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.