Emperor project

This is a project I've had in mind for a while now. I'd like to make some sort of record of all the main Chinese emperors. Chinese history is very interesting, and I find the emperors themselves, and all the ceremony, myths, legends, and intrigue related to them, fascinating. Quite often they were just figureheads and the people with real control of the empire often lurked in the background, controlling the emperor as they liked (often this would be a eunuch or dowager empress who planted a young, inexperienced emperor on the throne in order to take control themselves). On the other hand, some emperors were absolute tyrants, who commanded vast armies, and undertook massive construction products at great cost of life. My first choice falls into this category: Emperor Yang of the Sui. From what I read he has a pretty bad rep among historians, but was also responsible for some pretty impressive construction projects including completion of the Grand Canal, which was so vital to China's trade and commerce over the coming centuries.

I'll be placing them on a separate page, which can be found on the links to the right.