Dynasty Years

Eastern Han Dynasty dōng hàn 25 — 220 195

Three Kingdoms sān guó 220 — 265 45

Jin Dynasty xī jìn / dōng jìn 265 — 420 155

Southern and Northern Dynasties nán běi cháo 420 — 589 169

Sui Dynasty suí 581 - 618 37

Tang Dynasty táng 618 — 907 289

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms wǔ dài shí guó 907 — 960 53

Northern Song Dynasty běi sòng 960 — 1127 167

Southern Song Dynasty nán sòng 1127 — 1279 152

Liao Dynasty liáo 916 — 1125 209

Jin Dynasty jīn 1115 — 1234 119

Yuan Dynasty yuán 1271 — 1368 97

Ming Dynasty míng 1368 — 1644 276

Shun Dynasty shùn 1644 <1

Qing Dynasty qīng 1644 — 1912 268

• The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and

preceded the Three Kingdoms in China.

• The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the

Liu clan who had peasant origins. The reign of the

Han Dynasty, lasting over 401 years, is commonly

considered within China to be one of the greatest periods

in the history of China.

• To this day, the ethnic majority of China still refer to

themselves as the "Han people".

• During the Han Dynasty, China officially became a Confucian state and

prospered domestically: agriculture, handicrafts and commerce flourished,

and the population reached over 56 million people.

• During the Han Dynasty paper was invented.

• The idea of Acupuncture, Feng Shua (the method of piercing the body

with needles in certain pressure points to relieve stress), and even the

world's first instrument used to track earthquakes was invented during this

time.

• Meanwhile, the empire extended its

political, cultural influence, and territory

over much of Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam,

and Central Asia before it finally collapsed

under a combination of domestic and

external pressures.

• The Han Dynasty was notable also for its military prowess.

• The empire expanded westward to the Tarim Basin with military

expeditions as far west as beyond the Caspian Sea, making possible a

relatively safe and secure caravan and mercantile traffic across Central

Asia.

• The paths of caravan traffic came to be known as the "Silk Road"

because the route was used to export Chinese silk.

• Chinese armies also invaded and annexed parts

of northern Korea (as well as establishing colonies

and trading posts that eventually integrated with

the locals) and northern Vietnam toward the end

of the 2nd century BC.

• To ensure peace with non-Chinese powers, the Han court developed a

mutually beneficial "tributary system". Non-Chinese states were allowed to

remain autonomous in exchange for symbolic acceptance of Han

overlordship.

• Tributary ties were confirmed and strengthened through intermarriages

at the ruling level and periodic exchanges of gifts and goods.

• The Three Kingdoms period is a period in the history of China

following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty

emperors.

• The three kingdoms were Wèi, Shǔ, and Wú.

• The earlier part of the period, from 190 to 220, was marked

by chaotic infighting between warlords in various parts of

China. The middle part of the period, from 220

and 263, was marked by a more militarily

stable arrangement between three rival states,

Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The later

part of this period was marked by the collapse

of the tripartite situation: first the destruction of

Shu by Wei (263), then the overthrow of Wei by

the Jin Dynasty (265), and the destruction of

Wu by Jin (280).

• Although relatively short, this historical period has been greatly

romanticized in the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. It has

been celebrated and popularized in operas, folk stories, novels and in

more recent times, films, television serials, and video games.

• The Three Kingdoms period is one of the bloodiest in Chinese history

and a large percentage of the population was wiped out during the

constant wars waged during this period.

• Technology advances significantly during this period.

• Zhuge Liang invented the wooden wheelbarrow.

• A brilliant mechanical engineer known as Ma Jun, in the Kingdom

of Wei invented a hydraulic-powered, mechanical puppet theatre

designed for Emperor Ming of Wei (Cao Rui), square-pallet chain

pumps for irrigation of gardens in Luoyang, and the ingenious

design of the South Pointing Chariot, a non-magnetic directional

compass operated by differential gears.

• The first of the two periods, the Western Jìn Dynasty (ch: 265–316),

was founded by Emperor Wu, better known as Sima Yan.

• Although providing a brief period of unity after conquering the state of

Eastern Wu in 280, the Jìn could not contain the invasion and uprising of

nomadic peoples after the devastating War of the Eight Princes.

• The capital was Luoyang until 311 when

Emperor Huai was captured by the forces of

Han Zhao. Successive reign of Emperor Min

lasted four years in Chang'an until its conquest

by Han Zhao in 316.

• Meanwhile remnants of the Jìn court fled from

the north to the south and reestablished the Jìn

court at Jiankang, near modern-day Nanjing,

under Prince of Longya.

• Prominent local families supported the proclamation of Prince of

Langye as Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jìn Dynasty (ch: 317–420)

when the news of the fall of Chang'an reached the south.

• Militaristic authorities and crises plagued the

Eastern Jìn court throughout its 104 years of

existence. It survived the rebellions of Wang Dun

and Su Jun.

• The last emperor and brother of Emperor An,

Emperor Gong, was installed in 419. Abdication

of Emperor Gong in 420 in favor of Liu Yu, then

Emperor Wu, ushered in the Liu Song Dynasty

and the Southern Dynasties.

• The Southern and Northern Dynasties followed the Jin Dynasty and

preceded Sui Dynasty in China.

• It was an age of civil war

and political disunity.

However it was also a time

of flourishing in the arts and

culture, advancement in

technology, and the spread

of foreign Mahayana

Buddhism and native

Daoism.

• Distinctive Chinese

Buddhism was also matured

during this time and shaped

by the northern and southern

dynasties alike.

• The Sui Dynasty followed the Southern and Northern Dynasties and

preceded the Tang Dynasty in China. It ended nearly four centuries of

division between rival regimes.

• The Sui Dynasty, founded by Emperor Wen, or Yang Jian, held its capital

at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an.

• It was marked by the reunification of Southern and Northern China and

the construction of the Grand Canal, though it was a relatively short

Chinese dynasty.

• It saw various reforms by Emperors Wen and Yang:

the land equalization system, initiated to reduce the

rich-poor social gap, resulted in enhanced agricultural

productivity; governmental power was centralized and

the Three Departments and Six Ministries system

officially instituted; coinage was standardized and

re-unified; defense was improved, and the Great Wall

was expanded.

• Buddhism was also spread and encouraged throughout the empire,

uniting the varied people and cultures of China.

• This dynasty has often been compared to the earlier Qin Dynasty in

tenure and the ruthlessness of its accomplishments.

• The Sui dynasty's early demise was attributed to the government's

tyrannical demands on the people, who bore the crushing burden

of taxes and compulsory labor.

• These resources were overstrained in the completion

of the Grand Canal--a monumental engineering feat and

in the undertaking of other construction projects, including

the reconstruction of the Great Wall.

• Weakened by costly and disastrous military campaigns against

Goguryeo which ended with defeat of Sui in the early seventh

century, the dynasty disintegrated through a combination of

popular revolts, disloyalty, and assassination.

• The Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907) was an imperial

dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five

Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.

• It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline

and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was interrupted briefly by

the Second Zhou Dynasty (October 16, 690 – March 3, 705) when

Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the first and only

Chinese empress regnant, ruling in her own right.

• The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an

(present-day Xi'an), is regarded by historians

as a high point in Chinese civilization, equal to

or surpassing that of the earlier Han Dynasty,

as well as a golden age of cosmopolitan

culture.

• Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers,

was greater than that of the Han period, and rivaled that of the later Yuan

Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.

• The enormous Grand Canal of China, built during the

previous Sui Dynasty, facilitated the rise of new urban

settlements along its route as well as increased trade

between mainland Chinese markets.

• The canal is to this day the longest in the world.

• Population was about 50-80 million people.

• With its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise

professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops

to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and the

lucrative trade routes along the Silk Road.

• Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to

the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered

or subdued several regions which it indirectly

controlled through a protectorate system.

• In Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty was

largely a period of progress and stability.

• Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960) was an era of political

upheaval in China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty and ending in the Song

Dynasty. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another

in the north, and more than 12 independent states were established,

mainly in the south. However, only ten are traditionally listed, hence the

era's name, "Ten Kingdoms.―

• The Five Dynasties:

• Later Liang Dynasty (June 5, 907-923)

• Later Tang Dynasty (923-936)

• Later Jin Dynasty (936-947)

• Later Han Dynasty (947-982)

• Later Zhou Dynasty (951-960)

• The Ten Kingdoms:

•Wu

•Wuyue

•Min

•Chu

•Southern Han

•Former Shu

•Later Shu

•Jingnan

•Southern Tang

•Northern Han

• The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960–1279

CE; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was

followed by the Yuan Dynasty.

• It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper

money, and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing

navy.

• The Song Dynasty is divided into two

distinct periods: the Northern Song and

Southern Song.

• During the Northern Song

(960–1127), the Song capital was in

the northern city of Bianjing

(now Kaifeng) and the dynasty

controlled most of inner China.

• The Southern Song (1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song

lost control of northern China to the Jin Dynasty. During this time, the

Song court retreated south of the Yangtze River and established their

capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou).

• The Southern Song Dynasty considerably bolstered naval strength

to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime

missions abroad.

• To repel the Jin (and then the Mongols),

the Song developed revolutionary new

military technology augmented by the use

of gunpowder.

• In 1234, the Jin Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who

subsequently took control of northern China and maintained uneasy

relations with the Southern Song.

• Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, died in

1259 while besieging a city in Chongqing. His younger brother Kublai

Khan was proclaimed to the new Great Khan of the Mongols and by 1271

as the Emperor of China.

• After two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai

Khan's armies conquered the Song Dynasty in

1279. China was once again unified, under the

Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

• The Liao Dynasty was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the

regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper.

•It was founded by the Yelu clan of the Khitan people in the same year as

Tang Dynasty collapsed (907), even though its first ruler, Yelü Abaoji, did

not declare an era name until 916.

• Although it was originally known as the Empire of the Khitan, the

Emperor Yelü Ruan officially adopted the name "Liao" (formally "Great

Liao") in 947. The name "Liao" was dropped in 983, but readopted in

1066.

• The Liao Empire was destroyed by

the Jurchen of the Jin Dynasty in

1125. However, remnants of its people

led by Yelü Dashi established Xi

(Western) Liao Dynasty 1125-1220,

which survived until the arrival of

Genghis Khan's unified Mongolian

army.

• The Jin Dynasty was founded in what would become northern Manchuria

by the Jurchen tribal chieftan Wányán Āgǔdǎ in 1115.

• In 1125, it successfully annihilated the Liao Dynasty which had held

sway over northern China, including Manchuria and part of the Mongol

region for several centuries. Also at this time, the Jin made overtures to

the Korean kingdom of Goryeo, which Emperor Yejong refused.

• On January 9, 1127, Jin forces ransacked Kaifeng, capital of the

Northern Song Dynasty, capturing both Emperor Qinzong, and his father,

Emperor Huizong, who had abdicated in panic in the face of Jin forces.

• Following the fall of Kaifeng, Song forces continued

to fight for over a decade with Jin forces, eventually

signing the Treaty of Shaoxing in 1141, calling for the

cessation of all Song land north of the Huai River to

the Jin.

• The new Jin empire adopted many of the Chinese weapons, including

various machines for siege warfare and artillery.

• The Jin use of cannons, grenades, and even rockets to defend besieged

Kaifeng against the Mongols in 1233 is considered the first ever battle in

human history in which gunpowder was used effectively, even though it

failed to prevent the eventual Jin defeat.

• The Jin Empire was not particularly good at naval

warfare. Both in 1129-30 and in 1161 Jin forces were

defeated by the Southern Song navies when trying to

cross the Yangtze River into the core Southern Song

territory, even though for the latter campaign the Jin had

equipped a large navy of their own, using Chinese

ship builders and even Chinese captains who had

defected from the Southern Song.

• The Yuan Dynasty or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded

by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China,

all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from

1271 to 1368.

• In Chinese history, the Yuan Dynasty followed the Song Dynasty and

preceded the Ming Dynasty.

• Although the dynasty was established

by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather

Genghis Khan placed on the official

record as the founder of the dynasty

or Taizu.

• The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty became Emperor of China by 1279,

though Kublai Khan had also claimed the title of Great Khan.

• The Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan,

considered one of Mongol Empire's four descendant empires after its split.

Neverthless, the Mongol Emperors of the Yuan held the title of Great Khan

of all Mongol Khanates.

• The Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644,

following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.

• The Ming was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Hans (the main

Chinese ethnic group). Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a

rebellion led by Li Zicheng, which was itself soon replaced by the

Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, regimes loyal to the Ming throne (collectively

called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662.

• Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and

a standing army of one million troops. Although

private maritime trade and official tribute missions

from China had taken place in previous dynasties,

the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral

Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all

others in size.

• There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of

the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the

Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century.

• Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.

• Emperor Hongwu (1368–1398) attempted to create a society of self-

sufficient rural communities in a rigid, immobile system that would have

no need to engage with the commercial life and trade of urban centers.

• His rebuilding of China's agricultural base

and strengthening of communication

routes through the militarized courier

system had the unintended effect of

creating a vast agricultural surplus that

could be sold at burgeoning markets

located along courier routes.

• Rural culture and commerce became influenced by urban trends. The

upper echelons of society embodied in the scholarly gentry class were

also affected by this new consumption-based culture.

• In a departure from tradition, merchant families began to produce

examination candidates to become scholar-officials and adopted cultural

traits and practices typical of the gentry.

• Parallel to this trend involving

social class and commercial

consumption were changes in

social and political philosophy,

bureaucracy and governmental

institutions, and even arts and

literature.

• By the 16th century the Ming economy was stimulated by maritime trade

with the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch. China became involved in a

new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the

Columbian Exchange.

• Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive

amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotes as

the common medium of exchange in China.

• During the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was

greatly diminished, thereby undermining state revenues and indeed the

entire Ming economy. This damage to the economy was compounded by

the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age,

natural calamities, crop failure, and sudden epidemics.

• The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods

allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming

authority.

• The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse

from Ming to Qing rule in China.

• The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the

lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li,

however, only went by the title of Prince, not emperor.

• The capture of Beijing by the Shun forces in April 1644 marked the end of

the Ming dynasty, but Li Zicheng failed to solidify his mandate: in late May

1644, he was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of

Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu prince Dorgon.

• When he fled back to Beijing in early June, Li finally proclaimed himself

emperor of China and left the capital in a hurry.

• The Shun dynasty ended with Li's death in 1646.

• The Quin Dynasty was founded not by the Han Chinese who form the

majority of the Chinese population, but the Manchus, who are today an

ethnic minority within China.

• The Manchus are descended from Jurchens a Tungusic people who

lived around the region now comprising the Russian province of Primorsky

Krai and the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin.