China's Ancient Times (From Antiquity to AD 1840)
China, one of the world's most ancient civilizations,
has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years.
Anthropologists working in Yuanmou, in Yunnan Province, have
uncovered the remains of China's earliest discovered hominid, "Yuanmou
Man," who lived in this area approximately 1.7 million years
ago. "Peking Man," who lived in Zhoukoudian, to the
southwest of modern Beijing 400,000 to 500,000 years ago, had
the basic characteristics of Homo sapiens.
Peking Man walked upright, made and used simple
tools, and knew how to make fire. Man in China passed from primitive
society to slave society in the 21st century B.C., with the founding
of China's first dynasty, that of the Xia. The subsequent dynasties,
the Shang (16th-11th century B.C.) and the Western Zhou (11th
century-770 B.C.) saw further development of slave society. This
era was followed by the Spring and Autumn and Warring States
periods (770-221 B.C.), marking the transition from the slave
society to feudal society.
Dynasty |
Dates |
Xia |
21st Century BC - 16th Century BC |
Shang |
16th Century BC - 11th Century BC |
Western Zhou |
11th Century BC - 770 BC |
Eastern Zhou (Spring, Autumn & Warring
States period) |
770 BC - 221 BC |
Qin |
221 BC - 207 BC |
Han |
207 BC - AD 220 |
China was one of the countries where economic activity
first developed. As early as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, people
in the Yellow River valley had already started farming and raising
livestock.
During the Shang Dynasty (more than 3,000 years
ago), people learned how to smelt bronze and use iron tools.
White pottery and glazed pottery were produced. Silk production
was well developed, and the world's first figured inlaid silk
weaving technique was being used.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.),
steel production technologies appeared. During the Warring States
Period (475-221 B.C.), Li Bing and his son directed the construction
of the Dujiang Dam near present-day Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
This brilliant achievement in water conservancy made possible
rationalized irrigation supply, flood diversion and sand discharge,
and is still playing a tremendous role in this regard even today.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States
periods (770 BC - 221 B.C.) , philosophy and other branches of
scholarship were thriving, with the representatives of various
schools vying with each other in writing books to discuss politics
and analyze society. Hence the appearance of a situation in which "a
hundred schools of thought contended." Famous philosophers
in this period included Lao Zi, Confucius, Mo Zi and Sun Zi. 
In 221 B.C., Ying Zheng, a man of great talent and bold vision,
ended the rivalry among the independent principalities in the
Warring States Period and established the first centralized,
unified, multi-ethnic state in Chinese history under the Qin
Dynasty (221-207 B.C.). He called himself Shi Huang Di (First
Emperor), historically known as Qin Shi Huang, or First Emperor
of the Qin Dynasty.
During his reign, Qin Shi Huang standardized the
script, currencies, and weights and measures, established the
system of prefectures and counties, and constructed the world-renowned
Great Wall as well as a large palace, mausoleum and temporary
regal lodges respectively in Xianyang, Lishan and other places.
The above ground structures of these places have long been destroyed,
but the objects underground are still there. The life-size terracotta
horses and armored warriors excavated from sites near the mausoleum
of Qin Shi Huang are known as the eighth wonder of the world,
attracting swarms of Chinese and foreign visitors every day.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, a peasant
leader, overthrew the Qin regime in cooperation with Xiang Yu,
an aristocratic general. A few years later, Liu Bang defeated
Xiang Yu and established the strong Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. 
In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), agriculture, handicrafts,
and commerce were well developed. During the reign of Emperor
Wudi (Liu Che, ruler from 140-87 B.C.), the Han regime reached
the period of its greatest prosperity: The emperor conquered
the Xiongnu nomads, and sent Zhang Qian as envoy to the Western
Regions (Central Asia), and in the process pioneered the route
known as the "Silk Road" from the Han capital Chang'an
(today's Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), through Xinjiang and onward,
finally reaching the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Along the Silk Road, beautiful silk products made
in China were transported to the West in a steady stream. In
33 B.C., Wang Zhaojun, a palace maiden, married to Huhanxie,
chieftain of the Xiongnu, left a moving story about marriage
ties between the Han and the Xiongnu. The multi-ethnic country
became more consolidated. The Han regime existed for a total
of 426 years, which was then followed by the Three Kingdoms Period
(220-265) of Wei, Shu and Wu.
The most famous statesmen during the Three Kingdoms Period were
Cao Cao (155-220), Zhuge Liang (181-234) and Sun Quan (182-252).
Cao Cao was the founder of the State of Wei. He
collected people of talent from all over the country, stationed
troops in border areas to open up wasteland, established military
farms, and finally gained control over the Yellow River valley.
Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of the State
of Shu, and a symbol of wisdom in ancient China. For many centuries,
his lofty spirit of "bending himself to the task and exerting
himself to the utmost till his dying days" has encouraged
the Chinese people.
 Sun
Quan was the founder of the State of Wu. He once allied with
Liu Bei (161-223) to defeat Cao Cao at the Red Cliff, and later
inflicted a crushing defeat on Liu Bei at Yiling. In addition,
Sun Quan appointed officials in charge of agriculture, and had
garrison troops or peasants open up wasteland and grow grain,
thus promoting land reclamation to the south of the Yangtze River.
Following the Three Kingdoms Period was the Jin
Dynasty (265-420), the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589),
and the Sui Dynasty (581-618). In 618, Li Yuan founded the Tang
Dynasty (618-907). Later, Li Shimin (ruler from 626-649), son
of Li Yuan, ascended the throne as Emperor Taizong, who was one
of the greatest emperors in Chinese history.
Emperor Taizong adopted a series of policies known
as the Zhenguan reign period reforms, which pushed the feudal
society to the height of prosperity. Agriculture, handicrafts
and commerce flourished; technologies for textile manufacture
and dyeing, porcelain production, smelting, metal casting and
shipbuilding made great progress. During this time, land and
water transportation was also fairly well developed, and economic
and cultural relations with Japan, Korea, India, Persia, Arabia
and other countries were solidified.
After the Tang Dynasty, there came the Five Dynasties
and Ten Kingdoms (907-960). In 960, General Zhao Kuangyin of
the Later Zhou Dynasty rose in mutiny, and founded the Song Dynasty
(960-1279). In 1206, Genghis Khan unified all the tribes in Mongolia
and founded the Mongol Khanate. In 1271, his grandson, Kublai
Khan, conquered the Central Plain, founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
and made Dadu (today's Beijing) the capital.
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, handicraft
industry and domestic and foreign trade boomed. Many merchants
and travelers came from abroad. Marco Polo came from Venice and
traveled extensively in China, later describing the country's
prosperity in his travels. The "four great inventions" of
the Chinese people in ancient times - paper making, printing,
the compass and gunpowder - were further developed in the Song
and Yuan dynasties, and introduced to foreign countries during
this time, making great contributions to world civilization.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in
Nanjing, and reigned as Emperor Taizu. When his son, and successor,
Zhu Di, ascended the throne, he started to build the palace,
temples, city walls and moat in Beijing. In 1421, he officially
made Beijing his capital. In the Ming Dynasty, remarkable progress
was made in agricultural production and handicrafts, and toward
the end of the dynasty, the rudiments of capitalism appeared.
In addition, there were friendly contacts between China and other
countries in Asia and Africa.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the Manchus in northeast China grew
in strength. Under the leadership of Nurhachi, the Manchus invaded
the Central Plain for three generations in succession, and finally
founded the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The two most famous emperors
of the Qing Dynasty were Emperor Kangxi (ruler from 1661-1772)
and Emperor Qianlong (ruler from 1735-1796). The Kangxi and Qianlong
reign periods were known as the "times of prosperity." During
Qing rule, some novels of high artistic value were created, of
which Cao Xueqin's Dream of Red Mansions is the best known. It
describes the decline of a prosperous feudal aristocratic family.
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