- An essential dual-purpose handbook on imperial China: a highly readable popular history and a unique work of reference.Contents include:• Biographical accounts of all 157 emperors of China• Timelines throughout with visual guides to the length andimportant events of each emperor"s reign• Datafiles for every emperor listing key information• Extensive quotations from contemporary sources• Many special features ranging from the Great Wall to theOpium War• Maps detailing, for example, the Silk Roads and themaritime expeditions of the Ming Dynasty