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China 13
China’s warring dynasties
Early cultures had settled in the Yellow River basin by around
8000BC, but it wasn’t until around 2100BC in the Henan Valley that
the first dynasty was in evidence: the Xia dynasty, which was suceeded
by the Shang dynasty around 1500BC. Shang kings ruled over much of
northern China, but by 1100BC a formidable foe, the Zhou, had settled
in the Wei Valley in modern west-central China. In c1050BC the Shang
were defeated by the Zhou dynasty, who set up their capital at Hao
and eventually spread through much of China north of the Yangtze
River. In 771BC the Zhou court was sacked by rebels, and its capital
moved east to Luoyang, beginning what historians call the Eastern
Zhou dynasty. From 476BC China entered a long period of war, lasting
until c221BC, when the Qin dynasty managed to unite the territories
previously occupied by the Zhou. The death of the Qin’s First Emperor
brought about another period of civil war, lasting until the Han
dynasty took power at Chang’an in 206BC. Under the Han, China
expanded into central Asia, establishing the Silk Route to the Middle
East and beyond. The Han dynasty’s empire reached its greatest extent
in 141–87BC under Han Wu Di, but by AD220 political and economic
pressures had caused the dynasty to collapse. DH
Jenny Ridley and Alex Halamins
12 The Ancient World