The Great Wall of China...According to legends, it was built 2200 years ago. Behind it, for centuries, the Celestial Empire hid from Europeans - a mysterious, ancient country of the highest culture and enormous power, which considered itself the only stronghold of true civilization. What is it - ancient and medieval China? The birthplace of high literature and painting, beautiful music and incomparable martial arts? The country of ruthless tyrants, among whom the most notorious was the brilliant and monstrously cruel Emperor Qin Shi Huang? Why were the periods of rapid prosperity of China again and again interspersed with periods of famine and foreign misfortunes? invasions, bloody rebellions and civil wars? What are the lessons of the checkered and ambiguous history of the Celestial Empire? And has China learned these lessons from the past?..