History of China - An Overview

China is one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, with written records dating back 3,500 years. Turtle shells with markings reminiscent of ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to around 1,500 BC. These records suggest that the origins of Chinese civilization started with city-states that may go back more than 5,000 years. Two thousand years ago is commonly used as the date when China became unified under a large kingdom or empire. Successive dynasties developed systems of bureaucratic control that would allow the emperor to control the large territory that would become China Proper.

The forced imposition of a common system of writing by the Qin emperor (200 BC) and the development of a state ideology based on Confucianism (100 BC) marked the foundation of what we now call the Chinese civilization. Politically, China alternated between periods of political unity and disunity, and was occasionally conquered by external groups of people, some eventually being assimilated into the Chinese population. Cultural and political influences from many parts of Asia, carried by successive waves of immigration, merged to create the image of Chinese Culture today.

Prehistoric times
Ancient China histories
Xia Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
Qin Dynasty: The first Chinese Empire
Han Dynasty: A period of prosperity
Jin, the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties
Sui Dynasty: Reunification
Tang Dynasty: Return to prosperity
Song Dynasty and its northern neighbors, the Liao and the Jin
Mongols and the Yuan Dynasty
Ming Dynasty: Revival of Chinese culture
Qing Dynasty
Early 20th Century China
The People’s Republic of China
The “Great Leap Forward” and the Sino-Soviet Split
The Cultural Revolution
The Post-Mao Era
Third Generation of Leaders
Post modern independence

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