Imperial China's history is full of tales of rich and powerful men who kept concubines in their lives, with the most famous system of concubinage existing within the Chinese imperial family. From the...
The Forbidden City of China, a sprawling imperial palace that once housed the China’s powerful emperors, is a marvel of ancient architecture and Chinese history. Spanning an impressive 720,000 square...
The Inner Court of China’s Forbidden City was the emperor’s private realm, where no other men were allowed to linger for too long. Officials, military personnel, and even male relatives of the...
It is no secret that throughout the classical and early medieval period, trade played an immense role in the economy of the world. Trade routes were spread all over Eurasia, and effectively connected...
The smooth running of Korean royal households depended upon the unseen hands of gungnyeo; the seamstresses, cooks, chambermaids, water- and firewood bearers and other servants. Behind the scenes a...
In many ancient cultures and religious traditions, rulers and elite members of society not only had wives, they also had concubines. Concubines normally served a dual purpose – to increase a man’s...
In Imperial China, one of the important tasks that the emperor needed to do was to ensure the continuation of the dynasty, which was achieved by the production of a male heir. For this purpose, the...
From specially-tailored dog outfits to slave eunuchs to serve their every need, the royal dogs of China’s Forbidden City had it all. Now researchers have revealed the opulent life of these royal...
Sultan Moulay Ismaïl of Morocco, "The Bloodthirsty," was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty and reigned from 1672 to 1727. Like others of the dynasty, he claimed to be a descendant of...
Archaeologists have said that a five-year excavation of small burial pits inside the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, China’s First Emperor (259-210 BC), have proven historical records that say imperial...
Archaeologists in China have discovered the tomb of Emperor Yang Guang , one of the most famous and tyrannical emperor’s in Chinese history, who is known to have brought the Sui Dynasty (581 – 618 AD...