US exhibition unveils lives of empresses

The exhibition also comes at a time when the role of women in society has become a hot topic.

"It's very timely that we can look at the Forbidden City from a fresh perspective - that is, from a woman's perspective," says Daisy Yiyou Wang, the other co-curator and PEM's Robert N. Shapiro curator of Chinese and East Asian art.

"This exhibition is thrilling in that it opens a silent yet colorful book about how these women helped shape the course of history," she adds.

"One of the themes for our exhibition is for people to understand that women in this last dynasty found ways to show off their personal tastes and spiritual lives," says Stuart, noting that some of the empresses like Cixi, even found ways to carve out a path to further their political ambitions.

Lucas Dileo, a Boston resident who is a regular visitor to China, says this is the first time he has seen an exhibition about Chinese empresses in the US.

"Often exhibitions about Chinese history and the arts show more of the permanent aspects like bronze, different types of bowls, some fabrics or scrolls. The chance to tell the story of people's lives who made an imprint on history makes this very special," he says.

"Particularly these days, as women are taking up more important roles across society, it's good to be reminded that they also played key roles in the past in major countries around the world," Dileo adds.

To better engage with American audiences, the two curators traveled to the Forbidden City in Beijing on numerous occasions. With the help of Chinese experts from the Palace Museum, they selected the most representative pieces from the vast numbers of treasures held there and went to great lengths to design immersive and interactive ways of presenting them.

"I was impressed by Empress Xiaoxian, who had a touching poem written about her by her husband. She was respected in her own right and was not regarded as a victim by her devoted husband and son," says visitor Carol Lutes.

Xiaoxian passed away at the age of 36, and her heartbroken husband Emperor Qianlong penned a poem to mourn his beloved wife. Visitors can listen to the poem in English while examining the original copy on display.

The exhibition will run at the PEM through Feb 10.

Judy Zhu contributed to this story.