Table of Contents
Foreword 1
Introduction 5
Maps 13
Part 1 Survey: Eight Keys 17
Objects from various dates
1 On Reaching Europe 19
Abraham Ortelius' Theatre of the World atlas
2 A Place of No Return 25
Meng Jiangnüs Endless Search for her Husband woodblock print
3 The Enemy at First Sight 31
Bronze face of a Xiongnu warrior
4 Observing a Ceasefire 36
Painting of a Mongol archer
5 Just Add Water 41
Pottery sherds from the desert floor
6 Prefabrication 46
An inscribed brick from the Ming Wall
7 Accelerated Warfare 51
Bronze mirror showing cavalry
Decisive Advantage 56
A nomadic composite bow
Part 2 Foundations 63
Objects from the third century BC to AD 221
9 The Iron Age Factor 65
Mould for casting iron chisels
10 Sure Footing 71
A bronze stirrup
11 An Eyewitness Report 76
Sima Qian's 'Records of the Grand Historian'
12 Writers and Fighters 82
Polyhedral wooden record
13 Past Glories 88
'Map of China and the Barbarian Lands' stele rubbing
14 Charting Archaeology 96
Stein's sketch map of the Han Wall
15 Alarms from the North 103
Wooden records bearing signalling instructions
16 A Han-Hun Wedding 109
Lady Wang Travels Beyond the Wall marriage print
17 Mechanical Advantage 116
Trigger mechanism of a crossbow
Part 3 Intrusions 123
Objects from AD 221 to 1368
18 Becoming Chinese 125
Figurine of an armoured horse and rider
19 The Gap Years 131
Tri-coloured glaze figurine of a camel
20 Millennium Man 136
Silver funerary mask of a Qidan nobleman
21 The 75, 15, 10 Formula 141
A pottery hand grenade
22 Mapping History 146
'Handy Maps of the Past Dynasties, Chronologically Organised'
23 Harnessing Sun and Wind 152
Gold-tipped trident of a spirit banner
24 Sharpshooters 160
Mongol arrowheads
25 Cavalry Wear 165
Mongol armour
26 Horsepower 170
The Mongolian horse
Part 4 Core 177
Objects from 1368 to 1644
27 Frontier Palace 179
Silk painting of the Imperial City
28 Into Thin Air 185
The wolf smoke alarm signal
29 A Calamitous Sortie 191
Iron gate lock
30 Point and Shoot 196
A blunderbuss
31 The Gift of Horses 203
'Presenting Horses' scroll painting on silk
32 Sixteenth Century Typos 212
Bluestone stele bearing construction records
33 Stone Age Weapons 221
Gunpowder rock bombs
34 A Bird's Eye View 230
Fired-clay roof guardian
35 History In Situ 238
Ink rubbing of a stele
36 Relic of a Grand Commander 246
Qi Jiguang's steel sabre
37 View from the High Command 253
'Map of the Nine Border Regions'
38 A Long Strip of Wall 262
'Plans of the Jizhen Commandery'
39 Globalisation 269
Cornelis de Jode's 'new' world map
40 Moving Targets 276
Foreign-style 'Border Pacification Cannon'
41 The Last Emperor 283
Admonition decree from the Board of War
Part 5 Ruins 291
Objects from 1644 to 1987
42 Science Convert 293
'The Jesuit Atlas of Kangxi's Realm'
43 In Great Detail 302
Captain Parish's technical drawings
44 New Convoys 309
Photo of the Beijing to Paris inaugural car rally
45 A Milestone Journey 315
The Great Wall of China by William Edgar Geil
46 Building Fiction 323
Kafka's Great Wall short story
47 Back to the Wall 331
Press photo from the Sino-Japanese War
48 Prop Art 339
1960s poster of peace and friendship
49 'Love our China, rebuild our Great Wall' 345
Painting depicting Deng Xiaoping at the Great Wall
50 A Gift to China 352
Pair of photos of Luowenyu, 80 years apart
Epilogue 359
51 Italian Journey 369
The Borgia Great Wall scroll
Chronology of Dynasties 377
Bibliography 381
Photo Credits 389
Acknowledgements 391
Index 397
