What the Emperor Built: Architecture and Empire in the Early Ming

This book analyzes the empire-wide construction projects of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, one of the most famous emperors in Chinese history, to demonstrate how the siting, architecture, and the use of his palaces and temples established his authority and contributed to the legitimization of his usurpation of power. Although a number of books in English have dealt with the architecture of the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1279–1368) periods, this is the first book in any Western language that specifically addresses the architecture of the Ming.