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Timeline of Chinese history. This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in China and its dynasties. To read about the background to these events, see History of China. See also the list of Chinese monarchs, Chinese emperors family tree, dynasties of China and years in China.
This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in China and its dynasties. To read about the background to these events, see History of China.
- Shang Dynasty, Confucius
- The Silk Road, Paper and Guns
- The Opium Wars
• 1600-1050 B.C.: Shang Dynasty -The earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, the Shangwas headed by a tribal chief named Tan. The Shang era is marked by intellectual advances in astronomy and math. • 551–479 B.C.: Confucius -The teacher, politician and philosopher was raised in poverty by his mother. He entered polit...
• 125 B.C.: The Silk Road -Following capture and escape during a mission for Emperor Wu, Zhang Qian returned after 13 years with a map of the ground he had covered. Reaching as far as Afghanistan, his maps were accurate and led to the international trade route the Silk Road. • 105 A.D.: Paper and books -Cai Lun developed paper by pounding together ...
• 1840-1842: The First Opium War -Great Britain flooded the country with opium, causing an addiction crisis. The Qing Dynasty banned the drug, and a military confrontation resulted. British forces shut down Chinese ports, and Hong Kongwas handed over to them. • 1851-1864: The Taiping Rebellion -Self-proclaimed prophet Hong Xiuquan revoltedagainst t...
5000 BCE. Villages arise in China around the Yellow River. Terraced farming begins and rice is cultivated. c. 4800 BCE. Neolithic village of Banpo in China built. c. 4500 BCE - c. 3750 BCE. The Neolithic village of Banpo is inhabited. 4500 BCE - 3000 BCE.
- Joshua J. Mark
- Content Director
China was first united under a single imperial state by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BCE. Orthography, weights, measures, and law were all standardized. Shortly thereafter, China entered its classical era with the Han dynasty ( 206 BCE – CE 220), marking a critical period.
This list includes only the major dynasties of China that are typically found in simplified forms of Chinese historical timelines. Many other dynastic regimes existed within or overlapped with the geographical boundaries specified in the definition of "China" in the study of Chinese historical geography.
