History of China

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History of China covers thousands of years. It covers many periods and dynasties. It may be divided in the following parts:

[edit] Hunting to farming

About a million years ago, living beings that were earlier forms of human beings had lived in China. These beings were called Homo erectus. Long after, about 65,000 years before, human beings (Homo sapiens) reached China from Africa. For food, they used to hunt wild animals. Then they also started to pick and to gather fruits. Then these ancient Chinese learnt farming.

[edit] Prehistory

Prehistory means history of a time before any written record. In such cases, it is very difficult to tell anything definite about the prehistory of China or any other country. Even then, historians believe some facts about the China of that period. By 5000 BC people had learnt farming. They had started cultivating millet, a type of grain, and possibly some more types of grains. By 2500 BC, Bronze Age has come to China. Ruling class with kings and queens had come into society.

[edit] Xia Dynasty

Some scholars think that about 4000 years ago, Xia dynasty ruled China. Xia was the first ruler of this dynasty. But, no one can say anything very definite about Xia and his time, and other rulers of his dynasty.

[edit] Ancient History

[edit] Shang Dynasty

From the time of the Shang Dynasty (13th century BC), some written history is available. Writings were done on Oricle Bones. Several such bones and shells have been found. Scholars believe that present day Henan was the last capital of kings of the Shang Dynasty. Henan was the last and the ninth capital.

Most of the Chinese historians of that time think that one dynasty came after another. But, it is possible that two dynasties were ruling in different parts of China at the same time. Therefore, some scholars think that Xia dynasty and Shang Dynasty may be ruling at the same time, but in different areas of China.

[edit] Zhou Dynasty

About 3000 years before, Zhou Dynasty defeated Shang dynasty, and came to power. They changed the capital from Henan to a place near present day Xi'an, near the Yellow River. The Zhou Dynasty also brought a new theory. This theory told the people that kings had the order of the gods to rule the country. Almost all dynasties of Chinese rulers continued to repeat this theory. The kings of this dynasty won many new areas. For the first time in the history of China, large number of persons also moved from one area to other area for settlement.

[edit] Spring and Autumn Period

Spring and Autumn Period is another period of history of China. The time was around 8th century BC. Zhou dynasty continued, but it lost its power. Many kings ruled different parts of China. China became like several small countries, each ruled by a different king. In some cases, a king ruled just a village with a small fort.

During this period of China, many new lines of thinking arose. Some of them still continue to be important. They are Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism (philosophy) and Mohism.

[edit] Warring States Period

Spring and Autumn Period continued for about 300 years. By the 5th century BC, only seven main Chinese rulers and states remained. They had taken over all the smaller areas. These states continued to fight each other. Historians call this period as Warring States Period due to wars and fights among these states. At last, a king named Ying Zheng united all the seven states. He made himself the Emperor of China and founded the Qin Dynasty.

[edit] Qin Dynasty

The Great Wall of China

Qin Dynasty was a very important dynasty in the history of China. They followed philosophy of Legalist. Their capital was at Xianyang (in modern Xi'an). Under the kings of this dynasty, China became a powerful country. Many new things were done for the first time. A tight legal system was followed. Written language was developed. Common currency was used. The building of the Great Wall of China was started.

[edit] Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty came to power in 202 BC. They followed the philosophy of Confucianism. Under this dynasty, china made much progress in arts and science. The empire also became larger and larger. China started trading with a number of other countries. Merchants used the Silk Road to reach China. The Han dynasty is important.

[edit] The Jin Period

[edit] Sui Dynasty

[edit] Tang Dynasty

[edit] The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

[edit] Song Dynasty

[edit] Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty was first ruled by Genghis Khan, a Mongolian leader who took control from the Song Dynasty. He was considered a barbarian and not civilized. His grandson, Kublai Khan, was one of the most famous and liked rulers of the Yuan dynasty. He opened up China to many other cultures and improved life for the Chinese very much.