A Glimpse of Chinese History By Jenny

4 great ancient civilizations:  1.Egyptian (based on Niles river civilization)  2. Mesopotamia (based on Tigris and Euphrates civilization)  3. Indian (based on Indus Valley civilization)  4. China (based on Yellow River civilization)

Geographical Locations

The Prehistory Period -----Archaeological Excavations From Paleolithic to Neolithic Ages  “Peking Man” Chinese Ape Man Zhoukoudian million years ago  The Lantian Man million years ago  The Yuanmou Man 1.7 million years ago  Maba, Changyang, Liujiang, in the Yellow River Bend region: the Paleolithic Age  South of the Yangtze River: Neolithic Ages  Unearthed material: specimens of painted pottery (Yangshao Culture); specimens of black pottery (Longshan Culture)

Pre- and Early History of China

Several Legendary Characters  Pan Gu split the world into heaven and earth.  Nu Wa used soil to create human beings and saved the earth from being drowned by the leaking Heaven.  Cang Jie （仓颉） invented Chinese characters.  Shen Nong （神农） invented agriculture.  Sui Ren （燧人） found out how to produce fire.  You Cao Shi （有巢氏） invented houses and shelters.

Legendary Emperors in Prehistory China:  * The legendary sovereign of Huaxia( 华夏） Group and the founder of the Chinese “Empire”( pre-historical)  * Fought off Chiyou in the battle of Zhuolu and then defeated the Yan Emperor to assure his reign  * The inventor of “the south-pointing wheeled vehicle”, armour, pottery, etc. and the regulator of sacrificial and religious

The Ancient Dynasties  Prehistoric Times 1.7 million years - the 21st century BC Prehistoric Times  Xia (2205—1766BC))At minimum, the Xia period marked an evolutionary stage between the late Neolithic cultures and the typical Chinese urban civilization of the Shang dynasty

 Yao （尧）, the first sage king who chose a talented young man Shun （舜） instead of his own son as new emperor ， an action revered as “demise” （禅让） for centuries to come.  Yu the Great （大禹）， a hero in taming the flood, the founder of Xia Dynasty ， and the terminator of demise system.

The Xia Dynasty (21st th cn. B.C)  A Dynasty that can only be detected through archeological evidence  An evolutional stage between the late Neolithic cultures and the typical Chinese urban civilization  The pioneering dynasty

The Dawn of History  商 The Shang dynasty (from 1700 to 1027 B.C also called the Yin  the Huang He Valley --the cradle of Chinese civilization--provide evidence about the Shang Dynasty.  Two important events: the development of a writing system; and the use of bronze metallurgy.

The Shang Dynasty ( B.C.)  The first dynasty that left its traces in written word inscribed in archaic Chinese characters on tortoise shells or flat cattle bones (also known as the oracle bones 甲骨文 )  A dynasty that boasts on its bronze metallurgy. Many ceremonial bronze vessels attest to high level of craftsmanship.

The Zhou Period  周 Zhou (1027 to 221 B.C), which had settled in the Wei () Valley in modern Shaanxi ( ) Province. It extended Shang culture through much of China Proper north of the Chang Jiang ( or Yangtze River).  Historians divide the Zhou era into Western Zhou ( B.C.) and Eastern Zhou ( B.C.). The first, from 770 to 476 B.C., is called the Spring and Autumn Period ( ), the second is known as the Warring States Period ( B.C. ).

The Hundred Schools of Thought 诸子百家  the "golden age" of China. So many different philosophies developed during the late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States periods that the era is often known as that of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Schools of Chinese thought  the School of Literati ( 儒 ) Confucius; Mencius ； Xunzi  the School of Law ( 法 ), or Legalism : Han Fei Zi ; Li Si  Taoism ( 道 ): Lao Zi and Zhuangzi  the school of yin-yang (yin: dark, cold, female, negative; yang: light, hot, male, positive) and the five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, and earth).  The doctrine of Mo Zi ( B.C.): Advocating that all action must be utilitarian and pacifisms.

The Imperial Era  秦 221 BC BC  The First Imperial Period  汉 Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) Eastern Han ( )  Era of Disunity  Restoration of Empire  Three Kingdoms Period 220 – 280  Western Jin ( )& Eastern Jin ( )  Northern Dynasties ( )& Southern Dynasties ( )  隋  唐 Tang 618 – 907  Liao Dynasty  Jin Dynasty  宋 Northern Song ( )  Mongolian Interlude  元  The Chinese Regain Power  明  The Rise of the Manchus  清

Qin Dynasty 221BC-  Qin, Shih Huang-ti or First emperor  He established the first united, power- centralized, multi-nationality and feudal autocratic monarchy  The Silk Route

Emergence of Modern China Ⅰ  The Western Powers Arrive  The Opium War,

Emergence Of Modern China: II  The Taiping Rebellion,  The Self-Strengthening Movement  The Hundred Days' Reform and the Aftermath

Emergence Of Modern China: Ⅲ  The Republican Revolution of 1911  Republican China  Nationalism and Communism  Opposing the Warlords

Emergence Of Modern China: Ⅳ  Consolidation under the Guomindang  Rise of the Communists  Anti-Japanese War  Return to Civil War

Emergence Of Modern China: Ⅴ  The People's Republic of China  The Transition to Socialism,  The Great Leap Forward,  Readjustment and Recovery,  The Cultural Revolution Decade,  The Militant Phase,  The Ninth National Party Congress to the Demise of Lin Biao,  The Post-Mao Period,  China and the Four Modernizations,  Reforms,

Review Questions: 1. What makes the Chinese civilization unique in world history ? 2. Try to explain the following terms:  Huaxia Civilization & Yan-Huang descendents  A Hundred Schools Contending  Terra cotta warriors --- the Eighth World Wonder  The Three Kingdoms  The Opium War  Xinhai Revolution  The May 4th Movement