9780520401815","title":"The Women Who Ruled China","description":"\u003cb\u003eA free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1525\/luminos.192\"\u003ewww.luminosoa.org\u003c\/a\u003e to learn more.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield incredible influence in dynastic East Asia. In this book, Stephanie Balkwill documents the Empress Dowager’s rise to power and life on the throne against the broader world of imperial China under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, a foreign people from Inner Asia who built their capital deep in the Chinese heartland.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Building on largely untapped Buddhist materials, Balkwill shows that the life and rule of the Empress Dowager is a larger story of the reinvention of religious, ethnic, and gender norms in a rapidly changing multicultural society. \u003ci\u003eThe Women Who Ruled China\u003c\/i\u003e recovers the voices of those left out of the mainstream historical record, painting a compelling portrait of medieval Chinese society reinventing itself under the Empress Dowager’s leadership.\u003cbr\u003e  ","brand":"Stephanie Balkwill","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42963981598838,"sku":"9780520401815","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_d984d30d-9d04-43c9-aeb2-52547c8dc7ad.jpg?v=1767879334","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/the-women-who-ruled-china-9780520401815","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}