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4. China and the World 

5. The Timeline of Chinese History 

 

 

Dynasties of China, Timeline Summary, Maps

chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/china-history.htm

Kelly Pang

July 20, 2021

China is one of the world's four ancient civilizations, and the written history of China dates back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), over 3,000 years ago.

Timeline of Chinese History

Year	Era	Dynasty	Capital	Remarks
2100–1600 BC	Ancient China	Xia	Luoyang Dengfeng Zhengzhou	The first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography
1600–1046 BC		Shang	Anyang	First dynasty to have historical records remaining
1046–221 BC		Zhou	Xi'an Luoyang	Confucianism emerged
221–206 BC	Imperial China	Qin	Xi'an	First to unite China as a country under an emperor
206 BC – 220 AD		Han	Xi'an Luoyang	The same period as the Roman Empire
220–581		Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties	Luoyang Chengdu Nanjing	Frequent regime changes
581–618		Sui	Xi'an Luoyang	A system was established to select talents by examination
618–907		Tang	Xi'an Luoyang	It had the only female emperor.
960–1279		Song	Kaifeng Hangzhou	Printing, the compass, and gunpowder were invented.
1271–1368		Yuan	Beijing	The first foreign regime to unite China
1368–1644		Ming	Nanjing Beijing	Most of the Great Wall today was built or repaired during the Ming Dynasty.
1644–1912		Qing	Beijing	The last dynasty of China
1912–1949	Republic of China	Republic of China	Beijing Wuhan Nanjing
1949–present	Modern China	People's Republic of China	Beijing