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Capital: Yin (Anyang)
Notable Achievements:
- Bronze vessels, jade artifacts, pottery.
- Oracle bones with pictographic characters – regarded as the earliest form of Chinese writing.
“Oracle bone script is the first known Chinese writing system, inscribed on animal bones and turtle shells for divination.” -
Divided into Western Zhou (peaceful) and Eastern Zhou (political fragmentation)
Capitals: Haojing + Luoyang
Notable Achievements: -
emergence of feudal states
Influential thinkers: Confucius (孔子), Mencius (孟子), Laozi, Mozi. -
Seven major states vied for supremacy
Influential thinkers: Confucius (孔子), Mencius (孟子), Laozi, Mozi. -
Founder: Qin Shi Huang – China’s first Emperor (皇帝).
Capital: Xianyang
Notable Achievements: Unification, standardized script, Great Wall
Centralization reforms:
- Standardized weights measures, currency, rail gauge, and writing system (precursor to modern characters).
- Heavy taxation and massive public works: First Great Wall, road networks.
- Book burning and persecution of dissenting scholars.
Death in 210 BC; burial with the Terracotta Army (≈ 6,000 life‑size statues). -
Founder: Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu); establishment of a bureaucratic merit‑based system.
Capitals: Chang'an + Luoyang
- Confucianism adopted as state ideology; compilation of the Confucian Classics.
- Brief usurpation by Wang Mang (9 AD – 23 AD) – Xin Dynasty.
Achievements:
- Paper invention, Wheelbarrow, Advanced metallurgy, Herbal medicine.
- Development of a music bureau, court rituals, and agricultural techniques.
- Contemporary with the Roman Empire; active Silk Road trade. -
Major States: Wei, Shu, Wu
Capitals: Luoyang (Wei), Chengdu (Shu), Jianye (Wu)
Key Points:
Legendary battles; Romance of the Three Kingdoms literature. -
Major States: Unified China briefly
Capitals: Luoyang
Key Points:
Short peace, later invasions by barbarian tribes. -
Major States/Dynasties: Various non-Han regimes
Capital(s): Multiple
Key Points:
Fragmentation in North China -
Major States/Dynasties: Southern Court
Capital(s): Jiankang (Nanjing)
Key Points:
Relied on southern elite families -
Major States/Dynasties: Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, Chen
Capital(s): Jiankang
Key Points:
Rise of Buddhism, Taoism, and popular religions. -
Founder: Emperor Wen; reunified China after centuries of division.
Capital: Chang'an
Initiated massive projects: Grand Canal linking north and south, reconstruction of the Great Wall.
Short-lived due to overextension and rebellions. -
Capital: Chang’an (Xi’an).
Golden age of poetry, painting, and Buddhism.
Established a centralized bureaucracy and civil service examinations that influenced later dynasties.
Expanded trade along the Silk Road; cosmopolitan culture. -
Capital: Bianliang (Kaifeng).
Revival of Confucian scholarship (Neo‑Confucianism) by Zhu Xi.
Technological advances: paper money, improved gunpowder weapons, and a large navy. -
Capital: Lin’an (Hangzhou).
Flourishing of literature, landscape painting, and commerce
Maintained economic prosperity despite losing northern territories to the Jin. -
Founded by Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan).
Capital: Dadu (Beijing).
Integrated Mongol and Chinese administrative practices; promoted Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam.
Innovations: expanded Grand Canal, paper currency, increased foreign trade (e.g., Marco Polo’s visit). -
Founder: Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang).
Capital: Beijing; Forbidden City built.
Strong central bureaucracy; continuation of civil service exams.
Maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1405‑1433).
Cultural achievements: novels like Journey to the West, extensive Great Wall reconstruction. -
Established by the Manchu.
Adopted earlier bureaucratic and Confucian systems.
Territorial expansion to include Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia.
19th‑century challenges:
Opium Wars (First: 1839‑1842; Second: 1856‑1860) – forced opening of ports, cession of Hong Kong.
Taiping Rebellion (1850‑1864) – massive civil war.
Attempts at Self‑Strengthening reforms (military, industry).
Decline accelerated by foreign pressures and internal unrest, culminating in the 1911 Revolution. -
1912 — Founding of the Republic of China (ROC); Sun Yat-sen becomes provisional president.
1913 — Yuan Shikai seizes power, turns authoritarian.
1916 — Yuan dies → China fragments into competing warlord-controlled regions.
1919 — May Fourth Movement
1921 — Chinese Communist Party (CCP) founded
1923 — CCP and Kuomintang (KMT) form the First United Front
1925 — Death of Sun Yat-sen → Chiang Kai-shek rises as KMT leader.
1927 — Shanghai Massacre -
1927–1937 — KMT establishes Nanjing Government; modernization attempts begin but corruption persists.
1931 — Japan invades Manchuria → puppet state of Manchukuo formed.
1934–1935 — Long March: CCP retreats 9,000 km to evade KMT forces; Mao Zedong emerges as CCP leader.
1936 — Xi’an Incident: Chiang Kai-shek kidnapped by his own generals → forced to ally with CCP against Japan. -
1937 — Marco Polo Bridge Incident: Japan launches full-scale invasion. 1937 — Nanjing Massacre: Japanese forces kill 200k+ civilians. 1940s — CCP grows strength in rural areas via guerrilla tactics. 1945 — Japan surrenders → China becomes one of the Big Five in the founding of the United Nations.
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1945–1949 — KMT and CCP resume civil war. 1947 — U.S. backs KMT; Soviet Union backs CCP indirectly. 1949 — CCP wins → People’s Republic of China (PRC) founded by Mao Zedong (Oct 1).
• ROC government retreats to Taiwan. -
1949-1957 | Early PRC Land Reforms
Nationalizes industries, redistributes land.
CCP consolidates power, suppresses opposition.
1958–1962 | Great Leap Forward
Aim: Rapid industrialization collectivization.
Result: massive famine; ~30–45 million deaths.
1966–1976 | Cultural Revolution
Mao launches movement to purge “capitalist roaders” revive revolutionary spirit.
Red Guards destroy historical artifacts, attack intellectuals.
Widespread persecution; millions imprisoned or killed. -
1976 — Mao dies; power struggle ensues → Deng Xiaoping eventually takes control.
1978 — Reform and Opening Up:
• Moves toward market socialism → foreign investment allowed.
• Special Economic Zones (SEZs) like Shenzhen established.
1979 — One-Child Policy introduced to curb population growth.
1980s — Explosive economic growth begins, but inequality rises.
1989 — Tiananmen Square Protests:
• Student-led calls for democracy.
• Military crackdown on June 4 → hundreds to thousands killed. -
1992 — Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour accelerates reforms.
1997 — Hong Kong Handover: Britain returns Hong Kong to China under “One Country, Two Systems.”
1999 — Macau Handover from Portugal to China.
2001 — China joins WTO, supercharging exports.
2008 — Beijing hosts Olympic Games, signaling China’s global rise.
2010 — China becomes the world’s second-largest economy. -
2012 — Xi Jinping becomes PRC President (2013)
2013 — Launch of Belt and Road Initiative
2014 — Hong Kong Umbrella Movement
2018 — Constitutional amendment removes presidential term limits → Xi can rule forever
2019–2020 — Hong Kong Protests over extradition bill; Beijing imposes National Security Law
2020 — COVID-19 pandemic begins in Wuhan → strict “Zero-COVID” policy
2022 — Historic protests against Zero-COVID restrictions
2023 — Intensified U.S.-China tensions over trade, tech, and Taiwan