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In the 1100s, a powerful khan named Temugin began to conquer his rivals and unite the Mongol clans all over China.
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In the 1200s, a powerful and brutal miltiary force emerged called the Mongols. They had superior tatics and weaponary.
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Temujin takes the title Genghis Khan, which means "Universal Ruler".
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Genghis Khan led the Mongols to capture much of Asia. In the fact, the Mongols learned the art of seige warfare and the use of gun powder.
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Genghis Khan dies. After the death of Genghis Khan, the Mongols continue to capture and control much of China and Central Asia.
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Kublai Khan begins his journey to start conquering all of China.
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The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkic khanate that was established in 1236 and formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire.
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Kublai Khan becomes the Great Khan of the Mongols and most of China as well.
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The Yuan Emperor sends Marco Polo on several missions, traveling in and around China.
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The last Song ruler, Emperor Bing is defeated at the Battle of Yeman.
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Kublai Khna conquered China and founded the Yuan dynasty.
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Kublai Khan dies. After his death, several new powers struggles erupted over who would get the throne.
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Marco Polo and his father return home to Venice, after many years traveling in China.
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During a battle, Marco Polo was captured during the fight and imprisoned.
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The Black Death is a paratisic disease that wiped out much of Eurpore, but now by the 1300s is now spreading to parts of Asia and the Middle East.
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Many Chinese factions rebell againt the Yuan dynasty because of all the taxes and strict rules the government is putting on the people.
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A rebel army defeated the Mongols and they fled to Manchuria, thus ending the Yuan dynasty.
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A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overhtrew the Mongols. He then got the name Hongwu meaning "Vastly Martial". He founded the Ming dynasty.
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In 1398, the "Vastly Martial" Hongwu died.
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Hongwu son, Yongle becomes the new emperor. In the process he moves the new capital to now present day Beijing.
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Zheng He (Chinese Muslim admiral) led seven voyages around the Indian Ocean as far as Africa.
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The new Ming emperor stopped the overseas voyages because it was highly expesive, and all the resourcese that they used on these voyages could be have been used for better things for China.
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The Ming dynasty heavily restricted foreign trade and travel to limit outside contacts.
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In the 1500s, finally Eurpoean trader and Christian missonaries arrived in China
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In the late 1500s, the Ming dynasty started to decline.
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With the Europeans came new crops from the Americas. They included corn, sweet potatoes and many others.
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Matteo Ricci, an Italian priest, arrived in China.
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New probelms arose in China during the 1600s. High taxes, crop failures all led to famine and hardships. Thus rebellions borke out.
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The Ming dynasty continued to gain control over Korea, Mongolia, and Central and Southeast Asia.
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Mancha (people to the northwest in Manchuria) swept throught Beijing and took the capital. The last Ming emperor killed himself to avoid capture. Thus, a new dynasty arose, the Qings
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Till 1911, the Qing dynasty ruled China. This period of time was prosperous for them, and they grew to their biggest size ever.
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Through 1661-1772 Kangxi ruled. He reduced the taxes for peasants and expanded the empire into parts of Central Asiz.
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After his grandfather, Qianlong ruled China. He did his far share of conquering by conquering Taiwan, Mongolia, and Tibet.
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In China during one year their population boomed by more than 300 million people.
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British officer Lord George Macartney came to China to discuss opening China's closed trade society.
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In the 1800s uropean efforts to open China's closed society would eventually topple the Qing dynasty- and imperial rule.
