35. China

A great green jade,

Grew out of three rivers.

Yangtze, West, and Yellow.

They developed communities of farmers.

Growing and prospering despite the floods.

They decided that they needed leaders

They prayed.

The gods answered.

Three sovereigns,

Five emperors.

Then the age of dynasties.

Xia begot Shang,

Shang begot Zhou who brought feudalism and Confucianism’s polite ways

The primitive Great Wall took shape.

The Autumn of the Zhou period led to new dynasties, finally giving birth to the Qin.

Qin begot Han

Han begot Xin and the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms begot Jin

Jin begot South and North who begot Sui

Tang,

Five Dynasties,

Ten Kingdoms,

Liao,

Song,

Yuan,

Ming,

All passing on the Great Wall

Rebuilding,

Adding to it,

Strengthening it,

Lengthening it,

Through deserts,

Over mountains,

In forests,

Across rivers.

It stretched across the land.

Protecting the people for centuries.

Continuously building from the elements that came before.