Lesson 6

Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) - Development of Chinese Writing

1700 BCE

The first dynasty for which there is historical record and archaeological evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was a small empire in northern central China. No documents from that country survive, but there are archaeological finds of hieroglyphic writing on bronze wares and oracle bones. The hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Novels

1368 BCE

The Chinese rebelled against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty era began about 1368. The Mongols and the Ming government still sometimes fought. Because of this and the presence of Muslim countries in between, trade with the west was reduced to the pre-Yuan level. The Ming initially were interested in exploration, and Muslims whose ancestors arrived during the Yuan Dynasty and who were familiar with seagoing trade were employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean,

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Drama and Great Fictional Novels

1279 BCE

The Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area fighting on horseback. They believed that they might be able to conquer the world. They easily conquered Persia far to the west. It was a big empire with high technology, a big population and a big army. Then they decided to try to conquer all the countries around them. They attacked the Tang Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan, and much of Asia, and they formed the biggest empire

Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature

1045 BCE

The Chinese call this simultaneous emergence of religions and philosophies the “One Hundred Schools of Thought.”

Song Dynasty (960-1279) Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics

960 BCE

It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial government officials made remarkable scientific and technical advances.

Tang Dynasty (618-907) Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry

618 BCE

This era’s main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai are often thought of as China’s greatest poets.

Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Literary Disaster and Legalism

221 BCE

The Qin Dynasty had big armies and conquered the others. Once the Qin emperor had control, he wanted to keep it, and they squelched any opposition to his authority. In the conquered territories, there were teachers of many different doctrines and religions. A big philosophical and religious school then was called Mohism.

Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Scientific and Historical Texts

206 BCE

The Han Dynasty era lasted for 400 years. At the beginning of the era, Confucianism was revived. Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. The resulting ideology was the official ideology of the Han Dynasty and influenced political thinking afterwards. The era’s major contributions were historical texts and scientific works.