A brief history of the Great Wall of China, begun about 2,200 years ago to keep out Mongol invaders.

A joint project of the National Museum of China, Beijing, and the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.

As an economic superpower, China has become an increasingly important player in the international monetary system. Its foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world and its exchange rate policy has become a major subject of international economic diplomacy. The internationalization of the renminbi (RMB) raises critical questions in international policy circles: What kinds of power is China acquiring in international monetary relations? What are the priorities of the Chinese government? What explains its preferences? In The Great Wall of Money, a distinguished group of contributors addresses these questions from distinct perspectives, revealing the extent to which China’s choices, and global monetary affairs, will be shaped by internal political factors and affect world politics. The RMB is a likely competitor for the dollar in the next couple of decades; its emergence as an important international currency would have substantial effects on the balance of power between the United States and China. By illuminating the politics of China’s international monetary relations, this book provides a timely account of the global economy, the role of the renminbi in international relations, and the trajectory of China’s continuing ascendency in the coming decades.

Piano/Keyboard Methods/Series

A “gripping, colorful” history of China’s Great Wall that explores the conquests and cataclysms of the empire from 1000 BC to the present day (Publishers Weekly). Over two thousand years old, the Great Wall of China is a symbolic and physical dividing line between the civilized Chinese and the “barbarians” at their borders. Historian Julia Lovell looks behind the intimidating fortification and its mythology to uncover a complex history far more fragmented and less illustrious that its crowds of visitors imagine today. Lovell’s story winds through the lives of the millions of individuals who built and attacked it, and recounts how succeeding dynasties built sections of the wall as defenses against the invading Huns, Mongols, and Turks, and how the Ming dynasty, in its quest to create an empire, joined the regional ramparts to make what the Chinese call the “10,000 Li” or the “long wall.” An epic that reveals the true history of a nation, The Great Wall is “a supremely inviting entrée to the country” and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand China’s past, present, and future (Booklist).

This is the first full scholarly study of the Great Wall of China to appear in any language, and it challenges many deeply held ideas about Chinese history. Drawing both on primary sources and on the latest archaeology, the book first demonstrates that the standard account of the Great Wall is untrue and misleading and then presents a convincing new account. It begins by tracing the various walls and systems of frontier defences that existed in early Chinese history, and shows how the greatest of these achieved a mythical symbolic stature which long survived the Wall itself. A striking concluding chapter traces how the true history of the Wall was lost in the early twentieth century as it was gradually transformed into a Chinese national symbol explained through historical myth. The book is an important contribution to the history of China's defensive policy, and her ideological attitudes, and will be of interest both to students of Chinese history and of international relations in the pre-modern world.

The Great Wall of China is the world's largest military defense structure. It towers and meanders along mountain ranges, constructed more than 2,000 years ago. It was made more brilliant by the numerous wars, power struggles, successive dynasties, political and economic historical events influencing imperial China for over 2,000 years.The everlasting value of the Great Wall comes from the architecture, with its components of the wall, gates, towns, garrisons, and signal towers, along with their artistic elements. It also derives fame from the countless classical works of poetry, folk literature, theater and storytelling written about it by rulers, soldiers, literati and famous poets.This book is among the most systematic and comprehensive works on the Great Wall. It conveys to the reader content in language that is clear and straightforward. It traces the history of the Great Wall's origin, including the initial Period of construction for multiple defensive walls, the era of overall transformation, the Period of the partial expansion and the Period of overall maintenance. The readers will obtain a clear and comprehensive view of the overall picture of the Great Wall and its history from this book.Published by SCPG Publishing Corporation and distributed by World Scientific for all markets except China