Just read: Wujing Zongyao, from Bookvika publishing

I've purchased and read a book by Bookvika publishing. This edition basically takes Wikipedia articles, selects them, edits them a little and prints them. That's perfectly legal to do so and I'm quite happy people do profit from it being legal.
However, I'd have been glad to know it beforehand, as they are quite expensive :-( I wanted to know more about a subject than just reading Wikipedia so I went to Amazon and purchased a book that contained... Wikipedia articles. My bad, as it was clearly stated on both pictures of the book itself.

Anyway, I was glad to read about it on paper and this story will have taught me something :-)
Most of what I learnt in this book is about the era of the Song dynasty. They ruled China from 960 to 1279 and offered — to my mind — the best example of a modern society in the medieval world. Under their reign the following events happened in China:

• Invention and use of several kinds of compasses for navigation.
• Invention of trebuchet catapults and black powder.
• Invention of woodblock and movable typeface printing methods.
• Fusion of Confucianism and Buddhism into Neo-Confucianism.
• Establishment of post offices throughout the country.
• Generalization of exam-based recruitment for state employees (up to 400,000 candidates per year in the 13th century!)
• Generalization of free market within local markets (no intervention from government officials).
• Rise of many powerful women (although they did not get an equal status from the law).
• Highest level of cultural exchange with India.
• Great progress in anatomy through multiple works on autopsy.
• First use of medical elements from autopsies as pieces of evidence in trials.
• First construction of canal pound locks.

All in all, China under the Song dynasty was almost at the beginning of their Renaissance more than two hundred years before Europe. And they were conquered by the Mongols. Adieu veau, vache, cochon, couvée.