Chinese Empresses Oracle Deck, 44 Cards & 72-Page Guidebook

Forty-four empresses of China, painted on silk by artist Xiang Li, with a 72-page guidebook that tells you what actually happened to each of them.

This is an oracle deck built on real history. Every card carries a portrait of one empress, reproduced from Xiang Li's original paintings in mineral pigment on silk, along with her name in English and Chinese, her dynasty, and one question for you. The guidebook gives each woman a full page: a short, sourced account of her life, followed by a reading for you. Every claim in the book is sourced.

— WHAT'S INSIDE —
- 44 oracle cards with full-color portraits on the front and vermilion-and-gold backs
- 72-page illustrated guidebook
- Drawstring bag to keep the deck in

— HOW IT WORKS —
Draw a card and read the question on its face. Then turn to her page in the guidebook, where every entry follows the same pattern:

On the card: the question printed on her card
If this card is yours today: what her story may be pointing to in your life
The harder question: the one underneath the first
Sit with: one small, concrete thing to do

Card 23, Empress Zhangsun, asks: "You are withholding the thing you are best at. Who is that actually protecting?" Card 25, Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China as emperor in her own name, asks what you would want written on the stone, and what you would leave blank.

— WHO IT'S FOR —
Oracle and tarot readers looking for a deck with real depth, journalers who want questions that push back, lovers of Chinese art and history, and anyone drawn to the stories of women who held power without the title for it.

— ABOUT THE ARTIST —
Xiang Li paints in the tradition of Chinese court portraiture, working in mineral pigment on silk. This deck brings together forty-four of her empress portraits, spanning two thousand years from the Han to the Qing. Text by Xiang Li and Fei Wu.

— GOOD TO KNOW —
- The cards are high-quality printed reproductions of the original silk paintings
- For readers 18 and over; the histories include violence and palace politics
- Ships from Grafton, MA (USA) within 4 business days
- More from the artist at xiangliart.com

Please message us with any questions before ordering.