So I don’t really think Waldersee would have found it so remarkable. For example, women in corsets could sit chamber pots without having to undo all their lacings. This is not exactly a unique Chinese characteristic, even after the flushable toilet was invented in Europe. (2) Noblemen did their business in chamber pots, which were then handed off to servants to clean. It is said that this is the reason Cixi never moved back into the Forbidden City, preferring to hold court from the Summer Palace for the rest of her life. (1) According to popular urban legend, not only did Alfred von Waldersee sleep in the Forbidden City, he even dallied with a famous courtesan called San Jinhua there. However, at this point, he should have been reassigned as ambassador to the United States. (3) Arthur Cassini had appeared earlier in the show as the Russian ambassador to China during the Sino-Japanese War, which is accurate. For example, emperors have issued confessional decrees for draughts and natural disasters, as those are interpreted as Heaven’s response to misrule. It is generally seen as a virtuous thing for the emperor to take blame for misfortune, even ones that have nothing to do him. It is an ancient custom, which started with King Cheng of Zhou. (2) A confessional decree (罪己诏) is a public declaration issued to accept responsibility for some bad decision or ill event. The show’s portrayal of Li Hongzhang is certainly more positive than that of this book. It is not a particularly long text, but remains contentious today, with some people believing it gives Li too little credit, and others too much. The book is in the public domain, and available on wikisource, though I could not find an English translation. However, Liang also claims Li was simply the symptom of a greater illness that is the imperial system, who was only able to do what he could within those confines. In the book, he calls Li “a man without talent” and a failure in all the aspects of war, politics, and diplomacy. That is not to say Liang treats Li with any admiration.

In an era when Li was greatly villified as a traitor for negotiating the Boxer Protocol, Liang’s biography was perhaps the first piece of popular criticism that offered a more sympathetic view. (1) Liang Qichao‘s Biography of Li Hongzhang was published in 1901, a mere month after Li Hongzhang‘s death.

Victoria 2 boxer rebellion