This book is more than a series of tales about intrigues, illicit love affairs, jealousies, and murders committed by the various women who populated the harems of China's many emperors. It is a unique retelling of major events in China's more than 3,000-year-old history as seen through the eyes of these courtesans of the rear palace. Each emperor had thousands of beauties at his beck and call. Most of them, separated at a young age from their families, lived in the rear palace in loneliness and seclusion. A few, however, wielded great power or even gained supremacy over the imperial court. Their stories vividly portray the social customs and palace life in ancient China, and give new insights into the important role of women in Chinese history.