History of China 中国历史 · 中國歷史

the xia dynasty, literally “Xia dynasty”

The legendary first dynasty (~2070-1600 BC), founded by Yu the Great who tamed the floods; its existence is debated — Erlitou culture may be it — but it anchors the tradition.

yu the great tames the flood, literally “Great Yu controls waters”

The founding myth: Yu spent 13 years dredging channels to stop the great flood, passing his home three times without entering; he earned the first dynasty.

the shang dynasty, literally “Shang dynasty”

~1600-1046 BC, the first archaeologically-proven dynasty: oracle bones, bronze ritual vessels, human sacrifice, and the earliest Chinese writing.

the erlitou site, literally “Erlitou ruins”

The Henan palace-city ruins (~1800 BC) many archaeologists link to the Xia: bronze workshops, a grid-plan city; the best candidate for China's first dynasty.

the zhou dynasty, literally “Zhou dynasty”

1046-256 BC, the longest dynasty: it gave China the Mandate of Heaven, the feudal system, and in its collapse the golden age of philosophy.

the mandate of heaven, literally “heaven's command”

The Zhou's revolutionary idea: heaven grants rule to the virtuous and withdraws it from the corrupt; rebellion against a bad ruler isn't treason, it's heaven's will.

the spring and autumn period, literally “spring-autumn era”

771-476 BC, when the Zhou king's power faded and a hundred states warred for dominance; named for a chronicle and the age of Confucius.

the warring states period, literally “warring-states era”

475-221 BC, seven great states fighting to the finish; the crucible that produced every Chinese philosophy and the armies that would unify the country.

hundred schools of thought, literally “hundred schools contend”

The Warring-States flowering of philosophy: Confucians, Daoists, Legalists, Mohists, Logicians all competing; every later Chinese idea has an ancestor here.

shang yang's reforms, literally “Shang Yang's law-change”

The Legalist overhaul that turned Qin into a war machine: collective punishment, rewards for killing enemies, the destruction of noble privilege; it worked, horribly.

the qin dynasty, literally “Qin dynasty”

221-207 BC, the shortest and most consequential: unified China in 15 years through total Legalist control, then burned out in four under revolt.

qin shi huang, literally “first emperor of Qin”

Ying Zheng, who unified China in 221 BC: standard weights, script and axle-widths; burned books, buried scholars, built the Wall's first link, and left a terracotta army.

one script for all, literally “writing unified”

Qin's standardization of the writing system across the empire; the act that made 'Chinese' one written language for 2,200 years.

burning books, burying scholars, literally “burn books bury scholars”

Qin's destruction of non-Legalist texts and, by tradition, of 460 scholars; the founding act of China's recurring war on intellectuals.