THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL CHINESE CIVILIZATION
8,500 – 6,500 BCE
8,000 – 4,000 BCE
6500 BCE
5000 – 2000 BCE
2200 – 1800 BCE
1800 – 1122 BCE
1800 – 1122 BCE
1800 – 1122 BCE
1122 – 221 BCE
1122 – 770 BCE
770 – 256 BCE
722 – 481 BCE
681 BCE
600 BCE
551 – 220 BCE
403 – 222 BCE
5th Century BCE
5th Century BCE
256 BCE
247 – 210 BCE
247 – 210 BCE
202 BCE – 9 CE
202 BCE – 9 CE
202 BCE – 9 CE
202 BCE – 9 CE
202 BCE – 9 CE
202 BCE – 9 CE
201 BCE
141 – 87 BCE
141 – 87 BCE
1st Century BCE
1st Century BCE
1st Century BCE
73 BCE
9 – 23 CE
23 – 220 CE
23 – 220 CE
88 – 220 CE
88 – 220 CE
220 – 589 CE
220 – 589 CE
220 – 589 CE
220 – 589 CE
300 – 700 CE
300 – 700 CE
Domestication of cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, and goats
Transition to sedentary agriculture in Yellow River area; silk weaving begins
Rice cultivation imported from SE Asia; intensive landscaping begins
Yangshao Neolithic village culture; cultivation of millet, soybeans
Legendary Xia Dynasty; Chinese traditions arise, flood control begins
Shang Dynasty of Indo-Aryan warrior kings, aristocrats; chariot warfare
Ideographic writing develops as part of religious divination; bronze castings
Ancestor worship; society patriarchal, patrilineal; nobles, commoners, slaves
Zhou Dynasty replaces Shang Dynasty; Mandate of Heaven justifies revolt
Zhou kings simply strongest of noble families; towns largely military camps
Rise of regional states; Zhou lose centralized control; vassalage common
Spring and Autumn Period: Constant warfare reduces Zhou to figurehead
Increasing pressure on northern, western borders by nomads
Iron metallurgy; cities become commercial, industrial centers; coins circulate
Age of 100 Philosophers (Confucius, Lao Tze, Mencius, Legalists)
Warring States Period: civil war between leading families to control Zhou
Rise of Qin state with large, well-trained army; uses Legalist philosophy
Sunzi writes The Art of War; massed infantry, cavalry replace chariots
Qin deposes last Zhou emperor; civil war devastates nobles, traditions
Shi Huangdi proclaimed first emperor; abolishes feudalism, centralizes rule
Qin standardizes weights, systems; Great Wall completed; roads built
Han Dynasty begins; development of horse collar, water mill, rudder
Silk Road established; nomads put pressure on border; trade with nomads
Han expands free peasant holdings; limits power of aristocrats
Han Dynasty begins to settle Chinese peasants south of Yangzte River
Rise of Shi, Confucian trained civil servants; examination system begins
Merchant class arises but socially rated lower than peasants
Xiong-nu nomads attack; emperor buys off nomads with tribute
Han Wu Di emperor expands borders in all directions; Golden Age of China
State control of grain supply; state monopolies on iron, salt, and liquor.
Scholar-gentry, landed elite become dominant class, replace Shi as leaders
Increasing conservatism in society; women, commoners lose status
Chang-an, the capital has more than 200,000 inhabitants; many cities
Defeat of nomadic alliance; Xiong-nu forced to migrate to west
Rule of Wang Mang temporarily overthrows Han; seeks reforms but fails
Restoration of Han Dynasty but little innovation or brilliance of earlier Han
Invention of paper, print, compass, porcelain; trade with Rome, Persia
Han decline begins; constant pressures from nomads; rise of secret societies
Rule by great families; local nobles select men for bureaucratic appointment
Period of disunion; mass migrations, constant invasions; population declines
Population assimilates non-Chinese, nomads; spreads Chinese culture
Militia system of farmer-soldiers replaces regular army; troops self-sufficient
Land cultivation increased; states own all land;
Spread of Buddhism; Confucians react, become largely xenophobic
Neo-Daoism blends with Confucianism; Religious Daoism is folk religion