# History of China

The **history of China** covers thousands of years. The earliest records are from about 1250 BC, but a few things are known about earlier times. Chinese history covers many periods and dynasties. See Ancient China for the earliest times.

## Imperial China

### Qin dynasty

The Great Wall of China
The Qin dynasty was very important in the history of China and followed the philosophy of Legalism. Its capital was at Xianyang. Under its first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, China became a powerful country, and many new things were done for the first time. A tight legal system was followed. Written language was developed. A common currency became used. The building of the Great Wall of China was started.

### Han dynasty

The Han dynasty was founded by Liu Bang after the Qin dynasty ended. During the Han dynasty, the territory of China expanded, and many advancements in science and technology took place. It was considered a golden age in Chinese history.

#### Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms (traditional Chinese: 三國; simplified Chinese: 三国; pinyin: Sānguó) was a period of history in which China was divided into the states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Eastern Han dynasty lost all power. Eventually, the Han dynasty's emperor abdicated.

#### Jin dynasty

The Jin dynasty (1115–1234), also known as the Jurchen dynasty or the Great Jin, was one of the last dynasties before the Mongol invasion (and eventual conquest) of China.

The dynasty was founded by the Wanyan (完顏 Wányán) clan of the Jurchens. They were the ancestors of the Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty some 500 years later. The Jin dynasty was founded in northern Manchuria by Wanyan Aguda (完顏阿骨打).

The name of this dynasty is sometimes written as Jinn to differentiate it from an earlier Jin dynasty (265-420) of China, whose name is spelled identically in the Roman alphabet.

The *History of Jin* recorded that Tangkuo Dingge (唐括定哥), Consort Gui (貴妃) was a Jurchen woman. She was first married to the Jurchen Jin royal Wanyan Wudai (完顏烏帶). She had affairs with her Han Chinese slave, Yan Qi'er (閻乞兒), and with Wanyan Liang (Prince Hailing). When Wanyan Liang became emperor of the Jin dynasty, he forced Dingge to have her husband Wanyan Wudai was killed by her other slaves, Ge Wen (葛溫) and Ge Lu (葛魯), and he promised that she would be named empress.

Wanyan Liang broke his promise after he got bored of her when she entered the harem. Dingge then smuggled Yan Qi'er into the palace through a trunk after first smuggling a trunk full of her clothes as a dummy and then reprimanded him for looking at her clothes so that he would not look when Yan Qi'er was smuggled in next. Dingge and Yan Qi'er had sex until a Jurchen maid. Guige (貴哥) told about them to the emperor. Dingge was strangled, and Yan Qi'er was beheaded.

#### Jin dynasty (265-420)

The Jin dynasty was an imperial house founded by Sima Yan, who ruled as Emperor Wu of Jin. In, 280 CE, the Jin dynasty conquered the Eastern Wu kingdom, ending the Three Kingdoms period, and unifying China. The Jin dynasty was divided into two parts in it's history: Eastern Jin (265-317), and Western Jin (317-420), and the imperial capital was Luoyang. The War of Eight Princes happened during the Jin dynasty.

#### Sui dynasty

The Sui dynasty (隋朝 Suí cháo; 581-618) was founded by Emperor Wen, or *Yang Jian*. Its capital was Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). The dynasty is important because it reunited Southern and Northern China and had the Grand Canal built.

### Tang dynasty

The Tang dynasty was founded by the Li (李) family, which came to power during the fall of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was interrupted for a short time by the Second Zhou dynasty (16 October 690–3 March 705), when Wu Zetian managed to claim the throne and become the first and only Chinese empress.

The capital of the Tang, Chang'an (today Xi'an), was then the largest city in the world. Many historians see the Tang dynasty as a high point in Chinese civilization and as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.

The concept of inalienable private property has grown in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese land deeds are preserved from medieval times, and there were even land deeds for the afterlife in tombs in the six dynasties.

### Song dynasty

The Song dynasty maintained the image and memory of the "universal empire" of the Han and the Tang dynasties althought it shrank.

One of the descendants of the Yan clan during the Song dynasty was Yan Zhengqing. When the Eastern Jin dynasty was set up by Han Chinese nobles fleeing south, Yan Han was among them. He was the ancestor of the Yan clan, which were related by blood to the Langye nobles with whom they married, including the Wang clan of Langye, the Yin Clan of Chen commandery and Shen clan of Wuxing. Yan Han was the 13th-generation ancestor of Yan Zhenqing.

### Yuan dynasty

The Yuan dynasty was first ruled by Genghis Khan, a Mongol leader who took control of the Song dynasty. He was considered a barbarian and uncivilized. His grandson, Kublai Khan, was one of the most famous and liked rulers of the Yuan dynasty. He opened up China to many other cultures and greatly improved life for the Chinese.

### Ming dynasty

In 1368, a rebellion led by Zhu Yuanzhang broke out in southern China and eventually overthrew the Yuan dynasty. He became Emperor Hongwu and founded the Ming dynasty in Nanjing, the Chinese capital until Emperor Yongle changed the capital to Beijing.

In the 15th century, Zheng He, along with the majority of the Ming navy, explored the Indian Ocean and brought wealth and power to the Ming Dynasty. The empire experienced a prosperous period until 1449, when the Battle of Tumu Fortress occurred. In the battle, the Mongol descendants of Yuan captured the emperor and surrounded the capital.

After the war against the Mongols, the Ming started to decline. During this time, the empire had two wars with the Japanese (the first against the Japanese pirates took place in southeastern China and the second against the armies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, which invaded Korea) and one war with the Portuguese of Macao. The wars eventually weakened the declining empire. In 1616, rebellions broke out in Manchuria and Shanxi. In 1644, the Manchus crossed the Great Wall, invaded the capital, and destroyed the Shanxi rebels.

### Qing dynasty

Horses, cattle, farms, villages, servants, slaves, homes, and wives were given by Nurhaci to Jurchens who defected like Guwalca, Hurha, and Warka, as well as to Han Chinese defectors and Mongol defectors to the Later Jin dynasty.

Jurchen chiefs were given Korean women as wives by Joseon to control them.

Scholars commissioned by Qianlong edited historical texts and made commentaries that made up fanciful and completely fictional etymologies. One of their works analyzed the Jurchen clans mentioned in the *History of Jin* and tried to match their names to the Manchu clans that still exist.

Some Han bannermen promoted to Manchu banners added "giya" to the end of their surname. The ethnic identity of the Tong family of Liaodong during the late Ming and early Qing dynasty has been debated by historians.

The Oirat Torghut Kalmyk Mongol leader Khatun Khan was jailed by Yaqub Beg as he was attacking the Oirats in Kurla and attacking Hui forces for Tuo Ming and Daud Khalifa in Ürümqi with the help of Han militia under Xu Xuegong.

## Modern era

### Republic of China

### People's Republic of China

Mao Zedong was the leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until he died in 1976. China has had problems with protests, blocking of information on the Internet; which it punishes the people for unblocking; and the censorship of social media. 1989 was notable for the controversial Tiananmen Square protests and the final years of the cold war. Since the 2008 Summer Olympics, China has hosted many major international events, and the 2022 Winter Olympics were held in Beijing, China.

In the 21st century, China became the richest country in the world in terms of GDP.

## Timeline

* 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors: 50,000 – 2000 BC
* Xia Dynasty: c. 2000 – c. 1600 BC
* Shang Dynasty (or Yin Dynasty): c. 1600 – 1046 BC
* Zhou Dynasty
	+ Western Zhou: 1046 – 771 BC
	+ Eastern Zhou
		- Spring and Autumn period: 771 – 481 BC
		- Warring States period: 481 – 221 BC
* Qin Dynasty: 221 – 206 BC
* Han Dynasty: 206 BC – 220 AD
	+ Western Han: 206 BC – 8 AD
	+ Xin Dynasty: 8 – 23 AD
* Three Kingdoms
	+ The Kingdom of Wei: 220 – 265 AD
	+ The Kingdom of Shu: 221 – 263 AD
	+ The Kingdom of Wu: 229 – 280 AD
* Jin Dynasty
	+ Western Jin: 265 – 316 AD
	+ Eastern Jin: 317 – 460 AD
* The Sixteen Kingdoms
	+ "Former Zhao" or "Han Zhao": 304 – 329 AD
	+ "Cheng Han" or "Former Shu": 306 – 347 AD
	+ Former Liang: 314 – 376 AD
	+ "Later Zhao" or "Shi Zhao": 319 – 351 AD
	+ Former Yan: 334 – 370 AD
	+ "Former Qin" or "Fu Qin": 351 – 394 AD
	+ Later Yan: 384 – 409 AD
	+ "Later Qin" or "Iau Qin": 384 – 417 AD
	+ Western Qin: 385 – 431 AD
	+ "Later Liang" or "Lu Liang": 389 – 403 AD
	+ Southern Liang: 397 – 414 AD
	+ Southern Yan: 398 – 410 AD
	+ Western Liang: 400 – 421 AD
	+ Northern Liang: 401 – 439 AD
	+ "Xia" or "Hu Xia": 407 – 431 AD
	+ "Northern Yan" or "Feng Yan": 409 – 436 AD

The countries below are not included in the sixteen kingdoms:

* + Former Chouchi: 296 – 371 AD
	+ Later Chouchi: 385 – 443 AD
	+ Dai: 315 – 376 AD
	+ Ran Wei: 350 – 352 AD
	+ Western Yan: 384 – 394 AD
	+ Zhai Wei: 388 – 392 AD
	+ Western Shu: 405 – 413 AD
	+ Yuwenbu: 302 – 344 AD
	+ Duanbu: 310 – 357 AD
	+ Tuguhun: 313 – 633 AD
* Southern and Northern Dynasties
	+ Southern Dynasties
		- Song: 420 – 479 AD
		- Chi: 479 – 502 AD
		- Liang: 502 – 557 AD
		- Chen: 557 – 589 AD
	+ Northern Dynasties
		- Northern Wei: 386 – 534 AD
		- Eastern Wei: 534 – 550 AD
		- Western Wei: 535 – 557 AD
		- Northern Chi: 550 – 557 AD
		- Northern Chou: 557 – 581 AD
* Sui Dynasty: 581 – 618 AD
* Tang Dynasty: 618 – 907 AD
	+ Tang Dynasty had been interrupted by Wu Chou: 690 – 705 AD
* Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
	+ Five Dynasties
		- Later Liang: 907 – 923 AD
		- Later Tang: 923 – 936 AD
		- Later Jin: 936 – 947 AD
		- Later Han: 947 – 950 AD
		- Later Chou: 951 – 960 AD
	+ Ten Kingdoms
		- Wu Yue: 904 – 978 AD
		- Min (changed its name to Yin at 943 AD): 909 – 945 AD
		- Jinnan: 907 – 963 AD
		- Chu: 897 – 951 AD
		- Wu: 904 – 973 AD
		- Southern Tang: 937 – 975 AD
		- Southern Han: 917 – 971 AD
		- Northern Han: 951 – 979 AD
		- Former Shu: 907 – 925 AD
		- Later Shu: 934 – 965 AD
	+ And other regimes
		- Dingnan Jiedu: 881 – 982 AD
		- Fongshang Jiedu (or Chi): 887 – 924 AD
		- Lulong Jiedu (or Yan): 897 – 913 AD
		- Chender Jiedu (or Zhao): 883 – 921 AD
		- Yiwu Jiedu: 900(?) – 922 AD and 928 – 929 AD
		- Wuping Jiedu (or Hunan Jiedu): 950 – 963 AD
		- Chinyuan Jiedu: 946 – 978 AD
		- Hexi Regime: ?
* Song Dynasty
	+ Northern Song: 960 – 1127 AD
	+ Southern Song: 1127 – 1279 AD
* Liao Dynasty (or Khitan) - 907 – 1125 AD
	+ After the Gin Dynasty ends the Liao Dynasty, Yelü Dashi, an aristocrat of Liao, rebuilded the Liao Dynasty, we call it Western Liao, also known as Kara-Khitan Khanate: 1132 – 1218 AD
* Gin Dynasty: 1115 – 1234 AD
* Western Xia: 1038 – 1227 AD
* Yuan Dynasty (Actually the Mongolia): 1279 – 1368 AD
* Ming Dynasty: 1368 – 1644 AD
* Qing Dynasty: 1636 – 1912 AD
* Republic of China: 1912 AD – now (It ruled mainland China only until 1949. It lost in the Chinese Civil War and so it now rules only Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Mazhu, the Taiping Island, and the Dongsha Island. The Republic of China after 1949 is actually Taiwan.)
* People's Republic of China: 1949 AD – now

## Other websites

* History of China: Table of Contents - Chaos Group at the University of Maryland
* Chinese Database Archived 2016-11-20 at the Wayback Machine by Academia Sinica
* Manuscript and Graphics Database Archived 2020-05-06 at the Wayback Machine by Academia Sinica
* China Chronology World History Database Archived 2010-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
* Ancient Asian World Archived 2012-05-15 at the Wayback Machine History, culture and archaeology of the ancient Asian continent. Many articles and pictures
* A universal guide for China studies Archived 2012-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
* Chinese History Forum Archived 2017-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
* History Forum Archived 2011-07-12 at the Wayback Machine - Discuss Chinese history at History Forum's Asian History Archived 2013-05-12 at the Wayback Machine section
* Chinese Siege Warfare Archived 2007-06-21 at the Wayback Machine - Mechanical Artillery and Siege Weapons of Antiquity - An Illustrated History bought to you by History Forum
* A Simplified History of China
* *Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home*  Explore the historical contents of domestic architecture during the Qing dynasty and its pertinence to Chinese heritage and historical culture.
* *Early Medieval China* Archived 2006-07-19 at the Wayback Machine is a journal devoted to academic scholarship relating to the period roughly between the end of the Han and beginning of the Tang eras.
* Cultural Revolution Propaganda Poster
* China Rediscovers its Own History 100-minute lecture on Chinese history given by renowned scholar/author Yu Ying-Shih, Emeritus Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University.
* Resources for Middle School students Archived 2008-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Readable resources for students in grades 5-9 - more than 250 links.
* China, history -Citizendium