1. Chinese Dynasty Overview
Shang to Qing
AP World History

3. Shang ( BCE)
First recorded Dynasty (Xia - no written records)
Ruled by aristocracy
First Chinese cities, center of court life
Developed writing, worked with bronze, created silk
Honored ancestors, used oracle bones
Shang tyrant emperor overthrown

5. Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE) Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty
Beginning of Mandate of Heaven
Early: Feudal system, lords had total authority
Later: City-states
Built roads, expanded trade, made agricultural advancements

7. Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE) Taoism and Confucianism introduced
Decline: Inefficient rulers can’t control fighting between city-states
Period of Warring States

8. Qin (221 - 207 BCE) Qin She Huanshi - only emperor Adopted Legalism
Developed highly centralized gov’t with bureaucratic administration
Standardized currency, language, measurements, laws
Built first Great Wall

10. Qin (221 - 207 BCE) Brutal ruler - executed dissenters, burned books
Many enemies, dynasty falls after his death

11. Han (202 BCE - 221 CE) Legalism replaced by Confucianism
Introduced civil service examination (scholar gentry)
Silk Roads developed, opens trade

12. Han (202 BCE - 221 CE) Buddhism introduced, paper invented
Great increase in population, land holdings
Decline
Nomadic raiders
Corruption, weak leaders
Collapse of bureaucracy

14. 221 - 581 (CE) Warlords control china - no centralized gov’t
Non-Chinese nomads control much of China
Buddhism becomes popular - Confucianism failed

15. Sui (581 - 618 CE) Completed Grand Canal High taxes, forced labor
Military failures (couldn’t conquer Korea)
Assassination ends dynasty

17. Tang (618 - 907 CE) High point of Chinese culture Rebuilt bureaucracy
Examination system
Confucian education
Limited social mobility
Buddhism supported, then oppressed
Invention of movable print, porcelain, gun powder

19. Tang (618 - 907 CE) Wu Zetian - Only Empress in Chinese history
Decline
Weak emperors, nomadic incursions, economic difficulties
Warlords take control

20. Song (969 - 1279 CE) Large centralized bureaucracy (Neo-Confucian)
Mercantile class grows, increased trade
Magnetic compass, growing sea power
Weak military

23. Yuan (1279 - 1368 CE) Mongol Khubilai Khan conquers China
Economic stability and prosperity
China more open to trade and travel (Marco Polo)
Ignored Chinese traditions, replaced bureaucrats with non-Chinese
Unsuccessful attacks on Japan, corruption weakens dynasty
Peasant rebellion ends Yuan

25. Ming (1368 - 1644 CE) Tried to erase all signs of Mongols
Reinstated civil service, Confucian scholars
Eunuchs play growing role (Zheng He) - resented by scholar gentry
Rebuilt and extended Great Wall
Collapsed after famines and riots

27. Qing (1644 - 1911 CE) Manchus (from Manchuria) move south
Take Korea, Japan, then China
Manchus hold top posts, but relied upon scholar gentry
“Son of Heaven” concept emphasized
Would be final Chinese Dynasty
Eventually would be weakened by European / American interventions

29. Chinese Dynasty Song Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han shang, joe, chin, hahn
Sui, Tang, Song sway, tang, soong
Sui, Tang, Song
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic yooan, ming, ching, Republic
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Mao Zedong mou dzu dong
Mao Zedong