Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial China

I can't even begin to count the ways I have found this book useful throughout the last decades or more--when I need general information about a specific emperor, when I am trying to put together a short synopsis of a particular dynasty, when I am looking for important events/discoveries associated with a dynasty or ruler, when I need to know a ruler's dynastic name versus his personal name (or how many wives or children he had, or his chief consorts' names, his parents)--in short, this is my "Go To" volume for a quick overview of the Chinese Dynasties and their emperors.

Despite working in this area for 30 years, I, along with everyone else interested in China, need a book like this to keep us grounded in the right time period, with the show more right personalities, seeing the big picture. There are lots of 'little picture' books--wonderful volumes on individual emperors, art periods, movements--but this is one of those "must have" big picture volumes on China for anyone with more than a cursory curiosity.

It is 'evergreen'; if you don't already have a copy, hurry and find one. It will quickly become one of your most-thumbed-through volumes, sitting right next to your Chinese dictionaries and atlas. show less

This book sets out a series of short biographies of all of the Chinese Emperors in chronological order. This provides a useful overview of the history of Imperial China. It provides coverage of those who held the title of emperor in the interims between the major dynasties. I enjoyed the use of short biographies to tell the story of imperial China. There are also many interesting factoids contained in the short biographies of the emperors. This is a good introduction to the history of Imperial China for reading straight through or sampling on a topical basis.

I'm disappointed by some of the points in Chinese history the book brushes over.

A wonderful reference book on China's dynasties and emperors with summaries, maps, charts and color photos.

368 Illustrations, photographs of places, maps, paintings
Chronicle of Emperors from 221 BC to 1911