Myth and legend aside, homo erectus in China has a history dating back 600,000 years before Christ, first emerging in the great river valleys. In the 1920s the discovery of skull remains, 30 miles from Beijing, reinforced the contested theory of evolution and showed that so-called Peking Man (see Beijing) knew how to use fire and basic stone tools. Homo sapiens emerged between 500,000 and 200,000 BC and gradually developed into modern man. Humans began to speak during the Paleolithic Age, which lasted from 100,000-10,000 BC, but it wasn't until 5000 BC that anything resembling a culture began to develop.
YangshaoCulture (5000-3000 BC)
Centered in what are now Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, Yangshao culture was probably a matriarchal society, although the official party line interprets it as a Communist community! People farmed, fished and kept domestic animals and when they died they were buried with funerary objects, including ceramic bowls and jade ornaments.
The Dynastic Age
Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 BC)
The Three Dynasties (2100-221 BC) is a term used to describe the supposed first three Chinese dynasties, the Xia, the Shang and the Zhou. While much during this time still remains unclear, when Yu, Tamer of Floods, died and handed power over to his son, Qi, the Xia dynasty was born, marking the beginnings of the Chinese as a unified people. The Xiarepresents the transition from primitive to civilized society, a shift based on the right to ownership, with the family unit at its core and the tradition of dynastic succession.
Shang Dynasty (1600-1122 BC)
The Shang dynasty followed the Xia and, although literacy was very limited, the first records of Chinese characters come from this time, marked onto oracle bones. This was China's Bronze Age and many of the fine pieces you see in museums today were forged during the Shang and subsequent Zhou (see Bronzes). Archeological finds indicate that the Shang practiced ancestor worship, a belief which continues in the 21st century AD.
Zhou Dynasty (1122-221 BC)
The Zhou dynasty saw the country divided into many states, each of which was controlled by a family relative. The Zhou also introduced the concept of Divine Mandate (or the Mandate of Heaven), which allowed for the succession of one ruler or dynasty over another, if it was ordained by heaven. The Zhou dynasty is divided into two periods, the Western Zhou which ran from 1122 to 771 BC, and the Eastern Zhou, between 771 and 221 BC. Toward the close of the Eastern Zhou, the increasing population and the breakdown of relations between the dynastic states led to factional conflicts in a time which became known as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). This part of history was very fractured and uncertain, but from it emerged stabilizing elements that remain to this day, namely the thoughts and theories of wandering scholars like Confucius and Lao Zi, the creator of Taoism
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
Throughout the Warring States Period, the state of Qin had been gradually acquiring more territory and power, and in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang brought the Qin Dynasty to power. Though cruel and very short-lived, the Qin is perceived as "China's first dynasty” and has had a lasting impact, most obviously in the country's name, China (in pinyin q is pronounced as ch, thus Qin is spoken as Chin). Qin Shi Huang rejected traditional Confucian values and set about unifying and expanding China, making his mark with a number of grand schemes, most famously the completion of the earliest version of the Great Wall. He also implemented a system of currency and writing. Ultimately, though, Qin Shi Huang's reign was ruthless and unpopular, forcing farmers to leave the land to work on his great projects and, when he died in 210 BC, his heirs were incapable of holding the empire together. But the 1974 discovery of his secret legacy, the Terracotta Warriors that guard his tomb near Xi'an, has ensured that Qin Shi Huang and the glory of the Qin will never be forgotten.
Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
The fact that the dominant ethnic group and the country's language still bear the name Han in the 21st century gives some insight into the power and legacy of the Han dynasty. Liu Bang (subsequently known as Gaozu, or High Ancestor), a warlord of peasant origins, was the first of 27 Lius to rule in the Han line. He established his grand capital near modern Xi'an but, for the latter half of the Han dynasty (referred to as the Eastern Han), Luoyang became the emperor's seat. Though Liu Bang had little time for Confucian ideals, it was during the Han dynasty that written exams on Confucian lore were introduced as necessary qualifications for official postings. To limit the power of the aristocracy, regional control was put in the hands of these officials who could be transferred or replaced as required. And to appease the peasantry, land taxation was reduced from the high levels it had reached under the Qin.
Advances, Expansion & Revolt
During the Han, substantial advances were made in agriculture, paper and textiles. This was a time of expansion which called for a strong army and led to improvements in warfare. At its peak the Han dynasty stretched as far south as Vietnam and saw the trickle of trade routes to the West develop into the Silk Road. However, all this war was expensive and when Wu Di, the Martial Emperor, died in 87 BC, although China was larger than ever, the coffers were nearly empty. The peasants, who had been taxed more heavily as his reign progressed, were ready to revolt and this situation allowed the throne to be temporarily usurped by the nobly born Wang Mang. In 9 AD he declared himself the first emperor of the Xin dynasty (New dynasty) and set about land reforms, but in 23 AD the Han reasserted its rule from its new capital, Luoyang in Shandong province. However, the Han's heyday had passed and as its power diluted the dynasty slipped into turmoil before expiring in 220 AD. Knowledge of Chinese history up to this point is greatly aided by the extensive historical record writing of Sima Qian, one of China's greatest historians.
Three Kingdoms Period (220-581 AD)
The demise of the Han left a fragmented China wrought with complex power struggles that would last almost four centuries. China was divided into three kingdoms: the northern Wei, ruled by Cao Pei, son of Han poet and general, Cao Cao; the southern Wu; and, in the southwest, the Shu. The trials of the time were subsequently recorded in the Ming dynasty work Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Also known as the Period of Division, this was a violent, unsettled time but one that saw the re-emergence of the aristocracy and a range of new influences reach China. China's first alien dynasty came into being when Liu Yuan, king of the nomadic northern Xiongnu tribe, captured Luoyang and declared the restoration of the Han dynasty. Buddhism began to take hold, particularly in the north, but, like almost everything else, was quickly sinicized.
Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD)
The Three Kingdoms Period was a dark and confused time, but its patronage of the arts laid a rich platform for the Sui and Tang to build on. The 400-year struggle for power ended when General Yang Jian of the Wei kingdom managed to unify the northern states and conquer the southern states, founding the short-lived Sui dynasty. Its brevity did not stop the Sui from forming lasting legacies, and the second emperor, Yang Di, ordered the construction of the 1,000-mile Grand Canal (see Suzhou), linking the Yangzi rice bowl to the imperial capital in the north. But thousands died in grand projects and military expansion into Korea and it was the suffering inflicted by the regime that led to its demise. Yang Di was assassinated and a military revolt was led by none other than his cousin, General Li Yuan.