Ancient China Timeline

China's first state

2000 BCE

The late Neolithic period was a time of increased contact between communities in China. Many walled sites were constructed and society was becoming more complex. Around 2000

The Xia Dynasty

1600 BCE

The Xia (SHAH) dynasty is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese history. It is described in ancient historical chronicles such as the Bamboo Annals, the Classic of History and the Records of the Grand Historian. The xia ruled over a late neolithic people who in the Huang river region starting in about 2200 B.C.

Oracle Bones

1200 BCE

Shang kings communicated with their ancestors through sacrificial rituals using bronzes and through divination. The most common technique of divination involved the diviner applying a heated rod to turtle shells or cattle bones.

The Shang Dynasty

1050 BCE

The Shang Dynasty or Yin dynasty according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty.

Shang china

1046 BCE

The Shang state was a Bronze Age civilization, which emerged around 1600 BCE in the central plain of north China, near the Yellow River. Shang cities had palaces and temples, housing areas for the upper classes and commoners, as well as craft workshops for metal workers, potters and stone carvers, and burial grounds. Several large settlements of the Shang period have been discovered, including Zhengzhou.

First Kings of Zhou

1046 BCE

Zhou listen was a state based in the Wei River valley in Northwest China, near today's city of Xi'an listen. In early texts, three great Zhou rulers are said to have made the Zhou state strong.

Laozi and Daoism

531 BCE

Laozi listen, or Lao Tzu listen, is a legendary figure, who is thought of as the founder of Daoism. Laozi is usually thought to have lived in the sixth century BCE, in the Spring & Autumn period. According to tradition, Laozi was a wise official at the Zhou listen court in LuoyanglListen, who grew weary of the lack of morality he witnessed around him. He left for the west, riding a buffalo. When

Buddhism Enters China

213 BCE

Towards the end of the Han listen dynasty around the year 200 CE, traders travelling from India to China along the Silk Road brought Buddhism with them.

Han Confucian Rule

195 BCE

China's Han listen emperors needed to secure order in China, but avoid the harshness of the Qin listen regime that preceded it. They sent out local officials to govern the regions, as the Qin had done.

Lady Hao

1200

Lady Hao, or Fu Hao listen, who lived around 1200 BCE, was wife of Shang king Wu Ding. Very unusually, she was also a military leader. Most of the information we have about Fu Hao comes from oracle bone inscriptions.