History of China

The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now
considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife.
Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin
constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere. China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic
and linguistic people groups. The traditional lens for viewing Chinese history is the dynastic cycle:
imperial dynasties rise and fall, and are ascribed certain achievements. Throughout pervades the narrative
that Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread many thousands of years into the past,
making it one of the cradles of civilization. At various times, states representative of a dominant Chinese
culture have directly controlled areas stretching as far west as the Tian Shan, the Tarim Basin, and the
Himalayas, as far north as the Sayan Mountains, and as far south as the delta of the Red River.

The Neolithic period saw increasingly complex polities begin to emerge along the Yellow and Yangtze
rivers. The Erlitou culture in the central plains of China is sometimes identified with the Xia dynasty (3rd
millennium BC) of traditional Chinese historiography. The earliest surviving written Chinese dates to
roughly 1250 BC, consisting of divinations inscribed on oracle bones. Chinese bronze inscriptions, ritual
texts dedicated to ancestors, form another large corpus of early Chinese writing. The earliest strata of
received literature in Chinese include poetry, divination, and records of official speeches. China is
believed to be one of a very few loci of independent invention of writing, and the earliest surviving
records display an already-mature written language. The culture remembered by the earliest extant
literature is that of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 – 256 BC), China's Axial Age, during which the Mandate of
Heaven was introduced, and foundations laid for philosophies such as Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism,
and Wuxing.

China was first united under a single imperial state by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. Orthography, weights,
measures, and law were all standardized. Shortly thereafter, China entered its classical era with the Han
dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), marking a critical period. A term for the Chinese language is still "Han
language", and the dominant Chinese ethnic group is known as Han Chinese. The Chinese empire
reached some of its farthest geographical extents during this period. Confucianism was officially
sanctioned and its core texts were edited into their received forms. Wealthy landholding families
independent of the ancient aristocracy began to wield significant power. Han technology can be
considered on par with that of the contemporaneous Roman Empire: mass production of paper aided the
proliferation of written documents, and the written language of this period was employed for millennia
afterwards. China became known internationally for its sericulture. When the Han imperial order finally
collapsed after four centuries, China entered an equally lengthy period of disunity, during which
Buddhism began to have a significant impact on Chinese culture, while Calligraphy, art, historiography,
and storytelling flourished. Wealthy families in some cases became more powerful than the central
government. The Yangtze River valley was incorporated into the dominant cultural sphere.

A period of unity began in 581 with the Sui dynasty, which soon gave way to the long-lived Tang dynasty
(608–907), regarded as another Chinese golden age. The Tang dynasty saw flourishing developments in
science, technology, poetry, economics, and geographical influence. China's only officially recognized
empress, Wu Zetian, reigned during the dynasty's first century. Buddhism was adopted by Tang emperors.
"Tang people" is the other common demonym for the Han ethnic group. After the Tang fractured, the
Song dynasty (960–1279) saw the maximal extent of imperial Chinese cosmopolitan development.
Mechanical printing was introduced, and many of the earliest surviving witnesses of certain texts are
wood-block prints from this era. Song scientific advancement led the world, and the imperial examination
system gave ideological structure to the political bureaucracy. Confucianism and Taoism were fully knit
together in Neo-Confucianism.

Eventually, the Mongol Empire conquered all of China, establishing the Yuan dynasty in 1271. Contact
with Europe began to increase during this time. Achievements under the subsequent Ming dynasty (1368–
1644) include global exploration, fine porcelain, and many extant public works projects, such as those
restoring the Grand Canal and Great Wall. Three of the four Classic Chinese Novels were written during
the Ming. The Qing dynasty that succeeded the Ming was ruled by ethnic Manchu people. The Qianlong
emperor (r. 1735–1796) commissioned a complete encyclopaedia of imperial libraries, totaling nearly a
billion words. Imperial China reached its greatest territorial extent of during the Qing, but China came
into increasing conflict with European powers, culminating in the Opium Wars and subsequent unequal
treaties.

The 1911 Xinhai Revolution, led by Sun Yat-sen and others, created the modern Republic of China. From
1927 to 1949, a costly civil war roiled between the Republican government under Chiang Kai-shek and
the Communist-aligned Chinese Red Army, interrupted by the industrialized Empire of Japan invading
the divided country until its defeat in the Second World War.

After the Communist victory, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of
China (PRC) in 1949, with the Republic retreating to Taiwan. Both governments still claim sole
legitimacy of the entire mainland area. The PRC has slowly accumulated the majority of diplomatic
recognition, and Taiwan's status remains disputed to this day. From 1966 to 1976, the Cultural Revolution
in mainland China helped consolidate Mao's power towards the end of his life. After his death, the
government began economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping, and became the world's fastest-growing
major economy. China had been the most populous nation in the world for decades since its unification,
until it was surpassed by India in 2023.

Prehistory

Paleolithic (1.7 Ma – 12 ka)

The archaic human species of Homo erectus arrived in Eurasia sometime between 1.3 and 1.8 million
years ago (Ma) and numerous remains of its subspecies have been found in what is now China.[1] The
oldest of these is the southwestern Yuanmou Man (元谋 ; in Yunnan), dated to c. 1.7 Ma, which lived in
a mixed bushland-forest environment alongside chalicotheres, deer, the elephant Stegodon, rhinos, cattle,
pigs, and the giant short-faced hyena.[2] The better-known Peking Man ( 北 ; near Beijing) of
[1]
700,000–400,000 BP, was discovered in the Zhoukoudian cave alongside scrapers, choppers, and, dated
slightly later, points, burins, and awls.[3] Other Homo erectus fossils have been found widely throughout
the region, including the northwestern Lantian Man in Shaanxi, as well minor specimens in northeastern
Liaoning and southern Guangdong.[1] The dates of most Paleolithic sites were long debated but have been
more reliably established based on modern magnetostratigraphy: Majuangou at 1.66–1.55 Ma, Lanpo at
1.6 Ma, Xiaochangliang at 1.36 Ma, Xiantai at 1.36 Paleolithic
Ma, Banshan at 1.32 Ma, Feiliang at 1.2 Ma and
Donggutuo at 1.1 Ma.[4] Evidence of fire use by Homo
erectus occurred between 1–1.8 million years BP at the
archaeological site of Xihoudu, Shanxi Province.[5]

The circumstances surrounding the evolution of Homo

erectus to contemporary H. sapiens is debated; the
three main theories include the dominant "Out of Traditional Casts of the teeth of
Africa" theory (OOA), the regional continuity model reconstruction of the Yuanmou Man
and the admixture variant of the OOA hypothesis.[1] Peking Man skull
Regardless, the earliest modern humans have been
dated to China at 120,000–80,000 BP based on
fossilized teeth discovered in Fuyan Cave of Dao
County, Hunan.[6] The larger animals which lived
alongside these humans include the extinct Ailuropoda
baconi panda, the Crocuta ultima hyena, the Stegodon,
and the giant tapir.[6] Evidence of Middle Palaeolithic
Levallois technology has been found in the lithic Restoration of the skull LL-1 partials skull
assemblage of Guanyindong Cave site in southwest Shaanxi History
China, dated to approximately 170,000–80,000 years Museum
ago.[7]

Neolithic
The Neolithic Age in China is considered to have Neolithic
begun about 10,000 years ago.[8] Because the Neolithic
is conventionally defined by the presence of
agriculture, it follows that the Neolithic began at
different times in the various regions of what is now
China. Agriculture in China developed gradually, with 10,000-year-old Bone Arrowheads,
initial domestication of a few grains and animals pottery, Xianren Cave Peiligang culture (7000–
gradually expanding with the addition of many others culture (18,000–7000 5000 BC)
[9]
over subsequent millennia. The earliest evidence of BC)
cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, was
carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago.[10] Early evidence for
millet agriculture in the Yellow River valley was
radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC.[11] The Jiahu site
is one of the best preserved early agricultural villages
(7000 to 5800 BC). At Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff Butterfly-shaped ivory Pottery artifacts from
vessel with the Hemudu culture (5500–
carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been
pattern of two birds 3300 BC)
discovered, "featuring 8,453 individual characters such facing the sun,
as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or Hemudu culture
grazing", according to researcher Li Xiangshi. Written (5500–3300 BC)
symbols, sometimes called proto-writing, were found
at the site of Jiahu, which is dated around 7000 BC,[12]
Damaidi around 6000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC,[13] and Banpo dating from the 5th
millennium BC. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops,
and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators, which may have existed at late
Neolithic sites like Taosi and the Liangzhu culture in the Yangtze delta.[10] The cultures of the middle and
late Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley are known, respectively, as the Yangshao culture (5000
BC to 3000 BC) and the Longshan culture (3000 BC to 2000 BC). Pigs and dogs were the earliest-
domesticated animals in the region, and after about 3000 BC domesticated cattle and sheep arrived from
Western Asia. Wheat also arrived at this time but remained a minor crop. Fruit such as peaches, cherries
and oranges, as well as chickens and various vegetables, were also domesticated in Neolithic China.[9]

Bronze Age
Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site (between 3100 and 2700 BC).[14][15] The
Bronze Age is also represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture (2200–1600 BC)[16] site in northeast
China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan is believed to be the site of a major ancient city, of a
previously unknown Bronze Age culture (between 2000 and 1200 BC). The site was first discovered in
1929 and then re-discovered in 1986. Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui culture to be
part of the state of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings.[17][18]

Ferrous metallurgy begins to appear in the late 6th century in the Yangtze valley.[19] A bronze hatchet
with a blade of meteoric iron excavated near the city of Gaocheng in Shijiazhuang (now Hebei) has been
dated to the 14th century BC. An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated
with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings.

Ancient China
Chinese historians in later periods were accustomed to the notion of one dynasty succeeding another, but
the political situation in early China was much more complicated. Hence, as some scholars of China
suggest, the Xia and the Shang can refer to political entities that existed concurrently, just as the early
Zhou existed at the same time as the Shang.[20] This bears similarities to how China, both
contemporaneously and later, has been divided into states that were not one region, legally or
culturally.[21]

The earliest period once considered historical was the legendary era of the sage-emperors Yao, Shun, and
Yu. Traditionally, the abdication system was prominent in this period,[22] with Yao yielding his throne to
Shun, who abdicated to Yu, who founded the Xia dynasty.

Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC)

The Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC) is the earliest of the three dynasties described in much later
traditional historiography, which includes the Bamboo Annals and Sima Qian's Shiji (c. 91 BC). The Xia
is generally considered mythical by Western scholars, but in China it is usually associated with the early
Bronze Age site at Erlitou (1900–1500 BC) in Henan that was excavated in 1959. Since no writing was
excavated at Erlitou or any other contemporaneous site, there is not enough evidence to prove whether
the Xia dynasty ever existed. Some archaeologists claim that the Erlitou site was the capital of the
Xia.[23] In any case, the site of Erlitou had a level of political organization that would not be incompatible
with the legends of Xia recorded in later texts.[24] More
importantly, the Erlitou site has the earliest evidence for an elite
who conducted rituals using cast bronze vessels, which would
later be adopted by the Shang and Zhou.[25]

Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC)

Both archaeological evidence like oracle bones and bronzes, as
well as transmitted texts attest the historical existence of the Shang
dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC). Findings from the earlier Shang
period come from excavations at Erligang (modern Zhengzhou).
Findings have been found at Yinxu (near modern Anyang, Henan),
the site of the final Shang capital during the Late Shang period
(c. 1250–1050 BC).[26] The findings at Anyang include the earliest
written record of the Chinese so far discovered: inscriptions of
divination records in ancient Chinese writing on the bones or Decorative plaque from the Erlitou
shells of animals—the oracle bones, dating from c. 1250 – culture
c. 1046 BC.[27]

A series of at least twenty-nine kings reigned over the Shang

dynasty.[28] Throughout their reigns, according to the Shiji, the
capital city was moved six times.[29] The final and most important
move was to Yin during the reign of Wu Ding c. 1250 BC.[30] The
term Yin dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in
history, although it has lately been used to refer specifically to the
latter half of the Shang dynasty.[28]

Although written records found at Anyang confirm the existence

of the Shang dynasty,[31] Western scholars are often hesitant to
associate settlements that are contemporaneous with the Anyang
settlement with the Shang dynasty. For example, archaeological
findings at Sanxingdui suggest a technologically advanced
civilization culturally unlike Anyang. The evidence is inconclusive
in proving how far the Shang realm extended from Anyang. The The 12th-century BCHoumuwu ding,
leading hypothesis is that Anyang, ruled by the same Shang in the the largest Bronze Age bronzeware
official history, coexisted and traded with numerous other found anywhere in the world
culturally diverse settlements in the area that is now referred to as
China proper.[32]

Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC)

The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC to about 256 BC) is the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, though its
power declined steadily over the almost eight centuries of its existence. In the late 2nd millennium BC,
the Zhou dynasty arose in the Wei River valley of modern western Shaanxi Province, where they were
appointed Western Protectors by the Shang. A coalition led by the ruler of the Zhou, King Wu, defeated
the Shang at the Battle of Muye. They took over most of the central and lower Yellow River valley and
enfeoffed their relatives and allies in semi-independent states across the region.[33] Several of these states
eventually became more powerful than the Zhou kings.

The kings of Zhou invoked the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to legitimize their rule, a concept that
was influential for almost every succeeding dynasty.[34] Like Shangdi, Heaven (tian) ruled over all the
other gods, and it decided who would rule China.[35] It was believed that a ruler lost the Mandate of
Heaven when natural disasters occurred in great number, and when, more realistically, the sovereign had
apparently lost his concern for the people. In response, the royal house would be overthrown, and a new
house would rule, having been granted the Mandate of Heaven.

The Zhou established two capitals Zongzhou (near modern Xi'an) and Chengzhou (Luoyang), with the
king's court moving between them regularly. The Zhou alliance gradually expanded eastward into
Shandong, southeastward into the Huai River valley, and southward into the Yangtze River valley.[33]

Spring and Autumn period (722–476 BC)

In 771 BC, King You and his forces were defeated in the Battle of Mount Li by rebel states and Quanrong
barbarians. The rebel aristocrats established a new ruler, King Ping, in Luoyang,[36]: 4 beginning the
second major phase of the Zhou dynasty: the Eastern Zhou period, which is divided into the Spring and
Autumn and Warring States periods. The former period is named after the famous Spring and Autumn
Annals. The sharply reduced political authority of the royal house left a power vacuum at the center of the
Zhou culture sphere. The Zhou kings had delegated local political authority to hundreds of settlement
states, some of them only as large as a walled town and surrounding land. These states began to fight
against one another and vie for hegemony. The more powerful states tended to conquer and incorporate
the weaker ones, so the number of states declined over time.[37] By the 6th century BC most small states
had disappeared by being annexed and just a few large and powerful principalities remained. Some
southern states, such as Chu and Wu, claimed independence from the Zhou, who undertook wars against
some of them (Wu and Yue). Many new cities were established in this period and society gradually
became more urbanized and commercialized. Many famous individuals such as Laozi, Confucius and Sun
Tzu lived during this chaotic period.

Conflict in this period occurred both between and within states. Warfare between states forced the
surviving states to develop better administrations to mobilize more soldiers and resources. Within states
there was constant jockeying between elite families. For example, the three most powerful families in the
Jin state—Zhao, Wei and Han—eventually overthrew the ruling family and partitioned the state between
them.

The Hundred Schools of Thought of classical Chinese philosophy began blossoming during this period
and the subsequent Warring States period. Such influential intellectual movements as Confucianism,
Taoism, Legalism and Mohism were founded, partly in response to the changing political world. The first
two philosophical thoughts would have an enormous influence on Chinese culture.

Warring States period (476–221 BC)

After further political consolidations, seven prominent states remained during the 5th century BC. The
years in which these states battled each other is known as the Warring States period. Though the Zhou
king nominally remained as such until 256 BC, he was largely a figurehead that held little real power.
Numerous developments were made during this period in the areas
of culture and mathematics—including the Zuo Zhuan within the
Spring and Autumn Annals (a literary work summarizing the
preceding Spring and Autumn period), and the bundle of 21
bamboo slips from the Tsinghua collection, dated to 305 BC—
being the world's earliest known example of a two-digit, base-10
multiplication table. The Tsinghua collection indicates that
sophisticated commercial arithmetic was already established
during this period.[38]

As neighboring territories of the seven states were annexed The Warring States, c. 260 BC
(including areas of modern Sichuan and Liaoning), they were now
to be governed under an administrative system of commanderies
and prefectures. This system had been in use elsewhere since the Spring and Autumn period, and its
influence on administration would prove resilient—its terminology can still be seen in the
contemporaneous sheng and xian ("provinces" and "counties") of contemporary China.

The state of Qin became dominant in the waning decades of the Warring States period, conquering the
Shu capital of Jinsha on the Chengdu Plain; and then eventually driving Chu from its place in the Han
River valley. Qin imitated the administrative reforms of the other states, thereby becoming a
powerhouse.[9] Its final expansion began during the reign of Ying Zheng, ultimately unifying the other six
regional powers, and enabling him to proclaim himself as China's first emperor—known to history as Qin
Shi Huang.

Imperial China

Early imperial China

Qin dynasty (221–206 BC)

Ying Zheng's establishment of the Qin dynasty ( 朝)
in 221 BC effectively formalised the region as a true
empire for the first time in Chinese history, rather than
a state, and its pivotal status probably led to "Qin" ( )
later evolving into the Western term "China".[39] To
emphasise his sole rule, Zheng proclaimed himself Shi
Huangdi (始皇帝; "First Emperor"); the Huangdi title,
derived from Chinese mythology, became the standard
for subsequent rulers.[40][a] Based in Xianyang, the
empire was a centralized bureaucratic monarchy, a
governing scheme which dominated the future of
The massive Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang,
Imperial China.[42][43] In an effort to improve the
a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Zhou's perceived failures, this system consisted of more
than 36 commanderies (郡; jun),[b] made up of counties
(县; xian) and progressively smaller divisions, each with a local leader.[46]
Many aspects of society were informed by Legalism, a state ideology promoted by the emperor and his
chancellor Li Si that was introduced at an earlier time by Shang Yang.[47] In legal matters this philosophy
emphasised mutual responsibility in disputes and severe punishments for crime, while economic practices
included the general encouragement of agriculture and repression of trade.[47] Reforms occurred in
weights and measures, writing styles (seal script) and metal currency (Ban Liang), all of which were
standardized.[48][49] Traditionally, Qin Shi Huang is regarded as ordering a mass burning of books and the
live burial of scholars under the guise of Legalism, though contemporary scholars express considerable
doubt on the historicity of this event.[47] Despite its importance, Legalism was probably supplemented in
non-political matters by Confucianism for social and moral beliefs and the five-element Wuxing ( ⾏)
theories for cosmological thought.[50]

The Qin administration kept exhaustive records on their population, collecting information on their sex,
age, social status and residence.[51] Commoners, who made up over 90% of the population,[52] "suffered
harsh treatment" according to the historian Patricia Buckley Ebrey, as they were often conscripted into
forced labor for the empire's construction projects.[53] This included a massive system of imperial
highways in 220 BC, which ranged around 4,250 miles (6,840 km) altogether.[54] Other major
construction projects were assigned to the general Meng Tian, who concurrently led a successful
campaign against the northern Xiongnu peoples (210s BC), reportedly with 300,000 troops.[54][c] Under
Qin Shi Huang's orders, Meng supervised the combining of numerous ancient walls into what came to be
known as the Great Wall of China and oversaw the building of a 500 miles (800 km) straight highway
between northern and southern China.[56] The emperor also oversaw the construction of his monumental
mausoleum, which includes the well known Terracotta Army.[57]

After Qin Shi Huang's death the Qin government drastically deteriorated and eventually capitulated in
207 BC after the Qin capital was captured and sacked by rebels, which would ultimately lead to the
establishment of the Han Empire.[58][59]

Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220)

Western Han
The Han dynasty was founded by Liu Bang, who emerged
victorious in the Chu–Han Contention that followed the fall
of the Qin dynasty. A golden age in Chinese history, the Han
dynasty's long period of stability and prosperity consolidated
the foundation of China as a unified state under a central
imperial bureaucracy, which was to last intermittently for
most of the next two millennia. During the Han dynasty,
territory of China was extended to most of the China proper
and to areas far west. Confucianism was officially elevated to
Map showing the expansion of Han
orthodox status and was to shape the subsequent Chinese
dynasty in the 2nd century BC
civilization. Art, culture and science all advanced to
unprecedented heights. With the profound and lasting impacts
of this period of Chinese history, the dynasty name "Han" had been taken as the name of the Chinese
people, now the dominant ethnic group in modern China, and had been commonly used to refer to
Chinese language and written characters.
After the initial laissez-faire policies of Emperors Wen and Jing, the ambitious Emperor Wu brought the
empire to its zenith. To consolidate his power, he disenfranchised the majority of imperial relatives,
appointing military governors to control their former lands.[60] As a further step, he extended patronage to
Confucianism, which emphasizes stability and order in a well-structured society. Imperial Universities
were established to support its study. At the urging of his Legalist advisors, however, he also strengthened
the fiscal structure of the dynasty with government monopolies.

Left image: Western-Han painted ceramic jar decorated with raised reliefs of dragons, phoenixes, and taotie
Right image: Reverse side of a Western-Han bronze mirror with painted designs of a flower motif

Major military campaigns were launched to weaken the nomadic Xiongnu Empire, limiting their
influence north of the Great Wall. Along with the diplomatic efforts led by Zhang Qian, the sphere of
influence of the Han Empire extended to the states in the Tarim Basin, opened up the Silk Road that
connected China to the west, stimulating bilateral trade and cultural exchange. To the south, various small
kingdoms far beyond the Yangtze River Valley were formally incorporated into the empire.

Emperor Wu also dispatched a series of military campaigns against the Baiyue tribes. The Han annexed
Minyue in 135 BC and 111 BC, Nanyue in 111 BC, and Dian in 109 BC.[61] Migration and military
expeditions led to the cultural assimilation of the south.[62] It also brought the Han into contact with
kingdoms in Southeast Asia, introducing diplomacy and trade.[63]

After Emperor Wu the empire slipped into gradual stagnation and decline. Economically, the state
treasury was strained by excessive campaigns and projects, while land acquisitions by elite families
gradually drained the tax base. Various consort clans exerted increasing control over strings of
incompetent emperors and eventually the dynasty was briefly interrupted by the usurpation of Wang
Mang.

Xin dynasty
In AD 9 the usurper Wang Mang claimed that the Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the Han
dynasty and the rise of his own, and he founded the short-lived Xin dynasty. Wang Mang started an
extensive program of land and other economic reforms, including the outlawing of slavery and land
nationalization and redistribution. These programs, however, were never supported by the landholding
families, because they favored the peasants. The instability of power brought about chaos, uprisings, and
loss of territories. This was compounded by mass flooding of the Yellow River; silt buildup caused it to
split into two channels and displaced large numbers of farmers. Wang Mang was eventually killed in
Weiyang Palace by an enraged peasant mob in AD 23.

Eastern Han
Emperor Guangwu reinstated the Han dynasty with the support of landholding and merchant families at
Luoyang, east of the former capital Xi'an. Thus, this new era is termed the Eastern Han dynasty. With the
capable administrations of Emperors Ming and Zhang, former glories of the dynasty were reclaimed, with
brilliant military and cultural achievements. The Xiongnu Empire was decisively defeated. The diplomat
and general Ban Chao further expanded the conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian
Sea,[64]: 175 thus reopening the Silk Road, and bringing trade, foreign cultures, along with the arrival of
Buddhism. With extensive connections with the west, the first of several Roman embassies to China were
recorded in Chinese sources, coming from the sea route in AD 166, and a second one in AD 284.

The Eastern Han dynasty was one of the most prolific eras of science and technology in ancient China,
notably the historic invention of papermaking by Cai Lun, and the numerous scientific and mathematical
contributions by the famous polymath Zhang Heng.

Six Dynasties

Three Kingdoms (AD 220–280)

By the 2nd century, the empire declined amidst land acquisitions, invasions, and feuding between consort
clans and eunuchs. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in AD 184, ushering in an era of warlords. In
the ensuing turmoil, three states emerged, trying to gain predominance and reunify the land, giving this
historical period its name. The classic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms dramatizes events
of this period.

The warlord Cao Cao reunified the north in 208, and in 220 his son accepted the abdication of Emperor
Xian of Han, thus initiating the Wei dynasty. Soon, Wei's rivals Shu and Wu proclaimed their
independence. This period was characterized by a gradual decentralization of the state that had existed
during the Qin and Han dynasties, and an increase in the power of great families.

In 266, the Jin dynasty overthrew the Wei and later unified the country in 280, but this union was short-
lived.

Jin dynasty (AD 266–420)

The Jin dynasty reunited China proper for the first time since the end of the Han dynasty, ending the
Three Kingdoms era. However, the Jin dynasty was severely weakened by the War of the Eight Princes
and lost control of northern China after non-Han Chinese settlers rebelled and captured Luoyang and
Chang'an. In 317, the Jin prince Sima Rui, based in modern-day Nanjing, became emperor and continued
the dynasty, now known as the Eastern Jin, which held southern China for another century. Prior to this
move, historians refer to the Jin dynasty as the Western Jin.

Sixteen Kingdoms (AD 304–439)

Northern China fragmented into a series of Jin dynasty (AD 266–420)
independent states known as the Sixteen Kingdoms,
most of which were founded by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie,
Di and Qiang rulers. These non-Han peoples were
ancestors of the Turks, Mongols, and Tibetans. Many
had, to some extent, been "sinicized" long before their
ascent to power. In fact, some of them, notably the
Qiang and the Xiongnu, had already been allowed to
live in the frontier regions within the Great Wall since
late Han times. During this period, warfare ravaged the Western Jin Dynasty, c. View of Maijishan
280 AD hill caves, grottoes
north and prompted large-scale Han Chinese migration
and stairways.
south to the Yangtze River Basin and Delta.

Northern and Southern dynasties (AD 420–589)

Northern and Southern dynasties (AD 420–589) In the early 5th century China entered a period known
as the Northern and Southern dynasties, in which
parallel regimes ruled the northern and southern
halves of the country. In the south, the Eastern Jin
gave way to the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang and
finally Chen. Each of these Southern dynasties were
led by Han Chinese ruling families and used Jiankang
Southern and Hanging Monastery, a
(modern Nanjing) as the capital. They held off attacks
Northern Dynasties, temple with the
from the north and preserved many aspects of Chinese
440 AD combination of Taoism,
Buddhism, and civilization, while northern barbarian regimes began
Confucianism. to sinify.

In the north the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms was

extinguished in 439 by the Northern Wei, a kingdom founded by the Xianbei, a nomadic people who
unified northern China. The Northern Wei eventually split into the Eastern and Western Wei, which then
became the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. These regimes were dominated by Xianbei or Han Chinese
who had married into Xianbei families. During this period most Xianbei people adopted Han surnames,
eventually leading to complete assimilation into the Han.

Despite the division of the country, Buddhism spread throughout the land. In southern China, fierce
debates about whether Buddhism should be allowed were held frequently by the royal court and nobles.
By the end of the era, Buddhists and Taoists had become much more tolerant of each other.[65]

Mid-imperial China

Sui dynasty (581–618)

The short-lived Sui dynasty was a pivotal period in Chinese history. Founded by Emperor Wen in 581 in
succession of the Northern Zhou, the Sui went on to conquer the Southern Chen in 589 to reunify China,
ending three centuries of political division. The Sui pioneered many new institutions, including the
government system of Three Departments and Six Ministries, imperial examinations for selecting
officials from commoners, while improved on the systems of fubing system of the army conscription and
the equal-field system of land distributions. These Sui dynasty (AD 581–618)
policies, which were adopted by later dynasties,
brought enormous population growth, and amassed
excessive wealth to the state. Standardized coinage was
enforced throughout the unified empire. Buddhism
took root as a prominent religion and was supported
officially. Sui China was known for its numerous
mega-construction projects. Intended for grains
shipment and transporting troops, the Grand Canal was
constructed, linking the capitals Daxing (Chang'an) and Sui dynasty c. 609 Yang Guang
Luoyang to the wealthy southeast region, and in depicted as
another route, to the northeast border. The Great Wall Emperor Yang of
was also expanded, while series of military conquests Sui
and diplomatic maneuvers further pacified its borders.
However, the massive invasions of the Korean
Peninsula during the Goguryeo–Sui War failed disastrously, triggering widespread revolts that led to the
fall of the dynasty.

Tang dynasty (618–907)

Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) The Tang dynasty was a golden age of Chinese
civilization, a prosperous, stable, and creative period
with significant developments in culture, art, literature,
particularly poetry, and technology. Buddhism became
the predominant religion for the common people.
Chang'an (modern Xi'an), the national capital, was the
Tang Dynasty in 742 The Fengxian cave (c.
largest city in the world during its time.[66]
AD 675 AD) of the Longmen
Grottoes, commissioned
The first emperor, Emperor Gaozu, came to the throne
by Wu Zetian. on 18 June 618, placed there by his son, Li Shimin,
who became the second emperor, Taizong, one of the
greatest emperors in Chinese history. Combined
military conquests and diplomatic maneuvers reduced
threats from Central Asian tribes, extended the border,
and brought neighboring states into a tributary system.
Military victories in the Tarim Basin kept the Silk Road
Inside a cave of Longmen The Dunhuang open, connecting Chang'an to Central Asia and areas
Grottoes, a UNESCO map is to date the far to the west. In the south, lucrative maritime trade
World Heritage Site. world's oldest
routes from port cities such as Guangzhou connected
complete
with distant countries, and foreign merchants settled in
preserved star
atlas.
China, encouraging a cosmopolitan culture. The Tang
culture and social systems were observed and adapted
by neighboring countries, most notably Japan.
Internally the Grand Canal linked the political heartland in Chang'an to the agricultural and economic
centers in the eastern and southern parts of the empire. Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar,
traveller, and translator travelled to India on his own and returned with "over six hundred Mahayana and
Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha and more than a hundred sarira relics."
The prosperity of the early Tang dynasty was abetted by a centralized bureaucracy. The government was
organized as "Three Departments and Six Ministries" to separately draft, review, and implement policies.
These departments were run by royal family members and landed aristocrats, but as the dynasty wore on,
were joined or replaced by scholar officials selected by imperial examinations, setting patterns for later
dynasties.

Under the Tang "equal-field system" all land was owned by the Emperor and granted to each family
according to household size. Men granted land were conscripted for military service for a fixed period
each year, a military policy known as the fubing system. These policies stimulated a rapid growth in
productivity and a significant army without much burden on the state treasury. By the dynasty's midpoint,
however, standing armies had replaced conscription, and land was continuously falling into the hands of
private owners and religious institutions granted exemptions.

The dynasty continued to flourish under the rule of Empress

Wu Zetian, the only official empress regnant in Chinese
history, and reached its zenith during the long reign of Emperor
Xuanzong, who oversaw an empire that stretched from the
Pacific to the Aral Sea with at least 50 million people. There
were vibrant artistic and cultural creations, including works of
the greatest Chinese poets, Li Bai and Du Fu. Central Asian influence A Tang period
can also be seen in the gilt-silver jar,
At the zenith of prosperity of the empire, the An Lushan shape of this cup. The shaped in the
Rebellion from 755 to 763 was a watershed event. War, metropolitan and style of
disease, and economic disruption devastated the population multicultural influences northern
and drastically weakened the central imperial government. of this era can also be nomad's
Upon suppression of the rebellion, regional military governors, seen in the myriad leather bag
depictions of foreigners decorated with
known as jiedushi, gained increasingly autonomous status as
in Tang Sancai a horse
the central government lost its ability to control them. With
ceramics and wall dancing with a
loss of revenue from land tax, the central imperial government murals. cup of wine in
came to rely heavily on its salt monopoly. Externally, former its mouth, as
submissive states raided the empire and the vast border the horses of
territories were lost for centuries. Nevertheless, civil society Emperor
recovered and thrived amidst the weakened imperial Xuanzong
were trained
bureaucracy.
to do.[67]
In late Tang period the empire was worn out by recurring
revolts of the regional military governors, while scholar-
officials engaged in fierce factional strife and corrupted eunuchs amassed immense power.
Catastrophically, the Huang Chao Rebellion, from 874 to 884, devastated the entire empire for a decade.
The sack of the southern port Guangzhou in 879 was followed by the massacre of most of its inhabitants,
especially the large foreign merchant enclaves.[68][69] By 881, both capitals, Luoyang and Chang'an, fell
successively. The reliance on ethnic Han and Turkic warlords in suppressing the rebellion increased their
power and influence. Consequently, the fall of the dynasty following Zhu Wen's usurpation led to an era
of division.

In 808, 30,000 Shatuo under Zhuye Jinzhong defected from the Tibetans to Tang China and the Tibetans
punished them by killing Zhuye Jinzhong as they were chasing them.[70] The Uyghurs also fought against
an alliance of Shatuo and Tibetans at Beshbalik.[71] The Shatuo Turks under Zhuye Chixin (Li Guochang)
served the Tang dynasty in fighting against their fellow Turkic people in the Uyghur Khaganate. In 839,
when the Uyghur khaganate (Huigu) general Jueluowu (掘羅勿) rose against the rule of then-reigning
Zhangxin Khan, he elicited the help from Zhuye Chixin by giving Zhuye 300 horses, and together, they
defeated Zhangxin Khan, who then committed suicide, precipitating the subsequent collapse of the
Uyghur Khaganate. In the next few years, when Uyghur Khaganate remnants tried to raid Tang borders,
the Shatuo participated extensively in counterattacking the Uyghur Khaganate with other tribes loyal to
Tang.[72] In 843, Zhuye Chixin, under the command of the Han Chinese officer Shi Xiong with Tuyuhun,
Tangut and Han Chinese troops, participated in a raid against the Uyghur khaganate that led to the
slaughter of Uyghur forces at Shahu mountain.[73]

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960)

The period of political disunity between the Tang and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907–960)
the Song, known as the Five Dynasties and Ten
Kingdoms period, lasted from 907 to 960. During this
half-century, China was in all respects a multi-state
system. Five regimes, namely, (Later) Liang, Tang,
Jin, Han and Zhou, rapidly succeeded one another in
control of the traditional Imperial heartland in
northern China. Among the regimes, rulers of (Later) Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms Yunyan
Tang, Jin and Han were sinicized Shatuo Turks, Period 947 AD Pagoda in
which ruled over an ethnic majority of Han Chinese Jiangsu
in the north. More stable and smaller regimes of Province of
Eastern China.
mostly ethnic Han rulers coexisted in south and
western China over the period, cumulatively
constituted the "Ten Kingdoms".

Amidst political chaos in the north, the strategic

Sixteen Prefectures (region along today's Great Wall)
were ceded to the emerging Khitan Liao dynasty,
which drastically weakened the defense of China Coins of the Five Dynasties Section and
proper against northern nomadic empires. To the and Ten Kingdoms detail of Night
south, Vietnam gained lasting independence after Revels of Han
being a Chinese prefecture for many centuries. With Xizai, by Gu
Hongzhong
wars dominating in Northern China, there were mass
southward migrations of population, which further
enhanced the southward shift of cultural and economic centers in China. The era ended with the coup of
Later Zhou general Zhao Kuangyin, and the establishment of the Song dynasty in 960, which eventually
annihilated the remains of the "Ten Kingdoms" and reunified China.

Late imperial China

Song, Liao, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties (960–1279)

In 960, the Song dynasty was founded by Song, Liao, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties (AD 960–1279)
Emperor Taizu, with its capital established
in Kaifeng (then known as Bianjing). In
979, the Song dynasty reunified most of
China proper, while large swaths of the
outer territories were occupied by sinicized
nomadic empires. The Khitan Liao dynasty,
which lasted from 907 to 1125, ruled over
Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of Jin, Southern Song, and A wooden
Northern China. Meanwhile, in what are Western Xia in China. Bodhisattva from
now the north-western Chinese provinces the Song dynasty.
of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Ningxia, the Tangut
tribes founded the Western Xia dynasty
from 1032 to 1227.

Aiming to recover the strategic sixteen

prefectures lost in the previous dynasty,
campaigns were launched against the Liao
dynasty in the early Song period, which all
ended in failure. Then in 1004, the Liao
cavalry swept over the exposed North
China Plain and reached the outskirts of Earliest known written formula for gunpowder,
Kaifeng, forcing the Song's submission and from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 AD.
then agreement to the Chanyuan Treaty,
which imposed heavy annual tributes from
the Song treasury. The treaty was a significant reversal of Chinese dominance of the traditional tributary
system. Yet the annual outflow of Song's silver to the Liao was paid back through the purchase of
Chinese goods and products, which expanded the Song economy, and replenished its treasury. This
dampened the incentive for the Song to further campaign against the Liao. Meanwhile, this cross-border
trade and contact induced further sinicization within the Liao Empire, at the expense of its military might
which was derived from its nomadic lifestyle. Similar treaties and social-economical consequences
occurred in Song's relations with the Jin dynasty.

Within the Liao Empire the Jurchen tribes revolted against their overlords to establish the Jin dynasty in
1115. In 1125, the devastating Jin cataphract annihilated the Liao dynasty, while remnants of Liao court
members fled to Central Asia to found the Qara Khitai Empire (Western Liao dynasty). Jin's invasion of
the Song dynasty followed swiftly. In 1127, Kaifeng was sacked, a massive catastrophe known as the
Jingkang Incident, ending the Northern Song dynasty. Later the entire north of China was conquered. The
survived members of Song court regrouped in the new capital city of Hangzhou, and initiated the
Southern Song dynasty, which ruled territories south of the Huai River. In the ensuing years, the territory
and population of China were divided between the Song dynasty, the Jin dynasty and the Western Xia
dynasty. The era ended with the Mongol conquest, as Western Xia fell in 1227, the Jin dynasty in 1234,
and finally the Southern Song dynasty in 1279.

Despite its military weakness, the Song dynasty is widely considered to be the high point of classical
Chinese civilization. The Song economy, facilitated by technological advancement, had reached a level of
sophistication probably unseen in world history before its time. The population soared to over 100 million
 and the living standards of common people improved
tremendously due to improvements in rice cultivation and the
wide availability of coal for production. The capital cities of
Kaifeng and subsequently Hangzhou were both the most
populous cities in the world for their time, and encouraged
vibrant civil societies unmatched by previous Chinese
dynasties. Although land trading routes to the far west were
blocked by nomadic empires, there was extensive maritime
Liaodi Pagoda, The Pagoda of
trade with neighbouring states, such as in South-east Asia,
Song dynasty Tianing Temple, which facilitated the use of Song coinage as the de facto
Liao dynasty currency of exchange. Giant wooden vessels equipped with
compasses traveled throughout the China Seas and northern
Indian Ocean. The concept of insurance was practised by
merchants to hedge the risks of such long-haul maritime shipments. With prosperous economic activities,
the historically first use of paper currency emerged in the western city of Chengdu, as a cheaper
supplement to the existing copper coins.

The Song dynasty was considered to be the golden age of great advancements in science and technology
of China, thanks to innovative scholar-officials such as Su Song (1020–1101) and Shen Kuo (1031–
1095). Inventions such as the hydro-mechanical astronomical clock, the first continuous and endless
power-transmitting chain, woodblock printing and paper money were all invented during the Song
dynasty, further cementing its status.

There was court intrigue between the political reformers and conservatives, led by the chancellors Wang
Anshi and Sima Guang, respectively. By the mid-to-late 13th century, the Chinese had adopted the dogma
of Neo-Confucian philosophy formulated by Zhu Xi. Enormous literary works were compiled during the
Song dynasty, such as the innovative historical narrative Zizhi Tongjian ("Comprehensive Mirror to Aid
in Government"). The invention of movable-type printing further facilitated the spread of knowledge.
Culture and the arts flourished, with grandiose artworks such as Along the River During the Qingming
Festival and Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, along with great Buddhist painters such as the prolific Lin
Tinggui.
 City views of Song dynasty from paintings. Clockwise from upper left: A Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) era
Chinese painting of a water-powered mill for grain, with surrounding river transport. The bridge scene from
Zhang Zeduan's (1085–1145) painting Along the River During Qingming Festival. Chinese boats from Along the
River During Qingming Festival. Leifeng Pagoda in the Southern Song Dynasty by Li Song.

The Song dynasty was also a period of major innovation in the history of warfare. Gunpowder, while
invented in the Tang dynasty, was first put into practical use on the battlefield by the Song army, inspiring
a succession of new firearms and siege engines designs. During the Southern Song dynasty, as its survival
hinged decisively on guarding the Yangtze and Huai River against the cavalry forces from the north, the
first standing navy in China was assembled in 1132, with its admiral's headquarters established at
Dinghai. Paddle-wheel warships equipped with trebuchets could launch incendiary bombs made of
gunpowder and lime to effect, as recorded in Song's victory over the invading Jin forces at the Battle of
Tangdao in the East China Sea, and the Battle of Caishi on the Yangtze River in 1161.

The advances in civilisation during the Song dynasty came to an abrupt end following the devastating
Mongol conquest of the North and subsequently other areas of the empire, during which the population
sharply dwindled, with a marked contraction in economy. Despite viciously halting Mongol advances for
more than three decades, the Southern Song capital Hangzhou fell in 1276, followed by the final
annihilation of the Song standing navy at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.

Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)

The Yuan dynasty was formally proclaimed in 1271, when the Great Khan of Mongol, Kublai Khan, one
of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, assumed the additional title of Emperor of China, and considered his
inherited part of the Mongol Empire as a Chinese dynasty. In the preceding decades, the Mongols had
conquered the Jin dynasty in Northern China, and the Southern Song dynasty fell in 1279 after a
protracted and bloody war. The Mongol Yuan dynasty became the first conquest dynasty in Chinese
history to rule the entire China proper and its population as an ethnic minority. The dynasty also directly
controlled the Mongol heartland and other regions, inheriting the largest share of territory of the eastern
Mongol empire, which roughly coincided with the modern area of China and nearby regions in East Asia.
Further expansion of the empire was halted after defeats in the invasions of Japan and Vietnam.
Following the previous Jin dynasty, the capital of Yuan dynasty was established at Khanbaliq (also known
as Dadu, modern-day Beijing). The Grand Canal was reconstructed to connect the remote capital city to
lively economic hubs in southern part of China, setting the precedence and foundation for Beijing to
largely remain as the capital of the successive regimes of the unified Chinese mainland.
A series of Mongol civil wars in the late 13th century Yuan dynasty (AD 1271–1368)
led to the division of the Mongol Empire. In 1304 the
emperors of the Yuan dynasty were upheld as the
nominal Khagan over western khanates (the Chagatai
Khanate, the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate), which
nonetheless remained de facto autonomous. The era
was known as Pax Mongolica, when much of the Asian
continent was ruled by the Mongols. For the first and
only time in history, the Silk Road was controlled The White Deva King of the East on the
entirely by a single state, facilitating the flow of Stupa of east wall of the Cloud Platform
Miaoying at Juyong Pass.
people, trade, and cultural exchange. A network of
Temple in
roads and a postal system were established to connect Beijing.
the vast empire. Lucrative maritime trade, developed
from the previous Song dynasty, continued to flourish,
with Quanzhou and Hangzhou emerging as the largest
ports in the world. Adventurous travelers from the far
west, most notably the Venetian, Marco Polo, would
Yuan period firearm with Yuan dynasty
settle in China for decades. Upon his return, his detail
inscription dated the 3rd banknote with its
travel record inspired generations of medieval year of the Zhiyuan era printing wood
Europeans with the splendors of the far East. The Yuan (1332). Yuan Dynasty plate, 1287 AD.
dynasty was the first ancient economy, where paper (1206–1368). Discovered
currency, known at the time as Jiaochao, was used as at the Yunju Temple,
the predominant medium of exchange. Its unrestricted Fangshan, Beijing, 1935.
issuance in the late Yuan dynasty inflicted
hyperinflation, which eventually brought the
downfall of the dynasty.

While the Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty

adopted substantially to Chinese culture, their
sinicization was of lesser extent compared to
earlier conquest dynasties in Chinese history. For
preserving racial superiority as the conqueror and
ruling class, traditional nomadic customs and
Mongol successor khanates heritage from the Mongolian Steppe were held in
high regard. On the other hand, the Mongol
rulers also adopted flexibly to a variety of
cultures from many advanced civilizations within the vast empire. Traditional social structure and culture
in China underwent immense transform during the Mongol dominance. Large groups of foreign migrants
settled in China, who enjoyed elevated social status over the majority Han Chinese, while enriching
Chinese culture with foreign elements. The class of scholar officials and intellectuals, traditional bearers
of elite Chinese culture, lost substantial social status. This stimulated the development of culture of the
common folks. There were prolific works in zaju variety shows and literary songs (sanqu), which were
written in a distinctive poetry style known as qu. Novels of vernacular style gained unprecedented status
and popularity.
 Before the Mongol
invasion, Chinese
dynasties reported
approximately
120 million
inhabitants; after the
conquest had been
completed in 1279,
the 1300 census The Ayuwang A stupa on top of an
reported roughly Stupa in northern arch (crossing
Dengfeng The Pagoda of
60 million Shanxi, China. street tower), is a
Observatory, the first Bailin Temple, an
people. [74] This common form of
in a series of 27 octagonal-based
major decline is not architecture during
astronomical brick pagoda
Yuan period.
observatories built in built in 1330 necessarily due only
the early Yuan during the reign to Mongol killings.
dynasty. of Emperor Scholars such as
Wenzong, ruler
Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop in numbers reflects
of the Mongol-led
Yuan Dynasty
an administrative failure to record rather than an actual
(1271–1368). decrease; others such as Timothy Brook argue that the
Mongols created a system of enserfment among a huge portion
of the Chinese populace, causing many to disappear from the
census altogether; other historians including William McNeill and David Morgan consider that plague
was the main factor behind the demographic decline during this period. In the 14th century China
suffered additional depredations from epidemics of plague, estimated to have killed around a quarter of
the population of China.[75]: 348–351

Throughout the Yuan dynasty, there was some general sentiment among the populace against the Mongol
dominance. Yet rather than the nationalist cause, it was mainly strings of natural disasters and
incompetent, corrupt governance that triggered widespread peasant uprisings since the 1340s. After the
massive naval engagement at Lake Poyang, Zhu Yuanzhang prevailed over other rebel forces in the south.
He proclaimed himself emperor and founded the Ming dynasty in 1368. The same year his northern
expedition army captured the capital Khanbaliq. The Yuan remnants fled back to Mongolia and sustained
the regime, but the period of Yuan dominance was effectively over for good. Other Mongol Khanates in
Central Asia continued to exist after the fall of Yuan dynasty in China.

Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang in 1368, who proclaimed himself as the Hongwu
Emperor. The capital was initially set at Nanjing, and was later moved to Beijing from Yongle Emperor's
reign onward.

Urbanization increased as the population grew and as the division of labor grew more complex. Large
urban centers, such as Nanjing and Beijing, also contributed to the growth of private industry. In
particular, small-scale industries grew up, often specializing in paper, silk, cotton, and porcelain goods.
For the most part, however, relatively small urban centers with markets proliferated around the country.
Town markets mainly traded food, with some necessary manufactures such as pins or oil.
 Ming dynasty (AD 1368–1644)
Despite the
xenophobia and
intellectual
introspection
characteristic of the
increasingly popular
new school of neo- Residence of the Lu Family in
Confucianism, China Dongyang, built in the Ming
Haihui Temple Da Ming Baochao, a series under the early Ming period.
Pagodas, built in of banknotes issued by the dynasty was not
the Ming period. Ming government. isolated. Foreign
trade and other
contacts with the
outside world,
particularly Japan,
increased
City wall of Xi'an, a UNESCO
considerably. Chinese
World Heritage Site built
merchants explored during the early Ming dynasty
Porcelain Tower, from An Pagoda of
all of the Indian
embassy from the East-India Chongjue
Ocean, reaching East
Company (1665) by Johan Temple, dated
Nieuhof. It was first discovered to the Song Africa with the
by the Western world when dynasty. The voyages of Zheng He.
travelers like Johan Nieuhof onion-shaped
visited it, sometimes listing it as Sōrin was a
one of the Seven Wonders of Ming dynasty
the World. addition. Fenghuang County, an
ancient town that harbors
many architectural remains of
The Hongwu Emperor, being the only founder of a Chinese dynasty
Ming and Qing styles.
who was also of peasant origin, had laid the foundation of a state that
relied fundamentally in agriculture. Commerce and trade, which
flourished in the previous Song and Yuan dynasties, were less
emphasized. Neo-feudal landholdings of the Song and Mongol periods
were expropriated by the Ming rulers. Land estates were confiscated by
the government, fragmented, and rented out. Private slavery was
forbidden. Consequently, after the death of the Yongle Emperor, Hongcun, a village in Yi
independent peasant landholders predominated in Chinese agriculture. County in the historical
These laws might have paved the way to removing the worst of the Huizhou region of southern
poverty during the previous regimes. Towards later era of the Ming Anhui Province.
dynasty, with declining government control, commerce, trade and
private industries revived.

The dynasty had a strong and complex central government that unified
and controlled the empire. The emperor's role became more autocratic,
although Hongwu Emperor necessarily continued to use what he called Xinye, a village noted for its
the "Grand Secretariat" to assist with the immense paperwork of the well-preserved Ming and
bureaucracy, including memorials (petitions and recommendations to Qing era architecture and
the throne), imperial edicts in reply, reports of various kinds, and tax ancient residential buildings.
records. It was this same bureaucracy that later prevented the Ming government from being able to adapt
to changes in society, and eventually led to its decline.

The Yongle Emperor strenuously tried to extend China's influence beyond its borders by demanding other
rulers send ambassadors to China to present tribute. A large navy was built, including four-masted ships
displacing 1,500 tons. A standing army of 1 million troops was created. The Chinese armies conquered
and occupied Vietnam for around 20 years, while the Chinese fleet sailed the China seas and the Indian
Ocean, cruising as far as the east coast of Africa. The Chinese gained influence in eastern Moghulistan.
Several maritime Asian nations sent envoys with tribute for the Chinese emperor. Domestically, the
Grand Canal was expanded and became a stimulus to domestic trade. Over 100,000 tons of iron per year
were produced. Many books were printed using movable type. The imperial palace in Beijing's Forbidden
City reached its current splendor. It was also during these centuries that the potential of south China came
to be fully exploited. New crops were widely cultivated and industries such as those producing porcelain
and textiles flourished.

In 1449 Esen Tayisi led an Oirat Mongol invasion of northern China which culminated in the capture of
the Zhengtong Emperor at Tumu. Since then, the Ming became on the defensive on the northern frontier,
which led to the Ming Great Wall being built. Most of what remains of the Great Wall of China today was
either built or repaired by the Ming. The brick and granite work was enlarged, the watchtowers were
redesigned, and cannons were placed along its length.

At sea the Ming became increasingly isolationist after the

death of the Yongle Emperor. The treasure voyages which
sailed the Indian Ocean were discontinued, and the maritime
prohibition laws were set in place banning the Chinese from
sailing abroad. European traders who reached China in the
midst of the Age of Discovery were repeatedly rebuked in their
requests for trade, with the Portuguese being repulsed by the
Ming navy at Tuen Mun in 1521 and again in 1522. Domestic
and foreign demands for overseas trade, deemed illegal by the
state, led to widespread wokou piracy attacking the
Eagles by Lin Snow Plums and southeastern coastline during the rule of the Jiajing Emperor
Liang (c. 1424 – Twin Cranes by
(1507–1567), which only subsided after the opening of ports in
1500). Located at Bian Jingzhao
the National (c. 1355 –
Guangdong and Fujian and much military suppression.[76] In
Palace Museum. c. 1428). Located addition to raids from Japan by the wokou, raids from Taiwan
at the Guangdong and the Philippines by the Pisheye also ravaged the southern
Museum. coasts.[77] The Portuguese were allowed to settle in Macau in
1557 for trade, which remained in Portuguese hands until
1999. After the Spanish invasion of the Philippines, trade with
the Spanish at Manila imported large quantities of Mexican and Peruvian silver from the Spanish
Americas to China.[78]: 144–145 The Dutch entry into the Chinese seas was also met with fierce resistance,
with the Dutch being chased off the Penghu islands in the Sino-Dutch conflicts of 1622–1624 and were
forced to settle in Taiwan instead. The Dutch in Taiwan fought with the Ming in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay
in 1633 and lost, and eventually surrendered to the Ming loyalist Koxinga in 1662, after the fall of the
Ming dynasty.

In 1556, during the rule of the Jiajing Emperor, the Shaanxi earthquake killed about 830,000 people, the
deadliest earthquake of all time.
The Ming dynasty intervened deeply in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), which ended with
the withdrawal of all invading Japanese forces in Korea, and the restoration of the Joseon dynasty, its
traditional ally and tributary state. The regional hegemony of the Ming dynasty was preserved at a toll on
its resources. Coincidentally, with Ming's control in Manchuria in decline, the Manchu (Jurchen) tribes,
under their chieftain Nurhaci, broke away from Ming's rule, and emerged as a powerful, unified state,
which was later proclaimed as the Qing dynasty. It went on to subdue the much weakened Korea as its
tributary, conquered Mongolia, and expanded its territory to the outskirt of the Great Wall. The most elite
army of the Ming dynasty was to station at the Shanhai Pass to guard the last stronghold against the
Manchus, which weakened its suppression of internal peasants uprisings.

Qing dynasty (1644–1912)

The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was the last imperial Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1912)
dynasty in China. Founded by the Manchus, it was the
second conquest dynasty to rule the entirety of China
proper, and roughly doubled the territory controlled by
the Ming. The Manchus were formerly known as
Jurchens, residing in the northeastern part of the Ming
territory outside the Great Wall. They emerged as the
major threat to the late Ming dynasty after Nurhaci 1836 map of China published Pilgrim flask,
united all Jurchen tribes and his son, Hong Taiji, by C. Picque. porcelain with
declared the founding of the Qing dynasty in 1636. The underglaze blue
Qing dynasty set up the Eight Banners system that and iron-red
provided the basic framework for the Qing military decoration.

conquest. Li Zicheng's peasant rebellion captured

Beijing in 1644 and the Chongzhen Emperor, the last
Ming emperor, committed suicide. The Manchus allied
with the Ming general Wu Sangui to seize Beijing,
which was made the capital of the Qing dynasty, and
then proceeded to subdue the Ming remnants in the A military attire of A Qing period geomantic
south. During the Ming-Qing transition, when the the Qianlong compass (c. 1760)
Emperor
Ming dynasty and later the Southern Ming, the
emerging Qing dynasty, and several other factions like
the Shun dynasty and Xi dynasty founded by peasant revolt leaders fought against each another, which,
along with innumerable natural disasters at that time such as those caused by the Little Ice Age[79] and
epidemics like the Great Plague during the last decade of the Ming dynasty,[80] caused enormous loss of
lives and significant harm to the economy. In total, these decades saw the loss of as many as 25 million
lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurate another flowering of
the arts.[81] The early Manchu emperors combined traditions of Inner Asian rule with Confucian norms of
traditional Chinese government and were considered a Chinese dynasty.

The Manchus enforced a 'queue order', forcing Han Chinese men to adopt the Manchu queue hairstyle.
Officials were required to wear Manchu-style clothing Changshan (bannermen dress and Tangzhuang),
but ordinary Han civilians were allowed to wear traditional Han clothing. Bannermen could not undertake
trade or manual labor; they had to petition to be removed from banner status. They were considered
 aristocracy and were given annual pensions, land, and allotments of
cloth. The Kangxi Emperor ordered the creation of the Kangxi
Dictionary, the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters that had
been compiled.

Over the next half-century, all areas previously under the Ming dynasty
were consolidated under the Qing. Conquests in Central Asia in the
Summer Palace, an imperial
eighteenth century extended territorial control. Between 1673 and 1681,
garden in Qing dynasty.
the Kangxi Emperor suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, an
uprising of three generals in Southern China who had been denied
hereditary rule of large fiefdoms granted by the previous emperor. In
1683, the Qing staged an amphibious assault on southern Taiwan,
bringing down the rebel Kingdom of Tungning, which was founded by
the Ming loyalist Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) in 1662 after the fall of
the Southern Ming, and had served as a base for continued Ming
Putuo Zongcheng Temple, a
Buddhist temple complex
resistance in Southern China. The Qing defeated the Russians at
built between 1767 and 1771. Albazin, resulting in the Treaty of Nerchinsk.
The temple was modeled
after the Potala Palace of By the end of Qianlong Emperor's long reign in 1796, the Qing Empire
Tibet. was at its zenith. The Qing ruled more than one-third of the world's
population, and had the largest economy in the world. By area it was
one of the largest empires ever.

In the 19th century the

empire was internally
restive and externally
The House of the threatened by western
Huangcheng Chancellor, a powers. The defeat by the
10-hectare walled estate on British Empire in the First
Phoenix Hill in southeastern Opium War (1840) led to
Shanxi, China. the Treaty of Nanking
(1842), under which Hong
Kong was ceded to Britain
and importation of opium
(produced by British Empire A map of the Qing dynasty, c. 1820
territories) was allowed.
Flower Theatre, a Qing Opium usage continued to
period guildhall.
grow in China, adversely affecting societal stability. Subsequent
military defeats and unequal treaties with other western powers
continued even after the fall of the Qing dynasty.

Internally the Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864), a Christian religious

movement led by the "Heavenly King" Hong Xiuquan swept from the
south to establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and controlled
A residential building of Qiao roughly a third of China proper for over a decade. The court in
Family Compound, built in
desperation empowered Han Chinese officials such as Zeng Guofan to
the Qing period.
raise local armies. After initial defeats, Zeng crushed the rebels in the
Third Battle of Nanking in 1864.[82] This was one of the largest wars in
the 19th century in troop involvement; there was massive loss
of life, with a death toll of about 20 million.[83] A string of
civil disturbances followed, including the Punti–Hakka Clan
Wars, Nian Rebellion, Dungan Revolt, and Panthay
Rebellion.[84] All rebellions were ultimately put down, but at
enormous cost and with millions dead, seriously weakening
the central imperial authority. China never rebuilt a strong
central army, and many local officials used their military
power to effectively rule independently in their provinces.[82]
Official map of the Qing Empire published
Yet the dynasty appeared to recover in the Tongzhi
in 1905
Restoration (1860–1872), led by Manchu royal family
reformers and Han Chinese officials such as Zeng
Guofan and his proteges Li Hongzhang and Zuo
Zongtang. Their Self-Strengthening Movement made
effective institutional reforms, imported Western
factories and communications technology, with prime
emphasis on strengthening the military. However, the
reform was undermined by official rivalries,
cynicism, and quarrels within the imperial family. The
A scene of the Taiping Rebellion
defeat of Yuan Shikai's modernized "Beiyang Fleet"
in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) led to the
formation of the New Army. The Guangxu Emperor, advised by Kang Youwei, then launched a
comprehensive reform effort, the Hundred Days' Reform (1898). Empress Dowager Cixi, however, feared
that precipitous change would lead to bureaucratic opposition and foreign intervention and quickly
suppressed it.

In the summer of 1900, the Boxer Uprising opposed foreign influence and murdered Chinese Christians
and foreign missionaries. When Boxers entered Beijing, the Qing government ordered all foreigners to
leave, but they and many Chinese Christians were besieged in the foreign legations quarter. An Eight-
Nation Alliance sent the Seymour Expedition of Japanese, Russian, British, Italian, German, French,
American, and Austrian troops to relieve the siege, but they were routed and forced to retreat by Boxer
and Qing troops at the Battle of Langfang. After the Alliance's attack on the Dagu Forts, the court
declared war on the Alliance and authorised the Boxers to join with imperial armies. After fierce fighting
at Tianjin, the Alliance formed the second, much larger Gaselee Expedition and finally reached Beijing;
the Empress Dowager evacuated to Xi'an. The Boxer Protocol ended the war, exacting a tremendous
indemnity.

The Qing court then instituted administrative and legal reforms known as the late Qing reforms, including
abolition of the examination system. But young officials, military officers, and students debated reform,
perhaps a constitutional monarchy, or the overthrow of the dynasty and the creation of a republic. They
were inspired by an emerging public opinion formed by intellectuals such as Liang Qichao and the
revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen. A localised military uprising, the Wuchang uprising, began on 10
October 1911, in Wuchang (today part of Wuhan), and soon spread. The Republic of China was
proclaimed on 1 January 1912, ending 2,000 years of dynastic rule.
Modern China

Republic of China (since 1912)

The provisional government of the Republic of China was formed in
Nanjing on 12 March 1912. Sun Yat-sen became President of the
Republic of China, but he turned power over to Yuan Shikai, who
commanded the New Army. Over the next few years, Yuan proceeded to
abolish the national and provincial assemblies, and declared himself as
Rulers of the world at the
the emperor of Empire of China in late 1915, in the style of an absolute beginning of the 20th century
monarchy. Yuan's imperial ambitions were fiercely opposed by his
subordinates; faced with the rapidly growing prospect of violent
rebellion, he abdicated in March 1916 and died of natural causes in June.

Yuan's death in 1916 left a power vacuum; the republican government

(that had been nearly brought to its knees by his policies) was all but
shattered. This opened the way for the Warlord Era, during which much
of China was ruled by shifting coalitions of competing provincial
military leaders and the Beiyang government, ushering in a short-lived Flag of the First Guangzhou
period of uncertainty. Intellectuals, disappointed in the failure of the uprising
Republic, launched the New Culture Movement.

In 1919, the May Fourth Movement

began as a response to the pro-
Japanese terms imposed on China
by the Treaty of Versailles following
World War I. It quickly became a
nationwide protest movement. The
Nanjing Road during Xinhai
protests were a moral success as the Revolution, 1911
Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai,
the first official
cabinet fell and China refused to
the intellectual
leader of the president of sign the Treaty of Versailles, which
Revolution the Republic of had awarded German holdings of
China Shandong to Japan. Memory of the
mistreatment at Versailles fuels
resentment into the 21st century.[85]

Political and intellectual ferment waxed strong throughout the 1920s and
1930s. According to Patricia Ebrey: Beijing college students
rallied during the May Fourth
"Nationalism, patriotism, progress, science, democracy, and Movement, dissatisfied with
freedom were the goals; imperialism, feudalism, warlordism, Article 156 of the Treaty of
autocracy, patriarchy, and blind adherence to tradition were
Versailles for China
the enemies. Intellectuals struggled with how to be strong
(Shandong Problem).
and modern and yet Chinese, how to preserve China as a
political entity in the world of competing nations."[86]
In the 1920s Sun Yat-sen established a revolutionary base in Guangzhou
and set out to unite the fragmented nation. He welcomed assistance from
the Soviet Union (itself fresh from Lenin's Communist takeover) and he
entered into an alliance with the fledgling Chinese Communist Party
(CCP). After Sun's death from cancer in 1925, one of his protégés,
Chiang Kai-shek, seized control of the Nationalist Party (KMT) and
succeeded in bringing most of south and central China under its rule in Flag of the Republic of China
the Northern Expedition (1926–1927). Having defeated the warlords in from 1912 to 1928
the south and central China by military force, Chiang was able to secure
the nominal allegiance of the warlords in the North and establish the
Nationalist government in Nanjing. In 1927, Chiang turned on the CCP
and relentlessly purged the Communists elements in his NRA. In 1934,
driven from their mountain bases such as the Chinese Soviet Republic,
the CCP forces embarked on the Long March across China's most
desolate terrain to the northwest, a feat transformed into legend, where
they established a guerrilla base at Yan'an in Shaanxi. During the Long Flag of the Republic of China
March, the communists reorganised under a new leader, Mao Zedong from 1928 to now
(Mao Tse-tung).

The bitter Chinese Civil War between the Nationalists and the Communists continued, openly or
clandestinely, through the 14-year-long Japanese occupation of various parts of the country (1931–1945).
The two Chinese parties nominally formed a United Front to oppose the Japanese in 1937, during the
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), which became a part of World War II, although this alliance was
tenuous at best and disagreements, sometimes violent, between the forces were still common. Japanese
forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population, including biological warfare
(see Unit 731) and the Three Alls Policy (Sankō Sakusen), namely being: "Kill All, Burn All and Loot
All".[87] During the war, China was recognized as one of the Allied "Big Four" in the Declaration by
United Nations, as a tribute to its enduring struggle against the invading Japanese.[88] China was one of
the four major Allies of World War II, and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war.[89]

Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, the war between the Nationalist government forces and the CCP
resumed, after failed attempts at reconciliation and a negotiated settlement. By 1949, the CCP had
established control over most of the country. Odd Arne Westad says the Communists won the Civil War
because they made fewer military mistakes than Chiang, and because in his search for a powerful
centralized government, Chiang antagonised too many interest groups in China. Furthermore, his party
was weakened in the war against the Japanese. Meanwhile, the Communists told different groups, such as
peasants, exactly what they wanted to hear, and cloaked themselves in the cover of Chinese
Nationalism.[90] During the civil war both the Nationalists and Communists carried out mass atrocities,
with millions of non-combatants killed by both sides.[91] These included deaths from forced conscription
and massacres.[92]

Now, rotten with internal corruption and compounding tactical error after error under crumbling
leadership, the Nationalists were slowly routed towards the South. When the Nationalist government
forces were defeated by CCP forces in mainland China in 1949, the Nationalist government fled to
Taiwan with its forces, along with Chiang and a large number of their supporters; the Nationalist
government had taken effective control of Taiwan at the end of WWII as part of the overall Japanese
surrender, when Japanese troops in Taiwan surrendered to the Republic of China troops there.[93]
 World War II
Until the early 1970s the ROC was recognised as the
(Second Sino-Japanese War) sole legitimate government of China by the United
Nations, the United States and most Western nations,
refusing to recognise the PRC on account of its status
as a communist nation during the Cold War. This
changed in 1971 when the PRC was seated in the
United Nations, replacing the ROC. The KMT ruled
Bombing of Chinese soldiers in Taiwan under martial law until 1987, with the stated
Chongqing in 1940 house-to-house fighting
goal of being vigilant against Communist infiltration
in the Battle of
Tai'erzhuang
and preparing to retake mainland China. Therefore,
political dissent was not tolerated during that period,
and crackdowns against dissidents were common.

In the 1990s the ROC underwent a major democratic

reform, beginning with the 1991 resignation of the
members of the Legislative Yuan and National
Assembly elected in 1947. These groups were
originally created to represent mainland China
The Imperial Japanese Navy Generalissimo
(IJN) Special Naval Landing Chiang Kai-shek
constituencies. Also lifted were the restrictions on the
Forces troops in gas masks announced the use of Taiwanese languages in the broadcast media and
prepare for an advance in the Kuomintang in schools. In 1996, the ROC held its first direct
rubble of Shanghai, China. policy of presidential election, and the incumbent president,
resistance KMT candidate Lee Teng-hui, was elected. In 2000,
against Japan at the KMT status as the ruling party ended when the
Lushan on 10
DPP took power, only to regain its status in the 2008
July 1937, three
election by Ma Ying-jeou.
days after the
Seventy-seven
Due to the controversial nature of Taiwan's political
Incident.
status, the ROC is currently recognised by merely 12
UN member states and the Holy See as of 2024 as the
legitimate government of "China".

People's Republic of China (since 1949)

Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the
KMT pulling out of the mainland, with the government
relocating to Taipei and maintaining control only over a few
islands. The CCP was left in control of mainland China. On 1
October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic
of China.[94] "Communist China" and "Red China" were two
common names for the PRC.[95]

The PRC was shaped by a series of campaigns and five-year

plans. The Great Leap Forward, a radical campaign that
encompassed numerous attempted economic and social Map of the Chinese Civil War
reforms, resulted in tens of millions of deaths.[96] Mao's
government carried out mass executions of landowners,
instituted collectivisation and implemented the Laogai camp system. Execution, deaths from forced labor
and other atrocities resulted in millions of deaths under Mao. In 1966 Mao and his allies launched the
Cultural Revolution, which continued until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution,
motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in
Chinese society.

Following the Sino-Soviet split and motivated by concerns of invasion by either the Soviet Union or the
United States, China initiated the Third Front campaign to develop national defense and industrial
infrastructure in its rugged interior.[97]: 44 Through its distribution of infrastructure, industry, and human
capital around the country, the Third Front created favorable conditions for subsequent market
development and private enterprise.[97]: 177

In 1972, at the peak of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao and Zhou Enlai met U.S. president Richard Nixon in
Beijing to establish relations with the US. In the same year, the PRC was admitted to the United Nations
in place of the Republic of China, with permanent membership of the Security Council.

A power struggle followed Mao's death in 1976. The Gang of Four were arrested and blamed for the
excesses of the Cultural Revolution, marking the end of a turbulent political era in China. Deng Xiaoping
outmaneuvered Mao's anointed successor chairman Hua Guofeng, and gradually emerged as the de facto
leader over the next few years.

Deng Xiaoping was the Paramount Leader of China from 1978 to 1992, although he never became the
head of the party or state, and his influence within the Party led the country to significant economic
reforms. The CCP subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the
communes were disbanded with many peasants receiving multiple land leases, which greatly increased
incentives and agricultural production. In addition, there were many free market areas opened. The most
successful free market area was Shenzhen. It is located in Guangdong and the property tax free area still
exists today. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy
with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by some[98] as market socialism, and
officially by the CCP as Socialism with Chinese characteristics. The PRC adopted its current constitution
on 4 December 1982.

In 1989 the death of former general secretary Hu Yaobang helped to spark the Tiananmen Square protests
of that year, during which students and others campaigned for several months, speaking out against
corruption and in favour of greater political reform, including democratic rights and freedom of speech.
However, they were eventually put down on 4 June when Army troops and vehicles entered and forcibly
cleared the square, resulting in considerable numbers of fatalities. This event was widely reported, and
brought worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the communist government.[99][100]

CCP general secretary and PRC president Jiang Zemin and PRC premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors
of Shanghai, led post-Tiananmen PRC in the 1990s. Under Jiang and Zhu's ten years of administration,
the PRC's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained
an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 11.2%.[101] The country formally joined the
World Trade Organization in 2001. By 1997 and 1999, former European colonies of British Hong Kong
and Portuguese Macau became the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions of the People's
Republic of China, respectively.
Although the PRC needed economic growth to spur its development, the government began to worry that
rapid economic growth was degrading the country's natural resources and environment. Another concern
was that certain sectors of society were not sufficiently benefiting from the PRC's economic
development; one example of this was the wide gap between urban and rural areas in terms of
development and prevalence of updated infrastructure. As a result, under former CCP general secretary
and President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the PRC initiated policies to address issues of equitable
distribution of resources, but the outcome was not known as of 2014.[102] More than 40 million farmers
were displaced from their land,[103] usually for economic development, contributing to 87,000
demonstrations and riots across China in 2005.[104] For much of the PRC's population, living standards
improved very substantially and freedom increased, but political controls remained tight and rural areas
poor.[105]

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, as many as 3 million Uyghurs and members of other
Muslim minority groups are being held in China's internment camps which are located in the Xinjiang
region and which Western news reports often label as "concentration camps".[106] The camps were
established in late 2010s under Xi Jinping's administration.[107][108] Human Rights Watch says that they
have been used to indoctrinate Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2017 as part of a people's war on terror,
a policy announced in 2014.[109][110][107] The use of these centers appears to have ended in 2019
following international pressure.[111] Academic Kerry Brown attributes their closures beginning in late
2019 to the expense required to operate them.[112]: 138 China has repeatedly denied this, asserting that the
West has never been able to produce reliably-sourced satellite footage of any such detainment or resulting
detention of minority groups. Although no comprehensive independent surveys of such centres have been
performed as of June 2024, spot checks by journalists have found such sites converted or abandoned.[111]
In 2022, a Washington Post reporter checked a dozen sites previously identified as reeducation centres
and found "[m]ost of them appeared to be empty or converted, with several sites labeled as coronavirus
quarantine facilities, teachers' schools and vocational schools."[111] In 2023, Amnesty International said
that they were "witnessing more and more arbitrary detention", but that detained individuals were being
moved from the camps into the formal prison system.[113]

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan,
Hubei in 2019 and led to a global pandemic, causing the majority of the world to enter a period of
lockdown for at least a year following.