timeline for early china   

DATE

POLITICS

SOCIETY

CULTURE

PEOPLE

Ancient China (from earliest times to 221 B.C.)

B.C.

2000-1500

Earliest use of bronze technology (gradually superseded by iron technology after c. 500)

Earliest bronze ritual vessels

c. 1500

Shang Dynasty begins

c 1200

Earliest inscribed oracle bones; flourishing of Shang ritual bronzes

Reigns of last Shang king, and of King Wen of Chou

Chou [Zhou] Dynasty (Western Chou, 1045-771 B.C.; Eastern Chou, 771-256 B.C.)

1045*

Chou conquest of Shang

Intiation of Chou feudal system

Inception of the "Mandate of Heaven (T'ien)" doctrine

1043-40

Death of Chou founder, King Wu, leads to civil war; regency of Duke of Chou (to 1036)

Era of the Duke of Chou

1040

Founding of "Eastern" capital at Ch'eng-Chou (Lo-yang)

c. 1000-800

Era recalled as Golden Age of peace and stability

"Classical Era" (771-221 B.C.)

771*

Fall of the Western Chou capital at Tsung-Chou; flight of infant king to Eastern capital at Ch'eng-Chou

Beginning or era of civil wars and the growth of chariot warfare as a principal occupation of the patrician class

c. 750-600

Book of Poetry compiled from earlier and contemporary poems.

551

Confucius born in Lu

c. 500*

Development of iron technology begins

*Date assigned to the first flourishing of Confucius and his teachings.

Confucius exiled from Lu

c. 500-484

Period of Confucius's wandering

482

Hegemony of King Fu-ch'ai of Wu; Wu invaded by Yueh armies of King Kou-chien

479

Confucius dies in Lu

360-338

Shang Yang is Prime Minister in Ch'in

Ch'in reforms:  establishment of centralized bureaucracy,  fixed codes of penal and administrative law.

Foundations of the Legalist school of thought are laid

c. 350

Development of early Taoist cults; earliest portions of Tao te ching composed

Chuang Tzu at midlife during this period

320-256

Era of state allainces collaborating with or resisting Ch'in.

256

Ch'in extinguishes the Chou royal house (the end of the Chou Dynasty).

230-221

Ch'in armies conquer Han, Chao, Yen, Wei, Ch'u, and Ch'i.

Early Imperial Era (Ch'in Dynasty through Six Dynasties)

Ch'in [Qin] Dynasty (221-208 B.C.)

221*

Ch'in state re-unifies China

Feudalism abolished on recommendation of Li Ssu, who becomes Prime Minister

213

The great book proscription (lifted only in 191 B.C.)

210

First Emperor dies

Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - A.D. 220)

202

Han takes control (official date 206 B.C.): Liu Pang becomes Kao-ti (Emperor Kao)

c. 165-145

Han state loosens opposition to Confucianism -- appointment of Confucians as state scholars

Tung Chung-shu revises Confucianism as state scholar, with new emphasis on yin/yang cosmology

140-87

Reign of Wu-ti (Emperor Wu)

Era of massive state expansion through war, financed by heavy taxation

136

Wu-ti implements recommendations of Tung Chung-shu

Establishment of Confucianism as state ideology; creation of the Imperial Academy

c. 100*

*Date used to represent height of Emperor Wu's power

First "examination" of academy graduates (initiation of what develops into exam system)

A.D.

9-23

Period of Wang Mang's Hsin (Xin) Dynasty

25

Restoration of the Han Dynasty

c. 50

Buddhism first enters China

c. 100-200

Increasing scholasticism of Confucianism and factional disputes with eunuchs at court

220

Fall of the Han Dynasty -- China enters long era of political division known as the Six Dynasties period

Period of social and cultural division (particularly North/South)

Six Dynasties Period (220-589)

220-589

Era of renewed political fragmentation; different ruling houses divide China -- cultural gap between North and South China emerges

Disillusionment with ideology and institutions of the Han period; social and intellectual experimentation

c. 350

Influence of Buddhism emerges as most powerful religious force in China

Mid-Imperial Era (Sui & T'ang through Sung & Yuan Dynasties)

Sui Dynasty (589-617)

589

The Sui Dynasty reunites China

The examination system re-established in a stable and enduring form

T'ang (Tang) Dynasty (618-907)

618

Founding of the T'ang (Tang) Dynasty

618-755

Capital of Ch'ang-an the most developed site of world culture, influenced by contacts with India and West through "Silk Route" across Central Asia

Early T'ang era of cosmopolitan culture; flourishing of "Religious Taoism"

c. 750

Tu Fu (Du Fu; 712-770) reaches height of poetic powers

755*

The Rebellion of An Lu-shan

755-907

Late T'ang era of cultural closing

Rise of Confucian intolerance; era of first persecutions of Buddhism

c. 800

Approximate midpoint of career of Han Yü (768-824)

Five Dynasties Period (907-960)

907-960

Brief era of renewed political fragmentation; different ruling houses divide China

Sung (Song) Dynasty (960-1279) -- Northern Sung (960-1127); Southern Sung (1127-1279)

960-1127

Northern Sung Dynasty

Capital at Kaifeng, near the central reaches of Yellow River in North

Era of Confucian dominance

Factional battles between "Cultural Confucians" and "Pragmatic Confucians"; "Cosmic Confucianism" founders develop theories in withdrawal from ruthless political arena

Major Confucian figures of this period include: Ssu-ma Kuang (1019-1086), Su Tung-p'o (1036-1101) and, most important, Wang An-shih (1021-1086)

1127*

Fall of North China to Juched tribes

1127-1279

Southern Sung Dynasty

Sung capital moved to Yangtze River delta area, near modern Shanghai

Era of growth of Neo-Confucianism

1200

Death of Chu Hsi (1130-1200), who synthesized teachings of N. Sung "Cosmic Confucians" into Neo-Confucianism -- despite intitial persecution by government, Neo-Confucianism becomes dominant ideology until 1911