Perpetual Happiness

<p>The reign of Emperor Yongle or “Perpetual Happiness” was one of the most dramatic and significant in Chinese history. It began with civil war and a bloody coup saw the construction of the Forbidden City the completion of the Grand Canal consolidation of the imperial bureaucracy and expansion of China’s territory into Mongolia Manchuria and Vietnam.<br/><br/>Beginning with an hour-by-hour account of one day in Yongle’s court Shih-shan Henry Tsai presents the multiple dimensions of the life of Yongle (Zhu Di 1360-1424) in fascinating detail. Tsai examines the role of birth education and tradition in molding the emperor’s personality and values and paints a rich portrait of a man characterized by stark contrasts. Synthesizing primary and secondary source materials he has crafted a colorful biography of the most renowned of the Ming emperors.<br/><br/>The open access publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.</p>