Download Summary of Chinese Dynastic History

Summary of Chinese Dynastic History
Dynasty
Xia
Shang
Western Zhou
Eastern Zhou
(Spring and
Autumn and
Warring States
periods)
770-221 B.C.
Qin
221-207 B.C.
Han
206 B.C. 220 A.D.
(Western and
Eastern)
Three
Kingdoms
220-265 A.D.
(Wei, Shu
and Wu)
Dates and Important Events
~21st - 16th century B.C.
~16th -11th century B.C.
~11th century B.C. – 770 B.C.
Many strong, independent states continually waged war with
each
300BC: LaoTzu outlines basic principles of Taoism in The
Dao de Jing
500 BC: Confucius and Confucianism gains favor over other
philosophical/ ethical systems
The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin
Dynasty in 221 BCE, when the office of the Emperor was set
up and the Chinese language was forcibly standardized
Created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that
would last to the present day. The Han Dynasty expanded
China's territory considerably with military campaigns
reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also
helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia.
Period of disunion; Highly chivalric;
Independent Chinese states of this period open diplomatic
relations with Japan, introducing the Chinese writing system
there
Western Jin
Eastern Jin
265-316 A.D.
317-420 A.D.
Southern and
Northern
Dynasty
Sui
581-618 A.D.
Tang
420-589 A.D.
618-907 A.D.
Five
Dynasties
580 AD: China was reunited
Chinese technology and culture reached its zenith
907-960 A.D.
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First government in world history to issue paper money and the
first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy
Song
Population of China doubled in size
960-1279
A.D.
The arts, philosophy, and social life flourish
(Northern and
Southern)
Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi reinvigorated
Confucianism with new commentary, infused Buddhist ideals,
and emphasis on new organization of classic texts that brought
about the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism
Yuan
1271-1368
Ming
Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty
1368-1644
Qing
1644-1911
Ming Dynasty thinkers such as Wang Yangming would further
critique and expand Neo-Confucianism with ideas of
individualism and innate morality that would have tremendous
impact on later Japanese thought
China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing
The last dynasty in Chinese history
Ming falls to the Manchus in 1644, who then established the
Qing Dynasty
Defensive posture towards European imperialism, even though
it engaged in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia itself
Awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, in particular
the West. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary
activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto
Qing China. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the
Emperor's control
Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862 (one of
bloodiest in human history) and several other rebellions
Korea declared independence from Qing China's suzerainty in
1894, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted
in China's cession of both Korea and Taiwan to Japan
Reform plan for Qing China to become a modern Meiji-style
constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Emperor Guangxu
in 1898, but was opposed and stopped by the Empress
Dowager Cixi, who placed Emperor Guangxu under house
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arrest in a coup d'état
Boxer Rebellion against westerners in Beijing
The 38 year old Emperor Guangxu died under house arrest on
November 14, 1908, suspiciously just a day before Cixi. With
the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's handpicked heir,
his two year old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong
Emperor, the last Chinese emperor
Guangxu's consort, who became the Empress Dowager
Longyu, signed the abdication decree as regent in 1912, ending
two thousand years of imperial rule in China
January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established,
heralding the end of the Qing Dynasty
Republic of
China
Sun Yat-sen (husband of Soong Ching-Ling) of the
Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), was proclaimed
provisional president of the republic
1912-1949
Yuan Shikai's (self-proclaimed Emperor of China) death in
1916 - - China becomes politically fragmented, with an
internationally-recognized, yet virtually powerless, national
government in Peking
1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to
reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's
capital to Nanking – KMT alone rules China (one-party)
Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945 (part of World War II)
forced an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the
Communists
Distrust between the Nationalists and the Communists led to
the resumption of the Chinese Civil War
People's
Republic of
China
1949 –
Present
After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist
Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, gained control of most of
the Mainland China. On October 1, 1949, they established the
People's Republic of China, laying claim as the successor state
of the ROC
The central government of the Chinese Nationalist Party led by
Chiang Kai-shek was forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan
that it had occupied at the end of World War II and moved the
ROC government there. Major armed hostilities ceased in 1950
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but no peace treaty has been signed
socioeconomic movements starting in the late 1950s with the
Great Leap Forward and continued in the 1960s with the
Cultural Revolution that left much of its education system and
economy in shambles.
With the death of its first generation Communist Party leaders
such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the PRC began
implementing a series of political and economic reforms
advocated by Deng Xiaoping that eventually formed the
foundation for mainland China's rapid economic development
starting in the 1990s.
In 1989, the student protests at Tiananmen Square were
violently put to an end by the Chinese military after 15 days of
martial law.
In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to the PRC by the United
Kingdom, and in 1999, Macau was returned by Portugal
1970s: People's Republic of China were invited to assume
China's seat on the UN after ROC was denied
Later attempts by the Republic of China to rejoin the UN have
either been blocked by the People's Republic of China, who
has veto power on UN Security Council, or rejected by the
United Nations Secretariat or a United Nations General
Assembly committee responsible for the General Assembly's
agenda
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