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The Shanxi Earthquake of 1556 killed around 830,000 people, and was recorded as the deadliest earthquake of all time.
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One of the major renovations of the Great Wall of China is completed.
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The Chinese Empire is the largest nation in the world.
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The city of Beijing is sacked, causing the last Ming Emperor to commit suicide, and end the rule. Thus, Beijng became the capital of China and the Qing Dynasty.
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Canton, present-day Guangzhou, opens to foreign trade.
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The British open a trading post in Canton, present day Guangzhou.
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China and Russia sign the Treaty of Kyakhta, forming the borders between the two countries.
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Foreign trade is confined to Guangzhou.
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275 tons of opium are imported from Britain to China.
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1700 Chinese opium dealers are arrested in Guangzhou, while several tons of the drug itself is seized from foreign traders. The Chinese urge Queen Victoria to stop the trade, which gives the British major profit. In turn, they start the first of two "Opium Wars."
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Hong Kong becomes part of the British Colonial Empire.
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A civil war, lead by Hong Xiuquan, who believed himself to be the son of God. This civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, resulting in at least 20 million lives lost.
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This war was fought between the Chinese Qing Dynasty, and Meiji Japan, over Korea, and ended in Japan winning the land, while the dynasty was humiliated.
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Several Chinese farmers and peasants, whose lives had been ruined by Imperialism and foreign trade, began to kill Christians and foreigners, eventually massacring them in Beijing.
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The Communist Party of China is founded, sparking off a new chapter to the Chinese Revolution.
