A Concise History of China: From Prehistory to Ancient Civilizations

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Introduction to History of China

History of China. Prehistoric humans inhabited China as early as 600,000 years ago. The most notable prehistoric human remains are those of Peking Man, which date back some 300,000 years ago. The ancestors of the present-day Chinese appeared about 20,000 years ago. By about 2000 B.C. they had developed two separate cultures, one along the Huang He and the other on the coastal plain.

Important dates in Chinac. 1766-c. 1045 B.C. The Shang dynasty ruled China.c. 1045 B.C. The Zhou people from the west overthrew the Shang and set up a new dynasty that ruled until 256 B.C.c. 500 B.C. The philosopher Confucius developed a system of moral values and responsible behavior that influenced China for more than 2,000 years.221-206 B.C. The Qin dynasty established China's first strong central government.206 B.C.-A.D. 220 China became a powerful empire under the Han dynasty. Chinese culture flourished.581-618 The Sui dynasty came to power and reunified China after almost 400 years of division.618-907 The Tang dynasty ruled China during a period of prosperity and great cultural accomplishment.960-1279 The Song dynasty ruled the empire and made Neo-Confucianism the official state philosophy.1279-1368 The Mongols conquered and controlled all of China.1368-1644 The Ming dynasty governed China.1644-1912 The Manchus ruled China as the Qing dynasty.1842 The Treaty of Nanjing gave Hong Kong to the United Kingdom and allowed British trade at five Chinese ports.1850-1864 Millions of Chinese died in the Taiping Rebellion.1900 Members of a secret society attacked and killed Westerners and Chinese Christians during the Boxer Rebellion.1912 The Republic of China was established.1928 The Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, united China under one government.1931 The Japanese seized Manchuria (the Northeast).1934-1935 Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communists on their Long March to Shaanxi.1937-1945 War with Japan shattered China.1949 The Chinese Communists defeated the Nationalists and established the People's Republic of China.1958 The Communists launched the Great Leap Forward, which severely weakened China's economy.1966-1969 The Cultural Revolution disrupted education, the government, and daily life in China.1971 China was admitted to the United Nations (UN).1972 U.S. President Richard M. Nixon visited China.1976 Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai died.1979 China and the United States established normal diplomatic relations.Early 1980's The Communist Party began reforms toward reducing government economic controls.1989 Demonstrations across China called for more democracy and an end to corruption in government. The military crushed the movement, killing hundreds of protesters.1997 China regained control of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom.1999 China regained control of Macao from Portugal.

According to legend, the Hsia dynasty (about 1994 B.C.-1523 B.C.) was China's earliest ruling family. Recorded history begins with the Shang people, whose dynasty (1700's B.C.- about 1122 B.C.) ruled a state centered in the Huang He valley. (Chinese history is commonly discussed in terms of dynasties. A dynasty may be named after a people or a kingdom as well as after a ruling family.) The most important city during the Shang dynasty was Anyang.

Shang dynasty in China. China's first dynasty, the Shang, arose in the Huang He Valley during the 1700's B.C. It ruled China until about 1122 B.C.

The Shang were conquered by the Chou, a people who came from the northwest. During the Chou dynasty (1028 B.C.-222 B.C.), China was dotted with walled cities surrounded by peasant farms, which were under the protection of feudal lords. Some lords controlled powerful states and gave only nominal allegiance to the Chou king. Transport canals and an extensive irrigation system were built. The region of the Yangtze River came under Chinese domination as the population began settling farther south.

The latter half of the Chou period produced the classical age of Chinese philosophy. Among the great philosophers and scholars of that period were Confucius, Lao-tzu, and Mencius. Followers of Confucius and Mencius made their teachings the basis for a religious movement, Confucianism. Similarly, the teachings of Lao-tzu became the basis for Taoism.

By the end of the fifth century B.C., the Chou king had lost control over the feudal lords, and for two centuries afterward China was divided into warring states. Finally, in 221 B.C., the Chin principality conquered all of China, founding the Chin, or Qin, dynasty and the first Chinese empire.

Qin dynasty in China. The Qin (Chin) dynasty, in 221 B.C., established China's first empire controlled by a strong central government.

The Chinese Empire

Under the Chin dynasty a strong central government was established; provinces replaced feudal states. The empire was extended into parts of south China. The Great Wall was largely completed, protecting China on the north from the Huns.

The Han dynasty rose to power in 202 B.C., and greatly expanded the empire. Conquests were made in south China, Annam (northern Vietnam), and Korea. The Huns north of the Great Wall were subdued. Han conquests, westward as far as present Afghanistan, brought about trade with the Middle East by way of the Silk Road through Central Asia. China exported vast quantities of silk westward, much of it reaching the Roman Empire.

Han dynasty in China. The Han dynasty gained control of China in 202 B.C. Han rulers expanded the Chinese empire into Central Asia.

The Han adopted, for those going into government service, a system of examinations based on the Confucian classics. Scholars edited the classics and discovered and copied many old texts. The first Chinese encyclopedia was compiled. Paper was invented. Buddhism was introduced from India.

The Han dynasty was deposed in 220 A.D. There followed nearly 400 years of divided rule and civil war. During 221-65 China was divided into three separate statesWu, Shu, and Weitraditionally called the Three Kingdoms. The country was reunited in 280 under the Western Chin dynasty, but the state collapsed in 316 following uprisings by various non-Chinese peoples, mainly Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan. In the south small Chinese states continued to rule. China lost its outlying areas, closing the Silk Road. Political disunity was offset by a general cultural advancement, however. Trade was established with southeast Asia. Buddhism became more prevalent, while interest in Confucianism declined.

Unification of China was achieved by the Sui dynasty (589-618). Under the Sui an extensive system of canals was built, interconnecting the Huang He and the Yangtze River. Chinese control was reestablished over Annam and what is present Chinese Turkestan. Also, the Chinese way of life and system of government began to influence Japan profoundly. Contact was made by way of Korea, where Chinese culture had been dominant since earliest times.

The Golden Age

The Sui dynasty was succeeded by the Tang dynasty (618-907), which built a Chinese empire greater than any before. Korea and Tibet came under Chinese suzerainty; so did western regions extending almost to Iran. Trade over the Silk Road was reestablished. Chinese expansion was checked in 751 when a Muslim army defeated a huge Tang force at Talas, in Central Asia.

The Tang ruled during one of China's most brilliant periods. The literary examination system for government service was perfected. Block printing was invented. Painting, sculpture, and poetry flourished. Porcelain, invented during the Han dynasty, came into mass production. At the same time Confucianism was revived, the power of the Buddhist monasteries was curtailed, and Islam took root and spread. Tea drinking became widespread.

The Tang dynasty was followed by a period of political upheaval. Then the Sung dynasty (960-1279) established a stable government, but during most of its rule controlled only the south. The north was under the control of Altaic peoples, primarily the Tungus from Manchuria and the Mongol Khitan. The period of divided rule was one of literary and cultural refinement. Trade overland across Asia became insignificant, but maritime trade greatly increased. The compass, movable type, and gunpowder for military purposes were developed. The introduction of early ripening rice made it possible to grow more crops per year. The increased rice production helped lead to and support a rapid growth in the population, which was over 100 million for the first time.

During the early 1200's, north China was conquered by the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan and his lieutenants. After years of warfare the Sung state was defeated by Kublai Khan, who founded the Mongol, or Yuan, dynasty (1279-1368).

The Mongols reopened the overland trade routes across Asia. China's foreign commerce flourished. Direct contact with Europe was established for the first time through the travels of the Polos from Venice. Under Mongol rule, the Grand Canal, a waterway connecting north and south China, was completed. In literature, drama was in its most vigorous period.

Upon the decline of the Mongols, the native Ming dynasty rose to power. The Ming rebuilt and added to the Great Wall. Ming conquests were not extensive, but several outlying areas were forced to make payments to China. In the early 1400's, Ming fleets dominated Asian waters as far as Arabia. With the Portuguese arrival by ship in 1514, regular trade with Europe was begun. In the 1590's China fought an inconclusive war with Japan over control of Korea.

In Manchuria various Tungus tribes united in the early 1600's, later adopting the name Manchu. In 1644, the Manchus conquered China, founding the Manchu, or Qing, dynasty.

Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty, an empire established by the Manchu people of Manchuria, ruled China from 1644 to 1912.

China Under the Manchus

The Manchus retained the traditional imperial administration of the Ming dynasty. The conquerors required all Chinese males to wear the Manchu headdress of the queue (pigtail).

Through their conquests, the Manchus greatly extended the power of the Chinese Empire. In addition to Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, both originally under Manchu control, Outer Mongolia, Tibet, Taiwan, and Chinese Turkestan all became part of the Chinese Empire.

In the early 1800's, trade with the Western nations greatly increased, although officially confined to only one port, Guangzhou. Much of the trade was illegal, as the British and other Westerners profited by smuggling opium into China. The Manchu government attempted to stop the importation of the harmful drug; the result was the Opium War with Great Britain, 1839-42. China lost, and was forced to sign a treaty ceding Hong Kong to the British and opening four new ports to them. Within a few years these ports were opened to other foreigners.

From the 1830's to the early 1860's, China was beset by several revolts. The most serious was the Taiping Rebellion. In 1850, the rebel forces, or Taipings, defeated the imperial armies and took control of most of central China, making Nanjing their capital. The Manchus, with armies reorganized along Western lines, finally defeated the rebels in 1864.

Meanwhile, encroachment by foreign powers on China's sovereignty continued. In 1860 China opened more ports to foreigners as a result of losing a war to France and Great Britain. In the 1880's, China lost two of its tributary states: Annam to France, and Burma to Great Britain. After the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), China ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan and renounced claims to Korea. In the late 1890's, the Western powers received additional concessions and territory.

Antiforeign sentiment in China was high in the late 1890's, and by mid-1900 a rebellion broke out. It was led by a secret society called the Boxers, whose aim was to drive all foreigners out of China. Many foreigners were massacred before Western and Japanese troops quelled the outbreak.

After the Boxer Rebellion most of the foreign powers in China accepted the Open Door Policy, a proposal put forth by the United States in 1899 that all nations be granted equal commercial opportunity in China. The Manchus, on their part, put into effect many reforms. They established a school system with Western-style education, which gradually replaced the traditional schooling. In 1905 the literary examinations for government service were abolished. Some Chinese, however, did not think the pace of reform was fast enough. They organized secret revolutionary groups and made several attempts to overthrow the government. A prominent revolutionary was Sun Yat-sen.

Forming the Republic

In 1911, the long-smoldering revolution against the rule of the Manchus broke out. The revolutionaries, with Sun as provisional president, set up in Nanjing a national assembly, representing provinces mostly in the south. The emperor formally gave up his throne in early 1912, and Yuan Shih-k'ai assumed control of a republican government in Beijing. To unify China, Sun resigned his position, allowing Yuan to become the republic's first president. Yuan, however, began to suppress the revolutionaries, establishing himself as dictator.

Meanwhile, Outer Mongolia declared itself independent in 1911; Tibet followed in 1913. China refused to recognize their claims to independence, but lacked forces to reconquer them.

After the death of Yuan in 1916, China broke up into local regimes headed by military officers called warlords. The national government in Beijing was dominated by a succession of warlords. In 1917, the revolutionaries' Kuomintang, or Nationalist party, established its headquarters in Guangzhou. There it founded a constitutional government headed by Sun in opposition to the one in Beijing. In 1923 the Kuomintang began to receive aid from the Soviet Union and to accept Chinese Communists as members.

Upon the death of Sun in 1925, General Chiang Kai-shek became head of the Kuomintang government. In 1926, he launched the Northern Expedition, long planned by Sun to unify China. The Kuomintang army, allied with a Communist army and five friendly warlord armies, drove north and defeated various warlord forces, securing central China.

In 1927 the drive was halted when Chiang expelled the Communists and forced Soviet advisers to leave China. Many Communists were killed or jailed, but the main Communist forces withdrew into the mountains of Jiangxi province in southeast China. Chiang's reorganized Nationalist government was established at Nanjing, and in 1928 the Northern Expedition was resumed. Beijing was captured and renamed Peiping, but the Nationalist government was not completely in control. Warfare continued both against rebellious warlords and against the Communists.

Meanwhile, traditional customs, such as the wearing of the queue by men and the binding of women's feet, were being abandoned under the influence of the West.

Japan Invades China

In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria. For several years Chiang's army spent more time fighting the Communists than it did fighting the Japanese. The Communist army in Jiangxi province, under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung, made a 6,000-mile (9,700-km) marchthe famous Long Marchto establish itself in the north, in Shaanxi province. In 1936, Chiang was kidnapped by a Manchurian warlord and forced to agree to unite with the Communists against the Japanese.

China in 1934. In 1934, the Nationalists forced the Communists to flee their bases in southern China and begin their Long March.

Japan, fearing Chinese unity, attacked China in full force near Peiping in 1937. The Chinese retreated inland and in 1938 moved their capital to Chongqing. With most of the coast in Japanese hands, supplies to the beleaguered Chinese had to come either by air or overland by the way of the Burma Road.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, United States military aid to China steadily increased, despite the closing of the Burma Road by the Japanese. Throughout the war, the Nationalists held territory only in the west and parts of the south.

Japanese expansion in China. Japanese expansion into China reached its greatest extent in 1944, when the Japanese controlled much of eastern China.

Postwar China

Communists Take Control

Soon after the surrender of Japan in 1945, civil war resumed. The Soviet Union, which had invaded Japanese-held Manchuria in the last days of World War II, withdrew, leaving Manchuria to the Chinese Communists. Following evacuation of the Japanese, Nationalist troops with United States help moved into most areas of China. By the end of 1948, however, the Communists had gained control of most of north China.

Peiping fell in January, 1949, and the Communists made it their capital, restoring its name of Beijing. As the Communists drove south, Nanjing fell in April, and the Nationalists moved their government to Guangzhou. Shanghai fell in May. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed by Mao Tse-tung. Guangzhou fell on October 15 and a short time later the Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan, where the Nationalist government was reestablished with Chiang as president.

China Becomes A World Power

During 1950, the Communists consolidated their conquest of the mainland. In October China seized Tibet. That same month China entered the Korean War by sending troops to the aid of North Korea, preventing victory by United Nations forces. Branded an aggressor, China's Communist government was not allowed to replace the Nationalist government in China's seat in the United Nations.

Korean War: Chinese offensive This map illustrates the third stage of the Korean Warthe Chinese offensive and the retreat by United Nations (UN) forces from November 1950 to January 1951. China, which had entered the war in October 1950, sent a huge force into North Korea and forced the Allies to retreat southward the following month. In December, the Allies began to withdraw from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Thousands of UN troops were evacuated by sea from the port of Hungnam on North Korea's east coast. The Communist forces soon crossed into South Korea, and in January 1951, they captured Seoul, the South Korean capital. The Allies' retreat ended about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Seoul.

Meanwhile, reorganization of the Chinese economy and society was begun. Aid came from the Soviet Union, with which Mao Tse-tung had negotiated a treaty of alliance and assistance. The new government worked energetically to rebuild transportation networks and industry ravaged by years of war and substantial progress was made. Concurrently, private ownership of business was virtually eliminated. Large-scale land reform was carried out.

There was also increased regimentation of society. The press came under government control, dissent was prohibited, and public religious practices were restricted. In 1957 the government relaxed controls and welcomed free speech, but after a flood of unexpected criticism, controls were quickly reinstated.

Up to 1957, economic progress had been rapid. However, the Great Leap Forward a plan of forced collectivization of farms and development of heavy industry, initiated by Mao Tse-tung in 1958failed and set the economy back. Famine was widespread and millions perished.

China's relations with neighboring countries became increasingly strained during the 1960's. In 1962, in a border dispute with India, China invaded and occupied small sections of Indian territory.

Meanwhile, a rift had developed between China and the Soviet Union in the late 1950's over differences in Communist doctrine. In 1963, in talks between the two countries, China accused the Soviet Union of revisionism (revising Communist doctrine) for its policy of peaceful coexistence, which was incompatible, according to the Chinese, with the historic Communist aim of revolution and struggle against capitalism.

China vied with the Soviets in sending aid to North Vietnam, which was involved in the Vietnamese War throughout the 1960's. In 1964 China detonated an atomic bomb, becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.

In 1966 Mao set in motion the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to purge the Communist party of revisionists, and to make the Chinese more revolutionary in thought and deed. The revolution was spearheaded by youths called the Red Guards. Before order was restored in 1968, China was plunged to the brink of civil war.

Relations with the Soviets worsened. Boundary disputes led to skirmishes in early 1969. Later in the year high-level talks led to an end of the fighting, but China remained unfriendly toward the Soviets.

During the 1970's China orbited artificial satellites and developed a ballistic missile force. Meanwhile, the country was emerging from self-imposed diplomatic isolation. In 1971 it was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1976, both Chou En-lai, premier for 27 years, and Mao died. In a struggle for succession that followed, a moderate faction led by Deng Xiaoping won control. During the 1980's, Deng transformed Chinese society by loosening economic controls and encouraging private enterprise.

In 1979, China briefly invaded Vietnam to punish that country for invading China's ally, Cambodia, and overthrowing its government.

In the 1980's, China worked to supress nationalist dissent led by the Dalai Lama in Tibet. China also worked to cultivate better relations with its neighbors and the Western powers. Economic and cultural contacts were increased and foreign trade grew enormously, especially with Japan and the United States. In May, 1989, Deng met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the two agreed to restore friendly relations between their countries.

Also in the spring of 1989, Chinese students, joined by workers, held a series of massive demonstrations in Beijing, in Tiananmen Square, demanding democratic reform. On June 4 the government sent in troops, killing an estimated 1,000 to 5,000 people according to television evidence. The government rejected these figures.

The government then attempted to eliminate all dissent and corruption. The result was thousands of executions. It also began to curtail the growth of private enterprise, but the economy began to stagnate and in 1992 Deng reversed that policy, allowing private enterprise to expand. By the late 1990's China had one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and the standard of living of many Chinese had risen dramatically. In 1997 Deng Xiaoping died. He was succeeded by Jiang Zemin.

In 1997 China gained control of Hong Kong, a former British colony, in accordance with a 1984 agreement with Great Britain. Following the transfer of power, Hong Kong officially became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. A legislature appointed by the Chinese government replaced the democratically elected legislative council established by the British. According to the terms of the agreement with Great Britain, Hong Kong's capitalist system will remain in effect for 50 years.

In 1998 summer floods killed over 3,600 people. The special administrative region of Macau was created in 1999 when Portugal turned its former colony over to China. In 2001 China entered the World Trade Organization. China launched its first manned spacecraft into earth orbit in 2003.

In August 2008, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing. China completed a number of major construction projects to improve its services and facilities for the games, including the National Center for the Performing Arts, a massive performance hall; Terminal 3 at Beijing airport, the largest building in the world; and Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed "the Bird's Nest." The Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, as well as many of its competitions, were held in the new stadium.