What the Emperor Built

Regular price €77.99
A01=Aurelia Campbell
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
architecture
art history
Asian Studies
Author_Aurelia Campbell
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=AMKH
Category=AMKS
Category=AMN
Category=AMX
Category=HBJF
Category=NHF
China
COP=United States
Daoist architecture
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
early Ming
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
Language_English
Ming
PA=Available
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
softlaunch
Yongle emperor

Product details

  • ISBN 9780295746883
  • Weight: 885g
  • Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
  • Publication Date: 30 Jun 2020
  • Publisher: University of Washington Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days

Our Delivery Time Frames Explained
2-4 Working Days: Available in-stock

10-20 Working Days
: On Backorder

Will Deliver When Available
: On Pre-Order or Reprinting

We ship your order once all items have arrived at our warehouse and are processed. Need those 2-4 day shipping items sooner? Just place a separate order for them!

Winner of the 2023 Bei Shan Tang Monograph Prize, sponsored by the Association for Asian Studies

How imperial ideology is given shape in built space

One of the most famous rulers in Chinese history, the Yongle emperor (r. 1402–24) gained renown for constructing Beijing’s magnificent Forbidden City, directing ambitious naval expeditions, and creating the world’s largest encyclopedia. What the Emperor Built is the first book-length study devoted to the architectural projects of a single Chinese emperor.

Focusing on the imperial palaces in Beijing, a Daoist architectural complex on Mount Wudang, and a Buddhist temple on the Sino-Tibetan frontier, Aurelia Campbell demonstrates how the siting, design, and use of Yongle’s palaces and temples helped cement his authority and legitimize his usurpation of power. Campbell offers insight into Yongle’s sense of empire—from the far-flung locations in which he built, to the distant regions from which he extracted construction materials, and to the use of tens of thousands of craftsmen and other laborers. Through his constructions, Yongle connected himself to the divine, interacted with his subjects, and extended imperial influence across space and time.

Spanning issues of architectural design and construction technologies, this deft analysis reveals remarkable advancements in timber-frame construction and implements an art-historical approach to examine patronage, audience, and reception, situating the buildings within their larger historical and religious contexts.

Aurelia Campbell is assistant professor of Asian art history at Boston College.