Chinese Dynasties
Chinese Dynasties
| Chinese Dynasties |
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| Dynasty
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Characteristics and History
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| Hsia
c.1994-c.1523 BC
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Semilegendary Emperor Yu built irrigation channels, reclaimed land. Bronze weapons, chariots, domestic animals used. Wheat, millet cultivated. First use of written symbols.
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| Shang or Yin
c.1523-c.1027 BC
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First historic dynasty. Complex agricultural society with a bureaucracy and defined social classes. Well-developed writing, first Chinese calendar. Great age of bronze casting.
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| Chou
c.1027-256 BC
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Classical age ( Confucius , Lao Tzu , Mencius ) despite political disorder. Written laws, money economy. Iron implements and ox-drawn plow in use. Followed by Warring States period, 403-221 BC
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| Ch'in
221-206 BC
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Unification of China under harsh rule of Shih Huang-ti. Feudalism replaced by pyramidal bureaucratic government. Written language standardized. Roads, canals, much of the Great Wall built.
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| Han
202 BC-AD 220
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Unification furthered, but harshness lessened and Confucianism made basis for bureaucratic state. Buddhism introduced. Encyclopedic history, dictionary compiled; porcelain produced.
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| Three Kingdoms
AD 220-265
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Division into three states: Wei, Shu, Wu. Wei gradually dominant. Confucianism eclipsed; increased importance of Taoism and Buddhism. Many scientific advances adopted from India.
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| Tsin or Chin
265-420
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Founded by a Wei general; gradual expansion to the southeast. Series of barbarian dynasties ruled N China. Continued growth of Buddhism.
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| Sui
581-618
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Reunification; centralized government reestablished. Buddhism, Taoism favored. Great Wall refortified; canal system established.
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| T'ang
618-907
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Territorial expansion. Buddhism temporarily suppressed. Civil service examinations based on Confucianism. Age of great achievements in poetry ( Li Po , Po Chü-i , Tu Fu ), sculpture, painting.
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| Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
907-960
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Period of warfare, official corruption, general hardship. Widespread development of printing (see type ); paper money first printed.
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| Sung
960-1279
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Period of great social and intellectual change. Neo-Confucianism attains supremacy over Taoism and Buddhism; central bureaucracy reestablished. Widespread cultivation of tea and cotton; gunpowder first used militarily.
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| Yüan
1271-1368
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Mongol dynasty founded by Kublai Khan . Growing contact with West. Confucian ideals discouraged. Great age of Chinese playwriting. Revolts in Mongolia and S China end dynasty.
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| Ming
1368-1644
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Mongols expelled. Confucianism, civil service examinations, reinstated. Contact with European traders, missionaries. Porcelain, architecture (see Chinese architecture ), the novel and drama flourish.
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| Ch'ing or Manchu
1644-1912
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Established by the Manchus . Territorial expansion but gradual weakening of Chinese power; decline of central authority. Increasing European trade; foreign powers divide China into spheres of influence. Opium War ; Hong Kong ceded; Boxer Uprising . Last Chinese monarchy.
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Dynasties, Chinese
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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1997
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| © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information)
Copyright
Dynasties, Chinese. Legendary dynasties are the Three Sovereigns, the Five Emperors. In Ancient China the dynasties are Hsia/Xia (uncertain dates); Shang (Yin) ( c.1766–1123 BCE); Chou/ Zhou ( c. 1122–256 BCE). The dynasties in Imperial China are as follows: Chʾin/Qin (221–207 BCE); Former Han (206/2 BCE–9 CE); Hsin (9–23); Latter Han (25–220); The Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu: 220–80); Chin/ Jin (divided, c.280–420); The Six Dynasties, with China divided (450–589); Sui (589–618); Tʾang/Tang (618–907); The Five Dynasties (907–60); Sung (960–1279); Yuan (1260–1367); Ming (1368–1644); and Chʾing (1644–1911). The Republic lasted 1912–49 and the People's Republic began in 1949.
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