Imperial China

For two thousand years, the Chinese imperial system created one of the most sophisticated and most enduring civilisations on earth — a system of governance, philosophy, art, and technology that produced achievements unmatched in the pre-modern world. DK’s Imperial China tells the complete story of this civilisation, from the earliest dynastic period through the Qin unification, the Han golden age, the Tang and Song dynasties, the Mongol conquest, the Ming restoration, and the final Qing dynasty that ended in 1912.

The visual richness of Chinese imperial culture — its porcelain, its calligraphy, its silk, its architecture, its painting — is rendered with the full force of DK’s photography and design. Timeline maps, biographical profiles of emperors and officials, and detailed treatments of the philosophical traditions — Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism — that shaped Chinese civilisation provide the context that makes the visual material meaningful.

An essential reference for students of Asian history and a magnificent visual exploration of one of the world’s great civilisations. Published by DK.