The last native Chinese imperial lineage, the Ming dynasty epitomizes the glories of China's past. Ming means bright, and the term could not be more appropriate, since artwork in many mediums—among them painting, textiles, ceramics, and objects in jades and other stones, gold and other metals, enamel, lacquer, wood, and bamboo—achieved true brilliance during this splendid period. Roughly contemporaneous with the European Renaissance, the Ming dynasty produced comparable artistic achievements, but its depth and diversity have been too seldom explored.

This Chinese art book, cataloguing the groundbreaking exhibition at the Asian Art Museum, offers a fresh look at the court arts of the Ming dynasty—featuring exceptional objects from the Palace Museum, Beijing; the Nanjing Municipal Museum; the Shanghai Museum; and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco—many of which have never before been exhibited in the U.S. Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty is an essential reference for anyone who wishes to comprehend the historical development and enduring richness of Chinese court arts of the era.