Chinese New Year: How Did The Emperor Celebrate?

Start your Spring Festival with eight auspicious actions drawing upon traditions honed over centuries by the emperor and his entourage.

The biggest celebration. The biggest household. That’s Spring Festival in the Forbidden City of Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. A total of 24 emperors from two families – the Zhu (Han) and the Aisin-Gioro (Manchu) – reigned for over 500 years through the two final imperial dynasties of China.

Although habits and passions differed from one emperor to...