Tzu Hsi is one of those characters in history that suffers from a gross distortion of her actual person on the pages of conventional history. She has been portrayed as an all-powerful conniving and blood thristy leader of the Chinese Empire shortly before the Revolution of 1911. She is portrayed in the opening scenes of the movie, "The Last Emporer" as the somewhat sinister and ancient woman talking with the young 4-year-old Pu Yi.Sterling Seagrave endeavors in his 1992 book called "Dragon Lady" to dispell the myths that have grown up around the life Tzu Hsi. Futhermore, he reveals that the myths had their start with rumormongering on the part of British and European journalists interested in advancing the interests of Britain in China at the expense of the independent Chinese government, nominally headed by a woman, at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.