"An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history; ideal for those new to the subject."--School Library Journal

"A great way to learn about China's vast history!" - Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

"Combines breezy style with historical rigor to strike just the right gong-tone for a middle school audience approaching the vast scope of Chinese history." -- Education About Asia

Table of Contents:
Previously in Understanding China through Comics .

From penniless farm boy to emperor of China .

Nanjing
Reunifying China

Turning inward: The Ming Dynasty, 1368 - 1644 .

Protector of the poor .

Low tax .
Labor duties .
Leave people alone .
Low pay and corruption .
Local officials .
Central government officials .
Warehouse administrators .
Students .
"What a difficult situation this is!" .
Short-term measures with long-term implications.

Losing control of its own currency .

Failure of copper coins .
Overspending destroys paper money .
Retreat .
Turning to silver .
Japanese pirates .
Tax monetization for war .
Macau .
"Why are we fighting with our money supply?" .
Spanish Americas .
"We don't control the trade or the source of silver.".

Conscientious individuals in a flawed system .

Wang Yangming and the School of Mind .
Core teaching .
Impact .
Hai Rui, the oddball .
Zhang Juzheng and a last attempt to save the empire.

"It's a bad time to run out of money" .
Final years of the Ming Dynasty .

"Bandits can tear my body apart, but don't hurt my people"

Manchus and the West: The Qing Dynasty, 1644 - 1912
"We're here to protect Chinese tradition" .

The last Ming resistance in Taiwan

Century of peace .

Growing economy .
Territorial expansion .
Early contact with the West .
Re-establishing trade .
American crops .
Jesuits.

Turning point .

System failure .
Rise of industrial Britain .
Bankruptcy .
Opium trade .
The first Opium War .
The invisible hand.

Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace rebellion

"Jesus is my brother!" .
Scholars against the rebels .
The second Opium War.

Self-strengthening

Empress Dowager Cixi to the rescue .
Sir Robert Hart, head of the Chinese customs service.
Burlingame, ambassador for America and China .
New hope - the Beiyang force.

Philo McGiffin and the Chinese navy .

Incompatible with tradition .
A new academy at Weihai Wei.

When the dragon meets the rising sun .
Rise of industrial Japan .

Line of advantage

The first Sino-Japanese war .

The Korean crisis .
Declaration of war .
Getting ready .
The Battle of Yalu River .
Encounter .
Outnumbered battle .
Fire in the forecastle .
Withdraw .
Battle results .
Total defeat

Aftermath .

Peace treaty .
Diaoyu Islands .
Japan's path to imperial power .
Carving up China

Hundred Days' Reform
Society on the eve of revolution .

Modern city life .
Impoverished countryside .
"Now you must turn to God!" .
Tensions in the birthplace of Confucius .
Last straw from the Forbidden City

The storm of 1900 .

Battle of Beijing .
Eight-nation alliance .

Boxer Protocol .
Final humiliation .
Revolution

Sun Zhongshan, father of modern China .

Jing Liu is an artist and entrepreneur from Beijing, China. He is currently the Managing Director of Moli Design, a China-based design firm that counts the BBC, MasterCard, The Ford Foundation, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and UNICEF among its many clients. Liu graduated from Beijing University of Technology with undergraduate degrees in industrial design and engineering, and a masters in international economics and trade.

The Making of Modern China: The Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty (1368-1912) (Understanding China Thorough Comics) by Jing Liu