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The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife.
- History of The Republic of China
The history of the Republic of China began in 1912 with the...
- People's Republic 1949–Present
The history of the People's Republic of China details the...
- History of The Yuan Dynasty
A sancai-glazed Chinese ceramic incense burner, Yuan...
- Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty (Chinese: 夏朝; pinyin: Xiàcháo; Wade–Giles:...
- Outline of Ancient China
Ancient Chinese armor; Crossbow; Military thought. During...
- Warring States Period
The Warring States period in Chinese history (c. 475 –221...
- History of Taiwan
The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of...
- Timeline of Chinese History
This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important...
- Yellow River Civilization
Yellow River civilization, Huanghe civilization or Huanghe...
- Liao Civilization
The Liao Civilization or Liao River Civilization (Chinese:...
- History of The Republic of China
Historia e Kinës është shënuar nga ndryshime të mëdha politike, mbretëri të ndryshme, dinasti, periudha të reja historike dhe zhvillime të shumta sociale dhe ekonomike. Në shekullin IV p.e.s., Kina ka qenë shtëpia e një numri të madh të mbretërive dhe kulturave të hershme, si Zhou, Shang, dhe Çin.
China is considered one of the cradles of civilization: the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the Paleolithic; by the late second millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin.
- Geographical Considerations
- Pre-Imperial China
- Qin Dynasty
- Han Dynasty
- Period of Disunity to The Sui Dynasty
- Tang Dynasty
- Northern Song
- Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties
- Ming Dynasty
- Qing Dynasty
The conflict between the Chinese and the nomads, from which the need for the Great Wall arose, stemmed from differences in geography. The 15" isohyet marks the extent of settled agriculture, dividing the fertile fields of China to the south and the semi-arid grasslands of Inner Asia to the north.The climates and the topography of the two regions le...
One of the first mentions of a wall built against northern invaders is found in a poem, dated from the seventh century BC, recorded in the Classic of Poetry. The poem tells of a king, now identified as King Xuan (r. 827 – 782BC) of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046 – 771BC), who commanded General Nan Zhong (南仲) to build a wall in the northern regions ...
In 221BC, the state of Qin completed its conquest over the other Warring States and united China under Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. These conquests, combined with the Legalist reforms started by Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, transformed China from a loose confederation of feudal states to an authoritarian empire. With the transfor...
In 202BC, the former peasant Liu Bang emerged victorious from the Chu–Han Contention that followed the rebellion that toppled the Qin dynasty, and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Han dynasty, becoming known as Emperor Gaozu of Han (r.202–195BC) to posterity. Unable to address the problem of the resurgent Xiongnu in the Ordos region through milita...
Following the end of the Han dynasty in 220, China disintegrated into warlord states, which in 280 were briefly reunited under the Western Jin dynasty (265–316). There are ambiguous accounts of the Jin rebuilding the Qin wall, but these walls were largely inconsequential during the upheaval of the Five Barbarians, as the tribespeople that evicted t...
Frontier policy under the Tang dynastyreversed the wall-building activities of most previous dynasties that had occupied northern China since the third century BC, and no extensive wall building took place for the next several hundred years. Soon after the establishment of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Taizong (r.626–649), the threa...
Han Chinese power during the tumultuous post-Tang era was represented by the Song dynasty (960–1279), which completed its unification of the Chinese states with the conquest of Wuyue in 971. Turning to the north after this victory, in 979 the Song eliminated the Northern Han, ultimate successors to the Later Jin, but were unable to take the Sixteen...
After the Tang dynasty ended in 907, the northern frontier area remained outside the control of Han-ruled regimes until the establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368. During this period, non-Han dynasties of China ruled the north: the Khitan-led Liao dynasty (907–1125) and the succeeding Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in the east and the Tangu...
The early walls
In 1368, the Hongwu Emperor (r.1368–98) ousted the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty from China to inaugurate the Ming dynasty. The Mongols fled back to Mongolia, but even after numerous campaigns, the Mongol problem remained. During his early reign, Hongwu set up the "eight outer garrisons" close to the steppe and an inner line of forts more suitable for defence. The inner line was the forerunner to the Ming Great Wall. In 1373, as Ming forces encountered setbacks, Hongwu put more emphasis on defence...
The Walls of Xuanfu–Datong and the western reaches
With the Ordos now adequately fortified, the Mongols avoided its walls by riding east to invade Datong and Xuanfu, which were two major garrisons guarding the corridor to Beijing where no walls had been built.The two defence lines of Xuanfu and Datong (abbreviated as "Xuan–Da") left by the Northern Qi and the early Ming had deteriorated by this point, and for all intents and purposes the inner line was the capital's main line of defence. From 1544 to 1549, Weng Wanda (翁萬達; 1498–1552) embarked...
From Beijing to Shanhai Pass
In 1550, having once more been refused a request for trade, the Tümed Mongols under Altan Khan invaded the Xuan–Da region. However, despite several attempts, he could not take Xuanfu due to Weng Wanda's double fortified line while the garrison at Datong bribed him to not attack there. Instead of continuing to operate in the area, he circled around Weng Wanda's wall to the relatively lightly defended Gubeikou, northeast of Beijing. From there Altan Khan passed through the defences and raided t...
The usefulness of the Great Wall as a defence line against northern nomads became questionable under the Qing dynasty, since their territory encompassed vast areas inside and outside the wall: China proper, Manchuria, and Mongolia were all under Qing control. So instead, the Great Wall became the means to limit Han Chinese movement into the steppes...
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 .
China was politically divided during multiple periods in its history, with different regions ruled by different dynasties. These dynasties effectively functioned as separate states with their own court and political institutions.
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Aug 2, 2024 · A survey of important events and people in the history of China from ancient times to the present. Occupying nearly the entire East Asian landmass, China covers approximately one-fourteenth of the land area of Earth, and it is almost as large as the whole of Europe.
