In 1577, during a great court debate over the formulation of china'spolicy toward its nomadic neighbors, the Ming scholar-official Feng Feng-shihobserved: "When there are markets and tribute, there is no war." For two millennia, tension between nomad and chinese along China's northern frontier threatened toerupt into war, and for two millennia, the essential element determining whetherpeace or war existed was trade. This fascinating book tells the story of thecenturies-long confrontation along the Great Wall of China.