Chinese Dynasty Overview

Shang to Qing

AP World History

Shang (1700 - 1027 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

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

Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE)

• Taoism and Confucianism introduced• Decline: Inefficient rulers can’t control

fighting between city-states• Period of Warring States

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

Qin (221 - 207 BCE)

• Brutal ruler - executed dissenters, burned books

• Many enemies, dynasty falls after his death

Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)

• Legalism replaced by Confucianism• Introduced civil service examination

(scholar gentry)• Silk Roads

developed, opens trade

Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)

• Buddhism introduced, paper invented• Great increase in population, land

holdings

Decline• Nomadic raiders• Corruption, weak leaders• Collapse of bureaucracy

221 - 581 (CE)

• Warlords control china - no centralized gov’t

• Non-Chinese nomads control much of China

• Buddhism becomes popular - Confucianism failed

Sui (581 - 618 CE)

• Completed Grand Canal

• High taxes, forced labor

• Military failures (couldn’t conquer Korea)

• Assassination ends dynasty

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

Tang (618 - 907 CE)

• Wu Zetian - Only Empress in Chinese history

Decline• Weak emperors, nomadic incursions,

economic difficulties• Warlords take control

Song (969 - 1279 CE)

• Large centralized bureaucracy (Neo-Confucian)

• Mercantile class grows, increased trade• Magnetic compass, growing sea power• Weak military

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

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

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