China has been endowed with some of the
most picturesque surroundings in the world.
Gleaming lakes, colourful flora
and fauna and an exceedingly rich
cultural heritage; it is more
than just a beautiful country.
The roots of Chinese history are grounded
deep and go back thousands of years.
The name China comes has been taken
from the Sanskrit word ‘Cina’.
The Qin Dynasty pronounced
the word as ‘Chin’.
The Persians had their
version when they began
trading with the Chinese
through the Silk Route.
They called it ‘Cin’.
For the Greek and the Romans China was
'the land where silk came from – Seres'.
It was only in 1516 that the name
China appeared in the journals
of Barbosa, who has narrated
about his travels in the East.
Pre-History
Stone tools and use of
fire which date back
1.36 and 1.27 million
years ago respectively
have been found in the region which now
falls within the boundaries of China.
Evidence of rice agriculture
which go back to
8000 BC has been found
by the Yangtze River.
The Chinese were even familiar with
some form of writing back in 7000 BC.
The evidence to this was found in Jiahu
– proto-writing did exist back then.
The first villages began to settle in the
Yellow River Valley and the proof was found
in the archaeological excavations at Banpo
Xian which date between 5000 BC and 3000 BC.
The first culture was the Yangshao which
was followed by Longshan culture.
Xia Dynasty 2070 to 1600 BC
The Xia Dynasty is considered as one
of the first dynasties of China.
Records of Sima Qian (Father
of Chinese Historiography)
speak about an emperor
Zhuanxu or Gao Yang
who was the grandson of
Huang-Ti to be one of the
Five Emperors to have
founded the Xia Dynasty.
Later a man by the name of Yu who is believed
to have solved the flood problems of
the area was made the leader of the Xia
Dynasty’s army by the then ruling King Shun.
Yu proved to be an effective
leader of the army and managed to
defeat the Sanmiao tribe who were a
grave problem to the Xia people.
Shun was so happy that he declared
Yu the heir to the throne.
Yu was a good ruler and Xia flourished
under his rule for 45 years.
His son Qi took the reins
of the kingdom after him
but couldn’t keep up to
his father’s expectation.
Soon the Xia dynasty dwindles under its
leaders making way for the next dynasty.
Ancient China
Daoism and Confucianism
prospered in Ancient China.
Feudal era took roots and China expanded
both in terms of population and territory.
The nation now broke into several
kingdoms for the next 200 years.
Shang Dynasty (c.
1600 to 1046 BC)
One of the Shang leaders by the name
of Cheng Tang overthrew a cruel
leader Jie of the Xia Dynasty and
established the Shang Dynasty.
The Shang Dynasty was highly stable
and soon advanced both economically
and culturally like writing,
bronze casting, rituals and more.
The Records of the Grand
Historian say that there
were 31 kings who ruled the
people of Shang Dynasty.
Written records confirming the existence of
Shang Dynasty have been found at Anyang.
Shang people saw the nation progress
for 600 years but the dynasty
soon fell into the hands of King
Wu who founded the Zhou Dynasty.
Pan Geng and Wu Ding were the
greatest leaders of this dynasty.
Evidence of Wu Ding’s existence has been
found in archaeological excavations.
Zhou Dynasty (1045 to 221 BC)
The people of Zhou were settlers
in the agricultural basin of
North China which is the lower
part of the Wei River valley.
Zhou co-existed with the Shang
Dynasty for many years.
They were a peace loving
tribe and detested war.
King Wen made military
alliances with the
neighbouring chiefs and
disrupted the Shang court.
However, it was his successor
King Wu who defeated
a 700,000 huge Shang army
with just 50,000 men.
The people under the Shang king were
so unhappy that even the military
leaders did not wish to fight,
infact they took King Wu’s side.
The Shang ruler committed
suicide in his palace.
Wu did not take the throne
as the leader, instead
let their nominated ruler
rule the city of Youli.
Wu’s brothers kept a strict
vigilance over Youli.
Wu returned after some time and his son
King Cheng took over the Zhou dynasty.
There was a series of rebellion
that followed in his rule because
Cheng’s uncle also his regent,
wanted to usurp the throne.
The young king did manage to take over
his responsibilities after seven years.
Art and culture flourished,
trade expanded in the Zhou
period and Confucianism, Daoism
and Legalism were developed.
Between 476 and 221 BC China
was in a state of war.
This period is known as
Warring States – seven
leaders fought to unite
and control China.
King Nan was the last ruler of Zhou.
He was killed in a battle and his end
marked the beginning of Qin Dynasty.
Imperial China
Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 BC)
The name “China” has been taken
from the word “Qin” or “Ch’in”.
This dynasty was very short-lived but is an
important period in the history of China.
It was the first time that
the title Emperor was used
by a leader in China.Legalism
flourished in this period
and the Emperor Shi Huangdi was
the one who laid the foundations
of the Great Wall of China and
built the Terracotta Army.
But the emperor also restricted
education to masses, his thought was
to keep them illiterate as uneducated
people are easy to control.
Huangdi’s son Hu Hai was weak and
the people were quick to revolt.
The royal people were slain in Xianyang
and Qin Dynasty came to an end.
The nation erupted with battles and
slowly the most powerful took control.
The Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
Liu Bang founded the Han Dynasty.
The dynasty is the longest
imperial dynasty.
Paper was found during the time of Han
Dynasty by a eunuch named Cai Lun.
Paper was mostly used to wrap
fish instead of writing.
Wooden tablets and bamboo slips were
used to document their records.
Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian
also belonged to the Han Dynasty.
Another important development
of this dynasty was
the Silk Road which helped
in the growth of trade.
With new roads open for merchants to trade
with China, the nation grew and prospered.
When emperor’s left without any successors
there was a situation of chaos in
China and this is exactly what happened
in the last few years of Han period.
Combined with this mayhem
were floods, tremors and
plagues which further pulled
the Han to their end.
Dong Zhou who was a warlord took
control over the capital in
190 AD and put Liu Xie (a Han
Dynasty member) on the throne.
Xie was just a child and
Zhou controlled the power.
Xie gave up the throne in 220 AD
and marked the end of Han Dynasty.
Dark Ages in China (220 to 581)
After the Han Dynasty, China was left
in a state of disorder and pandemonium.
Political instability in the
region encouraged the foreigners
to take control of the regions
that were less powerful.
Northern China was occupied
by many foreign tribes while
South China was controlled
by the Chinese leaders.
Nevertheless, this period shouldn’t
be mistaken for under-development.
There was political volatility
and lack of harmony but when it
came to culture, there was a lot
of development in these times.
China had become a land
of multi-culture with
several contributions
from the foreigners.
Medieval China
Sui Dynasty (581 to 618)
Even though the Sui Dynasty
lasted just two kings long,
they had managed to unite
Northern and Southern China.
The two emperors were
Wen-ti and his son Yang-ti.
Their military system was strong which
is why they were able to control China.
The nation went through land
reforms so smaller farmers did
not have to face the atrocities
of the richer farmers.
Kings of the Sui Dynasty
joined the Yellow and
Yangtze Rivers and
built the Grand Canal.
The Sui were ambitious but their
military campaigns failed
which led to the loss of the
Kings prestige and importance.
Yang-ti was assassinated
by his own generals
and the kingdom was
taken by Li Yuan.
The Tang Dynasty (618 to 907)
Li Yuan established the
Tang Dynasty but Taizong
was the one who brought
reforms in the dynasty.
China went through more
transformations when Wu
Zetian who was a female ruler
took control of China.
Her successor Xuanzong
further strengthened China.
Some of the known developments
during this period were
gas stoves, gun powder, air
conditioning and printing.
Besides this there were cultural
and technological advances.
The latter rulers of the
dynasty indulged in
their own pleasures and
neglected their work.
What followed was a divided China – The
Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
It was only later that the
Song Dynasty took control.
The Song Dynasty (960 to 1297)
Zhou Kuangyin founded the Song Dynasty,
he was an important general in
the Tang Dynasty and gained enough
power to become the Emperor of China.
He ruled by the name of Taizu and was
succeeded by his brother Taizong.
There was stability during their rule.
The Khitan Liao Dynasty and
Western Xis Dynasty in north-east
and north-west respectively
co-existed with the Song.
The downfall of the Song Dynasty was
caused because of the Mongol attacks.
Mongol Rule Yuan Dynasty (1279 to 1368)
The Song period came to
an end when Kublai Khan
the grandson of Genghis
Khan conquered China.
He founded the Yuan Dynasty and
Dadu what is presently Beijing.
Famous traveller Marco Polo
made several visits to China
and mentioned about the
grandeur of China in his book.
The Yuan ruled for several
years contributing
to technological and
cultural development.
The latter Yuan rulers
could not maintain their
influence on their people and
rivalries became common.
Famine, flood and drought added to this
situation and fell to the Ming Dynasty.
Final Dynasties
Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644)
The founder of Ming Dynasty
was Zhu Yuanzhang.
Beijing and Nanjing became the
important centres under his rule.
Ming Dynasty greatly indulged in making
and repairing the Great Wall of China.
Even the Forbidden City was
in its highest magnificence.
The Ming Dynasty discontinued
all types of maritime
and banned the Chinese
from sailing abroad.
The Shaanxi earthquake is was a big
hit to the population of the Ming.
The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
The Manchus founded the Ming
Dynasty and took over China.
Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong were the
most famous emperors of this period.
China had the largest economy in the
world and was also the largest empire.
The nation suffered hits
from the foreign invaders
– Britain, Germany,
Russia, Japan and France.
China had become a semi-imperial
country after the Opium War in 1840.
This period also saw the fierce Yihetuan
Movement or the Boxer Rebellion.
The rebellion was anti-colonial,
anti-Christian and anti-foreign movement.
The officials of China were split into
two – one section supported the Boxers
and was led by Yikuang, Prince Qing and
the others supported the foreigners.
The Boxer Protocol signed on
September 7, 1901 between eight
nation alliance and Qing
Empire ended this rebellion.
The Republic of China Era (1912 to 1949)
Sun Yat-sen was a revolutionist and
he ended the rule of Qing Dynasty.
He led the Republican Revolution of 1911.
Sun was soon forced to
hand over the power to
Yuan Shikai who was in
charge of the New Army.
Yuan soon died in 1916 and China
was again left in despair.
People’s Republic of China (1949 - Present)
War and revolts continued in China.
On October 1, 1949 Mao
Zedong took over China
and founded the People’s
Republic of China.
Today the Communist Party
of China runs the country.
It is one of the strongest and most
powerful economies in the world.
China has trotted
thousands of years while
establishing a strong cultural
history for its people.
