Yongle

Until just a couple of years ago, the largest reference work ever published was something called the Yongle Encyclopedia.

Everybody Knows Everything 2009

At the time, Yongle was a wealthy trading town at the foot of an important mountain pass and a key crossing of the mighty Yellow River.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

"The Yongle Palace is like an echo of things that had to have existed in China but which did not survive the Mongol invasion," says Prof. Little.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

At the time, Yongle was a wealthy trading town at the foot of an important mountain pass and a key crossing of the mighty Yellow River.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

Ruicheng, China For aficionados of Chinese art, the murals in the Yongle Palace have a special cachet.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

Those buildings lack the massive, imposing roofs or flattened stone lions that grace the Yongle Palace.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

But the area around Yongle is dry, so the buildings didn't rot and are largely original.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

Ruicheng, China For aficionados of Chinese art, the murals in the Yongle Palace have a special cachet.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

Those buildings lack the massive, imposing roofs or flattened stone lions that grace the Yongle Palace.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010

Most have also been renovated so often that little appears original; the Yongle Palace, by contrast, has a wind-weathered authentic feel to it.

Murals That Inspire Awe Ian Johnson 2010