Dates of Ancient China. By Gage:) 1600 BCE King Jie of the Xia Dynasty dies, ending the dynasty Period: 1600 BCE to 1046 BCE Shang Dynasty Period: 1324 BCE to 1266 BCE Reign of Emperor Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty 1046 BCE Zhou Dynasty 610 BCE Invention of paper Period: 551 BCE to 479 BCE Life of Confucius Period: 544 BCE to 496 BCE Sun Tzu, the author of Art Of War is born 476 BCE Warring States Period 256 BCE Reign of Liu Bang Period: 221 BCE to 206 BCE Qin dynasty Period: 210 BCE to 209 BCE The Terracotta army is buried Period: 206 BCE to 220 BCE Han Dynasty Period: 141 BCE to 87 BCE Reign of Wudi Period: 33 BCE to 23 BCE Reign of Emperor Wang Mang 1066 The crossbow is used for the first time in battle