History of China

History of China

China is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations. It started with the prehistory, ancient era, imperial era, until modern era. In the prehistory, there were Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. In these eras, it said that China was inhabited by Homo erectus. Afterwards, the era continued to the ancient era. There were Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, and Warring States Period.

Xia Dynasty was the first dynasty in historical record, from 2100 BC to 1600 BC. The period of Shang Dynasty was started from 1600 BC to 1046 BC. The longest dynasty in Chinese history was Zhou Dynasty. It was started from the end of Shang Dynasty until 221 BC. In Spring and Autumn period, in 8th century BC, the power was decentralized. After the political consolidation, there were seven leading states remained. They invaded each others. This period was known as Warring States Period.

In the imperial era, there were eleven imperials. Those are Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Jin Period, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Song Dynasty and Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty. Here, we are going to look into the Qin Dynasty.

Qin Dynasty became the first Imperial Era in China. Qin Emperor was Qin Shi Huang. The Qin Dynasty was lasted from 221BC- 206BC. Qin Emperor defeated the Han Chinese homeland and united them under a centralized legalist government located in Xianyang. The dogma of legalism produced the absolute power of the emperor. Qin Dynasty is well-known for beginning the Great Wall. Qin Emperor contributed the concept of centralized government, unification of legal code, written language, measurements, and currency of China. In the end of his life, in 210 BC, the Terracota Army, a funerary art, buried with Qin Emperor. The Terracotta Armies were purposed to defend Emperor in his afterlife’s empire.

The Chinese civilization continues until modern eras, which are Republic of China and period 1949 to present. Sun Yat Sen was the founder and the first president of the Republic of China. (Silvia)