Brief History of China

The history of China can be roughly divided into different eras such as the pre-historic, ancient, imperial and modern. It is the commonly used classification to get into the details of Chinese history. The Chinese civilization mainly flourished in valleys of the 'Yellow' and 'Yangtze' rivers. The documentation of the important facts about China and its history began in the period between c. 1700-c. 1046 BC. The information covered in this article presents a brief history of China.

History of China in Brief

Let us get into the important facts about this great nation and thereby understand the brief history of China.

Prehistoric Period
If we start off from the pre-historic period, the existence of Homo erectus in China should be the important topic of study. The discovery Peking Man's existence in China in the year 1923 also gave important clues pertaining to the study of Chinese history. Xihoudu is an archaeological site in the Shanxi province of China. The evidences of use of fire in earliest times were found at this site. Beginning of Neolithic Age in China can be traced back to the period of 10,000 BC. It was in this period that 'Yellow River' became the cultural center of China. More facts about China pertaining to the ancient, imperial and modern periods are given below.

Ancient Period
In the Xia, Shang and Zhou were the important dynasties in ancient china. Out of all, the Shang dynasty was most influential and also the longest in Chinese history. Earliest of all dynasties i.e. the Xia dynasty started somewhere around 4,200 years ago (i.e. 2,100 BC). The Shang dynasty in China which was the longest of all had 31 kings. Apart from the dynasties, other important phases of Chinese history were Spring and Autumn Period and the period of Warring States. The Warring States period began in the 5th century BC; during this period, ancient China was divided into 7 states which indulged into battles with each other on a regular basis. Inability of the Zhou dynasty to keep hold on both the internal and external affairs led to its disintegration. This began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the kingdom was completely broken down into 7 states later on.

Imperial China
The imperial period of China was marked by the presence of following dynasties: Qin, Han, Sui, Yuan, Song, Tang, Ming and Qing. The phase of conflicts between Song and Tang dynasty was during the period of Ten kingdoms and Five dynasties. It was during the Qin dynasty that construction of 'The Great Wall of China' started. Confucianism philosophy become popular in China during the Han dynasty. China was ruled with Beijing as capital during the period of Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. Construction of the Great Wall of China got completed during the rule of Ming dynasty. The complete dictionary of Chinese characters was created during the rule of Ming dynasty; system of 'Eight Banners' too was introduced during this period.

Modern China
The modern China is built on communist principles and it rightly possesses the title of 'People's Republic of China'. The important personalities of modern China (beginning in the 19th century) were Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. Foundations for the establishment of People's Republic of China were laid in the period of Japanese invasions. These invasions ended in 1945 and China began its quest to become a communist nation. It was on 1st October, 1949 that the People's Republic of China was formed.

The interesting facts about China presented above, provide an overview of information about different dynasties that ruled this huge landmass. In recent times, China has made tremendous progress on the economic front. Getting into the brief history of China's economy should present useful facts underlying this development. The speedy progress that China has made in the past 10-15 years is the results if economic reforms. Today, the People's Republic of China remains to be one of the big economic power not only in Asia, but also in the whole world.