TIME-LINE OF CHINESE HISTORY
Before 2000 BCE
Agriculture began in the area between the Huang He (hwahng-HUH) or
Yellow River and the Yangzi (yang-zuh) River . Yellow River’s floods could
be a blessing or a curse. It is nicknamed “China’s Sorrow”. A flood in 1887
killed nearly a million people.
2000 BCE Xia Dynasty
Xia (shyah) Dynasty: The existence of the dynasty is disputed since evidence is unclear. The legend
is that the leader was an engineer who controlled the floods
1750 BCE-1027 BCE Shang Dynasty
Shang (shahng) Dynasty:
 Pioneered the production of silk cloth
 Sharp division of social classes, society dominated by a warrior aristocracy
 Cities were surrounded by massive walls of pounded earth (stone was in short supply),
largest capital city Anyang was surrounded by a wall 30 feet high and 60 feet wide that
enclosed 4 square miles, estimated to have taken 10,000 workers 18 years to complete
(Lockard, p. 86)
 Common people lived in agricultural villages outside the cities
 Kingship glorified as the “indispensable intermediary between the people and the gods”
(Bulliet p. 41), kings and queens were buried with numerous valuable items-jade carvings,
bronze objects, weapons, pottery, cowry shells and sacrificed humans, dogs and horses
harnessed to chariots
 Oracle bones and veneration of ancestors aspects of belief system
 Earliest evidence of writing which is a pictographic script and ideographs and logographs
(Upshur, p. 67, Lockard p. 89-91); a common writing system, though very complicated,
helped to unite people who spoke many different languages-600 dialects of Chinese are still
spoken today-practically no link between the written and spoken language
1027 BCE-221BCE Zhou Dynasty
Zhou (joe) Dynasty
 Introduced idea of Mandate of Heaven as justification for their rule,i.e, rulers had the
support of the supernatural realm (heaven) so long as conditions were good but could
be overthrown if he ruled ineffectively, this idea was used to justify changes in rulers
up to the 20th century
 Ruled a much larger area than the Shang Dynasty by instituting a feudal system of
control
 Begins to view Chinese political history as a dynastic cycle rather than linear
progression, dynastic view shaped Chinese thinking for 2500 years
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Innovations include: crossbow and cast iron which were not developed in Europe
until the Middle Ages, the use of coin money, building roads and canals (some of the
canals are still in use) for trade
Confucius
Daoism, main ideas attributed to Laozi (low-zuh)
Legalism, developed during the Qin Dynasty by Li Si (luh suh)
221 BCE-202BCE Qin Dynasty
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Qin (chin) Dynasty
Founder Shi Huangdi (shee wahng-dee) adopted Legalism and imposed a very harsh
rule
Some scholars argue that the name “China” is derived from “Qin”
Double China’s size, established centralized imperial rule
Began constructing the Great Wall
Burned books that were not “practical”, practical topics included medicine, farming,
fortune-telling and unneeded topics included philosophy, ethics, literature, history
Buried alive 460 scholars who were critical of his reign
Standardized law, weights and measures, coins, axle lengths of carts, writing symbols
“Pointed China in the direction of political and cultural unity, and with some periods
of interruption, China has remained politically and culturally unified to the present
day” (Bentley p. 192)
Lavish tomb built as an underground palace by some 700,000 drafted workers; the
ceiling featured paintings of stars and planets and a vast map of his realm with
flowing mercury representing rivers and seas decorated the floors, an “army” of
15,000 terra-cotta soldiers along with weapons, horses, etc, each individually made,
protected his tomb
202 BCE-220 CE Han Dynasty
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Han Dynasty
The Han “tempered Legalist government with a Confucianism revised to serve a
large, centralized political entity” (Bulliet p. 143)
Population increased to 60 million
Set up schools to train civil servants including training in Confucianism, open to all
but in reality only landowners could afford to educate their sons, this civil service
system lasted until 1912
Developed the watermill long before it appeared in Europe
Continued to add to the road and canal system
Were the first to make paper
Developed a horse collar that allowed horses to pull much heavier loads than
European horses could
Chinese people today refer to themselves ethnically as “Han”
Trade expanded along the Silk Road
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Produced the highest quality silk, techniques for silk production was a closely
guarded state secret
Rigging mechanism allowed ships to sail into the wind for the first time
After the fall of the Han Dynasty, China was divided into three states until 581 CE
581-618 Sui Dynasty
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Sui (sway) Dynasty
Short-lived dynasty, greatest accomplishment was the completion of the 1,000 mile
Grand Canal connecting the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
Tens of thousands of men and women peasants worked for five years to complete the
Grand Canal and as many as half died in the process
Grand Canal united the economies of northern and southern China and served as the
principal conduit for internal trade until the railroad in the 20th century, the canal is
still in use today
618-907 Tang Dynasty
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Tang (Tahng) Dynasty
Strengthened the central government
Expanded the systems of roads and canals, maintained inns, postal stations, and
stables along the main routes
Revived the civil service education and exams for service in the government
After the fall of the Tang, disunity until 960
960-1279 Song Dynasty
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Song (Sung) Dynasty
One of three states that emerged after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, located in central
China
Accomplishments/innovations of the Tang and Song Dynasties included the
following: population increased to about 100 million with at least 5 cities with
population of over 1 million each; used zero, negative numbers and fractions;
invented the use of paper money; modified the magnetic compass to use in sailing for
navigation; invented and used gunpowder; invented printing and the use of movable
type; produced high-quality porcelain; developed the practice of foot-binding
(Stearns, p. 280); Chinese doctors inoculated against smallpox
1279-1368 Yuan Dynasty
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Yuan (yoo-AHN) Dynasty
Mongol reign of Kubilai Khan, the first foreigner to rule the whole country
The China of Marco Polo who reported on the grandeur of the city of Hangzhou, the
burning of black stones (coal) for heat, the regular baths of the people (medieval
Europeans seldom if ever bathed)
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United China for the first time in 300 years
Population may have shrunk by as much as 40% during Mongol rule
Moved the capital to present-day Beijing
By protecting the Silk Road, the Mongols “fostered networks for the exchange of not
only goods but also ideas and technology between the East and the West. During the
Mongol era Chinese inventions like gunpowder, printing, the blast furnace for cast
iron, silk-making machinery, paper money, and playing cards moved westward, as
did many medical discoveries” (Lockard, p. 311)
1368-1644 Ming Dynasty
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Voyages of Zheng He (JEHNG HUH) from 1405 to 1433; initial fleet contained 62
ships that carried 28,000 people, some of the ships were more than 400 feet long and
had 9 masts nearly 500 feet high (Bulliet p. 380)
Popular export items included china, silk, furniture, lacquered screens, tea while the
imported very little, Chinese exports were paid for with silver
Division of labor and assembly lines were used in the production of porcelain
Soochow, China’s most populous city, had over 2 million
Enjoyed the highest living standard and lowest mortality rates of anywhere in the
world, population doubled to between 160-180 million
Maize, sweet potatoes and peanuts from the new world became part of the diet
Saw themselves as the Middle Kingdom, superior to all other civilization
After Zheng He, voyages were halted and China turned inward
Restored and expanded the Great Wall
1644-1911 Qing Dynasty
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Qing (ching) Dynasty
1793 letter from Emperor Qianlong to King George III of Britain informs the king
that the Chinese have no use for their “strange or ingenious objects, nor do we need
any more of your country’s manufactures”
Opium War (Stearns p. 633, Bentley p. 893);1839-1842 & 1856-1860 Britain and
other Western powers ship opium into China even after China outlawed the opium
trade in 1729, Chinese government takes steps to stop opium trade (20,000 chests of
opium were destroyed worth millions of dollars) and Britain declares war and results
in the “unequal treaties” in which gave Britain Hong Kong, France gained Vietnam,
China also lost Korea and Burma as tributary states, open five ports for British trade
(later increased to 90) which were under the effective control of foreign powers,
granted British and other foreigners extraterritoriality, legalized the opium trade, set
fixed tariffs so that China no longer controlled its own economic policy, Chinese
were forced to pay the war costs, led to the formation of international settlements or
zones in major Chinese cities set aside for foreigners with foreign government in
which no Chinese were allowed
Taiping (tie-PING, “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace”) Rebellion, 18501864,rebellion led by a Chinese Christian who considered himself commissioned by
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God to drive the Qing out of China, conflict left China in shambles, 20-30 million had
been killed, Qing finally victorious with Western help and even deeper in debt to the
West
Boxer Rebellion, 1900, Chinese militia units called themselves the Society of
Righteous and Harmonious Fists attempt to drive out the foreigners and have support
from the Qing but the British, Americans, French and others unite to rout the Boxers,
occupy Beijing and permit foreign military forces to stay in China, Europeans talk
openly of dismantling China
1912-1949 Warlords, Nationalists, and Communists
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The Republic of China
May 4th Movement, Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI gave Japan territory in
China that had been claimed be Germany and lead to demonstrations by students,
workers, manufacturers, professionals protesting the treaty and turning many Chinese
away from Western ideas
Civil War, conflict between the government of Chiang Kaishek and the Communists,
Mao Zedong emerges as the leader of the Communists, Civil War is suspended to
combat the invading Japanese and it resumes after WWII
The Long March, Communists retreat to escape the Nationalists forces of Chiang
Kaishek in 1935, 80,000 to 100,000 soldiers and followers go on a 6,000 mile march
on “foot and horseback through eleven provinces. During the one-year venture, the
Communists crossed eighteen mountain ranges, forded twenty-four rivers, and
slogged through swamps, averaging 17 miles a day; the lost 90% of their people by
either death or desertion: (Lockard p. 757), Long March gained mythical status
among Communists and solidified Mao Zedong’s role as the leader of the
Communists Party
Mao Zedong, modifies Marxist ideology to focus on the peasants rather then
industrial workers as the foundation of the Communists Party in China
Japan invades China in 1937, Japan invades China and occupies major cities in north
China and the coast, war with Japan is particularly violent and undermines Chiang’s
government as it is unable to push the Japanese out of China while allowing the
Communists to recruit support for the revolution and mount guerrilla warfare to
harass the Japanese
1949-Present Communists China
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People’s Republic of China, established in October 1949 on mainland China
Taiwan, island off of mainland China to which Chiang’s Nationalist supporters fled
and which the United States recognized as the only legal representative of the
Chinese people and supported its occupation of China’s seat on the UN Security
Council as the Republic of China, People’s Republic of China recognized by the
United States in 1979
First Five-Year Plan 1953-1958
Great Leap Forward 1958-1962
Cultural Revolution 1966-1976
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Deng Xiaoping (Duhng show-pihng)
Four Modernizations
Tiananmen Square 1989
Transfer of Hong Kong
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