Media

HKUL Reading Club: Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling / Grant Hayter-Menzies

08 Apr 2008

 

The University of Hong Kong Libraries Reading Club is pleased to present to you a talk by Mr Grant Hayter-Menzies on April 10, Thursday. He will talk about his book "Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling (德齡公主)", and will show you his private collection of Der Ling-related items, including paintings attributed to the Empress Dowager Cixi, and an embroidered panel designed by Der Ling's sister.

The book will be available for sale at discount price.

Members of the media are invited. Details as below:

Meeting the Author Night:
Speaker: Mr Grant Hayter-Menzies
Theme Books: Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling
Language: English
Date: 10 April 2008 (Thursday), 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm
Venue: Special Collections, 1/F, Main Library, University of Hong Kong
Free Admission. Please register at: http://lib.hku.hk/friends/reading_club/bt2008_5.html

About the Book

Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling, the first biography of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing cross-cultural personalities, traces not only the life of Princess Der Ling, in all its various transformations, but offers a fresh look at the woman she lionized and, ultimately, betrayed - the Empress Dowager Cixi, to whom, like Der Ling, many legends have been affixed over the past century. The book includes photographs, some never before seen, taken by Der Ling's talented photographer brother, Xunling, and now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., clarifying Der Ling's very real affection for the ruler feared before the Boxer Uprising and hated after it, and showing a side of Cixi that many who approach her with preconceived opinions may find intriguing if not revelatory. The book also depicts the changing worlds of Paris, Tokyo and the other international stages of Der Ling's development as woman and as mystery, and deals with the many teachers who made her who she was: Isadora Duncan, Sarah Bernhardt, the Empress of Japan, her own broad-minded father, American society figures like Barbara Hutton, and most of all, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who knew all about being several different people at once.

About the Author

Over the past twenty-five years, Mr Hayter-Menzies's published work has included reviews of music, art, books and film; monographs, essays, translations and poetry; and book-length biography. He is also a classically trained pianist.

About the Reading Club

HKU Libraries Reading Club was established in 2001 to promote the cultural and intellectual life of Hong Kong.  The Reading Club sponsors a series of book talks featuring leading members of the Hong Kong intellectual community. At these book talks, we invite interesting people to talk about books that interest them.

Enquiries:
Pansy Lo (HKU Libraries): 2859-2217, pansy@hku.hk  
Carmen Tsang (HKU Libraries): 2859-2211, yytsang@hkucc.hku.hk