Celestial Women - Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing

This volume completes McMahon’s acclaimed history of imperial wives and royal polygamy in China. Avoiding the stereotype of empresses and imperial concubines as mere victims or playthings, Keith McMahon considers them as full-fledged participants in palace life; whether as mothers, wives, or go-betweens in the emperor’s relations with others.