It's finally time to give holiday thanks and - of course - submit myself before the high inquisitors pelting me with questions day and night! Topics this year ranged far and wide: 1. How wide-ranging was Genghis Khan's last command in Western Xia? 2. How do I keep my loud mouth out of trouble with the PRC? 3. How "good" were the good times of dynasties for the normies? 4. Which Khan has got it goin' on? 5. Were there plagues in ancient China? How were they dealt with? 6. Did the Mongols trigger anti-foreign conservatism in the Ming? 7. Where should we divide "Chinese" history from "non-Chinese" history? 8. Just how incompetent was the Song Dynasty? 9. Why does THoC be like it do? 10. How did the Mongols relay orders over long distances before writing? 11. How much was opium to blame versus other factors in the decline and fall of the Qing Dynasty?