The son of a landlord from Henan province, Mr Zhao was born just eight years after the end of China's last imperial dynasty in 1911.

ECONOMIST: The man who came too late | The

Both are from the Qing Dynasty, China's last imperial dynasty.

BBC: Durham University Oriental Museum to reopen after ?2m raid

The other main character is Liang Qichao, a leading Chinese intellectual in the twilight of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, and the chaotic early years after it fell in 1911.

ECONOMIST: The intellectual roots of Asian anti-Westernism

In 1912 a republican regime replaced China's imperial dynasty.

ECONOMIST: Millennium issue

With the exception of the imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary France, contemporary American kids may represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world.

NEWYORKER: Spoiled Rotten

The trappings of the imperial era and even of the Romanov dynasty are increasingly in evidence.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

The 34.98-carat Beau Sancy diamond, the signature gem of the Prussian crown jewels, has made it through the last three turbulent centuries firmly in the hands of the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling dynasty of Prussia and, later, imperial Germany.

WSJ: The Beau Sancy Diamond at Sotheby's: From Prussia, With Love

The culinary history of Peking duck goes as far back as the Yuan dynasty, where it was listed in royal cookbooks as an imperial food.

BBC: Sampling Beijing��s imperial duck