Three Kingdom Period - Chronology of Main Events

AD 168 Death of Emperor Huan (Liu Zhi), ascension of Emperor Ling (Liu Hong)
AD 184 Yellow Scarves uprising led by Zhang Jiao begins.
AD 188 Conflict between Empress He and Empress Dong over the succession of Emperor Ling.
AD 189 Death of Emperor Ling (May 13th), reign of Emperor Shao (Liu Bian) begins (May 15th), Yuan Wei (uncle of Yuan Shao) appointed as Imperial Guardian, He Jin and Yuan Shao defend the Han Sovereignty against the Ten Regular Attendants. Dong Zhuo is summoned to the capital of Luo Yang. Dong Zhuo deposes Emperor Shao and enthrones Emperor Xian (Liu Xie) on September 28th. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao oppose Dong Zhuo.
AD 190 Yuan Shao forms the coalition against Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo leaves and burns the Capital Luo Yang and moves to Chang An. Sun Jian finds the Imperial Jade Seal in the burned down Luo Yang.
AD 191 Yuan Shao battles Gongsun Zan and takes control of the provinces northeast of the Yellow River. Sun Jian and Liu Biao wage war in Jing Zhou.
AD 192 Lü Bu kills Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao becomes protector of Yan Zhou and receives the surrender of the Yellow Scarves in Qing Zhou.
AD 194 Liu Bei aids Kong Rong against a Yellow Scarves attack. Liu Bei assumes control of Xu Zhou.
AD 195 Dong Zhuo’s generals revolt, Emperor Xian is moved from Chang An and requests aid from Cao Cao.
AD 196 Cao Cao brings the Emperor to Xu Chang in October.
AD 197 Lü Bu attacks Liu Bei; Liu Bei takes refuge with Cao Cao. Yuan Shu declares himself Emperor.
AD 198 Cao Cao battles Yuan Shao and Zhang Xiu.
AD 199 Cao Cao has Lü Bu executed. Emperor Xian gives Dong Cheng a secret edict. Yuan Shu dies.
AD 200 Dong Cheng and his household are executed by Cao Cao. Cao Cao attacks Liu Bei. Liu Bei takes refuge with Yuan Shao. Cao Cao captures Guan Yu. Sun Ce dies and Sun Quan accepts Han title. Yuan Shao defeated at Guan Du by Cao Cao.
AD 201 Yuan Shao flees to Ji Zhou, Liu Bei finds refuge with Liu Biao in Jing Zhou.
AD 202/4 Yuan Shao dies, Cao Cao attacks Yuan Shao’s sons and conquers the city of Ye.
AD 205/8 Yuan Shao’s sons flee to the Wu Huan people. Cao Cao defeats the Wu Huan with Gou Jia’s help and returns to Ye.
AD 207/8 Conflict between Liu Bei and Liu Biao’s wife Lady Cai. Liu Bei meets Shan Fu in Xin Ye. Cao Cao prepares to attack Jing Zhou. Shan Fu recommends Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, Liu Bei seeks out Zhuge Liang. Sun Quan attacks Jing Zhou. Conflict between Liu Biao’s sons, Liu Qi and Liu Zhong. Zhuge Liang’s first battle. Lady Cai plans to cede Jing Zhou to Cao Cao. Liu Bei flees to Xia Kou, Liu Biao dies. Lu Su travels to Xia Kou to seek Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang goes to Jiang Dong to meet with Zhou Yu to arrange an alliance against Cao Cao. In the Battle of Chi Bi, Sun Quan and Liu Bei score a great victory against Cao Cao.
AD 209/10 Liu Bei occupies Jiang Ling and Gong An, Liu Qi dies. Liu Bei occupies southern Jing Zhou. Liu Bei marries Sun Quan’s sister Sun Ren. Lu Su demands the return of Jing Zhou to Sun Quan. Liu Bei leaves Jiang Dong with Sun Ren.
AD 211 Zhou Yu dies. Cao Cao kills Ma Teng and threatens Han Zhong. Han Zhong’s ruler, Zhang Lu, threatens the lands of Ba-Shu. Ba-Shu ruler Liu Zhang sends Zhang Song to Cao Cao for help. Zhang Song visits Liu Bei.
AD 212 Liu Bei marches into Ba-Shu, Zhuge Liang governs Jing Zhou.
AD 212-13 Cao Cao invades Jiang Dong and assumes the Nine Dignities of a patriarchal lord. Liu Bei enters Ba-Shu.
AD 214 Zhuge Liang goes to Ba-Shu; Guan Yu governs Jing Zhou. Liu Bei takes control of Ba-Shu.
AD 215 Sun Quan demands the return of Jing Zhou. Cao Cao conquers Han Zhong, Zhang Lu surrenders.
AD 216 Cao Cao becomes King of Wei.
AD 217 Cao Cao attacks Sun Quan.
AD 218 Revolt against Cao Cao is crushed in XU Chang. Huang Zhong kills Xiahou Yuan, endangering Cao Cao’s control of Han Zhong.
AD 219 Cao Cao withdraws from Han Zhong to Chang An. Liu Bei proclaims himself King of Han Zhong. Guan Yu takes Xiang Yang and Fan, Sun Quan takes Jing Zhou. Guan Yu defeated.
AD 220 Lü Meng executes Guan Yu. Cao Cao dies. On November 24th, Emperor Xian abdicates to Cao Pi, who establishes the Wei Dynasty.
AD 221 Liu Bei proclaims himself Emperor of Shu in May and marches against Sun Quan in August. Sun Quan accepts the suzerainty of the Wei Dynasty.
AD 222 Liu Bei suffers a crushing defeat at Yi Ling because of Lu Xun’s brilliant defences. Wei invades Jing Zhou.
AD 223 Liu Bei dies and Liu Shan succeeds him. Sima Yi invades Shu, Zhuge Liang revives the alliance between Shu and Wu against Wei.
AD 224 Cao Pi invades Wu.
AD 225 Zhuge Liang subdues the Nan Man people in the south.
AD 226 Cao Pi dies. Cao Rui succeeds him as Emperor of Wei. Zhuge Liang persuades Liu Shan to wage war against Wei. Sima Yi leads the Wei army against Shu.
AD 228 Meng Da killed, Zhuge Liang launches a northern campaign against Wei.
AD 229 Sun Quan proclaims himself Wu Emperor.
AD 230 Wei commander Cao Zhen’s campaign fails due to heavy rain.
AD 231 Cao Zhen dies; Zhuge Liang is recalled from the field. Zhuge Liang resumes the war against Wei.
AD 234 Zhuge Liang dies at Wu Zhang. Shu armies retreat to Cheng Du. Wei Yan assassinated by Ma Dai.
AD 239 Cao Fang succeeds Cao Rui as Wei Emperor. Cao Zhen’s son Cao Shuang becomes co-regent with Sima Yi. Decade of conflict between Cao Shuang and Sima Yi begins.
AD 249 Cao Shuang is killed; Sima Yi seizes control of the Wei kingdom. Jiang Wei, aided by Xiahou Ba leads a new campaign against Wei.
AD 251/52 Sima Yi dies, Sun Quan dies, war between Wei and Wu.
AD 254 Sima Yi’s son Sima Shi deposes of Cao Fang and enthrones Cao Mao.
AD 255 Commanders Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian revolt against the coup in Wei. Sima Shi dies and Sima Zhao, his younger brother, takes over control.
AD 257 Sima Zhao defeats his opponents; Shu abandons the war against Wei.
AD 258 Sun Chen deposes Sun Liang, the present Wu Emperor. Sun Xiu assumes power and executes Sun Chen. Wei Commander Deng Ai leads the campaign against Shu.
AD 260 Cao Mao assassinated, Cao Huan assumes the Wei throne. Sima Zhao appointed as Prime Minister.
AD 263 Wei Campaign against Shu threatens Cheng Du.
AD 264 Liu Shan, Emperor of Shu, surrenders to Deng Ai. Sima Zhao marches to Chang An. Sima Zhou names Sima Yan his heir and dies.
AD 265-80 The Sima clan establishes a new dynasty, the Jin. War against Wu. Sun Hao becomes last Emperor of Wu. With Lu Kang’s death, Wu’s last hope dies and Jin conquers the southland. China is reunited under Sima Yan.

source : www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?/topic/1343-events-of-the-three-kingdoms-era

Eastern Han Dynasty

As the Western Han Dynasty was later weakened by corruption, Liu Xiu, taking advantage of the strength of peasant uprisers, replaced the Western Han Dynasty and Xin Dynasty with the Eastern Han Dynasty founded in AD25. He was called Emperor Guangwu. From this time onward economy, science and culture continued to progress.

In 25A.D, Liu Xiu proclaimed him emperor, then, he moved capital to Louyang so that it is named Eastern Han Dynasty.

In A.D. 36, after the Gong Sunshu Uprising in Sichuan having been put down, the whole country was again unified. Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu) was very magnanimous and good at employing talents. He limited the power of the relatives of his mother or wife in interfering in state affairs, and prevented the heroes who made contributions to the country from taking control of the armed forces. He then issued six decrees to set free family slaves, which effected the emancipation of the productive forces. He ordered a country-wide check-up on land reclamation and census so as to strike the landlords. And he changed the tithe into one thirtieth so that the society became more stable.

The improvement of iron-smelting techniques led to mass production of steel and advancement of iron farming tools. Irrigation works built across the country sped up the recovery and development of agriculture, also, due to the spreading of ox was put in use of plough. Copper smelting, production of copper utensils and silk fabrication made remarkable progress. Commerce developed further in the Eastern Han Dynasty and Luoyang became the business centre of the whole country. In southern towns like Yangzhou, Jingzhou and Yizhou, the handicraft industry and commerce were booming. The urban population rapidly increased.
In the early time of Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiongnu grew strong, posed a threat to Han again and once even intruded some counties of northern bordering area. But soon after, Xiongnu was divided into two groups- northern group and southern group. Southern Xiongnu moved to northern and southern side area of Great Wall, attach themselves to Eastern Han. Northern Xiongnu moved to Mongolia tableland and controlled Western Regions and often invaded the south. Eastern Han sent troops to attack it so as to protect the four counties west of the Yellow River and sought chances to recover transportation with Western Regions. Under the attack of Han Dynast time and again, northern Xiongnu moved further towards the west. In 73 A.D., Eastern Han set up Western Region Official Residence (a local government of Han) again, that one was first set up in 60 B.C. in Western Region. In 92 A.D., Minister Ban Chao who was famous for military affairs and diplomatist was appointed as the highest administrative commanding officer of the Western Regions. Later, more than fifty states on the western regions to the authority of Han. Ban Chao's management of the western frontier territories consolidated the unification of the country and made the "Silk Road" a trade thoroughfare. In 97 A.D., Gan Ying was sent on a mission to Daqing (Roman Epoire), he was blocked at the Persian Golf and therefore returned. 

At the middle age of Eastern Han, eunuchs and relatives of the emperor on the side of his mother or wife conflicted with each other, causing more chaos in the political situation. Meanwhile, the power of landlords and influential families gradually increased. They had their own farms and armies. There were cases of empresses serving as regents and their relatives and eunuchs alternatively controlling the court. The protracted control of the court by influential families gave rise to monopolised powerful-family politics after the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the late Eastern Han era, eunuchs became even more rampant. They openly sold official ranks and titles. Their extremely corrupt practices not only created thousands of refugees and vagrants but also provoked frequent uprisings. At last, in 184 A.D., the well-organised Yellow Turbans Movement broke out in the north, which eventually led to the disintegration of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The powerful landlords who had powerful armies all over the country took this advantage and opportunity to develop their forces and rise. At last, they formed different separate regimes. Those separate regimes were set up by different military forces, leading to mix-up everywhere, and fought against each other. The Emperor of Eastern Han was control by them. Finally, it resulted in the Three Kingdoms situation.

source : chinatravelrus.com

Western Han dynasty

Demise of the Qin dynasty and founding of the Han dynasty

The first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huang Di, died in 210 B.C.E. during an inspection trip. His second son, who took the name Er Shi Huang Di (“second emperor”), inherited the throne. In 207 he was murdered by the eunuch Chao Gao. The stern penal system, the grim forced labor (building of the Great Wall), and war maneuvers led to discontent among the farmers. The old nobility was discontent because the emperor had taken power from them.

The nephew of the murdered emperor was able to hold onto power for just over one month before Liu Bang, ringleader of a farmers’ uprising, moved into the capital. The emperor abdicated his title and was later murdered by Xiang Yu, another important leader of the uprising. Now Liu Bang and Xiang Yu stood in opposition over sovereignty in China. At first they split the empire between them, Liu Bang in the west and Xiang Yu in the east.

Liu Bang was able to defeat Xiang Yu in the civil war of 202 B.C.E. and founded the Han dynasty.

Measures for rebuilding and securing the empire

Chang’an (today called Xi’an) in the province Shenxi became capital city of the new empire. At first, Liu Bang had rewarded his retinue with generous fiefdoms; this reintroduction of the feudal system proved to be a failure, as the seigneurs quarreled among themselves and sought to increase their own might, so that they threatened the authority of the new dynasty.

Liu Bang therefore endeavored to curtail the seigneurs’ power. He rescinded their ability to grant fiefdoms, depriving them of the most important means of creating their own independence and loyalties. He proceeded unmercifully against disagreeable seigneurs, exchanging them for family members whom he trusted.

Additionally, Liu Bang stood before the problem that the run-down empire must be rebuilt. He decreased the tributes and annual compulsory labor required of the population, reworked the law of the Qin, softened their punishment system a little, and eliminated the inheritability of civil servant titles. Relocations of the populace were carried out. The population was measured in censuses; a per capita tax was levied; compulsory labor was required.

Although the Qin dynasty’s style of rule, oriented on Legalism’s theories, was later damned by Confucian scholars, their administration was maintained in practice, and indeed in future dynasties, legalistic governance teachings were applied, for the Confucian teachings of leadership by the leader’s virtuous example were unfit for practical exercise of authority.

Only a year after Liu Bang’s takeover, he had to ward off external enemies. The Huns (xiong nu) attacked from the north and forced Liu Bang to retreat south of the Great Wall. In 198 B.C.E., he managed to establish a fragile peace with the Huns. After his death in 194, Liu Bang was awarded the name Han Gao Zu (“great ancestor of the Han”). His heir was his second-oldest son Hui Di; the eldest, borne by a different wife, had caused Hui Di’s mother to be poisoned.

Hui Di held power for just four years. Thereafter, his mother Lu Hou, the Empress Dowager, took the scepter. She executed the other wives of the emperor and gradually put members of her own family into high offices in order to assure her power. Lu Hou died in 180 B.C.E. and Emperor Wen Di came to power, after the Dowager’s family members were killed.

Wen Di consolidated the empire once and for all, and he was a just and thrifty monarch. The Huns he kept in check by requiring tribute. But his heir, Jing Di, was the first to finally solidify and centralize the emperor’s power against the princes, defeating a last great resistance.

Heyday of the Han dynasty

The reign of Emperor Wu Di (141 – 87 B.C.E.; wu means “the warlike”) is considered the heyday of the Han dynasty. The princes had lost all their clout, and the princedoms were destroyed, because they could no longer be inherited only by the eldest son, but had to be divided among all sons. The first decades of the Han dynasty were characterized by consolidation of power and strengthening of the central State; the reign of Han Wu Di, by expansion of the empire.

Han Wu Di undertook field maneuvers in Mongolia, south China, Vietnam, and Korea. In contrast to his predecessors, he led offensives against the Huns (beginning in 135 B.C.E.), soundly defeating them in the year 121. This victory guaranteed decades of safe travel and trade with the west via the Silk Road. Under the Han dynasty, contacts with advanced cultures as distant as Greece.

Famous Chinese historian Sima Qian (145 – 90 B.C.E.), who wrote the influential history Shiji, lived in the Han era.

Confucianism in the time of the Han dynasty

Through the reign of Han Wu Di, Confucianism had been but a shadowy presence. Emperor Wen, for example, was drawn to Daoism, and governance was long influenced by Legalism, whose laws and administration went back to the Qin era. Han Wu Di first “confucianized” the administration; under him, only Confucians were permitted to become civil servants. The system of civil servant testing was introduced, which was intended to last two thousand years until the decline of the Chinese empire. Rejection of laws by the Confucians was relativized, and law became looked up as a practical supplement to Confucian ethics. This happened primarily through the influence of Dong Zhongshu’s writings, a famous commentator upon the Confucian classics.

Decline of the western Han dynasty

The successors to Han Wu Di were weak emperors and could not hold on to imperial authority, due in large part to growing power amongst large landholders, who enjoyed tax breaks thanks to their service to the empire, enlarged their holdings with monies from the per capita taxes paid by small farmers, and thus brought about a tax shortage on the state level. Landless farmers were now in the service of their landlords and no longer must provide compulsory labor to the State.

The decline of the dynasty began with emperors Zhao Di and Xuan Di, who were not of age and stood in the shadow of General Huo Guang, who continued Wu Di’s work after that personage’s death. Emperor Zheng Di was more interested in a dissipate court life than in the business of ruling. Landowners’ power grew while that of the central government shrank; palace intrigues plagued the families of the Empresses, until in the year 9 C.E. Wang Mang took the throne and founded his own dynasty.

source : chinaorbit.com

Qin Dynasty - The first unified China

The Qin dynasty was between 221 BC and 206 BC and was ruled by emperors
and Yingzheng Hu Hai. After years of political struggles, Emperor Yingzheng, also
known as Emperor Qin Shi Huang, overthrew the warring states of Han, Zhao,
Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi, establishing the Shaanxi Province city of Xianyang as the
Qin Dynasty capital. This was the first time in Chinese history that the country was
centralized and unified dynasty and this influenced the development of many
dynasties, which were to follow.

During his reign, Emperor Qin made many changes in Chinese government,
culture and economy. In matters of government, reorganized the department and
the restructuring of the most important local proclaimed emperor. This effectively
centralized all political forces in their personal power.

Before the Qin Dynasty, the system of weights and measures did not exist.
Emperor Qin ordered a system, and also ruled that the Ban Liang coins to be used
as a standard in the country. He said as Qinzhuan style standards for writing
characters.

Much of the work of Qin Qin helped develop the country's economy. For example,
concentrate their energies to improving the waterways and roads. The
construction of the Great Wall began under his reign, and he also built the famous
terracotta warriors that guard his tomb.

Although he made many contributions, the Emperor Qin practiced tyranny in book
burnings, the murder of Confucian scholars, imposing extreme taxes, and forced
labor and military service. The common people who lived during the Qin Dynasty
were in trouble, and many were imprisoned and forced to work for it, that the strict
laws of Qin. Many magnificent buildings were constructed from this labor force.

When Emperor Qin died in 210 BCE, his second son, Hu Hai, succeeded him. The
end of the Qin Dynasty was actually ruled by an advisor named Zhao Gao, layout
and tortuous tricks Hu Hai have reduced to nothing more than a figurehead.
Farmers staged a coup, started by Wu Guang and Chen Sheng. Xiang Yu and Liu
Bang pursue the rebels, and in 206 BCE, Liu Bang dominated the capital of the
Qin dynasty and the dynastywas officially over.

The movement of Zhou - Eastern Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou kings maintained control over the territory for more than two centuries. But with time passing by, the domination weakened. In 770 BC several powerful states allied with nomadic people rebelled and forced the Zhou moving from the capital near Xian to present day Luoyang, east of the previous capital. The new location of Zhou that prevented attacking from nomadic people marked the beginning of Eastern Zhou. Ever since then, the Eastern Zhou kings no longer exercised much political or military authority over those states. The political structure of Eastern Zhou is little more like federate; the Zhou kings remained as nominal overlords, other powerful states functioned independently in almost every aspect.

During the Eastern Zhou period, social and economic achievement were very notable. The implementation of iron-tipped, ox-drawn plows and improved irrigation techniques marked a great advance of the country. The steady social productivity supported a remarkable population increment. Other economic achievements included the circulation of coins for money and the growth of cities. Military technology also advanced. The Eastern Zhou developed the crossbow and adopted cavalry warfare from nomads.

During the Eastern Zhou period there were two major subdivisions; the Spring & Autumn; the Warring States. The end of the Zhou period is in 221 BC when the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified the land on a new imperial basis. During the 7th and 6th centuries BC, brief periods of stability were achieved through alliances among states, under the domination of the strongest member. Traditionally this period was regarded as the Spring & Autumn Period. The years from 475 to 221 BC was known as the Warring States Period because the wars were particularly frequent and deadly.

In order to maintain and increase power, state rulers sought the advice of teachers and strategists. This stimulated intellectual activity and debate, and intense reappraisal of traditions. Therefore, the period was well known as the phenomena of 'hundred schools of thoughts turned up'. There were thinkers fascinated by logical puzzles; utopians and hermits who argued for withdrawal from public life; agriculturists who argued that no one should eat who does not plough; military theorists who analyzed ways to deceive the enemy; and cosmologists who developed theories of the forces of nature, including the opposite and complementary forces of Yin and Yang. The three most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Simply to say, the Eastern Zhou period is regarded as the molding period of Chinese culture.

Western Zhou Dynasty

In 1045BC, King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty exterminated the Shang Dynasty and enfeoffed northYan (where Beijing is now located) to Duke Zhao, a noble who shared the same family name with himself. The Hereditary House of Duke of Zhao of Yan from the Historical Records by Sima Qian recorded the historical fact. Duke of Zhao, called "Jun" in the literary literature, was appointed as Grand Guardian, who was one of the Three Dukes. It was he who had the layout of the city of LuoYang programmed and helped King Cheng of the Zhou Dynasty out of the turmoil caused by the rebellions of Wugeng and Lufu, sons of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. The rebellions happened in the districts which were originally princedoms of the late Shang Dynasty, including Dongyi, Xu, Yaan and Bogu,etc. He stroke while the iron was hot and pursued enemy troops in retreat northward and in this way consolidated the rule of Zhou in the north and the east. It was probably in this period that Yan, the proper place, was enfeoffed to Duke Zhao to better safeguard the peace and development of the border lands of the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, Duke of Zhao had to remain in the royal court offering assistance and his eldest son, Ke, went to Yan to rule in stead of his father. Ke, as a matter of fact, is the first marquis of Yan. He was also bestowed six tribes. Hence, he set up official organizations concerned in the district of Yan, to exercise rule over the land and the people there. The bronze ware "Ke" and Ke's inscriptions, which were unearthed from the No. 1193 main tomb in the Huangtupo site of Liulihe County, recorded the lost historical fact mentioned above.

At the initiation of the Yan State, the ruler established the capital of Yan of the West Zhou period in the place where a village named Dongjialin situates now, exactly speaking, in the east of Liulihe town of Fangshan district. This city has been discovered as the earliest city location in the Beijing area and it has a history of over three thousand years. The city was built on a hathpace northeast to the Dashi River and the archeologists have a general understanding of this ancient city location after the twenty-year archeological drilling and exhumation. The footing was 829 meters long from east to west and over 700 meters wide from north to south, and the wall toft was tamped in different layers on the crudely flat ground. The wall toft had a width of about 8 meters and was made up of 3 layers, with the width of each layer ranging from 2 to 7 meters. Within the wall, protection slopes were built. The tamper-socket has the diameter varying in the range of 3 to 5 centimeters. In the northeast corner of the east city wall was found a drain made of screes which must be the pipeline carrying water from the inside to the outside of the city. Lying outside ten meters away from the city-wall outboard was a moat, with a 15-meter outfall. Outside the southern city wall and the southern sections of both the east and the west city wall, the moat became a piece of beach as the result of the scouring by the Dashi River and the riverway could not be identified clearly.

The Shang Dynasty

The Shang is the first Chinese dynasty, which we have records. Shang civilization was a series of towns united under the Shang king.

In the center of the Shang domain were found in eastern and north-eastern Henan. Residence of the King was at the heart of the city. It was built on a north-south axis. All the buildings in the town was rectangular and made of clay with wooden beams. In addition, King nobility lived in the city. Also lived in mud houses.

The peasants often lived outside the city, although there were few within the city walls. They lived in the city of caverns and caves. The common people outside the city live in villages. Not much is known about the people, if not. It is believed that they had harvested the millet, barley and rice, for example. They used wood to work in the country. Farmers have worked in a "well-field" system. The country was divided into nine squares. The farmer would keep the products of eight squares, while the Lord would take products of the ninth square. It is believed that these people were very primitive compared with the population of the city.

Cities around the capital were called palace-cities. Each city was surrounded by a wall. Inside the walls was a military and religious establishments and homes of nobility. Every building in town was a copy of the capital. The buildings are identical and are arranged in the same format. The capital of the Shang moved seven times before finally settling Yin, which became the permanent capital.

The nobility spent much of his time hunting or in war. Games and prisoners are treated equally by the nobility were sacrificed to the gods. Most of the war against the rebellious city or barbarians. The war was more like a raid than anything else. Precious metals, food and livestock, and people were moved from the place of war. The nobility was the military base. Other positions were filled by slaves (prisoners).

The Shang royal ancestors were high. The bronze was found in royal tombs and skeletons of about three hundred officers who had accompanied the king in the heavenly places. Funery tablets kept in the front of the temples and all rituals done in their presence. These tablets are designed to contain the souls of ancestors. Each royal event communicated loud in the temples to inform the ancestors. In addition, fortune-tellers often consulted by offering sacrifices to ancestors and read the cracks of burnt bones.

Xia - The first dynasty of China history

Xia Dynasty was the first political dynasty in China. It was founded by the Si-clan, the descendants of the founding fathers of the clan, were Yu. The lack of written records, although historians have not reached a clear picture of how the people lived at that time. According to later tradition hold Yu spent thirteen years to dig canals and dikes. When the Emperor Shun died, do not agree with the decision of officials at the imperial son leave Shun inherit the throne. Yu wanted after his death succeeded by his son. It was Yu, who founded the first imperial dynasty of China. Xia's last king was known as Jieh. According to old legends of the last emperor of China was in a bad reputation oppressive measures for the country. One of the officers of the empire, Tang, rebelled against the Emperor, and finally around 1600 BC, Xia was conquered by Tang, and had begun a new era of the Shang Dynasty.

The greatest and the first emperor of China history, The Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor, also called Shi Xuanyuan, was the leader of the legendary Five Emperors. He is considered the ancestor of the Chinese nation with the Emperor Yan, the Chinese as the latest generations have claimed as "Yanhuang Zisun (the descendants of the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor). Today, the Chinese academic circle consensus unanimous that the Yellow Emperor was born in Youxiong (present Xinzheng of Henan Province) and buried in Qiaoshan of Shaanxi (in present Huangling County).

The Yellow Emperor conquered the Yan Emperor and Chiyou and became the head of the tribes of the league. During his reign, a number of things, such as vehicles, silkworm breeding, Chinese characters, swing, medicine, etc. were invented, but development. He also taught his people to cultivate, calculated according to the timetable. historical book has it that the Yellow Emperor made a lot of creations and inventions of agricultural production, including a host to create the square field. The Yellow Emperor was highly praised by later generations for his remarkable achievements, and was reputed as "the firstborn of civilizations" of the Chinese nation.

Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor had a wife and three concubines. Leizu,his wife, who taught ordinary people to plant mulberry trees, silkworms and weaving cloth. A concubine was Fangleishi (one whose family name is Lei), which is said to have invented the comb. Another concubine Tongyushi (whose family name was Tongyu) is said to have invented chopsticks. The last concubine was named MoMu. She looks ugly as she was noble and virtuous, for which the Yellow Emperor was very respectful to her. The Yellow Emperor had 25 children, 12 of which were granted to their family name.

The Yellow Emperor ruled ancient China for a long time. During his reign, the country enjoyed a powerful force, political stability and liberal culture. It is said that wise emperors like Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang and so were his descendants. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor was considered the progenitor of the Chinese nation, and was later regarded as the founder of Taoism.

Introduction to China history - The Timeline

      China, one of the countries that can boast of an ancient civilization, has a long and mysterious history - almost 5,000 years of it! Like most other great civilizations of the world, China can trace her culture back to a blend of small original tribes which have expanded till they became the great country we have today.

      It is recorded that Yuanmou man is the oldest hominoid in China and the oldest dynasty is Xia Dynasty. From the long history of China, there emerge many eminent people that have contributed a lot to the development of the whole country and to the enrichment of her history. Among them, there are emperors like Li Shimin (emperor Taizong of the Tang), philosophers like Confucius, great patriotic poets like Qu Yuan and so on.

      Chinese society has progressed through five major stages - Primitive Society, Slave Society, Feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-colonial Society, and Socialist Society. The rise and fall of the great dynasties forms a thread that runs through Chinese history, almost from the beginning. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, China has become a socialist society and become stronger and stronger.

List of Chinese Dynasties

Chinese Dynasties	Period
Prehistoric Times	1.7 million years - the 21st century BC
Xia Dynasty	21st - 17th century BC
Shang Dynasty	17th - 11th century BC
Zhou Dynasty	Western Zhou (11th century BC - 771 BC)
	Eastern Zhou ---- Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC) ---- Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC)
Qin Dynasty	221 BC - 207 BC
Han Dynasty	Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD)
	Eastern Han (25 - 220)
Three Kingdoms Period	220 - 280
Jin Dynasty	Western Jin (265 - 316)
	Eastern Jin (317 - 420)
Northern and Southern Dynasties	Northern Dynasties (386 - 581)
	Southern Dynasties (420 - 589)
Sui Dynasty	581 - 618
Tang Dynasty	618 - 907
Five Dynasties and Ten States	Five Dynasties ---- Later Liang (907 - 923) ---- Later Tang (923 - 936) ---- Later Jin (936 - 946) ---- Later Han (947 - 951) ---- Later Zhou (951 - 960)
	Ten States (902 - 979)
Song Dynasty	Northern Song (960 - 1127)
	Southern Song (1127 - 1279)
Liao Dynasty	916 --- 1125
Jin Dynasty	1115 --- 1234
Yuan Dynasty	1271 --- 1368
Ming Dynasty	1368 --- 1644
Qing Dynasty	1644 --- 1911