Women shall not rule: imperial wives and concubines in China from Han to Liao

Prologue: Sexual Politics and State Politics

Part I. Early China, 1250 BC-317 CE

The Institution and Values of Royal Polygamy

Empresses and Consorts of the Former Han, 206 BCE-25 CE

The Later Han to the End of the Western Jin, 25-317

Conclusion to Part I: A Review of Themes from the Biographies of Empresses and Consorts

Part II. The Eastern Jin to the Reign of Wu Zetian, 317-712

The Period of Disunity, 317-589

The Sui and Early Tang Dynasties to Empress Wu, 581-705

Conclusion to Part II: The Question of Female Rulership

Part III. The High Tang to the Liao, 712-1125

The Tang from Xuanzong to Its Fall, 712-907

The Love Affair of an Aging Emperor and his Young Consort

The Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and the Liao, 907-1125

Concludion to Part III: Strong Women and Weak Men.