The Imperial Legacy

Aisin Gioro Pu Jie, brother of Aisin Gioro Pu Yi (the last Emperor of China)

The imperial court, like the forbidden city, was an isolated entity. Since the dawn of China’s political history more than two thousand years ago, when the country was unified in 220 B.C., the Chinese have experienced severe constraints on their political freedom. The first Emperor, Qin Shihuang, and those who followed, repressed all dissent. Over the centuries, in order to survive, the people had to sublimate their political and other social energies. They channelled their creative powers into art, literature, religious philosophy, and finally, their cuisine. Chinese chefs were rewarded for displaying excellence in their profession. Those who were innovative, experimental, freely creative often rose to the highest levels of the Imperial Court, their unfettered, politically innocuous creativity radiating into Chinese society. Its influence is still to be felt.