The history of China

The history of China

The original places of Chinese civilization are the well-known Yangtze River. The footprint of Chinese people along these two rivers shows the valuable history of this aged country. Legends about Pangu, the earliest ancestor of Chinese people, was taken as the creator of the universe, and a succession of legendary sage-emperors and culture heroes who taught the ancient Chinese to communicate and to find sustenance, clothing, and shelter.

Chinese History

Xia: The first prehistoric dynasty is said to be Xia from about the twenty-first to the sixteenth century B.C. It was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the Xia. Xia period marked an evolutionary stage between the late neolithic cultures and the typical Chinese urban civilization of the Shang dynasty.

 

Shang: Shang Dynasty is believed to be created by a a rebel leader who overthrew the last Xia ruler. Oracle bones with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been radiocarbon dated to as early as 1500 BC.Archaeological findings providing evidence for the existence of the Shang dynasty, c. 1600–1046 BC, are divided into two sets. The first set, from the earlier Shang period, comes from sources at Erligang, Zhengzhou, and Shangcheng. The second set, from the later Shang or Yin  period, is at Anyang, in modern-day Henan, which has been confirmed as the last of the Shang's nine capitals .

 

Zhou: The Zhou Dynasty began to bow to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC. The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC to approximately 256 BC) was the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty began to emerge in the Yellow River valley, overrunning the territory of the Shang. The Zhou appeared to have begun their rule under a semi-feudal system. The Zhou lived west of the Shang, and the Zhou leader had been appointed Western Protector by the Shang.

 

Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period: The ability of the Zhou to control its regional lords lessened, and the kingdom eventually broke apart into smaller states, beginning in the Spring and Autumn Period and reaching full expression in the Warring States period.

Chinese History

Qin: Qin Dynasty is a mark of Chinese history. The Qin Dynasty was the dynasty that redefined China. This was the first time outside forces acknowledged the existance of another race of people, and aptly named the nation China after the then current dynasty, the Qin. Historians often refer to the period from Qin dynasty to the end of Qing dynasty as Imperial China. Though the unified reign of the First Qin Emperor lasted only 12 years, he managed to subdue great parts of what constitutes the core of the Han Chinese homeland and to unite them under a tightly centralized Legalist government seated at Xianyang (close to modern Xi'an). 

 

Han: Founder by the famous emperor Liu Bang in 206 B.C., Han Dynasty was the first dynasty to embrace the philosophy of Confucianism,The Han dynasty was founded by Liu Bang, who emerged victorious in the Chu–Han Contention that followed the fall of the Qin dynasty. A golden age in Chinese history, the Han dynasty's long period of stability and prosperity consolidated the foundation of China as a unified state under a central imperial bureaucracy, which was to last intermittently for most of the next two millennia.

 

Three Kingdoms Period: This is a period of civil wars. Three kingdoms are Wei, Shu, Wu which had overlapping reigns during the period A.D. 220-80). Although this saturation ended in a new dynasty Jin,By the 2nd century, the empire declined amidst land acquisitions, invasions, and feuding between consort clans and eunuchs. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in AD 184, ushering in an era of warlords. In the ensuing turmoil, three states tried to gain predominance in the period of the Three Kingdoms.

 

Sui: The Sui brought China together again and set up many institutions that were to be adopted by their successors, The short-lived Sui dynasty was a pivotal period in Chinese history. Founded by Emperor Wen in 581 in succession of the Northern Zhou, the Sui went on to conquer the Southern Chen in 589 to reunify China, ending three centuries of political division. The Sui pioneered many new institutions, including the government system of Three Departments and Six Ministries, imperial examinations for selecting officials from commoners, while improved on the systems of fubing system of the army conscription and the Equal-field system of land distributions. 

 

Tang: Tang Dynasty is the most prosperous period and the culture in this time has a significant influence to the modern China. Buddhism became the predominant religion and was adopted by the imperial family and many of the common people. Most Chinese regard the Tang dynasty (618–907) as the high point of Imperial China, both politically and culturally. The empire reached its greatest size prior to the Manchu Qing dynasty, becoming the center of an East Asian world linked by religion, script, and many economic and political institutions. 

 

Song: In Song Dynasty, Kaifeng became the capital and the center of the country. The economy in this time still kept prosperous since Tang Dynasty.In 960, the Song dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu, with its capital established in Kaifeng (also known as Bianjing).

 

Yuan: Yuan Dynasty was found by a Mongolian Genghis Khan, the famous figure not only in China, but also all over the world. It was also the first dynasty created by the Chinese ethnic roups.The Yuan dynasty was formally proclaimed in 1271, when the Great Khan of Mongol, Kublai Khan, one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, assumed the additional title of the Emperor of China, and considered his inherited part of the Mongol Empire as a Chinese dynasty.

 

Ming: Throughout the Yuan Dynasty, which lasted less than a century, there was relatively strong sentiment among the populace against the Mongol rule. The frequent natural disasters since the 1340s finally led to peasant revolts. The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang in 1368, who proclaimed himself as the Hongwu Emperor. The capital was initially set at Nanjing, and was later moved to Beijing from Yongle Emperor's reign onward.

 

Qing: Qing is the last Chinese dynasty in history. It was also a mark of the beginning of modern China. The Qing Dynasty was established by the Manchu People (Nuzhen People). The Qing dynasty (1644–1911) was the last imperial dynasty in China. Founded by the Manchus, it was the second conquest dynasty to rule the entire territory of China and its people. The Manchus were formerly known as Jurchens, residing in the northeastern part of the Ming territory outside the Great Wall. 

Republic of China: Since the Opium War in 1840, China experienced a history tougher than any time in the past. During these days,frustrated by the Qing court's resistance to reform and by China's weakness, young officials, military officers, and students began to advocate the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the creation of a republic. They were inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen. A revolutionary military uprising, the Wuchang Uprising, began on 10 October 1911, in Wuhan. The provisional government of the Republic of China was formed in Nanjing on 12 March 1912. The Xinhai Revolution ended 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China. the famous leader is Sun Yet-sen stranded on the historic stage. Other historical figures such as Yuan Shikai and Chiang Kai Shek also influenced the Republic of China deeply.

 

People’s Republic of China: After the found of People’s Republic of China since 1949, another powerful nation had begun its development in all aspects. The founder Mao tse-tung built a good foundation for the modern China.The PRC was shaped by a series of campaigns and five-year plans. The economic and social plan known as the Great Leap Forward caused an estimated 45 million deaths. Mao's government carried out mass executions of landowners, instituted collectivisation and implemented the Laogai camp system. Execution, deaths from forced labor and other atrocities resulted in millions of deaths under Mao. In 1966 Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, which continued until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in Chinese society.

 

Nowadays: At the moment the China in today become a major country in the world in economic, social, industrial as well as agricultural aspects.