SHANG DYNASTY (1600AD-1050AD)
The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history firmly supported by archaeological evidence. Excavation at the Ruins of Yin, which has been identified as the last Shang capital, uncovered eleven major royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices.
The long period of the Bronze Age in China, which began around 2,000 BC, the growth and maturity of a civilization that would be sustained in its essential aspects for another 2,000 years. In the early stages of this developments, the process of urbanization went hand in hand with the establishment of a social order. In China, as in other societies, the mechanism that generated social cohesion, and at a later stage statecraft, was ritualization. As most of the paraphernalia for early rituals were made in bronze, and as rituals carried such and important social function. It is perhaps possible to read into the forms and decorations of these objects some of the central concerns of the societies that produced them.
There were probably a number of early centers of bronze technology, but the area along the Yellow River in present-day Henan Province emerged as the center of the most advanced and literate cultures of the time and became the seat of the political and military power of the Shang dynasty, the earliest archaeologically recorded dynasty was conquered by the people of Zhou, who came from farther up the Yellow River in the area of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province. In the first years of the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BC), known as the Western Zhou (1046-771 BC), the ruling house of Zhou exercised a certain degree of "imperial" power over most of central China. With the move of the capital to Luoyang in 770 BC.
ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-256 BC)
The Zhou dynasty was the longest ruling dynasty in the history of China. The land of Zhou was a vassal state of the Shang Dynasty. A powerful leader of the Zhou named Wen Wang began to plan to overthrow the Shang dynasty. It took many years, but finally Wen Wang's son, Wu Wang, led an army across the Yellow River to defeat the King of the Shang Dynasty. King Wu established a new dynasty, the Zhou dynasty.
This period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronzeware making. The latter period of the Zhou dynasty is also famous for the beginnings of three major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. The Zhou dynasty also spans the period in which the written script evolved into its almost-modern form with the use of an archaic clerical script that emerged during the late Warring States period.
Western Zhou (1050-771 BC)
Eastern Zhou (771-256 BC)
Spring and Autumn Period (770-475 BC)
Warring States Period (475-206 BC)
QIN DYNASTY (221-206 BC)
Qin Shihuangdi-221-210 BC
Er Shi-210-207
HAN DYNASTY (202-220)
The Han dynasty was established by the rebel leader Liu Bang and ruled by the Housed of Liu. Preceded by the short-lived Qing Dynasty and a warring interregnum known as the Chu-Han contention. Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. The Han Dynasty saw an age of economic prosperity and witnessed a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050-256 BC). The coinage issued by the central government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty.
After the Civil war that followed the death of Qin Shihuang in 210 BC. China was reunited under the rule of the Han dynasty, which is divided into two major periods: the Western or Former Han and the Eastern or Later Han. The boundaries established by the Qin and maintained by the Han have more or less defined the nation of China up to the present day. The Western Han capital, Chang'an in present day Shaanxi Province-a monumental urban center laid out on a north-south axis with palaces, residential wards, and two bustling market areas-was one of the two largest cities in the ancient world.
Wester Han-206BC-9AD
- Gaodi 206-195AD
- Huidi 195-188BC
- Lu Hou 188-180 BC
- Wendi 180-157BC
- Jingdi 157-141 BC
- Wudi 141-87 BC
- Zhaodi 87-74 BC
- Xuandi 74-49 BC
- Yuandi 49-33 BC
- Chengdi 33-7 BC
- Aidi 7-1 BC
- Pingdi 1-6 AD
- Ruzi 7-9 AD
- Wang Mang 9-23 AD
- Guang Wudi
- Mingdi
- Zhangdi
- Hedi
- Shangdi
- Andi
- Shundi
- Chongdi
- Zhidi
- Huandi
- Lingdi
- Xiandi
- Wei
- Wendi
- Mingdi
- Shaodi
- Gao Gui Xiang Gong
- Yuandi
- Wudi
- Feidi
- Jingdi
- Modi
- Xuande
- Hou Zhu
- Wudi
- Huidi
- Huaidi
- Mindi
- Wendi
- Yangdi
- Gongdi
TANG DYNASTY (618-906)
The Tang dynasty was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty.
After 300 years of division and fragmentation following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 200 AD. China was once again unified under the Sui dynasty (581-618). The political and governmental institutions established during this brief period lay the foundation for the growth and prosperity of the succeeding Tang dynasty. Marked by strong and benevolent rule, successful diplomatic relationships, economic expansion, and a cultural efflorescence of cosmopolitan style. Tang China emerged as one of the greatest empires in he medieval world. Merchants, clerics, nd envoys from India, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Korea and Japan thronged the streets of Chang'an, the capital, and foreign tongues were a common part of daily life.
- Gaozu
- Taizong
- Gaozong
- Zhongzong
- Ruizong
- Wu Zetian
- Xuanzong
- Suzong
- Daizong
- Dezong
- Shunzong
- Xianzong
- Muzong
- Jingzong
- Wenzong
- Wuzong
- Yizong
- Xizong
- Zhaozong
- Aidi (Zhaoxuan)
- Later Liang
- Taizu
- Modi
- Zhuangzong
- Mingzong
- Feidi
- Gaozu
- Chudi
- Gaozu
- Yindi
- Taizu
- Shizong
- Taizu
- Taizong
- Zhenzong
- Renzong
- Yingzong
- Shenzong
- Zhezong
- Huizong
- Qinzong
- Gaozong
- Xiaozong
- Guangzong
- Ningzong
- Lizong
- Duzong
- Gongti
- Duanong
- Di Bing
YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)
During the Yuan dynasty, China-for the first time in its long history-was completely subjugated by foreign conquerors and became part of a larger political entity, the vast Mongol Empire. Ironically, during this century of alien occupation, Chinese culture not only survived but was reinvigorated.
It was a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division and a ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongol Borjigin clan, lasting from 1271 to 1368. In Chinese historiography, this dynasty followed the Song dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty. Some of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others only used their native language (Mongolian) and the Phags-pa script.
- Shizu
- Chengzong
- Wuzong
- Renzong
- Yingzong
- Taidingdi
- Wenzong
- Mingzong
- Ningzong
- Shundi
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by Han Chinese. Although the primarily capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty), numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family-collectively called the Southern Ming-survived until 1662.
The early Ming dynasty was a period of cultural restoration and expansion. The reestablishment of an indigenous Chinese ruling house led to the imposition of court-dictated styles in the arts. Painters recruited by the Ming court were instructed to return to didactic and realistic representation, in emulation of the styles of the earlier Southern Song (1127-1279) Imperial Painting Academy. Large scale landscapes, flower and bird compositions and figural narratives were particularly favored as images that would glorify the new dynasty and convey its benevolence, virtue, and majesty.
- Hongwu
- Jianwen
- Yongle
- Hongxi
- Xuande
- Zhentong
- Jingtai
- Dienshun
- Chenghua
- Hongzhi
- Zhengde
- Jiajing
- Longqing
- Wanli
- Taichang
- Dianqi
- Chonzheng
QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
In 1644, the Manchus, a semi-nomadic people from northeast of the Great Wall, conquered the crumbling Ming state and established their own Qing dynasty, which lasted nearly 300 years. During the first half of this period, the Manchus extended their rule over a vast empire that grew to encompass new territories in Central Asia, Tibet, and Siberia. The Manchus also established their hegemony over Chinese cultural traditions as an important means of demonstrating their legitimacy as Confucian-style rulers.
The brilliant reigns of the Kangxi (1662-1722) and Qianlong (1736-1795) emperors display a period when the Manchus embraced Chinese cultural traditions and the court became a leading patron in the arts as China enjoyed and extended period of political stability and economic prosperity.
- Shunzhi
- Kangxi
- Yungzheng
- Qianlong
- Jiaqing
- Daoguang
- Xianfeng
- Dongzhi
- Guangxu
- Xuanton
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