Bawdy baronet's steamy love for Empress Insatiable.
Yep that was the actual headline that got my attention, it was featured in the Sunday Times, I had to read it, the photos are terrible and obviously old so sorry about that but I still snapped them. The Empress in question was Tz'u Hsi who apparently ruled China ruthlessly for 47 years until her death in 1908. The baronet in question was Sir Edmund Backhouse, who went to live in China and became the leading Sinoligist of his day.
The article runs through all sorts of decadent 'lifestyle' predilections of the day including male eunuchs, concubines and extended sex sessions fortified by birds nest soup and opium. Yeah all pretty mundane stuff, that's what I thought too then I found the bit about the spanking. Apparently, according to the memoirs of Sir Edmund (now retrieved from the Bodleian Library in Oxford), he was thrashed by the Empress using her ivory fan on his rear.
Well! I've encountered spanking in China myself on a visit there but I doubt it was carried out with an ivory fan. I asked P to mention the spanking Empress to his Chinese contacts and see if they'd heard any stories about her but he said no way, they'd think he'd gone mad, they still regard Mao as a hero of the people.
His memoirs 'Decadence Mandchoue' comes out this month. 'A unique and shocking glimpse into the hidden world of China's imperial palace with it's rampant corruption, grand conspiracies and uninhibited sexuality. '
Wonder if it's worth a read.
Ronnie
xx
