Beginning of Essay
The earliest of which we have any records is the Neolithic ware from the river plains and loess highlands of north and north-west China. It was made between 5000 and 2000 B.C. and contains bowls, jars, pots and beakers of low-fires earthenware. This pots were not ....

Middle of Essay
.... of as the greatest of all Chinese emperors; the Empress Wu fought her way to the throne with bloodthirsty ruthlessness and yet brought twenty years of peace and prosperity to the empire; and the lastly T’ang Ming Huang who brought the empire to the peak of its prosperity and cultural splendour, and then, alas, in the foolishness of his old age saw the whole splendid fabric torn to shades. During these hundred and thirty years not only did agriculture prosper, especially in the rice-growing lands of central and southern China, but arts and handicrafts were flourishing. Szechnan Province produced gold and silverwares and fine brocades, while porcelain ....