History of China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China
Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1500 BC[1][2]
under the Shang dynasty (c. 16001046 BC).[3] Ancient historical texts such as the
Records of the Grand Historian (ca. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (before 296 BC)
describe a Xia dynasty (c. 20701600 BC), which had no system of writing on a
durable medium, before the Shang.[3][4] The Yellow River's Yellow river civilization
is said to be the cradle of Chinese civilization, although cultures originated at
various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River's Yangtze
civilization millennia ago in the Neolithic era. With thousands of years of continuous
history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations,[5] and is regarded as one of
the cradles of civilization.[6]

Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy further developed during the
Zhou dynasty (1046256 BC). The Zhou dynasty began to bow to external and
internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart
into smaller states, beginning in the Spring and Autumn period and reaching full
expression in the Warring States period. This is one of multiple periods of failed
statehood in Chinese history, the most recent being the Chinese Civil War that
started in 1927.

Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled
parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as
at present. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang united the various warring kingdoms and
created for himself the title of "emperor" (huangdi) of the Qin dynasty, marking the
beginning of imperial China. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems
that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. China's last dynasty
was the Qing (16441912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912,
and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949, resulting in two de
facto states claiming to be the legitimate government of all China.

In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were
handled by a special elite, the Scholar-officials ("Scholar-gentlemen"). Young men
were carefully selected through difficult examinations and were well-versed in
calligraphy and philosophy. The conventional view of Chinese history is that of
alternating periods of political unity and disunity, with China occasionally being
dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were in turn assimilated into the Han
Chinese population. Cultural and political influences from other parts of Asia and the
Western world, carried by successive waves of immigration, cultural assimilation,
expansion, and foreign contact, form the basis of the modern culture of China.