Cixi was the Empress Dowager (1835-1908) who ruled China (from behind a yellow silk curtain) for decades and moved China from a medieval empire into the modern age. Jung Chiang's book:
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China defines her as reformer who abolished gruesome punishments like "death by a thousand cuts", inaugurated women's liberation by outlawing foot binding and embarked on a path to parliamentary elections in China.
I visited the concubines' quarters (The Hall of Cultured Elegance) in the Forbidden City and felt the confinements of the women who served the emperor. Within these constraints, she found ways to rule.
Marina Warner in her biography:
The Dragon Empress: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China describes these walls within walls within walls.
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