chain

By cocofever304
  • Period: 2100 BCE to 1600 BCE

    Possible start of Xia Dynasty, China’s first dynasty

  • Period: 1766 BCE to 1122 BCE

    Start of Shang Dynasty, during which a system of writing emerged and large cities were built

  • Period: 1122 BCE to 221 BCE

    Start of Zhou Dynasty, China’s longest-ruling dynasty

  • 563 BCE

    Siddhartha Gautama (later known as Buddha) is born; his teachings will form the basis of Buddhism

  • 551 BCE

    Chinese philosopher, teacher and author Confucius born

  • 481 BCE

    Start of Warring States period lasting around 260 years in which there will be almost constant conflict between different Chinese states fighting for power and control

  • Period: 221 BCE to 206 BCE

    Start of Qin Dynasty and rule of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang

  • 220 BCE

    Qin Shi Huang begins work to join up and extend a number of separate mudbrick defences built by lords during the Zhou Dynasty. This will become one of the strongest defensive structures ever built – the Great Wall of China

  • Period: 206 BCE to 220 BCE

    Start of Han Dynasty, during which time China’s bureaucracy expands and strengthens

  • 140 BCE

    The sixth Han emperor, Wu Di, commences rule. He will be best known for expanding Chinese territory – under his rule, China doubles in size, making it larger than the Roman Empire

  • 100 BCE

    The manufacture of steel begins in China

  • 220

    The Han Dynasty ends and the empire is divided into the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, which fight each other for control of China for 60 years

  • Period: 581 to 618

    Start of Sui Dynasty

  • Period: 618 to 907

    Start of Tang Dynasty

  • 690

    Wu Zhao becomes the only woman in the history of China to rule as Empress Regent, she forms her own dynasty, the Zhou, interrupting the Tang Dynasty for 15 years

  • Period: 960 to 1279

    Start of Song Dynasty

  • Period: 1271 to 1368

    Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the first foreign dynasty to rule China, by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan

  • 1279

    A fierce nomadic people known as the Mongols gain control of China

  • Period: 1368 to

    Start of Ming Dynasty

  • Period: to

    Start of Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty in China, and a period of rule by an ethnic minority in China known as the Manchu