China History Timeline - Ch'in Dynasty China

The Ch'in Dynasty is the one which gave its name to China. The first Ch'in emperor, in 221 BC, was Ch'in Shih Huang Ti. He started out as the king of a smaller state, but he was able to force all the other states to accept his rule too, so then he became the emperor of all China.

To show that he was the emperor, and more important than the other kings, he built big palaces and had very elaborate court ceremonies in his capital city of Xianyang. And, to show that China was all one empire now, Ch'in made everyone use the same letters to write with and use the same kinds of weights to measure things with, all over the empire. Ch'in didn't trust the other kings whom he had conquered, so he didn't let them run anything. Instead, he chose his own assistants and sent them out as governors and judges for each part of his empire.

And, so that he could keep an eye on the kings and their families, he made them leave their homes and come live in the capital city with him, and help him there. That way they couldn't revolt against him.

Great Wall of ChinaCh'in also got together a huge army to keep the kings from revolting against him. And when he didn't need it for revolts, he kept the army busy defending the empire and making it bigger and bigger. Soon China reached from Mongolia in the north to Vietnam in the south.

The biggest danger to China was the people who lived in Mongolia and Siberia, who often tried to invade China. A lot of the kings in northern China had already built walls along their kingdoms to keep out these invaders. Ch'in ordered his army to join up all these little walls to make the Great Wall of China. The wall ended up being 1,500 miles long (2400 kilometers)!

China History Timeline - Eastern Chou Dynasty

In 771 BC, China was invaded by skillful fighters from the northwest. The Chou emperors retreated and made a new capital at Luoyang, further east. So this period is called the Eastern Chou.

The first three hundred years of the Eastern Chou period is called the Spring and Autumn period because it was a good time for China. Iron began to be used for tools in China at this time.
But iron also made good weapons, and the 200 little states began to fight each other all the time. The period from 481 to 221 BC is called the Warring States period. By about 300 BC, there were only seven big states left. By 256 BC, the Chou emperors lost power, and the only rulers of China were the kings of the seven states. These kings fought among themselves until the king of Ch'in, the strongest state, succeeded in making himself emperor and established the Ch'in Dynasty.

China History Timeline - Chou Dynasty

The Chou conquered the Shang Dynasty about 1100 BC (the traditional date is 1122). The Chou said that the reason they were able to conquer the Shang was that Heaven was on their side.

The first period of Chou rule is called the Western Chou, because at this time the Chou only ruled the western part of modern China.

China was divided up into about 200 little kingdoms, and then each of these kings was under the Chou emperor.

This is the same time when the Indo-Europeans were settling in India. Further away, the kingdoms of West Asia, Egypt, and Greece were collapsing at the end of the Bronze Age. In terms of the Bible, Moses would probably be leaving Egypt about this time. Zoroastrianism was just getting started.

China History Timeline - Shang Dynasty China

Around 2000 BC, the Chinese learned how to make bronze out of tin and copper, so we call this the Bronze Age. About the same time, they developed writing. Like Sumerian and Egyptian writing of this time, their writing is based on pictures that stand for ideas or sounds.

We know of this writing from oracle bones, which are bones with writing carved into them. They were used to tell fortunes. People also used bones and tortoise shells to keep records about who paid what to who, much like Linear A in Crete or Linear B tablets in Greece at the same time.
By about 1800 BC (the traditional date is 1766 BC), the Shang dynasty had become the first to unite a big part of China under one king. The king had his capital in Anyang, in northern China. People had already begun to divide up into the rich and the poor. We know that some people were slaves under the Shang Dynasty. Many men were in the king's armies.

During the Shang Dynasty, people also began to use horse-drawn chariots. This is about the same time as in West Asia. People also used jade (a green stone) for jewelry and decoration.

Here's an interesting video about the Shang Dynasty and the Chou Dynasty (but some of it is a little scary).

The Shang Dynasty lasted for about 700 years. But finally they were conquered by the Chou, about 1100 BC.

China History Timeline - Stone Age China

The first people (leaving out Neanderthal-type pre-humans) seem to have reached China about 50,000 BC. This is about the same time as the first people in Europe. These people lived in caves, made fires, used stone and bone tools, and wore fur and leather clothes. They were hunters and gatherers.

But big changes happened around 4000-3000 BC, in the Neolithic or New Stone Age, when people began farming rice and keeping animals (like sheep and chickens) in China. West Asian people had already been farming for about two thousand years, but we don't know whether people in China learned how to farm from the West Asians or began doing it on their own. Probably they began on their own, just as a natural response to being more crowded and needing to produce more food on their land, or because of climate changes. As in Egypt and West Asia, the first place where people began settling down in cities was in a river valley, along the Yellow River in northern China.

Once people living in China began farming, they also began to live in villages and build small houses with reed roofs. Around 3000-2000 BC, they also began to make pottery. Again, this is later than in West Asia, but that doesn't mean that the Chinese learned how from the West Asians. We know about two kinds of Chinese pottery from this time:Red clay pots with swirling black designs from north-west China, and Smooth black pots from north-east China.
It was also about this time that the Chinese began to use silk to make clothes, and to use wagons with wheels.

Chinese 100 Last Names

Chinese Last name is shared within all members in the family

All members in a Chinese family have the same last name (surname, family name). Children all bear the same last name as their parents. When a bride marries into the family, she assumes the last name of her husband. When a daughter marries, she leaves the family and assumes the last name of her husband.

One Hundred Chinese Names

The list of "Hundred Names" was compiled many years ago by order of the Emperor as the 100 most popular surnames (or last, or family names) in China at the time. School children used to memorize them, or at least the first few names from the list.

The top 8 Chinese last names, based on this list complied hundreds of years ago, are: Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Zheng Wang.

In 2006, a new list based on a two-year study of some 200 million names gives the most popular names as: Li (Lee), Wang, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Zhou, Wu, Xu, Sun, Zhu, Ma, Hu, Guo, Ln, He, Gao, Liang, Zheng, Luo, Song, Xie, Tang, Han, Cao, Xu, Deng, Xiao.......

In many Western countries, there is a short list of popular 'first names,' but countless 'last names.' In China, it is just the reverse. The list of last name is short, and the number of first names is in the billions.

This may be the reason that in Western countries, one customarily tell strangers one's first name ("My name is Bob.") Whereas in China, one generally give out his last name instead ("Just ask for Mr. Wang.")

Chinese Mid Autumn Festival or Moon Cake Festival

Moon Cake Festival: A Mid-Autumn Festival (Chung Chiu), the third major festival of the Chinese calendar, is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month. This festival corresponds to harvest festival s observed by Western cultures (in Hong Kong, it is held in conjunction with the annual Lantern Festival).

Contrary to what most people believe, this festival probably has less to do with harvest festivities than with the philosophically minded chinese of old. The union of man's spirit with nature in order to achieve perfect harmony was the fundamental canon of Taoism, so much so that contemplation of nature was a way of life.

This festival is also known as the Moon Cake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake (yueh ping) prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds and duck eggs is served as a traditional Chung Chiu delicacy. Nobody actually knows when the custom of eating moon cake of celebrate the Moon Festival began, but one relief traces its origin to the 14th century. At the time, China was in revolt against the Mongols. Chu Yuen-chang, and his senior deputy, Liu Po-wen, discussed battle plan and developes a secret moon cake strategy to take a certain walled city held by the Mongol enemy. Liu dressed up as a Taoist priest and entered the besieged city bearing moon cake. He distributed these to the city's populace. When the time for the year's Chung Chiu festival arrived, people opened their cakes and found hidden messages advising them to coordinate their uprising with the troops outside. Thus, the emperor-to-be ingeniously took the city and his throne. Moon cake of course, became even more famous. Whether this sweet Chinese version of ancient Europe's "Trojan Horse" story is true, no one really known.

The moon plays a significant part of this festival. In Hong Kong, any open space or mountain top is crowded with people trying to get a glimpse of this season's auspicious full moon.
First lady on the moon: It is generally conceded that Neil Armstrong , the American astronaut, was the first man on moon ( he made that historic landing in 1969). But that's not necessarily the truth to Chinese, who believe that the first people on the moon was a beautiful woman who lived during the Hsia dynasty (2205-1766BC)

This somewhat complicated moon-landing story goes like this: A woman , Chang-O, was married to the great General Hou-Yi of the Imperial Guard. General Hou was a skilled archer. One day, at the behest of the emperor, he shot down eight of nine suns that had mysteriously appeared in the heaven that morning. His marksmanship was richly rewarded by the emperor and he became very famous. However, the people feared that these suns would appear again to torture them and dry up the planet, so they prayed to the Goddess of Heaven (Wang Mu) to make General Hou immortal so that he could always defend the emperor, his progeny and the country. Their wish was granted and General Hou was given a Pill of Immortality.
Another version of this story notes that Chang-O, the wife of the Divine Archer, shot down nine of ten suns plaguing the world and received the Herb of Immortality as a reward.
Whoever the hero was, Chang-O grabbed the pill (or the herb) and fled to the moon. In some versions it is uncertain whether she ever actually got there, because Chinese operas always portray her as still dancing-flying toward the moon.

When Chang-O reached the moon, she found a tree under which there was a friendly hare. Because the air on the moon is cold, she began coughing and the Immortality Pill came out of her throat. She thought it would be good to pound the pill into small pieces and scatter them on Earth so that everyone could be immortal. So she ordered the hare to pound the pill, built a palace for herself and remained on the moon.

This helpful hare is referred to in Chinese mythology as the Jade Hare. Because of his and Chang-O's legendary importance, you will see - stamped on every mooncake, every mooncake box, and every Moon Cake Festival poster - images of Chang-O and sometimes the Jade Hare.
The old man on the moon: There is a saying in Chinese that marriages are made in heaven and prepared on the moon. The man who does the preparing is the old man of the moon (Yueh Lao Yeh). This old man, it is said, keep as a record book with all the names of newborn babies. He is the one heavenly person who knows everyone's future partners, and nobody can fight the decisions written down in his book. He is one reason why the moon is so important in Chinese mythology and especially at the time of the Moon Festival. Everybody including children, hikes up high mountains or hills or onto open beached to view the moon in the hope that he will grant their wishes.

To celebrate this sighting of the moon, red plastic lanterns wrought in traditional styles and embellished with traditional motifs are prepared for the occasion. It is quite a sight to see Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, or Morse Park in Kowloon, alight with thousands of candlelit lanterns. These "Lantern Carnivals" also occur spontaneously on most of the colony's beaches.
The lantern are made in such traditional shapes are rabbits, goldfish, carps, butterflies, lobsters and star-shaped fruits. However, in modern Hong Kong you will also see lantern in the shape of missiles, airplanes, rockets, ships and tanks. In Chinese mythology, the butterfly is the symbols of longevity and the lobster the symbols or mirth. Star-shaped fruit is the seasonal fruit in the autumn, and the crap is an old symbol of the Emperor, personifying strength, courage, wisdow and, of course, power.

Chinese Festivals - the Mid-Autumn Festival

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week ofOctober.This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates , melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.


Mid-Autumn Festival Origin


The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese) can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.


Mid-Autumn Festival and Moon Cakes


There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon caked was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.
Different Celebrated Forms


For thousands of years, the Chinese people have related the vicissitudes of life to changes of the moon as it waxes and wanes; joy and sorrow, parting and reunion. Because the full moon is round and symbolizes reunion, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the festival of reunion. All family members try to get together on this special day. Those who can not return home watch the bright moonlight and feel deep longing for their loved ones.Today,festivities centered about the Mid-Autumn Festival are more varied. After a family reunion dinner, many people like to go out to attend special perfomances in parks or on public squares.


People in different parts of China have different ways to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Guangzhou in South China, a huge lantern show is a big attraction for local citizens. Thousands of differently shaped lanterns are lit, forming a fantastic contrast with the bright moonlight.In East Chia's Zhejiang Province, watching the flood tide of the Qian-tang River during the Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a must for local peple, but also an attraction for those from other parts of the country. The ebb and flow of tides coincide with the waxing and waning of the moon as it exerts a strong gravitational pull. In mid autumn, the sun, earth and moon send out strong

gravitational forces upon the seas. The outh of the Qiantang River is shaped lik a bugle. So the flood tide which forms at the narrow mouth is particularly impressive. Spectators crowd on the river bank,watching the roaring waves. At its peak, the tide rises as high as three and a half meters.

Chinese Festivals - the Mid-Autumn Festival

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week ofOctober.This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates , melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.

Mid-Autumn Festival Origin

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese) can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.

Mid-Autumn Festival and Moon Cakes

There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon caked was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.
Different Celebrated Forms

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have related the vicissitudes of life to changes of the moon as it waxes and wanes; joy and sorrow, parting and reunion. Because the full moon is round and symbolizes reunion, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the festival of reunion. All family members try to get together on this special day. Those who can not return home watch the bright moonlight and feel deep longing for their loved ones.Today,festivities centered about the Mid-Autumn Festival are more varied. After a family reunion dinner, many people like to go out to attend special perfomances in parks or on public squares.

People in different parts of China have different ways to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Guangzhou in South China, a huge lantern show is a big attraction for local citizens. Thousands of differently shaped lanterns are lit, forming a fantastic contrast with the bright moonlight.In East Chia's Zhejiang Province, watching the flood tide of the Qian-tang River during the Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a must for local peple, but also an attraction for those from other parts of the country. The ebb and flow of tides coincide with the waxing and waning of the moon as it exerts a strong gravitational pull. In mid autumn, the sun, earth and moon send out strong
gravitational forces upon the seas. The outh of the Qiantang River is shaped lik a bugle. So the flood tide which forms at the narrow mouth is particularly impressive. Spectators crowd on the river bank,watching the roaring waves. At its peak, the tide rises as high as three and a half meters.

American Efforts to Bridge U.S.-Chinese Language Gap

To meet the challenge as China becomes a global competitor and partner, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-California.) introduced a legislation to overcome the language and culture barriers between future generations of Americans and Chinese.

The U.S.-China Language Engagement Act sets out to increase Chinese cultural studies and language acquisition for school-aged students of the United States through grants to Local Education Agencies (LEAs). The grants, given on a competitive basis, will carry out innovative model programs for Chinese language and cultural studies in elementary and secondary schools.
"It is little news to anyone that China is on the rise," said Davis, a member of the U.S.-China Working Group. "Some may view China's resurgence as a threat. But we must turn China's rise into an opportunity for United States citizens. Through careful diplomacy, I believe China can become not only a competitor but also a partner."

China is now the U.S.'s second largest trading partner and continues to rise as an economic and political force in the world. However, little understanding exists between the two nations culturally and there is little dialogue between citizens. Chinese or Mandarin is spoken almost exclusively within Chinese-American communities in the United States and few Americans learn the language.

While an estimated 200 million Chinese school children are studying English and American culture, less than 50,000 American elementary and secondary students are studying Chinese.
Funding for the U.S.-China Language Engagement Act is authorized at $20,000,000 in 2008 and $25,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 through 2012.

Davis's bill is part of a larger legislative package on U.S-China competitiveness. Bills addressing trade, diplomacy, and energy were introduced by U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Steve Israel (D-NY).

Timeline of Chinese history

China is one of the world's oldest civilized nation, which dates back to more than 10,000 years. The 5,000 years period is commonly used as the date when China became unified under a large empire. China alternated between periods of political unity and disunity at intervals, and was occasionally conquered by external groups of people, some eventually being assimilated into the Chinese population.

The following is a timeline of the history of China :

Ancient China	Ruling entity	Date	Events	Founder	Capital
	Neolithic China	5000BC-2000BC	the last period of a long prehistory; Yangshao culture; longshan culture	／	／
	Xia Dynasty	2100BC-1600BC	the first slavery dynasty	Qi	Anyang
	Shang Dynasty	1600BC-1046BC	first records of Chinese characters	Tang	Yin
	Zhou Dynasty	1046BC-256BC	Mandate of Heaven; Spring and Autumn Period; Warring States Period	King Wu	Haojing
Early Imperial China	Qin Dynasty	221BC-207BC	the first unified, multi-national, autocratic and power-centralized state in Chinese history; banished or put to death many dissenting Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned their books; the building of Great Wall	Yin Zheng	Xianyang
	Han Dynasty	202BC-220AD	the adoption of Confucian ideals; the formation of the Silk Road ; the invention of paper; the Yellow Turbans	Liu Bang	Chang'an
	The Three Kingdoms	220AD-280AD	introduction of Buddhism; development of tea and porcelain; the battle of the Red Cliff	／	／
	Jin Dynasty	265AD-420AD	War of the Eight Princes; sixteen kingdoms	Sima Yan	Luoyang
	Southern and Northern Dynasties	317AD-588AD	invention of gunpowder ; Buddhism f lourished; Bodhidharma arrives in China	／	／
Classical Imperial China	Sui Dynasty	581AD-618AD	the foundation of Three Departments and Six Ministries; the adoption of imperial examination system; the land equalization; the excavation of the Grand Canal ;	Emperor Wen	Chang'an
	Tang Dynasty	618AD-907AD	first Christian missionaries arrive in China ; the birth of Islam in China ; mass persecution of Buddhism ;	Liyuan	Chang'an
	Song Dynasty	960AD-1279AD	the battle of Chenqiao; the adoption of hereditary monarchy	Zhao Kuangyin	Kaifeng
Later Imperial China	Yuan Dynasty	1271AD-1368AD	unify the whole of China for the first time under a non-Chinese regime; the development of drama and the novel; voyages of Marco Polo	Hu Bilie	Dadu
	Ming Dynasty	1368AD-1644AD	the last native Chinese dynasty to rule the empire; Construction of the Forbidden City begins; Voyages of Zhen He; the creation of self-supporting agricultural communities; the final and lasting construction of the Great Wall; a rebel army led by Li Zicheng	Zhu Yuanzhang	Nanjing
	Qing Dynasty	1636AD-1912AD	the Dynasty founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro ; literary inquisition; eight-part essay; the Eight Banners system; Publication of the Kangxi Dictionary ; First Opium War; Taiping Rebellion; Hundred Days' Reform	Nurhaci	Beijing
Modern China	Republic of China	1912AD-1949AD	Xinhai Revolution; Nanchang Uprising; the foundation of Chinese Soviet Republic ; Long March; being one of the founding members of the UN	Sun Yat Sen	Wuchang
	People's Republic of China	1949AD-nowadays	Hundred Flowers campaign; Three Years of Natural Disasters; Cultural Revolution; Start of Chinese economic reforms; One-child policy; Hong kong handover, becomes a Special Administrative Region; Macau handover; Accession to World Trade Organization; SARS outbreak	Mao Zedong	Bejing

Allen Introduces China to You

Hi everybody, welcome,

this is Allen, who come from China.

Here I will introduce my monther country "China" to you.

I will write about China interests, China history, China city like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen etc. And important, I will talk about how to have a nice trip to China, to find the best and money-saved hotel, to buy the cheap but good quality goods etc.

Maybe I will write here everyday if I have time.

I wish you like this blog, and make friend with me.