Chinese History
A brief summary of the history of China and its people.
Origins of Chinese Culture
China’s recorded history stretches back over 3,000 years, but the history of the land is much older. Pottery shards, for example, have been found in Chinese caves dated to around 20,000 years old. Its early people began raising pigs and growing rice about 10,000 years ago. They learned to make textiles from silk over 5,000 years ago. Within another 2,000 years, they had mastered bronze working. The Chinese Iron Age, with a few earlier exceptions, began around 500 BCE. By this time, the region had long been organized into complex political states.
Early Chinese Dynasties
The mythical founder of dynastic China is Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty. He is remembered as a legendary figure descended from the divine Yellow Emperor. Yu turned back catastrophic floods by irrigating the fertile river valleys of China. According to the Chinese government, the Xia rose to power from 2070 to 1600 BC. It was followed by the Shang dynasty, which produced the first known written records of the region. The Zhou dynasty then ruled from 1046 to 256 BCE, but much of its reign suffered from political fragmentation. The Spring and Autumn period from 771 to 476 BCE saw the birth of Confucius and the precursors to the Warring States. It set the stage for much of China’s future philosophy and administrative practices.
The Warring States, Qin Shi Huang and the Han Dynasty
By the fall of the Zhou dynasty, the region now known as China had split into seven small, rival kingdoms. These warring states were Han, Qi, Qin, Chu, Zhao, Yan, and Wei. For several decades, they fought among themselves and vied for centralized power. A victor emerged in 221 BCE, leading the technologically advanced and organized armies of Qin. Qin Shi Huang, or Qin Shi Huangdi, proclaimed himself Emperor of China. He is widely credited with founding Imperial China, a state that would survive in various forms until 1911. His magnificent tomb, including a small army of terracotta warriors and their chariots, still has not been fully explored. Additionally, Qin Shi Huang began major construction on the Great Wall of China. The wall, one of the most recognizable human constructions of history, was meant to protect China from invaders from the Eurasian Steppes. Though not always successful, it would be added to for many hundreds of years.
Qin Shi Huang unified China, but his dynasty was short-lived. The Han dynasty that followed marked a high point in Chinese civilization and culture. Between 202 BCE and 220 CE, the Han Chinese perfected imperial administration and adopted Confucianism as its official ruling philosophy. It is from this dynasty that modern Chinese people draw their ethnic name—the Han. The Han eventually descended into the Three Kingdoms, a famous period of warfare and short-lived dynasties. The Sui dynasty, reigning from 581 to 618, began the custom of allowing commoners to take imperial exams to qualify for government positions.
The Tang and Song Dynasties
This difficult period in Chinese history came to a close in 618 with the ascension of the Tang dynasty. The Tang emperors expanded China’s influence, invested in the arts, and revitalized its military. The first female ruler of China, Wu Zetian, was named Empress Regnant in 690. She fostered a culture of military expansion, diplomatic conquest, education, and greater rights for women. The Tang capital, now Xi’an, grew to be the largest city in the world. Buddhism and Taoism became popular as trade routes along the Silk Road flourished. Like the many dynasties before it, however, the Tang eventually succumbed to political infighting and warlord revolts. The Song dynasty that followed oversaw a period of unprecedented prosperity and sophistication in China. Its armies fought with gunpowder weapons and sailed in large fleets up rivers like the Yangtze.
The Mongol Invasion and Yuan Dynasty
Chinese authority in China came to an abrupt end in the late 13th century, when a formidable opponent rose on the steppes to the east. Led by Genghis Khan, a massive army of Mongol and Tatar warriors conquered spread in every direction, conquering cities and kingdoms as they went. By the time Genghis’s grandson, Kublai Khan, assumed the title of Great Khan, part of China had already fallen. Kublai declared himself Emperor of China before finishing his conquest of the Song dynasty in 1279. He founded the Yuan dynasty, ruled from modern Beijing.
The Mongols strengthened the Silk Road by aggressively protecting traveling merchants. As foreigners, however, they were never fully accepted by the common people of China. The Yuan line eventually weakened and was replaced in 1368.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties
Chinese rule returned at this time through the Ming dynasty. Where former Chinese states had embraced foreign trade, the Ming withdrew somewhat into a more agrarian, Neo-Confucian society. European contact grew more common during this era, though the Chinese were reluctant to conduct business with the strangers. This included several armed conflicts with the Dutch, who were forced to retreat after a series of naval defeats. The Ming maintained control of their lands from 1368 to 1644. This time, their downfall came from within. Manchuria, a powerful northern vassal, rose against the Ming emperors and began its own campaign of conquests before eclipsing them.
The Manchurian Qing dynasty was the last ruling dynasty of China. Increasing dealings with Europe severely weakened its political power. The British, eager to establish a foothold in China, defeated the Qing in two conflicts known as the Opium Wars. The resulting spread of opium and internal revolts posed a constant threat to Qing authority. The most serious of these revolts was the Boxer Rebellion, which eventually allied with the Qing to expel foreigners and Christian missionaries. It ended with defeat as eight nations, including Britain, Japan, France, the United States, Russia, Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary marched on Beijing in 1900.
Modern China
Weary of these failures, the people of China rose against the Qing monarchy in 1911. They established the Republic of China in 1912. The republic withstood a rocky initial period and the atrocities of Japanese occupation during World War II. After a civil war, the Communist Party of China emerged as its leading party in 1949. The People’s Republic of China has since recovered its position as a major global power. It is currently projected to become the world’s largest economy by 2032.
References
Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press. 1996.
Gunde, Richard. Culture and Customs of China. Greenwood Publishing. 2002.
Newman, Jacqueline. Food Culture in China. Greenwood Publishing. 2004.
O'Brien, Fergal. “China to Overtake U.S. Economy by 2032 as Asian Might Builds.” Bloomberg, Bloomberg, 26 Dec. 2017, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-26/china-to-overtake-u-s-economy-by-2032-as-asian-might-builds.
“The World Factbook: CHINA.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 12 July 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html.
Von Glahn, Richard. An Economic History of China. Cambridge University Press. 2016.
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