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Silk Road
The Silk Road was made up of multiple transmission routes of trade and culture. They were central to cultural interaction through regions of Asia by connecting West and East. Before its fall in the 1450's, the Silk Road connected merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea. -
Jan 1, 1205
Mongol Conquesrt
This conquest involved the defeat of the Jin dynasty, Western Xia, the Dali Kingdom, and the Southern Song, which eventually fell in 1279. This conquest was started by the Mongol Empire with small-scale raids into Western Xia in 1205 and 1207. They established the Yuan dyanasty in China and crushed the last Song resistance, which marked the onset of all of China under the Mongol Yuan rule. This was the first time in history that all of China was conquered and ruled by a foreign ruler. -
Jan 1, 1269
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian traveller whose travels were recorded in a book called Livres des merveilles du monde. This book sparked the interest of Central Asia and China to Europeans. Marco, his father, and uncle embarked on a long journey through Asia and returned to Venice 24 years later. While Marco Polo was not the first European to reach China, he was the first to leave a detailed chronical of the experience. This book inspired European travellers like Christopher Columbus and many more. -
Jan 1, 1420
Forbidden City
The forbidden city was a Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. It served as the home and much more to emporers for over 500 years. The palace shows and represents traditional Chinese palatial structure and has influenced cultural and archetechural within East Asia as well. -
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was then succeeded by the Republic of China. This multi-cultural empire lasted about three centuries and formed the terriortorial base for the modern Chinese state. -
First Opium War
This war was fought between Britain and China over different viewpoints of diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice for foreign nationals. The demand for Chinese goods in the European market created a trade embalance. China did not have a need for Western goods because it was largely self-suffcient and Europeans were not allowed to enter China's interior. -
Second Opium War
Fought over similar issues of the First Opium War, this war was fought between the British Empire, the Second French Empire, and the Qing dynasty. -
Open Door Policy
This policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all other countries on an equal basis. Therefore, no international power would have total control over the country. This policy called upon foreign powers to refrain from interfering with any treaty port, to permit Chinese authoritites to collect tariffs on an equal basis, and to show no favors to their own nationals in the matter of harbor dues or railroad charges. -
Boxer Rebellion
This rebellion was anti-imperialist and took place in China towards the end of the Qing dynasty. The uprising took place against a background of a severe drought, and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. he Boxer Protocol provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 million taels of silver to be paid to the eight nations involved. -
Revolution of 1911
A group of revolutionaries in southern China lead a successful revolt against the Qing Dynasty, establishing in its place the Republic of China and ending the imperial system. As its losses mounted, the Qing court responded positively to a set of demands intended to transform authoritarian imperial rule into a Constitutional monarchy. Thus, the Republic of China soon came into place. -
Chiang Kai-Shek & Kuomintang
Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of the Republic of China. Under his rule, there was a major split between the Nationalists and the Communists. This eventually created a nation-wide civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists. -
Long March
The Long March was the Communist Party of China's Red Army's military retreat, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Chinese Nationalist Party army. This retreat would come to represent a significant episode in the history of the Communist Party of China. -
Japanese Invasion/Occupation
The war was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. China had economic help from Germany, the Soviet Union, and the US. After the Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor to the US, the war merged into greater conflict of WWII and became known as the Pacific War. -
Mao Tse-Tung & CCP
Mao Tse-Tung was a founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China, and was a Chinese Communist revolutionary. -
People's Republic of China & Republic of China
The People's Republic of China is currently what we know as China, while the Republic of China is known as Taiwan in modern times. -
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was the result of the succssful economic reconstruction under the Five Year Plan. The Great Leap Forward has intended to also show the Soviet Union that the Chinese economic approach was even greater than that of the Soviet Union's. -
Cultural Revolution
China's leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution. He believed that the current communist eaders were taking the country in the wrong direction. So he then called on the nation’s youth to purge the “impure” elements of Chinese society and revive the revolutionary spirit that had led to victory in the civil war 20 decades earlier and the formation of the People’s Republic of China. -
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was the leader of China. Deng led his country through far-reaching market economic reforms. As the core of the second-generation leaders, Deng shared his power with several powerful older politicians commonly known as the Eight Elders. -
Hong Kong
After being owned by the British Empire and Japan, Hong Kong was finally given to the People's Republic of China in 1984 through the Sino-British Joint Declaration. -
Tiananmen Square Incident (1989)
This "incident" had caused enforcement of martial law in certain areas of Beijing executed by force, protesters and rioters barricading the PLA troops and nearby innocent civilians shot by PLA troops, and the Democracy Movement suppressed.