The discovery of Peking man in 1927 (see Zhoukoudian) dates the advent of early hominins (human ancestors) to the Paleolithic Period. Chi¬ nese civilization is thought to have spread from the Huang He valley. The first dynasty for which there is definite historical material is the Shang (c. 17th century bc), which had a writing system and a calendar. The Zhou, a subject state of the Shang, overthrew its Shang rulers in the mid-11th century and ruled until the 3rd century bc. Daoism and Confucianism were founded in this era. A time of conflict, called the Warring States period, lasted from the 5th century until 221 bc. Subsequently the Qin (or Chin) dynasty (from whose name China is derived) was established, after its rulers had conquered rival states and created a unified empire. The Han
dynasty was established in 206 bc and ruled until ad 220. A time of tur¬ bulence followed, and Chinese reunification was achieved with the found¬ ing of the Sui dynasty in 581 and continued with the Tang dynasty (618— 907). After the founding of the Song dynasty in 960, the capital was moved to the south because of northern invasions. In 1279 this dynasty was over¬ thrown and Mongol (Yuan) domination began. During that time Marco Polo visited Kublai Khan. The Ming dynasty followed the period of Mon¬ gol rule and lasted from 1368 to 1644, cultivating antiforeign feelings to the point that China closed itself off from the rest of the world. Peoples from Manchuria overran China in 1644 and established the Qing (Man- chu) dynasty. Ever-increasing incursions by Western and Japanese inter¬ ests led in the 19th century to the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, and the Sino-Japanese War, all of which weakened the Manchu. The dynasty fell in 1911, and a republic was proclaimed in 1912 by Sun Yat-sen. The power struggles of warlords weakened the republic. Under Chiang Kai- shek some national unification was achieved in the 1920s, but Chiang broke with the communists, who had formed their own armies. Japan invaded northern China in 1937; its occupation lasted until 1945 (see Manchukuo). The communists gained support after the Long March (1934-35), in which Mao Zedong emerged as their leader. Upon Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, a fierce civil war began; in 1949 the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, and the communists proclaimed the Peo¬ ple’s Republic of China. The communists undertook extensive reforms, but pragmatic policies alternated with periods of revolutionary upheaval, most notably in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The anarchy, terror, and economic paralysis of the latter led, after Mao’s death in 1976, to a turn to moderation under Deng Xiaoping, who undertook eco¬ nomic reforms and renewed China’s ties to the West. The government established diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 1979. Since the late 1970s the economy has been moving from central planning and state-run industries to a mixture of state-owned and private enterprises in manu¬ facturing and services, in the process growing dramatically and trans¬ forming Chinese society. The Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 was a challenge to an otherwise increasingly stable political environment after 1980. In 1997 Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule, as did Macau in 1999.
china, bone See bone china
China Sea Part of the western Pacific Ocean. Reaching from Japan to the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, it is divided by the island of Tai-
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394 I chinchilla ► Chinese writing system
wan into two sections. The northern section is the East China Sea, or Eastern Sea, which covers an area of some 290,000 sq mi (751,100 sq km), has a maximum depth of 8,912 ft (2,717 m), and is enclosed by east¬ ern China, South Korea, the Japanese island of Kyushu, the Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan. The southern section is the South China Sea, often called simply the China Sea, which covers an area of 1,423,000 sq mi (3,685,000 sq km), has a maximum depth of about 16,000 ft (5,000 m), and is enclosed by southeastern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo, and mainland Southeast Asia.
chinchilla \chin-'chi-lo\ Small South American rodent (genus Chin¬ chilla, family Chinchillidae) long valued for its extremely fine-textured fur. Chinchillas look like long-tailed, small-eared rabbits. They are about 14 in. (35 cm) long, including the tufted tail. The soft fur is gray with dusky overtones; a black streak runs the length of the tail, above and below. Chinchillas live in loose com¬ munities in arid, rocky regions of the Chilean and Bolivian Andes, in bur¬ rows or rock crevices. They eat seeds, fruit, grain, herbs, and moss.
Once hunted almost to extinction, they are still scarce in the wild. They are raised commercially; almost all animals in captivity have descended from a few animals introduced into the U.S. in 1923.
Chindwin River River, northern Myanmar. Rising in the northern mountains, it flows 520 mi (840 km), at first northwest through the Hukawng valley, then southwest near the border with India, and finally south to join the Irrawaddy at Myingyan. It is generally navigable below its confluence with the Uyu River. It was the scene of heavy fighting dur¬ ing World War II.
Chinese cabbage Either of two widely cultivated members of the mustard family, bok choy and Brassica pekinensis. The latter vegetable, also called celery cabbage, forms a tight head of crinkled light green leaves. It has long been grown in the U.S. as a salad vegetable. All Chinese cab¬ bages are delicate and crisp, qualities that enable them to combine with a wide variety of foods. Kimchi, the universal Korean pickle, is often made with Chinese cabbage.
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Political party founded in China in 1921 by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao. It grew directly from the reform- oriented May Fourth Movement and was aided from the start by Russian organizers. Under Russian guidance, the CCP held its First Congress in 1921; the Russians also invited many members to the Soviet Union for study and encouraged cooperation with the Chinese Nationalist Party. This cooperation lasted until 1927, when the communists were expelled. CCP fortunes declined rapidly after several failed attempts at uprisings, and the few members that remained fled to central China to regroup, where they formed a soviet-style government in Jiangxi. Harried by the Nation¬ alist army under Chiang Kai-shek, the CCP forces undertook the Long March to northwestern China, when Mao Zedong became the party’s undisputed leader. War with the Japanese broke out in 1937 and led to a temporary alliance between the CCP and the Nationalists. After World War II, the CCP participated in U.S.-mediated talks with the Nationalists, but in 1947 the talks were abandoned and civil war resumed. The CCP increased its already strong rural base through land redistribution, and in 1949 it took control of mainland China. In the decades that followed, radical members led by Mao and moderates led initially by Liu Shaoqi vied for control of the party and the direction of China. After Mao’s death in 1976 the party moved steadily toward economic, if not political, liberal¬ ization. The government’s brutal suppression of student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989 produced a major shakeup in party leadership. Today the CCP sets policy, which government officials implement. The organs at the top of the CCP are the Political Bureau, the Political Bureau’s Standing Committee, and the Secretariat, among which the divi¬ sion of power is constantly shifting. See also Lin Biao; Zhou Enlai; Deng Xiaoping.