Memoirs Of A Palace Maid - AshleyHWriter - Wattpad

Memoirs Of A Palace Maid

Reads 2,402
Votes 65
Parts 16
Time 43m

Reads 2,402
Votes 65
Parts 16
Time 43m

china cixi concubine empress eunuch forbiddencity historical maid memoirs nonfiction palace qingdynasty translation

This is my attempt at an English translation of the Chinese book "Memoirs Of A Palace Maid". 

"Memoirs Of A Palace Maid" 《宫女谈往录》is a book published by the Forbidden City Press in July 1992. The authors are Jin Yi and Shen Yiling. The book contains the memoirs of Rong, a palace maid who spent eight years serving Empress Dowager Cixi in the Forbidden City in the late Qing Dynasty.

Rong entered palace service when she was thirteen. At age 18, she was given to an eunuch in marriage by Empress Dowager Cixi. Her life was sad and quiet, punctuated by turmoil and suffering. In her aging years, she spoke intimately about life in the Forbidden City. Her memoirs reveal details about Empress Dowager Cixi's day-to-day routines, little known events in Emperor Guangxu's life and touches on the humiliation and anguish of the eunuchs.

I read the Chinese book a few years ago while doing research into the lives of women in the Forbidden City. Recently, I looked up the book again and noticed there was no English translation of the book. (If there is an official English translation, please let me know!) The memoir offers an intimate inside perspective of the Forbidden City that is rarely available in historical documentaries and books. I thought it was a shame that the knowledge in this book wasn't available to English readers.

This is my naive attempt to translate the book into English.(CC) Attrib. NonComm. NoDerivs

china cixi concubine empress eunuch forbiddencity historical maid memoirs nonfiction palace qingdynasty translation

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Slide 1 of 9

The Librarian and the Fox Princess: a Donghua Dijun and Bai Fengjiu story, V.I cover

Priestess of The Moon cover

Love In The Forbidden City (Completed) cover

Second Flame Of Romance cover

The Virgin Outcast Who Stole The Empress Heart cover

Second Marriage in the 1970s cover

Pampering Big Cat Wife cover

EMPRESS LIU cover

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆 cover

The Librarian and the Fox Princess: a Donghua Dijun and Bai Fengjiu story, V.I

This story is about the birth and development of the best friendship between Donghua Dijun and his little fox. In my re-imagined story, I am attempting to give our beloved leads a genuine chance at love with their own thoughts, behaviors, and desires. Granted, life is full of misunderstandings, obstacles and karma. Donghua learns that being a heartless god has its consequences. Having been careless and inconsiderate with the hearts of those who had fawned over him, he'll find it difficult to fulfill his. At its very core, this is a character-driven story about healing from trauma and the growth of a deep and meaningful friendship. It also attempts to explore the coming of age of love and desire for each of them. Those who can't tolerate slow burns should avoid reading this story ;) They meet much later, (she never becomes his maid) and was not involved in the BQ/Su Su/YH situation. Xiao Bai is young and very innocent as this story unfolds. Donghua is arrogant and obtuse, though with more playfulness and tenderness in the style of The Pillow Book. His edges are much softer. There are quite a few characters from the original series. Zhe Yan, Mo Yuan, Bai Zhen, Bai Qian, Ye Hua, Lian Song, Si Ming and Zhong Lin will make appearances, plus others from Eternal Love and ELOD. Lust + desire will play a part of this story so mature themes/content in later chapters. Reader discretion advised. Story is also LGBTQ+ friendly, as am I. This story and the characters are based on Tangi Gongzi's Three Lives Three Worlds, the Pillow Book, and TMOPB. Images borrowed for this story (like the book cover) belong to the tv dramas and their respective owners/artists. I ask that the original elements of of my story, characters, ideas, and descriptions not be copied or used without my permission. Thank you! May all beings hold themselves and others in lovingkindness.