Chinese Dynasty Overview
Shang to Qing
AP World History
Shang (1700 - 1027 BCE)
• First recorded Dynasty (Xia no written records)
• Ruled by aristocracy
• First Chinese cities, center of
court life
• Developed writing, worked
with bronze, created silk
• Honored ancestors, used
oracle bones
• Shang tyrant emperor
overthrown
Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE)
• Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty
• Beginning of Mandate of Heaven
• Early: Feudal system, lords had total
authority
• Later: City-states
• Built roads, expanded trade, made
agricultural advancements
Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE)
• Taoism and Confucianism introduced
• Decline: Inefficient rulers can’t control
fighting between city-states
• Period of Warring States
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• Qin She Huanshi - only
emperor
• Adopted Legalism
• Developed highly
centralized gov’t with
bureaucratic administration
• Standardized currency,
language, measurements,
laws
• Built first Great Wall
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• Brutal ruler executed dissenters,
burned books
• Many enemies,
dynasty falls after his
death
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• Legalism replaced by Confucianism
• Introduced civil service examination
(scholar gentry)
• Silk Roads
developed,
opens trade
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• Buddhism introduced, paper invented
• Great increase in population, land
holdings
Decline
• Nomadic raiders
• Corruption, weak leaders
• Collapse of bureaucracy
221 - 581 (CE)
• Warlords control china - no centralized
gov’t
• Non-Chinese nomads control much of
China
• Buddhism becomes popular Confucianism failed
Sui (581 - 618 CE)
• Completed Grand
Canal
• High taxes, forced
labor
• Military failures
(couldn’t conquer
Korea)
• Assassination ends
dynasty
Tang (618 - 907 CE)
• High point of Chinese culture
• Rebuilt bureaucracy
– Examination system
– Confucian education
– Limited social mobility
• Buddhism supported, then oppressed
• Invention of movable print, porcelain,
gun powder
Tang (618 - 907 CE)
• Wu Zetian - Only Empress in Chinese
history
Decline
• Weak emperors, nomadic incursions,
economic difficulties
• Warlords take control
Song (969 - 1279 CE)
• Large centralized bureaucracy (NeoConfucian)
• Mercantile class grows, increased trade
• Magnetic compass, growing sea power
• Weak military
Yuan (1279 - 1368 CE)
• Mongol Khubilai Khan conquers China
• Economic stability and prosperity
• China more open to trade and travel (Marco
Polo)
• Ignored Chinese traditions, replaced
bureaucrats with non-Chinese
• Unsuccessful attacks on Japan, corruption
weakens dynasty
• Peasant rebellion ends Yuan
Ming (1368 - 1644 CE)
• Tried to erase all signs of Mongols
• Reinstated civil service, Confucian
scholars
• Eunuchs play growing role (Zheng He) resented by scholar gentry
• Rebuilt and extended Great Wall
• Collapsed after famines and riots
Qing (1644 - 1911 CE)
• Manchus (from Manchuria) move south
• Take Korea, Japan, then China
• Manchus hold top posts, but relied upon
scholar gentry
• “Son of Heaven” concept emphasized
• Would be final Chinese Dynasty
• Eventually would be weakened by
European / American interventions
Chinese Dynasty Song
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
shang, joe, chin, hahn
Sui, Tang, Song
Sui, Tang, Song
sway, tang, soong
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
yooan, ming, ching, Republic
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
mou dzu dong