Chinese armies have of course existed since the country's 1500BCE unification. This book tells the story of the imperial army and the roles it has played in imperial history as well as the military styles, strategies, inventions and organisation it demonstrated in rebellions, dynastic changes and international conflicts. The course of the Mongol invasions of the 13th, 14th centuries CE, the invention of gunpower and the use of fortresses are all discussed with the use of contemporary and archival illustrations and surviving artefacts. With chronology, bibliography and index.