Excerpt from History of China, Vol. 1<br><br>IT is unnecessary for me to detain the reader with any lengthy remarks by way of introduction to this history. The Chinese Empire presents for our con sideration one of the most complicated of existing problems; and the subject is of growing rather than waning importance. In 'dealing with its history we are not discussing the fortunes of some Empire that has long disappeared, nor are we seeking to discern the future of a race that has lost or forgotten the capacity of government; but we are treating of a stat-e and a people that apparently were never, during the long course of their national existence, more powerful and flourishing than they are at this very day.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.