"An East gate book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Xi'an and the Loess Land -- 2. The Second Sage and the First Emperor -- 3. Soil, Wind, and Water -- 4. Behind the Terracotta Army -- 5. The First Empire: Establishing the Standard -- 6. Literati Turned Warlords -- 7. Prolonged Disunity -- 8. When Historical Components Sprawled Far and Wide -- 9. On the Road to Reunification -- 10. The Second Empire: A Breakthrough That Failed to Materialize -- 11. The Northern Song: A Daring Experiment -- 12. West Lake and the Southern Song -- 13. The Mongolian Interlude -- 14. The Ming: An Introverted and Noncompetitive State -- 15. The Late Ming -- 16. The Role of the Manchus -- 17. 1800: A Point for Reflection -- 18. From the Opium War to the Self-Strengthening Movement -- 19. The "Hundred Days," the Republic, and May Fourth -- 20. Contemporary China and Its Place in the World -- 21. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao -- Observations at the Closing of the Century.