The Forbidden City

For just over 500 years, from 1420 to 1924, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties regarded the vermilion walls, gray cobblestones, and golden tiles of the Forbidden City in Beijing as their home. Historian Justin M. Jacobs charts a path through the vast courtyards, narrow passageways, and imposing gates of the Forbidden City, treating its art, architecture, and residents as windows into the history and culture of late imperial China.