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Period: 1766 BCE to 1122 BCE
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty overtook The Xia Dynasty, which most historians believe to be a myth.
The First King was named Tang and he focused on undoing the tyrannical rules set by the Xia leaders.
The Shang Dynasty was responsible for creating Writing. -
Period: 1122 BCE to 221 BCE
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou used the Mandate of Heaven to succeed the Shang Dynasty.
The Zhou King Wu began a system similar to western Feudalism in which helped further The King's power.
The Zhou furthered the use and development of chariots and cavalry. -
Period: 480 BCE to 221 BCE
Warring States Period
This time made way for warfare, bureaucratic, and military reform for all of china
Chu, Han, Qi, Qin, Wei, Yan, and Zhao were all states that were fighting for control of the previous Zhou Dynasty.
All of the states fought over the land in order to prove their power in order to claim the mandate of heaven. -
Period: 221 BCE to 205 BCE
Qin Dynasty
After defeating all of the other states, Ying Zheng took claim of being the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty is known ad the first great chinese empire
King Qin Shi Huang created a giant tomb filled with terracotta warriors so when he died he’d have a army in the afterlife. -
220 BCE
The Great Wall of China Begins Construction
The Great wall of China began Construction during the Qin dynasty and was built over hundreds of years and several different dynasties
The Most work was completed by the Ming Dynasty.
The wall functioned as protection against nomadic tribesmen and provided jobs for many citizens of the dynasties -
Period: 220 BCE to 581
Three Kingdoms
The final three kingdoms were wei, shu han, and wu
Due to revolutions, peasant uprisings, and warlords being warlords, fighting broke out all over china and after years of fighting they were down to three kingdoms
There is a novel written about this period in time written in the 14th century - its kinda a historical fiction -
Period: 206 BCE to 581
Han Dynasty
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang Fought over the land, known as the Chu-Han Contention, and Xiang Yu’s Forces were defeated, leaving Liu Bang (also known as Gaozu) to become supreme ruler of china and the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty returned to another era of centralised government.
The most famous Emperor of the Dynasty, Emperor Wu, opened the Silk Road which opened trade with the west. -
130 BCE
Silk Road is Established
The Silk Road was a system of ancient trade routes that linked east asia and west europe together for trade.
The West sent the East horses, saddles, grapes, dog and other exotic animals, animal furs, honey, fruits, glass, and many other goods.
The East sent the West silk, tes, dyes, jewels, porcelain, spices, medicine, perfumes, ivory, gunpowder, paper, and many other goods. -
210
Civil Service Exam
The exams were used first in the Han Dynasty and continued to be used for many years after their fall
The exams were used to find young male and offer them chances to enter the bureaucracy to become scholar officials
It began as a imperial academy to study confucianism and taoist beliefs -
468
The Grand Canal is Built
The great canal is a canal that runs from modern day beijing and hangzhou
The major waterways helps facilitate trade between the north and the south
Due to the new trading ease, cultural and political ideologies were spread both ways -
Period: 578 to 648
Sui Dynasty
By both using military tactics and political loopholes, Yang Jian (later known as Wendi) was able to unite China.
The Sui Dynasty was short and consisted of only two emperors, Wendi and Yangdi
Though the han invented it, the civil service exam was more widely used during the Sui Dynasty -
Period: 618 to 904
Tang Dynasty
General Li Yang took control via a rebellion that he instigated
The Tang dynasty is considered one of the greatest dynasties of this time due to the cultural advancements that took place.
Emperor Xuanzong was also a poet so he encouraged the arts and his people's creativity -
Period: 907 to 960
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
It was a time of political instability and china was completely divided and all fighting for power
The ten kingdoms were : yang wu, wuyue, min, ma chu, southern han, former shu, jingnan, southern tang, and northern han
The five kingdoms were liang, tang, jin, han, and zhou -
Period: 960 to 1279
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was Split between the north and west
Essentially after all the fighting, Taizu was only able to conquer the southern part of china because the Khitan Liao dynasty still had full control of the great wall of china
These guys started what is known as Neo-Confucianism -
1206
Genghis Khan declared as Emperor
Genghis Khan was the founder of the mongol empire and ‘universal ruler’ of the mongol people
He is known for being particularly ruthless and killed many innocent people in his campaign against his enemies
Genghis Khan created a particular style of fighting for mongol warfare during is time as general which ultimately lead to his rise to power -
Period: 1206 to 1368
Mongol Dynasty
Under the leadership of genghis khan, the Mongol empire was created by uniting with the nomadic tribes of asian steppe
The mongols relied heavily on cavalry and archers in their battles which allowed the men to be fast light, and coordinated
After genghis khan's death, the empire was split into four groups, to split between his children. The most successful was the Yuan dynasty -
Period: 1271 to 1368
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty was established by mongols and Their First Emperor was Kublai Khan
The Yuan dynasty was the most successful of the Khanates
The Yuan dynasty is basically a continuation of the mongol empire, just without genghis khan as its leader -
Period: 1368 to
Ming Dynasty
The yuan dynasty was weakened by famines plagues , floods, and peasant uprisings. Through one of these peasant uprisings Zhu Yuanzhang came to power
They were dealing with a lot of internal problems that included people born into power and mistreating it which caused them to look inwards instead of focusing on trade
The Ming dynasty started the practice of isolationism within the country, leading to a stunt in the growth of the country -
1403
Zheng He Starts His Exloration
He made numerous voyages from china to india, and from arabia to east africa,
His voyages made way for new international trade routes to be made
He also wrote down all of his finding and published a book showing people new knowledge of the other lands -
Period: to
Qing Dynasty
The ming dynasty asked the manchus for military assistance and took that as an opportunity to gain power
Qing dynasty created the borders of what we now know as china
The qing dynasty fell after a series of natural disasters and peasant uprisings weakened the dynasty