“Few can fail to wonder what it was like to have lived and worked in the palace at a time when the Middle Kingdom’s political power was concentrate within its hallowed hallways. Informative essays deal with the history and architectural layout of the palace, the role of the emperor and the mystic symbolism associated with his high office. It details also their private lives, those of their consorts and concubines and the hundreds of serving eunuchs and maids who kept the system functioning.”
