Brief History of China

Early Societies and the Role of the Emperor (1)

• Oldest pottery in China from the Yangshao period ( 5000 to 3000BC).

• Evidence of agriculture, animal domestication, firing of pottery and growing of silk woms for textiles.

• Oracle bones from the Shang Dynasty (600-1050BC).

Early Societies and the Role of the Emperor (2)

• Dynastic tradition: relationship between heaven and earth.

• Emperor: ‘Son of Heaven’• Ruling on earth was a

‘Mandate of Heaven’• Natural disasters etc. viewed

as evidence of decline of he dynasty and proof of evil actions by the emperor.

Early Societies and the Role of the Emperor (3)

• Dynastic rule was cyclical• Earliest recordings of dynastic

rule begin with the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

• Much of what we know about the early emperors is based around legends.

Qin Dynasty (221-206BC)

• A unified Imperial Chin begins with Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.

• Established the dynastic cycle of emperors.

• Standardized money, measurements, legal rights, writing and even began what would later become the Great Wall.

Han Dynasties (206BC-22AD)

• Golden age of Chinese history. • Emperor Gaodi founded the Han

Dynasty.• Han Wudi took control in 141BC

and made efforts to expand the Chinese empire.

• Time when paper paper was invented and first Chinese dictionary produced.

Tang dynasty (618-907)

• Borders of Chinese empire expanded from Tibet into Siberia and from eastern Korea down to preset day Vietnam.

• A time famed four its poetry.• Further trade routes across the

Silk Road into India, South East Asia, and the Middle East.

Song dynasties (960-1279)

• Economic development paved the way for the emergence of a middle class.

• Increasing interest in the writings of Confucius.

• Early 13th century the Mongols invaded northern China and in 1279 overtook the Song dynasty.

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

• First non-Han Chinese Dynasty. • Yuan dynasty established due

to efforts of Genghis Khan, his grandson Kublai Lhan was sent to conquer China.

• Trade increased between Mongolia, China and Europe.

• Marco Polo spends some time in China.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

• Regarded as a period of stability, unity and peace.

• Time when some of the greatest tales and texts to come out of china were written.

• Yong Le moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing where Forbidden Palace was established.

• Portuguese landed in Macao

Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

• During Qing dynasty population doubled in 50 years.

• Emperor Kangxi was responsible for compiling dictionary of 40,000 characters and the most comprehensive encyclopedia of China.

• Emperor Qianlong expanded China to its largest extent: more than 4 million square miles.

• A lot of changes at the end of the 19th century. Sun Yat-Sen was inaugurated on January 1, 1912 as the first president of the Chinese Republic.

Early Days of the Republic

• Two political parties emerged: the Nationalist party (Kuomintang) and the Communist Party.

• 1926, Nationalists pushed Communists out of the joint part they formed.

• Communists fled rom Shanghai to Nanjing. • 1931 Japanese invaded China and occupied

Nanjing – extremely violent event. • 1926-1934 Communists led by Mao Zedong

began their journey and created an independent communist state in 1935.

Communist Rule and the People’s Republic of China

• 1949 Mao Zedong founded People’s Republic of China.

• Land reforms in the 1950s. • 1958 launched the Great Leap

Forward• Cultural Revolution• Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms• 1989 Tiananmen square event.

China has come a long way…

• China established itself as a major economic and technological presence in the world

• 2001: China admitted to the WTO• 2008: Beijing hosted the Olympics• Population suffers an ever widening gap

between rich and poor.