History of China
The study and account of China’s past, from prehistoric societies through successive dynasties to the modern state.
Neolithic China: The period of prehistoric farming societies in China, beginning around 10,000 BCE and preceding the earliest dynasties. Agriculture, settlements, and regional cultures laid foundations for China’s earliest states.
Chinese imperial examination: A system of competitive tests used to recruit officials into the Chinese bureaucracy, especially from the Sui and Tang periods onward. Examinations linked classical learning to entry into the imperial administration.
Confucius: A Chinese teacher and philosopher of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE whose teachings shaped East Asian ethics and political thought. His ideas became a lasting source of norms for officials and rulers.
Han dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 206 BCE to 220 CE and helped establish enduring institutions of imperial government. Han governance became a reference point for later Chinese dynasties.
People’s Republic of China: The state founded in 1949 that governs mainland China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Its institutions and founding mark the outcome of twentieth-century revolution.
Shang dynasty: A Bronze Age dynasty in northern China, known from archaeological evidence and the earliest substantial Chinese writing. Oracle-bone inscriptions provide direct evidence of early kingship and divination.
Mandate of Heaven: A Chinese political doctrine holding that Heaven grants a ruler authority, which can be lost through misrule. The doctrine made dynastic replacement intelligible as a transfer of legitimate authority.
Qin Shi Huang: The first emperor of a unified China, who ruled from 221 to 210 BCE. His conquest unified rival states and established the first imperial dynasty.
Tang dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 618 to 907, known for political reach, urban culture, and flourishing arts and literature. The Tang period illustrates the cosmopolitan reach of a powerful imperial state.
Republic of China: A state founded in 1912 that governs Taiwan and several smaller islands, after losing control of mainland China in 1949. Its continued existence reflects the unresolved political consequences of the civil war.