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Period: 2100 BCE to 1600 BCE
Xia Dynasty
-Established by Yu the Great after the last of the five emperors gave his throne up
-First dynasty in China
-First government to emerge in ancient China
-Rulers may have controlled village leaders
-Overthrown by the Shang Dynasty
-Lived mainly through agriculture using tools
-Calendar system devised using both lunar and solar movements
-Huai great contributions to the development
-Believe in natural religion with spirits, priests, and shamans; cremation of the dead; now adapted to Buddhism -
Period: 1600 BCE to 1050 BCE
Shang Dynasty
-First true civilization of China
-Centralized government built strong cities
-Huang River was essential
-Established by King Tang after overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Jie
-One of the Three Dynasties
-Living in the lower regions of the Yellow River
-Polytheistic
-Alloy of copper and tin
-Bronze which was made into weapons.
-Military technology which includes horse-drawn chariots, writing, a calendar, and religion -
Period: 1046 BCE to 256
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty
-No law codes
-Longest ruling dynasty in Chinese dynasty history; divided into western and eastern Zhou Dynasty
-Longest-lasting of China's dynasties
-Economy based on agriculture
-Forced to flee the to the east so economy grew rapidly
-Increase in population came greater wealth
-Confucianism and Taoism
-Abstract and transcendental religion
-"Mandate of Heaven"
-Increase of production by settling farmers in lands
-Military force determined strength of rulers -
Period: 1046 BCE to 771 BCE
Western Zhou Dynasty
-First half of the Zhou dynasty
-Began King Wu of Zhou overthrew
-Successful for about 65 years and slowly lost power -
Period: 770 BCE to 221 BCE
Eastern Zhou Dynasty
-Death of King You started the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
-Iron tools were adopted
-Were defeated by Qin in 249 BC which ended the Zhou Dynasty completely -
Period: 221 BCE to 206 BCE
Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty
-Qin Shi Huang, leader of the Qin dynasty
-First unified, multinational and power-centralized state
-Held an important role in Chinese history
-Studies Legalism and Chinese Folk religion
-Created the great wall of china
-Large army of Terracotta Warriors
-Standardizing the writing script -
Period: 206 BCE to 220
Han Dynasty
-Established by Liu Bang, became emperor Gaozu
-First unified and powerful empire
-Started off damaged
-Population took a toll on the economy
-Heavy taxes and labor corvee
-Allowed to trade between China and India, or "Silk Road"
-Han era, the devlopment of Confucianism and Daoism
-Acceptance of Buddhism
-Daoism became China's major religion
-Largest Chinese historiographic work, known as the "Records of the Grand Historian"
-Silk Road was established
-Chinese boarders expanded
-Largest Empire -
Period: 265 to 420
Jin Dynasty
-Founded in AD 265 by Sima Yan
-Conquered the Eastern Wu in 280
-Capital located at Huining
-Deadly threat to the Liao
-Animal husbandry, fishing, and hunting took major portion in economy
-Advanced farm tools and techniques gradually spread
-Agriculture largely supported by iron manufacturing which could provide iron tools
-Culture of Han people gradually accepted by the Nuzhen people
-Studied buddhism, daoism, confucianism, and chinese folk religion -
Period: 581 to 618
Sui Dynasty
-Wen Di founded the Sui Dynasty
-Only had three emperors
-Was militaristic
-Short-lived imperial dynasty
-Stable source of cheap food
-Poetry and painting, important art forms
-Studied Buddhism as their religion
-Wen established himself as a Buddhist leader and the religion became a unifying point
-Grand Canal was their biggest accomplishments
-Invented paper money -
Period: 618 to 906
Tang (T'ang) Dynasty
-Li Yuan, military commander, founded and proclaimed himself emperor in 618
-A monarchy, ruled by an all-powerful emperor
-Paid attention to develop agriculture
-Successful implemented a series of reforms
-More than 40% of mural painting and sculptures in Mogao Caves created by the Tang Dynasty
-Mainly two traditional religions were Buddhism and Daoism
-Poetry and painting was their creative peaks in China
-Han Gan one of the most famous artists in Chinese history
-Invented gunpower -
Period: 960 to 1279
Song (Sung) Dynasty
-Zhao Kuangyin a military leader, and a statesman who founded the Song Dynasty
-Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing
-Controlled most of what is now Eastern China
-Another period of "golden age"
-Sustained growth in per capita income
-Increase pace of technological innovation
-Studies Buddhism
-Rich and sophisticates age
-Advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy
Printing, paper money, porcelain, tea, restaurants, gunpower, and the compass was an achievement -
Period: 1279 to 1368
Yuan Dynasty
-Founded by the Mongolian ethnic minority
-Kublai Khan who became the emperor
-Beijing made the capital
-Were nomadic people
-Lived on the grasslands
-Focused much attention on the agriculture
-Fought with the Mongol tribes of the north
-Buddhism
-Developed mathematics, medicine, calligraphy, and engineering
-Dramas, Story of the Western Wing -
Period: 1368 to
Ming Dynasty
-Also known as The Great Ming Empire
-Established by King Zhu Yuanzhang
-First emperor was Hongwu
-Came into power after a century of foreign domination
-Led by ethnic Han Chinese
-Regarded as one of China's three golden ages
-Earned a lot of money from trading goods to the Europeans
-Led China to become a major cultural power in Asia
-Great Wall of China was built in the Ming era
-Great development in printing -
Period: to
Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty
-First established by the Manchus
-Last imperial dynasty of China
-Emperor Shunzhi, one of the greatest emperors
-Dramatic increase in population
-Daoism as a popular religion
-Numerous fields including art, literature, and printing
-Unable to meet the military
-Cultural challenge of an expansive West -
Period: to
People's Republic of China
-Communist government
-Main religion Buddhism
-Extremely large country
-More than 1 billion people live in China
-Cultural values of harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety
-Four Grea Inventions: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and printing