Ancient Period

c.5,000 BCE Primarily a farming culture, the Yangshao lived in mud

Yangshao and wattle houses. They produced painted, handmade
culture pottery.

c.3,000 BCE The Lungshan were extremely advanced for their time, c.2560 BC Great
Lungshan weaving silk fabrics, building houses out of brick, and Pyramid constructed
culture making pottery with a pottery wheel.
Tea was invented during this period.
c.2,000 BCE The legendary hero Yu is said to have fought flooding
Xia Dynasty using his amazing engineering skill. Having constructed
flood controls, he became ruler of the tribes, and his son
founded China's first, legendary Dynasty, the Xia.
c.1,500 BCE First Dynasty that we have written evidence for.
Shang Dynasty
1,122 BCE c.900 BCE First recorded use of metal coins in China.
Zhou Dynasties
753 BCE Rome
founded.
475 BCE During this period, China fractured into seven or eight
Warring States smaller states that struggled for dominance. Each state
period built heavy fortifications around their territories, parts of
which would later become the Great Wall of China.
This period saw the development of complicated
bureaucratic governments and legal systems. Sun Tzu,
author of The Art of War lived and wrote during this time.
Though much of it took place before recorded history, the Ancient Period laid the foundations for
China's political and social structures, and some of its most enduring inventions.

Imperial Period
221 BCE Qin Qin Shi Huangdi was the first Chinese emperor, and his
Dynasty tomb was guarded by the Terracotta Army, comprised of
over 8 thousand life sized model soldiers.
Construction began on the Great Wall, using the
fortifications build during the Warring States period.

202 BCE Han The Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220CE) saw the
Dynasties introduction of the Chinese Civil Service. Even men
from less powerful families could rise to a high position, 43 CE Roman
provided they could pass the difficult examinations. invasion of Britain.
 This period also saw the invention of paper, the magnetic
compass, and the first national library.

220 CE Three Start of a long period of instability. China split into three
Kingdoms kingdoms, each with an emperor who could claim
period succession from the Han Dynasty. During the war that
resulted, a huge percentage of the population was wiped
out.
265-420 Jin
Dynasty
304-439
Sixteen
Kingdoms
420 Southern
and Northern
Dynasties 476 Fall of the Roman
Empire
589 Sui Reunification of north and south. Construction began on
Dynasty the Grand Canal, the Great Wall of China was extended
and reinforced, and coinage was standardised.
613 Muhammad
begins preaching
618 Tang One of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history.
Dynasty
Invention of the printing press.
907 Five
Dynasties and
Ten Kingdoms
960 Song First use of paper money issued by the government. 1066 Norman invasion
Dynasty of Britain, Battle of
Hastings.
The Mongols, led by Ghengis Khan, invaded northern 1215 Signing of the
China during this period. Magna Carta.

1266 Marco Polo

reaches China, meets
with Kublai Khan.
1279 Yuan Kublai Khan, son of Ghengis Khan and emperor of the
Dynasty Mongols, invaded southern China and founded his own
dynasty.
This was the first war in which firearms played a major 1348-50 Black Death
role. ravages Europe.
 1368 Ming During the early 15th century, more work was done on the 1440 Gutenberg
Dynasty Great Wall of China, including redesigning watchtowers invents the printing
and adding cannons. It was during this period that it press.
became familiar as the structure we know today.
1492 Columbus
discovers America.

1610 Galileo
determines that the
Earth orbits the sun.
1644 Qing 19th Century China fought the Opium Wars with 1789 French
Dynasty Britain. Revolution
The 1899-1901 Boxer Rebellion ended in an invasion by
the Eight-Nation Alliance, which included Britain, Japan,
Russia, Germany and the USA. They put down the
rebellion, but their demands for concessions from the
Qing government led to the end of China's Imperial
period.
Spanning over 2000 years, the Imperial Period was one of tradition, continuity and gradual change.
Though there were periods of instability and fragmentation, the period's defining trait was its ruling
dynasties, some of which lasted centuries.

Modern Period
1911 A period of extreme disruption and war, most notably the
Republic of Chinese Civil War, which was interrupted by war with
China Japan during World War II.
1949 People's The Communist Party of China was eventually victorious
Republic of in the Civil War, and the Republic of China retreated to
China Taiwan. The CPC established a communist state that still
governs the country today.
As with the rest of the world, the 20th Century saw China undergo vast political and social changes,
new forms of government, and the advent of a more globalised society.