Chinese Dynasty Overview Shang to Qing AP World

Chinese Dynasty Overview Shang to Qing AP World History

Shang (1700 - 1027 BCE) • First recorded Dynasty (Xia no written records) • Ruled by aristocracy • First Chinese cities, center of court life • Developed writing, worked with bronze, created silk • Honored ancestors, used oracle bones • Shang tyrant emperor overthrown

Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE) • Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty • Beginning of Mandate of Heaven • Early: Feudal system, lords had total authority • Later: City-states • Built roads, expanded trade, made agricultural advancements

Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE) • Taoism and Confucianism introduced • Decline: Inefficient rulers can’t control fighting between city-states • Period of Warring States

Qin (221 - 207 BCE) • Qin She Huanshi - only emperor • Adopted Legalism • Developed highly centralized gov’t with bureaucratic administration • Standardized currency, language, measurements, laws • Built first Great Wall

Qin (221 - 207 BCE) • Brutal ruler - executed dissenters, burned books • Many enemies, dynasty falls after his death

Han (202 BCE - 221 CE) • Legalism replaced by Confucianism • Introduced civil service examination (scholar gentry) • Silk Roads developed, opens trade

Han (202 BCE - 221 CE) • Buddhism introduced, paper invented • Great increase in population, land holdings Decline • Nomadic raiders • Corruption, weak leaders • Collapse of bureaucracy

221 - 581 (CE) • Warlords control china - no centralized gov’t • Non-Chinese nomads control much of China • Buddhism becomes popular Confucianism failed

Sui (581 - 618 CE) • Completed Grand Canal • High taxes, forced labor • Military failures (couldn’t conquer Korea) • Assassination ends dynasty

Tang (618 - 907 CE) • High point of Chinese culture • Rebuilt bureaucracy – Examination system – Confucian education – Limited social mobility • Buddhism supported, then oppressed • Invention of movable print, porcelain, gun powder

Tang (618 - 907 CE) • Wu Zetian - Only Empress in Chinese history Decline • Weak emperors, nomadic incursions, economic difficulties • Warlords take control

Song (969 - 1279 CE) • Large centralized bureaucracy (Neo. Confucian) • Mercantile class grows, increased trade • Magnetic compass, growing sea power • Weak military

Yuan (1279 - 1368 CE) • Mongol Khubilai Khan conquers China • Economic stability and prosperity • China more open to trade and travel (Marco Polo) • Ignored Chinese traditions, replaced bureaucrats with non-Chinese • Unsuccessful attacks on Japan, corruption weakens dynasty • Peasant rebellion ends Yuan

Ming (1368 - 1644 CE) • Tried to erase all signs of Mongols • Reinstated civil service, Confucian scholars • Eunuchs play growing role (Zheng He) resented by scholar gentry • Rebuilt and extended Great Wall • Collapsed after famines and riots

Qing (1644 - 1911 CE) • Manchus (from Manchuria) move south • Take Korea, Japan, then China • Manchus hold top posts, but relied upon scholar gentry • “Son of Heaven” concept emphasized • Would be final Chinese Dynasty • Eventually would be weakened by European / American interventions