The Forbidden City was the residence of 23 emperors of China for nearly five hundred years. As such, it witnessed many of the most significant public events influencing the course of Chinese history. But it is as a secret world, a place of alleyways and hidden turnings, of closed gates and private courtyards, that the Forbidden City has continued to exert such an extraordinary hold on the modern imagination.
This book looks at the Great Within (Da Nei) forbidden to all but the concubines and maidservants and eunuchs that served the Son of Heacen and his family. The mysterious intrigues and dramas and backstage conspiracies that took place within these walls culminated in the legendary reign of the empress dowager Cixi, the decline into decadence of the imperial court and the ultimate fall of the Qing dynasty.
This book looks at the Great Within (Da Nei) forbidden to all but the concubines and maidservants and eunuchs that served the Son of Heacen and his family. The mysterious intrigues and dramas and backstage conspiracies that took place within these walls culminated in the legendary reign of the empress dowager Cixi, the decline into decadence of the imperial court and the ultimate fall of the Qing dynasty.
