Chinese History

Chinese Dynasties

Xia 2100 BC
Shang 1500 BC
Qin 221-207 BC
Zhou 1045 BC
Warring States 480-221 BC
Han 202 BC – 220 AD
Three Kingdoms 220-280 AD
Sui 581-618 AD
Tang 618-906 AD
Five Dynasties 907-960 AD
Liao 907-1125 AD
Northern Song 960-1127 AD
Jin 1126-1234 AD
Southern Song 1127-1279 AD
Yuan 1260-1368 AD
Ming 1368-1644 AD
Qing 1636-1912 AD


Chinese History Timeline

500,000 B.C.E. Peking Man hominid fossils
10,000 B.C.E Domestication of rice in Jiangxi
4600 B.C.E Neolithic village cultures in northern China
2100 B.C.E Xia "dynasty" in Yellow River valley
1500 B.C.E Shang state on North China Plain
1045 B.C.E Zhou Conquest
722-481 B.C.E Spring and Autumn period
480-221 B.C.E Warring States period
207 B.C.E Fall of Qin dynasty
202 B.C.E.-220 C.E Han dynasty
141-87 B.C.E Reign of Wudi
81 B.C.E Debate on Salt and Iron
9-23 C.E Usurpation of Wang Mang
100 C.E First Buddhist temple in China
182 C.E Yellow Turban uprising
220-280 Three Kingdoms period
310 Turkic migrations into northern China begin
581-618 Sui dynasty
618-906 Tang dynasty
684-705 Reign of Empress Wu Zetian
713-756 Reign of Xuanzong
755-763 An Lushan rebellion
768-824 Han Yu
845 Official suppression of Buddhism
907-960 Five Dynasties period
907-1125 Liao dynasty of the Khitan people
960-1127 Northern Song dynasty
1126-1234 Jin dynasty of the Jurchen people
1206 Mongol quriltai elects Temujin as Great Khan
1127-1279 Southern Song dynasty
1130-1200 Zhu Xi
1260-1368 Mongol Yuan dynasty
1272-1290 Marco Polo in China
1313 Mongols restore Confucian examinations
1340s Great plague in Yangzi River valley
1368-1644 Ming dynasty
1402 Zhu Di usurps the throne
1405-1435 Ming voyages of exploration
1572-1620 Reign of Wanli emperor
1580 "Single Whip" tax reforms
1626 Nurhaci inaugurates Manchu language use
1636 Qing dynasty proclaimed by Manchus
1644 Fall of Ming dynasty and Manchu invasion
1661-1722 Reign of Kangxi
1673-1681 Rebellion of the Wu Sangui
1712 Kangxi's tax edict
1723-1735 Reign of Yongzheng
1736-1795 Reign of Qianlong
1793 British trade mission to China
1813 Secret society rebellion against Qing
1839-1842 Opium War
1850-1864 Taiping Rebellion
1864-1895 Self-Strengthening Movement
1894-1895 Sino-Japanese War
1898-100 Days Reforms
1899-1900 Boxer Rebellion
1905 Confucian examinations abolished
1911 October 11, Wuhan mutiny sets off revolution
1912 February 12, Abdication of last emperor
1912 February 15, Yuan Shikai becomes president
1916 Yuan Shikai tries to become emperor
1919 May 4, Student demonstration in Beijing
1921 July, Founding of Chinese Communist Party
1922-1927 First United Front of Communists and Nationalists
1926 Northern Expedition of Chiang Kaishek
1927 April, Split between CCP and GMD
1929-1934 Jiangxi period of Chinese Communists
1931 September 18, Japanese invade Manchuria
1934 October 1935 October Long March
1936 December, Xian incident: Chiang "arrested"
1937-1945 Second United Front
1937 July 7, Marco Polo Bridge incident: Japanese invasion
1945 End of war with Japan
1945-1949 Civil war between Communists and Nationalists
1948 Nationalists massacre Taiwanese
1949 Nationalists withdraw to Taiwan
1949 October 1, Mao proclaims People's Republic of China
1949-1952 Land reform
1950 Marriage law
1958-1959 Great Leap Forward
1959 August, Lushan Plenum: Peng Dehuai purged, Mao retreats from daily leadership
1962 Socialist Education Movement
1966-1969 Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
1976 Death of Mao Zedong
1978-1994 Leadership of Deng Xiaoping
1989 Tiananmen student movement, suppressed June 4
1999 China and the United States agree on WTO membership