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At Banpo, in northern China, communities build large meeting houses over 60 feet long
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The production of silk from silkworms begins
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Broneworking begins to develop
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Foundation of the Shang Dynasty, the first for which solid archaeological evidence exists
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Bones are inscribed with a fully developed script
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The Shang Dynasty is overthrown by the Zhou.
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Skilled bronzemaking is widespread
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Ironworking begins to develop
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The Book of Songs, the first anthology of Chinese poetry is compiled
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Sun Tzu writes the Art of War, the earliest military handbook
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Bronze coins are introduced
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A weakened China is divided among about 20 different kingdoms vying for supremacy. In theory the emperors of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty still have overall control, but in practice their authority counts for little.
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Death of Confucius, the Chinese sage whose name is given to the body of Chinese beliefs known as Confucianism
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Xiao becomes the ruler of the Kingdom of Qin in western China; his chief minister, the philosopher Shang Yang, introduces sweeping reforms to end the power of the aristocracy and strengthen the army. Over the next 21 years Shang Yang turns Qin from a small realm into a strong, centralized state
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The crossbow is invented
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Earthen frontier walls are built in northern China as a defense against invading nomads; they will continue to be built and linked together until 214 BCE forming the Great Wall of China
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By this time the conflicts of the Warring States are slowly drawing toward a resolution: Only seven main kingdoms - Qin, Zhou, Wei, Han, Qi, and Yan - now survive as independent states.
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Kingdom of Qin has final victory and unifies China under the First Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi
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The Great Wall of China is completed
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Qin Shi Huangdi dies and is buried with a Terracotta Army of more than 7,000 pottery soldiers. After his death civil war breaks out among his heirs
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The entire Qin Royal family is killed by rebels led by a peasant warrior, Liu Bang
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Liu Bang establishes the Han Dynasty becoming its first emperor under the name Gaozu
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Iron and salt are made state monopolies, increasing the Han Dynasty's control over the nation's economy
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The minting of coins is made a state monopoly
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Traditional date for the invention of paper, made from scraps of cloth and wood chips. For the next two centuries paper will only be used for wrapping and packing, not for writing
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The Silk Road trade route between China and the West across Central Asia is in full swing
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The earliest known Chinese lacquerware dates from this time.
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The Chinese invent methods for drilling wells over 3,250 feet deep to obtain water and natural gas
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The census gives the population of China's Han Empire at 57 million
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The Chinese build cast-iron suspension bridges
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Brought by Indian merchants and missionaries, Buddhism establishes a presence in China, but makes headway only slowly against the country's own stront spiritual traditions
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Work begins on China's Grand Canal which eventually reaches a length of more than 1,100 miles
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The last Han emperor is deposed and the empire is divided into three separate kingdoms: Shu, Wei, and Wu
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Dunhuang, an oasis town at the edge of the Gobi Desert on the Silk Road, becomes a flourishing Buddhist center
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By this time 90 percent of the population of northern China is Buddhist
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Emperor Wu Ti becomes a Buddhist and introduces the new religion to central China
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Usurping his Sui cousin, Li Yuan seizes power in China, founding the Tang Dynasty
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The first known Tang Dynasty law code dates from this year; its influence will linger for centures
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Tang Dynasty victories against the Turks extend Chinese control of the Silk Road westward
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China enjoys a period of great artistic creativity under the Tang emperors; poetry, figure painting, and pottery all reach high levels of attainment
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Schools are established in every prefecture and district in China by imperial edict
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The Chinese develop woodblock printing on single-sheets of paper; at first it is used mainly to print devotional Buddhist pictures and literature
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The Tang Emperors of China issue an early for of paper currency
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Nonnative religions, including Buddhism and Christianity, are banned in China; Confucianism is restored as the state ideology
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Gunpowder is mentioned for the first time
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Seizing power in a military coup, Taizu becomes the first emperor of the Song Dynasty
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Chiao Wei-Yo invents the canal lock for raising and lowering boats as they pass from one level to another
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By this time the Chinese are burning coal for fuel
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The Song administrator Fan Zhongyan introduces a program of bureaucratic, military, and land reforms. Measures include civil-service recruitment strictly on academic merit and the abolition of appointments by patronage.
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Magnetized needle compasses are in use as navigational devices on Chinese ships
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Landscape painting on panels or long rolls of silk flourishes under the Song emperors
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Iron production in China reaches 125,000 tons per year; a single ironworks employs nearly 30,000 workers
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Sima Guang, Chinese scholar and statesman, completes a history of China from 403 BCE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty
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A water-driven mechanical clock is built for the Song court
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80,000 candidates take the civil service examinations
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Paddlewheel ships are in use on lakes and rivers in China
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First recorded use of gunpowder-fired rockets by the Chinese against a Mongol army
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Kublai Khan establishes the Yuan Dynasty
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European traveler Marco Polo arrives at the Chinese court
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The technique of decorating porcelain in underglaze cobalt blue is popular in China
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China's Mongol Yuan ruler fless to Mongolia, and Zhu Yuanzhang proclaims the new Ming Dynasty, assuming the imperial title Hongwu
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After the death of Emperor Yongle, China soon surrenders its position as the leading naval power in the Indian Ocean and retreats into isolation
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Nurhachi, leader of the Juchen (Manchu) people, unites the tribes on China's northeast frontier, laying the groundwork for his later conquest of China and the founding of the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty
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Emperor Kangxi comes to the throne as the age of seven, assisted by his regents, he grants his Chinese subjects parity with the Manchus