Xia Dynasty (2183 BC- 1752 BC)

Shang Dynasty ( 1751BC - 1111 BC )

Zhou Dynasty (1111BC - 222 BC )

Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 CE )

Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 )

Jin Dynasty (265-420)

Sui Dynasty (581 - 618)

Tang Dynasty ( 618 - 907 )

Song Dynasty ( 960 - 1279 )

Yuan Dynasty ( 1279 - 1368 )

Ming Dynasty ( 1368 -1644 )

Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 )

Republic of China (1912 - Present )

The People's Republic of China( 1949 - Present )

Man was basically a food gatherer. Fire was discovered. Tools became sharp and pointed. Plant cultivation started. Domestication of animals. Settlement in villages. Wheel was discovered. Metals like Bronze and Copper were used.

Most people living during the Shang dynasty, where peasants. Deveoloped complex religous beliefes- where monotheistic . Believed in the Yin and Yang- a delicate balance between two forces. Developed a system of writing - using pictographs and ideographs, signs that express thoughts and ideas Shang kings and nobles ruled. Oracles bones where used by preists to predict the future. Turned calligraphy into an elegant art form.

Had a feudalist government. Iron working started in 500 BC. Irrigation promoted farming. The Mandate of Heaven lead to the dynastic cycle. Money coins came into use. Silk became a sought out good. The first book was made and bound. The planets and sun cycles were studied.

Qin Shi Huangdi was the 1st ruler who wanted reign over the 6 states of Zhou. Qin Shi enforced rule by killing Confucians, and burnng their books. Connected all of the nearby walls to form the 5,000 kilometer Great Wall of China. The Wall runs from The ChihliGulf to the edge of Tibet When Qin Shi died the empire fell apart. The state of Qin fell in 207 bce to Liu Bang. Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty.

Han Dynasty introduced a monopoly of iron and salt indutries. The emperor Wudi sent soldiers to conquer lands and expand China's boarder. Han emperors made Confucianism the official belief fo the state. A Han official, Cai Lun, dicovered a way to make durable paper out of wood pulp. Other inventions developed during this period included fishing reels, chain pumps, and wheelbarrows. During this period, physicians diagnosed diseases and experimented with herbal remedies. Chinese doctors also developed anesthetics and used other drugs.

Western Jin was in control from 265-316. Western Jin provided a period of relative order and prosperity. There was a brief interlude of barbarian invasions. The compass was invented in 271. Eastern Jin was in control from 316-420, after being forced from Luoyang.

The recruited officails were trained to Confucianism to rebuild the bureaucracy and enlarge the civil service system from the Han Dynasty. Tang Dynasty conquered their territory through the many military victories. Dynasty reached its hieght in the early eight century. The time period was known as the "Golden Age", for the arts and literature. They were also well known and recognized for their songs, dances, and paintings. They did have down falls that would bring them to crumble and no longer exsist as a dynasty.

The Song Dynasty ruled for 319 years. 1100s the Song retreatedsouth of the Hwang He river, ruled there for another 150 years. Farming shifted from the wheat cultvation to rice cultivation in Yangzi and the south. Foreign trade flourished, traded with India, Persia, and the Middle East. Governmaent issued paper money in order to make trade easier. Gentry and Peasantry were the two main classes of society. 200 major and 400 minor Song poets. Neo-Cofucianism thrived as a moral principle of the time.

Not enough Mongols to control such a big empire. Chinese and foreign ways were developed. Cambulac was the capital city (now Beijing). Marco Polo visited there in 1275. Mongols tolerated many beliefs. Kublai Khan extended the capital to the Grand Canal. Mongols could serve in the military. Kublai allowed Chinese officials to continue to rule the provinces.

The Ming Dynasty restored rule to China. Confuscian learning and civil service are some of the things that were restored to China during the Ming Dynasty . Painting was an especially important part of the Ming Dynasty, a popular theme in painting was landscape. Zhu Yuanzhang took the name Hongwu when he established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. The capital of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing until 1402. In 1402, Yongle took power and made Beijing the capital; in 1420 both Beijing and Nanjing were named the capitals. Wars with Korea, curruption in the government and economic failure resulted in the bankruptacy of China. The famine in the Shannxi Providence and the lack of consideration from the government ended the Ming Dynasty in 1644.

Fertile, well-irrigated land fed more than 100,000,000 people During the 1500's the Chinese used the sweet potatotes and corn from North America The Chinese were home to two industries of porcelain, paper and tools. The extensive canals were repaired and rebuilt. The ways of printing were made better. Artists developed their own ideas on painting landscaping. The writing of novels beagn to emerge. The authors also produce the 1st detective novel.

In 1912 Sun Yixian stepped down so Yuan Shikai could come to power and restore order and create a strong central government. He tried to set up a new ruling dynasty, with himself as emperor. When Yuan died in 1916, China plunged into still greater disorder. At this time, foreign powers increased their influence over Chinese affairs. In 1915, Japan presented Yuan Shikai with Twenty-one demands, which sought to make China a Japanese protectorate. At the Paris Peace Conference, the Allies gave Japan control over German possessions in China On May 4, 1919, student protests set off a cultural ferment known as the May fourth Movement. women joined the marches and campaigned to end arranged marriages, footbinding, and the seclusion of women within the home. Some revoloutionaries turned to the ideas of Marx and Lenin, and by the 1920's, a small group of Chinese communists had formed their own party.