Nanjing: The Biography is an informative yet fascinating record of the 2,000-year history of Nanjing, one of China's most important ancient cities.

Why do Chinese people consider Nanjing "a city of emperors"? When was Nanjing China's capital? Ye Zhaoyan, a native of Nanjing, answers these questions and more as he shines a spotlight on Nanjing and analyzes its political status, local folklore, prominent figures, maps and a broad range of historical records.

About the author

Ye Zhaoyan is one of China's most popular and prolific writers. Born in Nanjing in 1957, he studied Chinese language and literature at Nanjing University, later working as a college teacher and a literary editor before becoming a full-time writer.

Ye came to literary prominence in the early 1980s and has won many awards, including China's Best Novella Award in 1988 and the Writer of Excellence Award in 2018.

His full-length novels include Nanjing 1937: A Love Story, Flower's Shadow, Other People's Love, and How Stubborn Our Hearts Are. His prose collections include Wandering in the Night, Old Nanjing: Reflections on the Qinhuai River and Miscellaneous Peanut Tree. Many of his books have been translated into English, Italian, Korean and other languages.