Chinese Historical Periods

Ming Dynasty: Rebuilding the Great Wall

1968 BCE

The Great Wall of China was almost completely rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty. Although previous dynasties built the original wall from stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials; it had to be rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced. The Ming Dynasty spent nearly 80 years revamping the Great Wall. Most of the wall that stands today was completed by the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty: Art

1968 BCE

Art flourished during the Ming Dynasty. This included literature, painting, music, poetry, and porcelain. The Ming Dynasty is also famous for its unique blue and white porcelain vases. These beautiful porcelain vases where a popular trade item and often held traditional patterns such as the dragon-cloud motif.

Qing Dynasty: The Last Emperor

1908 BCE

In 1908, Puyi became the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He was three years old when he took reign. Three years after that, Puyi was forced to abdicate which ended the 267 year reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Qing Dynasty: The Opium Wars

1839 BCE

The Opium Wars were two wars fought over the trade into China from foreign countries. The main conflict was between the British and China over the increased Opium imports into China. There were over 20,000 chests of opium destroyed.

Yuan Dynasty:The Mongol Invasion

1279 BCE

Genghis Khans victory over the Song empire and Jin empire gave the Mongol rulers the base of man power and technology.

Yuan Dynasty:Ogedei Khan

1241 BCE

Ogedei Khan was said to be the ruler of the whole Mongol Empire from 1227-1241 but concentrated his efforts in the east. Invaded the Jin Empire in alliance with the Song Empire. Ogedei attacked the Song Empire as well. Ogedei died in 1241 in Mongolia.

Southern Song Dynasty: The Second Great Military Disaster

1127 BCE

The Song Dynasty suffered from another major attack after allying with the Mongol Empire to attack the Jin Empire. It was a great strategy at the but then turned into a big mistake. This left the Mongol Empire to attack the Song Empire next. After 20 years of warfare the Song capital was taken over in 1276 and then three more years of fighting with remnants of the dynasty court, the Song Empire ended in 1279 and the Yuan Empire took its place.

Northern Song Dynasty

960 BCE

Emperor Taizu began his reign in the year 960 AD and during his reign established successful policies and won his wars of expansion. The Northern Song Empire faced three countries, The Western Xia, The Viets, and The Liao Empire. They wanted to regain the land from the Western Xia but the Liao Empire was a military threat and the Viets were thought to be weak enough to conquer. The Northern Song Empire couldn't defeat these three countries, didn't lose any land and kept theirs until 1127.