Ancient China

Here is a very brief history of the different dynasties, a basic overview of some of the things that happened.

In the Shang Dynasty, the first that there is written proof of, people thought that dead family members could talk to them and tell them things and answer questions through oracle bones. Warriors fought from chariots, and a writing system and works of bronze and jade were made. A person's rank depended on whether or not they owned intricate jade works, and if so, how many. They thought of jade as an everlasting stone and a bridge to immortality.

In the Zhou Dynasty - which lasted for eight centuries after it took over the Shang - there were many changes for the better. New religions and ways of thinking emerged although they kept most of the Sang traditions. But in eighth century BC, rebels overran the capital of Hao, and by 700 BC, the Zhou was split up.

A period of confusion and discord followed, and it was at this time - 551 BC - that Confucius was born. He suggested that society's sucess depended on the leader's moral quality. A school of his teachings was formed, which espoused the ideas of honest and responsible leadership. Around the 4th century BC, there were seven major states, and in the next 100 years, the northwest Qin was supreme.

The Qin - or 'Chin' - Dynasty gave China it's name. Shihuangdi, the first emperor, forced all of his old rivals to move to XianYang, the capital, so that they could be more closely watched. He built a wall that much later, after additions and overbuildings, become the Great Wall. He worked his subjects' brains out building roads and canals and palaces and his tomb. In his tomb, he had three large pits filled with terra-cotta soldiers, all facing out as if to protect him. Each was unique, and there were different ranks.

In the Han Dynasty, which lasted for three centuries, China began to have control over part of the Silk Road. Canals were built, and watchtowers were added along the Great Wall. Pressure from nomads brought down the Han's fall, in 220.

A long period of confusion followed which lasted for about three centuries. Then, allied with the Turks, China destroyed one of the 'barbarian' confederacies. Then the Turks started acting just like the barbarians, and finally the Sui Dynasty destroyed them and reunited China.

The Sui Dynasty's first emperor, Yang Chien, reduced taxes and set up good irrigation systems. The second - and also last - Emperor of the Sui, Yang Di, rebuilt the Grand Canal, which brought China more prosperity. But he also - like Shihuangdi centuries earlier - had his subjects build him many luxury parks and homes, and - after only 40 years of Sui rule - peasants revolted and killed Yang Di.

The Tang Dynasty came after the Sui in 618, and was called the Golden Age. The printing press was invented. The Chinese occupied the north of Korea and dominated Vietnam. The Chinese empire was bigger than ever. Places it controlled adopted Chinese ways. New religions came across the Silk Road, which was now more protected. The arts were focused on and there were many new inventions, for instance, the printing press, porcelain, and one which brought about the opposite of its inventor's intention of finding a way to live forever -- gunpowder. Poetry reached a great height. Poems were made about many things, including Yang Guifei, a beautiful woman whom the emperor favored. She persuaded him to give An Lushan, a general, a great amount of power, and the general then revolted, forcing the emperor to flee and give up Yang Guifei, who was executed. After 289 years, the Tang Dynasty broke up into several dynasties.

In 960, the Song Dynasty reunified much of China, but was not strong enough to hold all of the land and was driven south, out of Korea and Vietnam. But the Song were prosperous, producing much food, with an eventual population of 110 million people. The capital was the greatest city in the world, and there was much trading. There was art, work on porcelains continued, and drama was patronized. The smartest and best people became administrators, taking examinations done by the state. Trade was carried on with Indonesia, India, southern Asia, and the Persian Gulf. But in 1279, the Song fell to the Mongols.

The Mongols were a great sucess as conquerors. They were great horse and bowmen (they could shoot with superb accuracy even at full gallop), had ferocity, and had superior tactics. They trained children in combat, and were mostly male-dominated. And they were made all the more powerful by their leader, a genius in the military - Genghis Khan. His real name was Temujin, and his father had been killed by a one of the Tartars. With allies, Temujin defeated the Tartars. Only the youngest boys and the women and girls he spared, the latter two for enslavement. He united Mongol tribes and when his brother opposed him, Temujin killed him. When the defeated Xi Xia would not help him later, he ordered them all killed. He went deeper into China, took bribes made to stop him from attacking, and then attacked anyway. Then he overran Persia and Afghanistan, as well as central Asia. The language of the Mongols became Turkish, as Turks in the army outnumbered native Mongolians. Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson, lived like an emperor. But he gave Mongols all the places as government officials, and none to locals. When he died rule became harsh. Zhu Yanzhang brought back Chinese rule in 1368, and so....

Began the Ming Dynasty, which lasted for almost 300 years. Zhu Yanzhang was harsh but good, executing people who opposed him, but bringing prosperity. Colleges were created, taxes made better, slavery ended, and irrigation channels rebuilt. The population grew, new food was brought in and grown. The Great Wall was also rebuilt (see end of page), and inside Beijing was built the Forbidden City. The Ming territory was expanded, and architecture brought to a beautiful height. In 1500, the Ming was the most advanced state in terms of power and technology. The arts were focused on, from poems and stories to beautiful embroidered silk and porcelains. The Chinese traded regularly with places in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. They had ships called baochuan, the largest for their time, 180 x almost 30 ft in the beam. But Europeans were seen as barbarians, and traders were treated with some coldness. Harsh dicipline maintained the prosperity, and old leaders were killed out in front of locals. Rebellions began to spring up, and a Japanese emperor invaded one of China's states, which meant that a humongous army had to be sent to stop it. More rebellions, and then a time of famine and bad crops. An army easily entered Beijing, and the last emperor hung himself. Ming forces went to stop the army, and to do so, sided with the Manchus. When the army was defeated, the Ming army turned against the Manchus, who won.

The Qing- or Manchus - Dynasty took over from the Ming in the mid-1600s, and the Chinese had two prosperous centuries, and new food came over from the Americas. But with so much new food, the population grew, meaning more food was needed, and farms were divided up so small that they could not feed an entire family. Money lenders became rich, taking over the farms of small farmers. In 1774, the first rebellion broke out. They called themselves the White Lotus, and their uprising lasted eight years. More rebellions broke out and were put down. The Qing were so confident in the Chinese way that they broke off almost all contact with the outside world, and foriegners were not greeted kindly. Nor were trade attempts made by Europeans. But then the British started trading something else besides normal wares and goods....

Opium began to be brought in from India by Chinese drug dealers who were working with the British. It became (disgustingly and horribly) popular, and by about the 1820s a few thousand barrels were being imported. Just before 1840, officials burned thousands of chests of opium - which set off the Opium Wars. China had been isolated for so long that Europeans were advanced in technology. China's defenses were destroyed. The second war came in 1856 and lasted for four years. The results for China were just as bad, if not worse.

(I will eventually add something on the Taiping Rebellion here)