Journey at a thrilling clip across the epic history of China-through millennia of early innovation to modern dominance.

Origins: an egg hatches and a civilization is born -- The Zhou: from ideal rule to warring states -- The Qin: unification, tyranny, and all under heaven -- The Han: intrigue, innovation, and a brief interregnum -- The great disunity: three kingdoms, two women warriors, seven sages, and a five-mineral powder -- The Tang: from golden age to everlasting sorrow -- The Song: proto-socialists, neo-Confucians, and urban living -- The Mongol Yuan: from "glorious slaughter" to the splendid city -- The Ming: splendor and decay -- The Manchu Qing: the rocky road to modernity -- The Republic: high hopes and vicious betrayals -- Japanese invasion and civil war: the Republic disintegrates -- The Mao years: continuous revolution -- The reform era: prosperity and its discontents -- The new era of Xi Jinping: rise of the wolf warriors.