From its earliest beginnings thousands of years ago, the course of man’s progress has been measured by his empires. Large, dynamic flows of power, people, and culture that merge, thrive, then break apart - the pieces only to merge again in a new configuration, the process to be repeated. Through pictures and words, "Empires: Their Rise and Fall" brings the reader face to face with many of the world’s greatest empires. Full-color photographs are combined with an absorbing narrative in a lively historical account of each empire and an examination of the period’s most enduring cultural achievements. This volume in the series focuses on Imperial China, and Islands of the Rising Sun. As Charlemagne was crowning himself King of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, China was just beginning its fabulous Tang Dynasty, one of the most brilliant empires in the realm of the arts and in sweeping political influence. Printing and gunpowder were both invented during its rule, and Changan, the Tang capital, was at the time perhaps the greatest city in the world, with more than one million inhabitants. The power of Chinese culture to transmit its values and observances to another society was well demonstrated in Japan. Beginning with the introduction of Chinese writing and Buddhism in the fifth and sixth centuries, Chinese learning and political institutions transformed Japan from a primitive, tribal society to an ardent follower of the Chinese model. The chief of the ruling clan, who claimed descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu of early Japanese mythology, became an "emperor" in the Chinese style, having all the trappings and ritual of the Chinese court and presiding over an elaborate bureaucracy. The Japanese imperial line has continued until the present day - a unique record of unbroken succession.