Timeline of Chinese history
Encyclopedia
The following is a timeline
Timeline
A timeline is a way of displaying a list of events in chronological order, sometimes described as a project artifact . It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labeled with dates alongside itself and events labeled on points where they would have happened.-Uses of timelines:Timelines...

 of the history of China
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. Between the changing of the dynasties
Dynasties in Chinese history
The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...

, most dates overlap as ruling periods do not transfer immediately. Dates prior to 841 BC (beginning of the Gonghe regency) are provisional and subject to dispute.

Prehistoric China

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
400,000 BC  Peking Man
Peking Man
Peking Man , Homo erectus pekinensis, is an example of Homo erectus. A group of fossil specimens was discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing , China...

 of Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien is a cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris...

 (est.)
7600 BC Zhenpiyan culture  Archaeological evidence on domestication of pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

s for the first time.
7500 BC Pengtoushan culture
Pengtoushan culture
The Pengtoushan culture , dating 7500–6100 BCE, was a Neolithic culture centered primarily around the central Yangtze River region in northwestern Hunan, China. It was roughly contemporaneous with its northern neighbor, the Peiligang culture...

 
Analysis of Chinese rice residues show that rice had been domesticated by this time.
7000 BC Peiligang culture
Peiligang culture
The Peiligang culture is a name given by archaeologists to a group of Neolithic communities in the Yi-Luo river basin in Henan Province, China. The culture existed from 7000 BC to 5000 BC. Over 70 sites have been identified with the Peiligang culture. The culture is named after the site discovered...

 
6600 BC Jiahu script
Jiahu symbols
Jiahu symbols refer to the 16 distinct markings on prehistoric artifacts found in Jiahu, a neolithic Peiligang culture site found in Henan, China, and excavated in 1999 C.E...

: still under debate whether this can be considered as a form of writing
6000 BC Cishan culture
Cishan culture
The Cishan culture was a Neolithic Yellow River culture in northern China, based primarily around southern Hebei. The Cishan culture was based on millet farming, the cultivation of which on one site has been dated back 10,000 years...

 
Archaeological evidence on domestication of dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

s and chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

s for the first time.
5000 BC Baijia culture  Archaeological evidence on domestication of ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...

en and sheep for the first time.
4500 BC Approximate end of Hemudu culture
Hemudu culture
The Hemudu culture was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The site at Hemudu, 22 km north-west of Ningbo, was discovered in 1973...

.
4000 BC Banpo script
Banpo Symbols
The Banpo Symbols is a name sometimes given to the 27 markings on prehistoric artifacts found in Banpo in Shaanxi, related to the Yangshao culture...

; scholars still debate if it is actual writing or not.
3630 BC Approximate date of the oldest discovered silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 in China, found by archaeologists in what is now Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

 province in what was the late Yangshao period
Yangshao culture
The Yangshao culture was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the central Yellow River in China. The Yangshao culture is dated from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after Yangshao, the first excavated representative village of this culture, which was discovered in 1921...

.
3000 BC Longshan culture
Longshan culture
The Longshan culture was a late Neolithic culture in China, centered on the central and lower Yellow River and dated from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC...

 
During the Longshan Neolithic period, the buffalo
Water Buffalo
The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is a large bovine animal, frequently used as livestock in southern Asia, and also widely in South America, southern Europe, northern Africa, and elsewhere....

es are domesticated for the first time in China, and the plow may have been used.
2570 BC Approximate date for the silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 and other items found at the Liangzhu culture
Liangzhu culture
The Liangzhu culture was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Its area of influence extended from around Lake Tai north to Nanjing and the Chang Jiang, east to Shanghai and the sea, and south to Hangzhou...

 site at Qianshanyang in Wuxing District
Wuxing District
Wuxing District is a district in the prefecture-level city of Huzhou, Zhejiang, China....

, Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

; silk items found there included a braided silk belt, silk threads, and woven silk.

Ancient China

Date Ruler Events Other people/events
2852 BC Fuxi  This period is part of Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...

 
2737 BC Yan Emperor
Yan Emperor
The Yan Emperor, or Yandi was a legendary Han Chinese ruler who lived in pre-dynastic China. Modern scholarship has identified the Sheep's Head Mountains just north of Gaoping in Shanxi Province as his homeland and territory....

 
2698 BC Yellow Emperor
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi1 is a legendary Chinese sovereign and culture hero, included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697–2597 or 2696–2598 BC...

 
The Battle of Banquan
Battle of Banquan
The Battle of Banquan is the first battle in Chinese history as recorded by Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. It was fought by Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, and Yandi, the Flame Emperor. The Battle of Banquan may actually only refer to the third of a series of three battles. Huangdi, the...

, the first battle in Chinese history and the Battle of Zhuolu
Battle of Zhuolu
The Battle of Zhuolu was the second battle in Chinese history as recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, fought between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You. The battle was fought in Zhuolu, near the present-day border of Hebei and Liaoning...

, the second battle in Chinese history, fought by the Yellow Emperor.
2650 BC Legend of Cangjie
Cangjie
Cangjie is a very important figure in ancient China , claimed to be an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters. Legend has it that he had four eyes and four pupils, and that when he invented the characters, the deities and ghosts cried and the sky rained...

, inventor of the Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

2597 BC Emperor Shaohao
Shaohao
Shaohao , also known as Shao Hao, Jin Tian or Xuanxiao, was a Chinese emperor in 2600 BC. According to some traditions , he was, in some versions, one of the Five Emperors....

 
2514 BC Emperor Zhuanxu
Zhuanxu
Zhuanxu , also known as Gaoyang is a mythological monarch of ancient China.A grandson of the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu led the Shi clan in an eastward migration to present-day Shandong, where intermarriages with the Dongyi clan enlarged and augmented their tribal influences...

 
2436 BC Emperor Ku
Emperor Ku
Kù , or Dì Kù , also known as Gāoxīn Shì , was a mythical Emperor of China during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. He was the son of Jiăo Jí , the grandson of Shăohào and the great grandson of Huáng-dì , the Yellow Emperor. According to speculative dates he is supposed to have ruled...

 
2366 BC Emperor Zhi
Emperor Zhi
Emperor Zhì or simply Zhì was an Emperor of China. Also known as Qingyang-shi , he was born Jiang Kuang'er as the eldest son to Emperor Ku and Changyi , the 2nd consort of Emperor Ku. He ruled for nine years from c. 2366 BC – c. 2358 BC until he died and was succeeded by younger half-brother Yao...

 
2358 BC Emperor Yao  Yao ordered Gun
Gun (Chinese)
Gun was the father of Yu the Great, the founder of the Xia Dynasty. He was appointed by Yao to control the flooding rivers. He used dikes to stop the rivers from flooding, but they eventually collapsed after nine years and killed many people.- In mythology :...

 to tame the flooding of the rivers.
2255 BC Emperor Shun  Gun failed in taming the flood and was executed on Shun's orders.
2205 BC Yu the Great conquers the flood (est.)

Xia Dynasty
Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...

Date Ruler Events Other people/events
2194 BC King Yu
Yu the Great
Yu the Great , was a legendary ruler of Ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character....

 
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
According to legend the Nine Tripod Cauldrons were created following the foundation of the Xia Dynasty by Yu the Great, using tribute metal presented by the governors of the Nine Provinces of ancient China....

 
Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 in China
2146 BC King Qi
Qi of Xia
Qi was the son of Yu the Great and the second sovereign of the Xia Dynasty. He ruled for approximately nine or ten years.According to legend, Yu married Nu Jiao and stayed at home for only three days before going back to stop a flood. While Yu was stopping the flood, Yu's wife had a son. He named...

 
2117 BC King Tai Kang
Tai Kang
Tai Kang was the third sovereign of the Xia Dynasty. He was the son of Qi.He loved to hunt and did not rule well. Tai Kang drowned in a lake.He took the throne in the year of Guiwei .His capital was in Zhenxun ....

 
Erlitou culture
Erlitou culture
The Erlitou culture is a name given by archaeologists to an Early Bronze Age urban society that existed in China from 2000 BCE to 1500 BCE. The culture was named after the site discovered at Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan Province...

 
1831 BC King Fa
Fa of Xia
Emperor Fa was the 16th ruler of the Xia Dynasty, second to the infamous Jie who brought the dynasty to its end.His given name was Houjin . During his inaugural celebration, all of his vassals gathered at his palace. The first earthquake ever recorded took place at Mount Tai in modern Shandong...

 
Mount Tai earthquake
Mount Tai earthquake
Mount Tai earthquake is the first earthquake recorded in history. It occurred at Mount Tai during the 7th year of reign of King Fa from Xia dynasty circa 2205 and 1600 BCE. It was mentioned briefly in the Bamboo Annals. The event has been dated to 1831 BCE. After Fa, would come the rule of...

 (est.)
1600 BC King Jie of Xia
Jie of Xia
King Jie was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty. Around 1600 BCE Jie was defeated by Shang Tang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty, that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the...

Battle of Mingtiao
Battle of Mingtiao
The Battle of Mingtiao was a battle between the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty. This semi-mythological battle resulted in a Shang victory which created the circumstances for the elevation of the Duke of Shang to the throne of China.-Background:...

 

Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...

Date Ruler Events Other people/events
1675 BC King Tang of Shang
Tang of Shang
King Cheng Tang of Shang was the first ruling king of the Shang dynasty in Chinese history. He overthrew Jie, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty.-Early life:...

 
1400 BC Erligang Culture
Erligang culture
The Erligang culture is the term used by archaeologists to refer to a Bronze Age archaeological culture in China. The primary site was discovered at Erligang, just outside of the modern city of Zhengzhou, Henan, in 1951....

 
1398 BC King Pan Geng
Pan Geng
Pán Gēng was a Shang Dynasty King of China. He is best known for having moved the capital of the Shang Dynasty to Yīn....

 
Around this time, the capital is moved from Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...

 to Yinxu
Yinxu
Yinxu is the ruins of the last capital of China's Shang Dynasty. The capital served 255 years for 12 kings in 8 generations.Rediscovered in 1899, it is one of the oldest and largest archeological sites in China and is one of the historical capitals of China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site...

.
1250 BC King Wu Ding
Wu Ding
Wu Ding was a Shang Dynasty King of China.His is the first historically verifiable name in the history of Chinese dynasties...

 
1200 BC Oracle bone script
Oracle bone script
Oracle bone script refers to incised ancient Chinese characters found on oracle bones, which are animal bones or turtle shells used in divination in Bronze Age China...

, providing the first evidence for the Chinese calendar
Chinese calendar
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well...

 system.
Around this time, the militant consort Fu Hao
Fu Hao
Fu Hao , posthumously Mu Xin , was one of the many wives of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty and, unusually for that time, also served as a military general and high priestess....

 is buried in her tomb
Tomb of Fu Hao
The Tomb of Lady Fu Hao is an archaeological site at the ruins of the ancient Shang Dynasty capital of Yin. It was discovered in 1976 and identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao, likely the Lady Hao inscribed on oracle bones by king Wu Ding and one of his...

 at Yinxu
Yinxu
Yinxu is the ruins of the last capital of China's Shang Dynasty. The capital served 255 years for 12 kings in 8 generations.Rediscovered in 1899, it is one of the oldest and largest archeological sites in China and is one of the historical capitals of China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site...

.
1122 BC The Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

 is founded on the periphery of the Shang realm.
1101 BC King Di Yi
Di Yi
Di Yi or Emperor Yi was king of the Shang Dynasty of China from 1101BC to 1076BC.His name is Xian . His capital was at Yin ....

 
1075 BC King Zhou
King Zhou of Shang
Emperor Xin of Shang was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative posthumous name Zhòu . He is also called Zhou Xin or King Zhou . He may also be referred to by adding "Shang" in front of any of his names...

 
1050 BC Ji Chang (posthumously known as King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou family name : Ji , Clan name : Zhou Personal name: Chang, known as Zhou Chang or Xibo Chang was the founder of the Zhou Dynasty and the first epic hero of Chinese history....

) dies, making this the alleged latest date for the creation of the mathematical King Wen sequence
King Wen sequence
The King Wen sequence is an arrangement of the sixty-four divination figures in 易經 Yì Jīng, the I Ching or Book of Changes. They are called hexagrams in English because each figure is composed of six 爻 yáo—broken or unbroken lines, that represent 陰 yin or 陽 yang respectively.The King Wen sequence...

.
1047 BC King Zhou takes Daji
Daji
Daji was a favorite concubine of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang Dynasty in ancient China. She is a classic example of how a beauty causes the downfall of an empire/dynasty in Chinese culture...

 as his concubine.
1046 BC Battle of Muye
Battle of Muye
The Battle of Muye was fought in China perhaps 1046 BC. The battle led to the end of the Shang dynasty, and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty.-Background:...

; King Zhou allegedly dies while his palace burns to the ground.

Western Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

Date Ruler Events Other people/events
1034 BC King Wu
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...

 
Bronze script in greater use.
1042 BC King Cheng
King Cheng of Zhou
King Cheng of Zhou or King Ch'eng of Chou was the second sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042-1021 BC or 1042/35-1006 BC King Cheng was young when he ascended the throne...

 
1027 BC
1020 BC King Kang
King Kang of Zhou
King Kang of Zhou or King K'ang of Chou was the third sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1020-996 BC or 1005-978 BC ....

 
1000 BC Earliest possible date for the compilation of the Book of Songs
995 BC King Zhao
King Zhao of Zhou
King Zhao of Zhou or King Chao of Chou was the fourth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 995-977 BC or 977/75-957 ....

 
976 BC King Mu
King Mu of Zhou
King Mu of Zhou or King Mu of Chou or Mu Wang or Mu Wang was the fifth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 976-922 BC or 956-918 BC.-Life:...

 
During the 12th year of King Mu's reign, Zhou forces attacked and defeated some branches of the Rong people, allowing for territorial expansion of Zhou. King Mu's critics, including the Duke of Zhai (as recorded in a later 4th century BC discourse of the Biography of King Mu), stated that Mu's expeditions to displace the Rong people were unjustified, as they kept to their own lands and hence abided by their station in the cosmological-political order with China at the center.
922 BC King Gong
King Gong of Zhou
King Gong of Zhou or King Kung of Chou was the sixth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 922-900 BC or 917/15-900 ....

 
899 BC King Yi
King Yi of Zhou (Ji Jian)
King Yi of Zhou or King I of Chou was the seventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 899–892 BC or 899–873 BC ....

 
891 BC King Xiao
King Xiao of Zhou
King Xiao of Zhou or King Hsiao of Chou was the eighth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 891–886 BC or 872–866 BC ....

 
885 BC King Yi
King Yi of Zhou (Ji Xie)
King Yi of Zhou or King I of Chou was the ninth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 885–878 BC or 865–858 BC....

 
When the nomadic Rong people of Taiyuan staged an attack on the Zhou capital at Haojing (present-day Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

), King Yi called upon the aid of his nobles, a significant event which demarcated the beginning of the Zhou monarchs' dependence on their regional nobles to defend the kingdom. Under the command of Guo Gong, the Zhou were able to defeat the Rong people in a significant battle c. 854 BCE, reportedly capturing about a thousand horses.
877 BC King Li
King Li of Zhou
King Li of Zhou was the tenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC ....

 
During Li's reign, the Western Rong people launched an invasion deep into Chinese territory before being pushed out.
841 BC Gonghe regency  First year of concise, consecutive court dating at the beginning of the regency of Gonghe.
827 BC King Xuan
King Xuan of Zhou
King Xuan of Zhou was the eleventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 827-782 BC or 827/25-782 BC.He worked to restore royal authority after the Gong He interregnum. He fought the 'Western Barbarians' and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In...

 
781 BC King You
King You of Zhou
King You of Zhou was the twelfth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BCE.In 780 BCE, a major earthquake hit Guanzhong...

 
771 BC After King You had replaced Queen Shen with a favored concubine Baosi, the queen's father, the Marquis of Shen, allied with the Quanrong nomadic tribe to sack the capital. Queen Shen's son Ji Yijiu
King Ping of Zhou
King Ping of Zhou , also referred to as Crown Prince Yijiu or King P'ing of Chou was the thirteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the first of Eastern Zhou Dynasty...

 was then put on the throne, initiating the Eastern Zhou era.

Eastern Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

Date Ruler Events Other people/events
770 BC King Ping 
722 BC Spring and Autumn Period begins, the Lu state
Lu (state)
The State of Lu, was a Zhou Dynasty ducal vassal state before and during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. Founded in the 10th century BC, its dukes used Ji as their family name. The first duke was Boqin |Qi]] and to the south by the powerful state of Chu...

 begins the chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...

 of the Spring and Autumn Annals
Spring and Autumn Annals
The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...

.
Capital moved from Haojing (present-day Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

) to Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...

.
720 BC King Huan
King Huan of Zhou
King Huan of Zhou was the fourteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the second of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Jī Given name Lín Era name none Grandfather...

 
707 BC King Huan led a campaign against Duke Zhuang of Zheng
Duke Zhuang of Zheng
Duke Zhuang of Zheng was the third ruler of the State of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China. His ancestral name is Ji,given name is Wusheng , which means "a difficult birth". In 743 BC, he became the duke of Zheng, and later defeated his brother Gongshu Duan, who had led a...

 after the latter refused to appear in the capital, angered that Huan had dismissed him from his old post as Left Advisor at court. King Huan was allegedly shamed when he was injured in the shoulder by an arrow in an ensuing battle. Duke Zhuang continued to rule the Zheng state
Zheng (state)
Zheng () was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

 until his death in 701 BC.
697 BC King Zhuang
King Zhuang of Zhou
King Zhuang of Zhou or King Chuang of Chou was the fifthteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the third of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
685 BC Duke Huan of Qi began his reign over the Qi state in this year, and was the first of the Five Hegemons who assumed great autonomy from the Zhou Dynasty monarch, the latter whom became more or less a figurehead
Figurehead (metaphor)
In politics, a figurehead is a person who holds de jure an important title or office yet de facto executes little actual power, most commonly limited by convention rather than law. The metaphor derives from the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship...

 during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
682 BC King Xi
King Xi of Zhou
King Xi of Zhou was the sixteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the fourth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese Given name...

 
677 BC King Hui
King Hui of Zhou
For the King Hui proclaimed as King Nan of Zhou's successor, see King Hui of Eastern ZhouKing Hui of Zhou, ch. 周惠王, py. zhōu hùi wáng, wg...

 
651 BC King Xiang
King Xiang of Zhou
King Xiang of Zhou was the eighteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the sixth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In 635 he was driven from the capital by his brother Zhao and was restored by Duke Wen of Jin....

 
645 BC Death of Guan Zhong
Guan Zhong
Guǎn Zhòng was a politician and statesman during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His given name was Yíwú . Zhong was his courtesy name. Recommended by Bao Shuya, he was appointed Prime Minister by Duke Huan of Qi in 685 BC.-Achievements:Guan Zhong modernized the Qi State by...

, the chancellor
Chancellor of China
The Chancellor , variously translated as Prime Minister, Chancellor of State, Premier or Chief Councillor, was a generic name given to the highest-ranking official in the imperial government in ancient China...

 of the Qi state who was appointed by Duke Huan as recommended by Bao Shuya
Bao Shuya
Bao Shuya : 鲍叔牙) was a famous official of the State of Qi under Duke Huan of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a contemporary and friend of Guan Zhong....

. Guan initiated centralizing administrative and economic reforms that, for a time, made Qi the most successful and developed state in ancient China.
632 BC Battle of Chengpu
Battle of Chengpu
The Battle of Chengpu took place in 632 BC between the State of Jin and the State of Chu and its allies during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. It was the first great battle in the protracted conflict between the states of the Yellow River valley, and the states of the Yangtze...

 
618 BC King Qing
King Qing of Zhou
King Qing of Zhou or King Ch'ing of Chou was the nineteenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the seventh of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information:...

 
612 BC King Kuang
King Kuang of Zhou
King Kuang of Zhou or King K'uang of Chou was the twentieth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the eighth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
606 BC King Ding
King Ding of Zhou
King Ding of Zhou or King Ting of Chou was the twenty-first sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the ninth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
Sunshu Ao
Sunshu Ao
Sun Shu-Ao was an ancient Chinese court minister serving the administration of King Zhuang of Chu during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. During his governmental career, SUN Shu-Ao was given notice by King Zhuang, who had him promoted to the rank of Prime Minister in the State of Chu...

, China's first known hydraulic engineer.
595 BC Battle of Bi 
585 BC King Jian
King Jian of Zhou
King Jian of Zhou or King Chien of Chou was the twenty-second sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the tenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
575 BC Battle of Yanling
Battle of Yanling
The Battle of Yanling was fought in 575 BC between the armies of the States of Chu and Jin at Yanling in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period. On the Jin side, Xi Qi commanded the right wing whilst Luan Shu commanded the center with Han Jue on the left...

 
571 BC King Ling
King Ling of Zhou
King Ling of Zhou or King Ling of Chou was the twenty-third sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the eleventh of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
551 BC Laozi
Laozi
Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...

, Confucius
Confucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

 
548 BC Oldest known reference to the weiqi
Go (board game)
Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

(known as go
Go (board game)
Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

) board game.
544 BC King Jing
King Jing of Zhou (Ji Gui)
King Jing of Zhou, ch.: 周景王, pinyin: zhōu jĭng wáng, wg: King Ching of Chou, was the twenty-fourth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the twelfth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
Four occupations
Four occupations
The four occupations or "four categories of the people" was a hierarchic social class structure developed in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou Dynasty and is considered a central part of the Fengjian social structure...

 (est.)
543 BC Guided by the aristocratic statesman Zi Chan
Zi Chan
Zi Chan , also known as Gongsun Qiao , was a statesman of the State of Zheng in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period. Born in Zheng to an aristocratic family, Zi Chan was a statesman of Zheng from 544 BC until his death. Under Zi Chan, Zheng even managed to expand its territory, a...

, the Zheng state
Zheng (state)
Zheng () was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

 creates a formal code of law
Civil code
A civil code is a systematic collection of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure...

.
520 BC King Jing
King Jing of Zhou (Ji Gai)
King Jing of Zhou, ch.: 周敬王, pinyin: zhōu jìng wáng, wg: King Ching of Chou, was the twenty-sixth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the fourteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
515 BC King Liao of Wu
King Liao of Wu
King Liao of Wu , also named Zhouyu, was king of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period.-Biography:...

 is assassinated by Zhuan Zhu
Zhuan Zhu
Zhuan Zhu was an assassin in the Spring and Autumn Period. As Prince Guang wanted to kill King Liao of Wu and take the throne himself, Zhuan Zhu was recommended to Prince Guang by Wu Zixu. In 515 BC he managed to kill King Liao in a party with a dagger hidden in a fish...

, allowing King Helü of Wu
King Helü of Wu
King Helü of the state of Wu , a state in ancient China, was initially known as Prince Guang . He reigned towards the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.-Biography:...

 to ascend to the throne of the Wu state
Wu (state)
The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...

.
506 BC Battle of Boju 
500 BC Approximate date for the invention of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 in China and the earliest possible date for the invention of the iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...

, which by the 3rd century BC, with better casting techniques, would become the heavy moldboard iron plough.
Approximate date for the first use of bronze knife money
Knife money
Knife money is the name of large, cast, bronze, knife-shaped coins produced by various governments and kingdoms in what is now known as China, approximately 2500 years ago. They had holes on the end to be easily strapped onto belts or rings. Known as jin cuo dao in Chinese, knife money circulated...

.
486 BC King Fuchai of Wu built the Han Canal, a proto-section of the Grand Canal of China 
484 BC Death of Wu Zixu
Wu Zixu
Wu Yun , better known by his style name Zixu , is the most famous ancestor of people with the surname of Wu . All branches of the Wu clans claim him as their "first ancestor"...

, an official of the Wu state
Wu (state)
The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...

 and advisor to King Helü
King Helü of Wu
King Helü of the state of Wu , a state in ancient China, was initially known as Prince Guang . He reigned towards the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.-Biography:...

.
482 BC King Goujian of Yue captures the Wu state
Wu (state)
The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...

 capital in a surprise assault while King Fuchai was away at Huangchi.
481 BC End of Spring and Autumn Period
475 BC King Yuan
King Yuan of Zhou
King Yuan of Zhou, was the twenty-seventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the fifteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information:...

 
473 BC The Wu state
Wu (state)
The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...

 is annexed by the Yue state
Yue (state)
Yue was a state in China which existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period , in the modern province of Zhejiang. During the Spring and Autumn Period, its capital was in Guiji , near the modern city of Shaoxing...

.
470 BC Birth of Mozi
Mozi
Mozi |Lat.]] as Micius, ca. 470 BC – ca. 391 BC), original name Mo Di , was a Chinese philosopher during the Hundred Schools of Thought period . Born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, China, he founded the school of Mohism, and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism...

 
468 BC King Zhending
King Zhending of Zhou
King Zhending of Zhou, was the twenty-eighth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the sixteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information:* Family name: Ji * Given name: Jie * Father: King Yuan of Zhou* Mother: unknown* Wife: unknown...

 
465 BC Death of King Goujian of Yue; his sword was later found in an archaeological site in Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

 in the 1960s.
441 BC King Ai
King Ai of Zhou
King Ai of Zhou, ch.: 周哀王, pinyin: zhōu āi wáng, Wade-Giles: King Ai of Chou, was the twenty-eighth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the sixteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.He is the eldest son of the King Zhending Zhou....

 and King Si
King Si of Zhou
King Si of Zhou, ch.: 周思王, pinyin: zhōu sī wáng, wg: King Si of Chou, was the twenty-ninth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the seventeenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
440 BC King Kao
King Kao of Zhou
King Kao of Zhou, ch.: 周考王, pinyin: zhōu kăo wáng, wg: King K'ao of Chou, was the thirtieth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the eighteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
432 BC Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is an important archaeological site in Suizhou, Hubei, China, dated sometime after 433 BCE. The tomb contained the remains of Marquis Yi of Zeng...

 
425 BC King Weilie
King Weilie of Zhou
King Weilie of Zhou, ch.: 周威烈王, pinyin: zhōu wēi lìe wáng, wg: King Weilieh of Chou, was the thirty-first sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the nineteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name...

 
403 BC The Jin state is partitioned
Partition of Jin
The Partition of Jin , the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, refers to the division of the State of Jin between rival families into the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei....

, marking the beginning of the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

. Meanwhile, Marquis Wen of Wei ascends to power, sponsoring Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

 in the Wei state
Wei (state)
The State of Wei was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and Qi and included parts of modern day Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong...

, and employing able advisors such as the Legalist
Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....

 Li Kui, the militant officer Wu Qi
Wu Qi
Wu Qi was a Chinese military leader and politician in the Warring States period.-Biography:Born in the State of Wei , he was skilled in leading armies and military strategy. He had served in the states of Lu and Wei. In the state of Wei he commanded many great battles and was appointed Xihe Shou...

 and the hydraulic engineer Ximen Bao
Ximen Bao
Ximen Bao was an ancient Chinese government minister and court advisor to Marquis Wen of Wei during the Warring States period of China. He was known as an early rationalist, who had the State of Wei abolish by law the inhumane practice of sacrificing people to river deities...

.
401 BC King An
King An of Zhou
King An of Zhou, ch.: 周安王, pinyin: zhōu ān wáng, wg: King An of Chou, was the thirty-second sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the twentieth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
400 BC Astronomers Gan De
Gan De
Gan De was a Chinese astronomer/astrologer born in the State of Qi also known as the Lord Gan . Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first in history known by name to compile a star catalogue, preceded by the anonymous authors of the early Babylonian star catalogues and followed by the...

 and Shi Shen
Shi Shen
Shi Shen was a Chinese astronomer and contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Master Shi Shen .-Observations:...


Star catalogue
Star catalogue
A star catalogue, or star catalog, is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, and this article covers only some...

 compilation (est.)
Earliest date for the creation of the earliest known maps made in China, from the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

.
389 BC Latest possible date for the Zuo Zhuan
Zuo Zhuan
The Zuo Zhuan , sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period...

historical text.
386 BC The city of Handan
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China.- History :Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period , after the capital moved from Zhongmu. The city was conquered by the State of Qin after the virtual annexation of...

 is founded, serving as the capital for the Zhao state
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...

.
381 BC Wu Qi
Wu Qi
Wu Qi was a Chinese military leader and politician in the Warring States period.-Biography:Born in the State of Wei , he was skilled in leading armies and military strategy. He had served in the states of Lu and Wei. In the state of Wei he commanded many great battles and was appointed Xihe Shou...

 is assassinated at the funeral of King Diao of Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

; his book, Wuzi
Wuzi
The Wuzi is a classic Chinese work on military strategy attributed to Wu Qi. It is considered one of China's Seven Military Classics.It is said there were two books on the art of war by Wu Qi, but one was lost, hence leaving the Wuzi as the only existing book carrying Wu Qi's military thoughts....

, is considered to be one of the Seven Military Classics
Seven Military Classics
The Seven Military Classics of China were seven important military texts of ancient China which included Sun-tzu's The Art of War. The texts were canonized under this name during the 11th century AD, and from the Song Dynasty onwards were included in most military encyclopedias...

.
375 BC King Lie
King Lie of Zhou
King Lie of Zhou, ch.: 周烈王, pinyin: zhōu lìe wáng, wg: King Lieh of Chou, was the thirty-third sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the twenty-first of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information: Family name Ji in Chinese...

 
The Zheng state
Zheng (state)
Zheng () was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

 is annexed by the Han state
Han (state)
Han was a kingdom during the Warring States Period in China, located in modern-day Shanxi and Henan. Not to be confused with South Korea which shares the same character....

.
370 BC Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...

 is born around this time.
368 BC King Xian
King Xian of Zhou
King Xian of Zhou was the thirty-fourth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the twenty-third of Eastern Zhou Dynasty....

 
354 BC Battle of Guiling
Battle of Guiling
The Battle of Guìlíng was fought between the states of Qí and Wèi in the Warring States period of Chinese history. In 354 BC, an army from Wèi was laying siege to Handan, the capital of the State of Zhao. The next year, Zhao turned to Qi for help. Tian Ji and Sun Bin, acting as co-commanders of...

 
350 BC Earliest proposed date for the Guodian Chu Slips
Guodian Chu Slips
The Guodian Chu Slips were unearthed in 1993 in Tomb no. 1 of the Guodian tombs in Jingmen, Hubei. The archeological team suggested the tomb should be dated to the latter half of the Warring States period...

, containing the oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...

, parts of the Book of History, and a chapter from the Book of Rites
342 BC Battle of Maling
Battle of Maling
The Battle of Maling took place in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town , Shen County , Henan Province, in 342 BC during the Warring States Period . The combatants were the State of Qi, who fought on behalf of the State of Han, and the State of Wei...

 
Crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

 used in China.
320 BC King Shenjing
King Shenjing of Zhou
King Shenjing of Zhou, trad. ch.: 周慎靚王, sim. Ch.: 周慎靓王, pinyin: zhaō shèn jìng wáng, wg: King Shenching of Chou was the thirty-fifth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the twenty-fourth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty.-Personal information:...

 
319 BC Mencius
Mencius
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...

 becomes an official in the Qi state
Qi (state)
Qi was a powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States in ancient China. Its capital was Linzi, now part of the modern day city of Zibo in Shandong Province....

 
316 BC Death of Sun Bin
Sun Bin
Sun Bin was a military strategist who lived during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. An alleged descendant of Sun Tzu, Sun Bin was tutored in military strategy by the hermit Guiguzi...

 
314 BC King Nan
King Nan of Zhou
King Nan of Zhou, ch. 周赧王, py. zhōu năn wáng, wg, King Nan of Zhou, or less commonly King Yin of Zhou, trad. ch.: 周隱王, sim. Ch.: 周隐王, py: zhōu yĭn wáng, wg: King Yin of Zhou was the thirty-sixth and last sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. He was King for fifty-nine years, longest in Zhou...

 
310 BC Birth of Xunzi 
307 BC Imitating the northern nomadic armies, King Wuling of Zhao
King Wuling of Zhao
King Wuling of Zhao reigned in the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period of Chinese history...

 reforms the Zhao state
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...

's military by adopting formal cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 ranks over chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...

eers and importing the trouser-pants
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...

 style of the nomads for soldiers.
305 BC Birth of Zou Yan
Zou Yan
Zou Yan was the representative thinker of the Yin and Yang during the Hundred Schools of Thought era in Chinese philosophy. Zou Yan was a noted scholar of the Jixia Academy in the state of Qi...

, whose school of thought
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from 770 to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period , an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China...

 would for the first time systematically combine the two premodern theories of Yin and yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...

 and the Five Elements.
300 BC Erya
Erya
The Erya is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary or Chinese encyclopedia. Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from" the 3rd century BC....

, China's oldest known dictionary
293 BC Battle of Yique
Battle of Yique
Battle of Yique 293 BC, fought by King Zhaoxiang of Qin against the alliance of Wei and Han at Yique . For background see Warring States Period#The period of Qi . The Qin commander was general Bai Qi. With half of the alliance force, Bai Qi's army took the alliance's strongholds one by one...

 
278 BC Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. He is famous for his contributions to the poetry collection known as the Chu-ci...

 writes the poem Lament for Ying
Lament for Ying
Lament for Ying is a poem written by noted Chinese poet Qu Yuan in around 278 BCE. It is from the "Nine Declarations" section of the Chuci poetry anthology, compiled in ancient China.-Background:...

and commits suicide after the fall of the Chu state
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

's capital, Ying, to the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

.
260 BC Battle of Changping
Battle of Changping
The Battle of Changping was a military campaign that took place during the Warring States Period in China. It concluded in 260 BC with a decisive victory by the State of Qin over the State of Zhao, and ultimately allowed Qin to conquer and unify China decades later...

 
256 BC King Nan
King Nan of Zhou
King Nan of Zhou, ch. 周赧王, py. zhōu năn wáng, wg, King Nan of Zhou, or less commonly King Yin of Zhou, trad. ch.: 周隱王, sim. Ch.: 周隐王, py: zhōu yĭn wáng, wg: King Yin of Zhou was the thirty-sixth and last sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. He was King for fifty-nine years, longest in Zhou...

 dies.
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
Dujiangyan is an irrigation infrastructure built in 256 BC during the Warring States Period of China by the Kingdom of Qin. It is located in the Min River in Sichuan province, China, near the capital Chengdu. It is still in use today to irrigate over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region...

250 BC King Hui
King Hui of Eastern Zhou
King Hui of Eastern Zhou, was the last king of the Zhou Dynasty of China. Prior to reigning, he is referred to as Lord Zhaowen...

 
The repeating crossbow
Repeating crossbow
A repeating crossbow is a crossbow where the separate actions of stringing the bow, placing the bolt and shooting it can be accomplished with a simple one-handed movement while keeping the crossbow stationary. This allows a higher rate of fire than a normal crossbow...

 is featured in drawings from the records of the Chu state
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

.
246 BC The Zhengguo Canal
Zhengguo Canal
The Zhengguo Canal, Zhengguoqu or Chengkuo Canal , named after its designer, Zheng Guo, is a large canal located in Shaanxi province, China. The canal irrigates the Guanzhong plain, north of Xi'an. Together with the Dujiangyan Irrigation System and Lingqu Canal, it is one of the three biggest water...

 is completed by Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo or Cheng Kuo was a hydraulic engineer from the ancient Chinese kingdom of Han who designed the Zhengguo Canal in the kingdom of Qin during the Warring States Period. The canal remains to this day, despite having been constructed in the third century BC. The canal was originally designed...

 of the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

.

Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
361 BC Duke Xiao 
356 BC Shang Yang
Shang Yang
Shang Yang was an important statesman of the State of Qin during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Born Wei Yang in the State of Wei, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin Yang enacted numerous reforms in Qin...

 initiates a reform movement in the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

, which is outlined in the Book of Lord Shang.
338 BC King Huiwen
Huiwen of Qin
King Huiwen of Qin , also known as Lord Huiwen of Qin or King Hui of Qin , personal name Ying Si , was the ruler of the Qin state from 338 BC to 311 BC during the Warring States Period of Chinese history.-Early life:...

 
Shang Yang
Shang Yang
Shang Yang was an important statesman of the State of Qin during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Born Wei Yang in the State of Wei, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin Yang enacted numerous reforms in Qin...

 is executed. The rulers of the Qin state begin adopting the title of "King" instead of "Duke".
316 BC The states of Shu
Shu (state)
The State of Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. It was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. Shu was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the...

 and Ba
Ba (state)
Ba was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng , Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The modern ethnic minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the Ba people....

 are conquered by the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

 
311 BC King Wu 
306 BC King Zhaoxiang
King Zhaoxiang of Qin
King Zhaoxiang of Qin or King Zhao of Qin was the son of King Huiwen and younger brother of King Wu. After the death of Wu in 306 BC, Zhao contended for the crown of Qin with his younger brother. With the support of King Wuling of Zhao, Zhao finally ascended the throne...

 
293 BC Battle of Yique
Battle of Yique
Battle of Yique 293 BC, fought by King Zhaoxiang of Qin against the alliance of Wei and Han at Yique . For background see Warring States Period#The period of Qi . The Qin commander was general Bai Qi. With half of the alliance force, Bai Qi's army took the alliance's strongholds one by one...

 
255 BC Emergence of the Seven Warring States
Seven Warring States
The Seven Warring States or Seven Kingdoms refers to the seven warring states in China during the Warring States period of Chinese history...

 
250 BC King Xiaowen
King Xiaowen of Qin
King Xiaowen of Qin had a very brief reign. Indeed, he only became King of the Qin for less than 1 year, and 3 days after his coronation he died.This gave rise to many theories as to his short reign...

 
249 BC King Zhuangxiang
King Zhuangxiang of Qin
King Zhuangxiang of Qin , personal name Yiren , later renamed to Zichu , was the ruler of the Qin state during the 3rd century BC in the Warring States Period of Chinese history.-Biography:...

 
246 BC Ying Zheng
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...


(as King of Qin)
Ying Zheng becomes king of Qin
230 BC Qin's wars of unification begin. The Han state
Han (state)
Han was a kingdom during the Warring States Period in China, located in modern-day Shanxi and Henan. Not to be confused with South Korea which shares the same character....

 is conquered by the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

 
227 BC Jing Ke
Jing Ke
Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor...

 fails to assassinate Ying Zheng
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

.
223 BC The Chu state
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

 is conquered by the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

 
222 BC The Yan
Yan (state)
Yān was a state during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history. Its capital was Ji...

 and Zhao
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...

 states are conquered by the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

.
221 BC First Emperor of Qin
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...


The Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

 unifies China under the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

 with a powerful central government
Federal government
The federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...

, marking the end of the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

. Ying Zheng proclaims himself "Qin Shi Huang" (means "First Emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...

 of Qin").
Imperial Seal of China
Imperial Seal of China
The Imperial Seal of China, or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm is a Chinese jade seal carved out of the He Shi Bi, a historically famous piece of jade.-Creation:...

220 BC Construction of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...

 begins
Chancellor Li Si
Li Si
Li Si was the influential Prime Minister of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi...

 standardizes the writing system with Small Seal Script characters.
214 BC The Lingqu Canal
Lingqu Canal
The Lingqu Canal is located in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northeastern corner of Guangxi Province, China. It connects the Xiang River with the Lijiang , which in its turn continues toward the Xijiang), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River...

 is engineered by Shi Lu, and is the oldest contour canal
Contour canal
A contour canal is an artificially-dug navigable canal which closely follows the contour line of the land it traverses in order to avoid costly engineering works such as boring a tunnel through higher ground, building an embankment over lower ground, or constructing a canal lock to change the...

 (i.e. follows a contour line
Contour line
A contour line of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value. In cartography, a contour line joins points of equal elevation above a given level, such as mean sea level...

) in the world
213 BC Start of the Burning of books and burying of scholars
Burning of books and burying of scholars
Burning of the books and burying of the scholars is a phrase that refers to a policy and a sequence of events in the Qin Dynasty of Ancient China, between the period of 213 and 206 BC. During these events, the Hundred Schools of Thought were pruned; legalism survived...

 policy
210 BC Burial of the Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China...

, featuring over 8,000 terracotta statues and the earliest known umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...

s in China.
209 BC Second Emperor of Qin
Qin Er Shi
Qin Er Shi , literally Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, personal name Huhai, was emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China from 210 BC until 207 BC.-Name:...

 
Chieftain Modu Chanyu establishes the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

 empire on the northern steppe
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome. It stretches from Hungary to Mongolia...

.
Military officers Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng , also known in some sources as Chen She , was the leader of the first rebellion, known as Daze Village Uprising, against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi.-Start of the rebellion:...

 and Wu Guang
Wu Guang
Wu Guang was a leader of the first rebellion against Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi, following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Less is known about him than Chen Sheng.-Biography:Wu was born in Yangxia...

 rebel against the Qin Dynasty after fear of execution for delay of arriving at a post with newly-drafted conscripts; their small revolt initiates a gradual but massive and uncoordinated revolt on several fronts against Qin authority.
208 BC The chief eunuch Zhao Gao
Zhao Gao
Zhao Gao was the chief eunuch during the Qin Dynasty of China. He played an instrumental role in the downfall of the Qin Dynasty.- Early life :...

 has the chancellor Li Si
Li Si
Li Si was the influential Prime Minister of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi...

 executed, destabilizing Qin as the rebellions of Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent military leader and political figure during the late Qin Dynasty. His given name was Ji while his style name was Yu ....

 and others become widespread.
The Qin army led by Zhang Han defeats Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng , also known in some sources as Chen She , was the leader of the first rebellion, known as Daze Village Uprising, against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi.-Start of the rebellion:...

 and Wu Guang
Wu Guang
Wu Guang was a leader of the first rebellion against Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi, following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Less is known about him than Chen Sheng.-Biography:Wu was born in Yangxia...

's rebel force.
207 BC Ziying
Ziying
Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin Dynasty of China, ruling as King of Qin from mid-October to the beginning of December 207 BC, and being known posthumously as Qin San Shi...

 
Battle of Julu
Battle of Julu
The Battle of Julu was fought in Julu in 207 BC primarily between Qin forces led by Zhang Han, and Chu rebels led by Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu emerged victorious, defeating a large Qin army with a small number of soldiers...

. Liu Bang's rebel force enters Guanzhong
Guanzhong
Guanzhong , or Guanzhong Plain, is a historical region of China corresponding to the lower valley of the Wei River. It is called Guanzhong or 'within the passes' to distinguish it from 'Guandong' or 'east of the pass', that is, the North China Plain. The North China Plain is bordered on the west by...

, the heartland of Qin. The last Qin ruler, Ziying, kills Zhao Gao
Zhao Gao
Zhao Gao was the chief eunuch during the Qin Dynasty of China. He played an instrumental role in the downfall of the Qin Dynasty.- Early life :...

 and surrenders to Liu Bang.
The Nanyue
Nanyue
Nanyue was an ancient kingdom that consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan and northern Vietnam. Nanyue was established in 204 BC at the final collapse of the Qin Dynasty by Zhao Tuo, who was the military commander of Nanhai Commandery at the time, and...

 state is established in present-day Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 by the Qin general Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo , was the founder of the kingdom of Nanyue |Zhao]]. The state of Zhao was defeated and absorbed by the state of Qin in 222 BC, whereupon Zhao Tuo became a citizen of the state of Qin. He later served in a Qin expeditionary force that was sent south...

.
206 BC In the first month of 206 BC, after Liu Bang occupied the Qin capital of Xianyang
Xianyang
Xianyang is a former capital of China in Shaanxi province, on the Wei River, a few kilometers upstream from Xi'an. It has an area of...

, Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent military leader and political figure during the late Qin Dynasty. His given name was Ji while his style name was Yu ....

's rebel force arrives at the city and plunders it, destroying the Epang Palace by fire and killing Ziying
Ziying
Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin Dynasty of China, ruling as King of Qin from mid-October to the beginning of December 207 BC, and being known posthumously as Qin San Shi...

 and members of the Qin royal family. Although Ziying had already surrendered to Liu Bang in the last month of 207 BC, this event is viewed by historians as the final event of the Qin Dynasty.

Western Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
206 BC Start of the Chu-Han contention
Chu-Han contention
The Chu–Han Contention was a post-Qin Dynasty interregnum period in Chinese history. Following the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu split the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms. Two prominent contending powers, Western Chu and Han, emerged from these principalities and engaged in a...

, a civil war between the forces of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent military leader and political figure during the late Qin Dynasty. His given name was Ji while his style name was Yu ....

 after the fall of Qin
History of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty , founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang ,From the Shang to the Sui dynasties, Chinese rulers were referred to in later records by their posthumous names, while emperors of the Tang to Yuan dynasties were referred to by their temple names, and emperors of the Ming and Qing...

.
Feast at Hong Gate
Feast at Hong Gate
The Feast at Hong Gate was a historical event later often memorialized in Chinese history, novels, and drama, including in Beijing opera...

205 BC Battle of Jingxing 
202 BC Emperor Gaozu  Battle of Gaixia
Battle of Gaixia
The Battle of Gaixia was a Chinese battle in 202 BC, during the Chu-Han contention between rival rulers of China which followed the collapse of the Qin Dynasty...

 
200 BC Battle of Baideng  Sometime in the 2nd century BC, the multi-tube seed drill
Seed drill
A seed drill is a sowing device that precisely positions seeds in the soil and then covers them. Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by hand. Besides being wasteful, planting was very imprecise and led to a poor distribution of seeds, leading to low...

 is invented and increases agricultural yields as seeds are carefully planted in rows instead of being cast out onto the crop field.
193 BC Death of Xiao He
Xiao He
Xiao He was a Chinese statesman who lived during the early Han Dynasty. He served Liu Bang during the insurrection against the Qin Dynasty, and fought on Liu's side in the Chu–Han contention against Xiang Yu. After the founding of the Han Dynasty, Xiao He became chancellor and held office until...

, the first chancellor of the Han Dynasty
195 BC
190 BC Emperor Hui
Emperor Hui of Han
Emperor Hui of Han was the second emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. He was the second son of the first Han emperor, Han Gaozu and Empress Dowager Lü. He is generally remembered as a weak character dominated by his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, personally kind and generous but unable to escape...

 
Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

 becomes the eastern terminus of the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

 connecting to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 
189 BC Death of Zhang Liang, a key advisor to Emperor Gaozu.
180 BC Emperor Wen
Emperor Wen of Han
Emperor Wen of Han was the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. His given name is Heng.Liu Heng was a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager...

 
Rule of Wen and Jing
Rule of Wen and Jing
The Rule of Wen and Jing refers to the reigns of Emperor Wen of Han and his son Emperor Jing of Han, a period known for the benevolence and thriftiness of the emperors, reduction in tax and other burdens on the people, pacifism, and general stability...

 
Lü Clan Disturbance
Lü Clan Disturbance
The Lü Clan Disturbance refers to a political disturbance after the death of Grand Empress Dowager Lü of Han Dynasty, the aftermaths of which saw the clan of the deceased empress' family, the Lü consort clan being overthrown from their seats of power and massacred, the deposing of the puppet...

168 BC Mawangdui Silk Texts
Mawangdui Silk Texts
The Mawangdui Silk Texts are texts of Chinese philosophical and medical works written on silk and found at Mawangdui in China in 1973. They include some of the earliest attested manuscripts of existing texts such as the I Ching, two copies of the Tao Te Ching, one similar copy of Strategies of the...

 are interred at the tombs of Mawangdui, containing some of the oldest known textual versions of the I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...

.
157 BC Emperor Jing
Emperor Jing of Han
Emperor Jing of Han was an emperor of China in the Han Dynasty from 156 BC to 141 BC. His reign saw the limit and curtailment of power of feudal princes which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC. Emperor Jing managed to crush the revolt and princes were thereafter denied rights...

 
141 BC Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

 
140 BC Persuaded by Dong Zhongshu
Dong Zhongshu
Dong Zhongshu was a Han Dynasty Chinese scholar. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state.-History:...

's essay in a literary competition, Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

, or his chancellor Wei Wan, adopts Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

 at court.
139 BC Under the patronage of Prince Liu An
Liu An
Líu Ān was a Chinese prince and advisor to his nephew, Emperor Wu of Han of the Han Dynasty in China and the legendary inventor of t'ai chi...

, the scholars known as the Eight Immortals of Huainan
Eight Immortals of Huainan
The Eight Immortals of Huainan , also known as the Eight Gentlemen , were the eight scholars under the patronage of Liu An , the prince of Huainan during the Western Han Dynasty. They are not deified in any religions and the xian "immortal" is used metaphorically to describe their talent...

 publish the Huainanzi
Huainanzi
The Huáinánzǐ is a 2nd century BCE Chinese philosophical classic from the Han dynasty that blends Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including theories such as Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. It was written under the patronage of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, a legendarily prodigious author...

, a philosophical text that also covered subjects of military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...

 as well as geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

 and cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...

.
133 BC Sino-Xiongnu War
Sino-Xiongnu War
The Sino-Xiongnu War is a name given to a series of battles between the Han Dynasty and the tribes of Xiongnu between 133 BC and 89 AD. The nature of these battles varied through time between Han conquest and the possession of city-states in central Asia. The war culminated in Geng Kui driving the...

 
Battle of Mayi
Battle of Mayi
The Battle of Mayi was an abortive ambush operation by the Han Dynasty against the invading Xiongnu forces; casualties were minimal. It marked the end of de jure peace between the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu, and stimulated the use of effective cavalry forces and offensive military policies by the Han...

130 BC Sino-Roman relations
Sino-Roman relations
Romano-Chinese relations were essentially indirect throughout the existence of both empires. The Roman Empire and Han China progressively inched closer in the course of the Roman expansion into the Ancient Near East and simultaneous Chinese military incursions into Central Asia...

 
125 BC Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian was an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty...

 returns to China to report on his travels and the kingdoms
History of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty , founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang ,From the Shang to the Sui dynasties, Chinese rulers were referred to in later records by their posthumous names, while emperors of the Tang to Yuan dynasties were referred to by their temple names, and emperors of the Ming and Qing...

 of Dayuan
Dayuan
The Dayuan or Ta-Yuan were a people of Ferghana in Central Asia, described in the Chinese historical works of Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han. It is mentioned in the accounts of the famous Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 130 BCE and the numerous embassies that followed him into...

 (Fergana
Fergana
Fergana is a city , the capital of Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southern edge of the Fergana Valley in southern Central Asia, cutting across the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...

), Kangju
Kangju
Kangju was the name of an ancient people and kingdom in Central Asia. It was a nomadic federation of unknown ethnic and linguistic origin which became for a couple of centuries the second greatest power in Transoxiana after the Yuezhi....

 (Sogdiana
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...

), Daxia
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BC...

 (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BC...

), Shendu
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 (Indo-Greek Kingdom
Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Indo-Greek Kingdom or Graeco-Indian Kingdom covered various parts of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries BC, and was ruled by more than 30 Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other...

), Anxi (Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

), and Taozhi
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

 (Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

).
119 BC Battle of Mobei
Battle of Mobei
The Battle of Mobei was a military campaign fought in the northern part of the Gobi Desert. It was part of a major strategic offensive launched by the Han Dynasty in January, 119 BC, into the heartland of the nomadic Xiongnu...

 
108 BC Battle of Loulan
Battle of Loulan
The Battle of Loulan in 108 BC marks the earliest Chinese military venture into Central Asia, after a conflict of the Han Dynasty with Loulan and Jushi and a switch of allegiance to the Xiongnu. The Han launched an attack by first arresting the king of Loulan, and turned on the offense against Jushi...

 
Wiman Joseon
Wiman Joseon
Wiman Joseon was part of the Gojoseon period of Korean history. It began with Wiman's seizure of the throne from Gojoseon's King Jun and ended with the death of King Ugeo who was a grandson of Wiman.-Founding:...

 in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 falls to Han forces.
102 BC Emperor Wu's
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

 forces besiege Kokand
Kokand
Kokand is a city in Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. It has a population of 192,500 . Kokand is 228 km southeast of Tashkent, 115 km west of Andijan, and 88 km west of Fergana...

 in the Fergana Valley
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Divided across three subdivisions of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse, and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict...

 
100 BC Steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 in China.
94 BC Emperor Zhao
Emperor Zhao of Han
Emperor Zhao of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 87 BC to 74 BC.Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han. By the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only 8 years old...

 
91 BC Sima Qian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...

 completes the Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...

, a groundbreaking work in Chinese historiography
Chinese historiography
Chinese historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history.-History of Chinese Historians:Record of Chinese history dated back to the Shang Dynasty. The Classic of History, one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts is one of the earliest...

.
86 BC Death of Jin Midi
Jin Midi
Jin Midi , formally Marquess Jing of Du , was a prominent official of the Chinese dynasty Han Dynasty of Xiongnu ethnicity. He served as coregent early in the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han.- Background :...

, an official of Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

 ethnicity who became a regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 of the Han Dynasty during the early reign of Emperor Zhao.
74 BC Emperor Xuan
Emperor Xuan of Han
Emperor Xuan of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 74 BC to 49 BC. His life story was a riches-to-rags-to-riches story.Emperor Xuan was the great grandson of Emperor Wu...

 
67 BC Battle of Jushi
Battle of Jushi
The Battle of Jushi was a battle between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu for the control of the people of the Jushi culture in the Turpan Basin in 67 BC. The battle was a success for the Han, who were led by Zheng Ji. The king of Jushi Wugui surrendered to Han, after the Han launched the attack...

 
60 BC Protectorate of the Western Regions
Protectorate of the Western Regions
The Protectorate of the Western Regions was a regional government established by the Han Dynasty to manage and to control the Western Regions, roughly today's Xinjiang ....

 is established.
48 BC Emperor Yuan
Emperor Yuan of Han
Emperor Yuan of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He reigned from 48 BC to 33 BC. Emperor Yuan was remembered for the promotion of Confucianism as the official creed of Chinese government. He appointed Confucius adherents to important government posts...

 
Consort Ban
Consort Ban
Consort Ban called Ban Jieyu . Jieyu was a title for a concubine, her personal name is not known.-Life:Consort Ban started as a junior maid, became a concubine of Emperor Cheng and quickly rose to prominence at court. She bore him two sons, but both died in infancy...

, a female poet, is born around this time.
40 BC The Ji Jiu Pian dictionary records China's first known use of the treadle-operated tilt hammer, while the later book Xinlun by Huan Tan
Huan Tan
Huan Tan 桓譚 was a Chinese philosopher of the Han Dynasty and short-lived interregnum of the Xin Dynasty . Huan's mode of philosophical thought belonged to an Old Text realist tradition supported by other contemporaries such as the naturalist and mechanistic philosopher Wang Chong Huan Tan 桓譚 (c....

 described the first hydraulic-powered
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...

 trip hammer
Trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer used in:* agriculture to facilitate the labor of pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain;...

 which would have been operated by a waterwheel.
37 BC Death of Jing Fang
Jing Fang
Jing Fang , born Li Fang , courtesy name Junming , was a Chinese music theorist, mathematician and astrologer. Born in present-day Puyang, Henan during the Han Dynasty , he was the first to notice how closely a succession of 53 just fifths approximates 31 octaves...

, who was the first in music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

 to note that 53 perfect fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...

s approximates 31 octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

s. Like the later Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

, he was also a proponent of the radiating influence theory, which stated that the light of the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 was merely the reflected light of the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

.
36 BC Battle of Zhizhi
Battle of Zhizhi
The Battle of Zhizhi was fought in 36 BC between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu chieftain Zhizhi Chanyu. Zhizhi was defeated and killed. The battle was probably fought near Taraz on the Talas River in eastern Kazakhstan, which makes it one of the westernmost points reached by a Chinese army...

 
30 BC First mention of the wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...

 in history.
18 BC Biographies of exemplary women
Lienü zhuan
The Lienü Zhuan is a ca. 18 BCE book compiled by the famous Han Dynasty scholar Liu Xiang. It includes 125 biographical accounts of women exemplars in early China, taken from Chinese histories like the Chun Qiu, Zuo Zhuan, and Shiji...

, a book about exemplary women in Chinese history, is compiled by the scholar Liu Xiang.
32 BC Emperor Cheng
Emperor Cheng of Han
Emperor Cheng of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty ruling from 33 BC until 7 BC.Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its slide into disintegration while the Wang clan continued its slow grip on power and on governmental affairs as promoted by the previous emperor...

 
6 BC Emperor Ai
Emperor Ai of Han
Emperor Ai of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He ascended the throne when he was 20, having been made heir by his uncle Emperor Cheng, who was childless, and he reigned from 7 BC to 1 BC....

 
1 BC Emperor Ping
Emperor Ping of Han
Emperor Ping was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 1 BC to AD 5. After Emperor Ai died childless, the throne was passed to his cousin Emperor Ping—then a child of nine years old. Wang Mang was appointed regent by the Grand Empress Dowager Wang...

 
1 Sometime from this year until the end of the century, the earliest representation of a stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...

-mounted rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...

 for steering ships is made in China, on a tomb model of a sailing junk
Junk (ship)
A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...

.
2 Han government
Government of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty of ancient China was the second imperial dynasty of China, following the Qin Dynasty . It was divided into the periods of Western Han and Eastern Han , briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang...

 census counts 59 million people in the empire.
3 Emperor Ping establishes a nationwide school system on the central
Government of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty of ancient China was the second imperial dynasty of China, following the Qin Dynasty . It was divided into the periods of Western Han and Eastern Han , briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang...

, prefectural
Prefecture (China)
The term Prefectures, or the more formal prefectural level divisions, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. Other than provincial level divisions, prefectural level divisions are not mentioned in the Chinese constitution...

, and county levels.
6 Emperor Ruzi
Ruzi Ying
Emperor Ruzi of Han , commonly known as "Ying the Kid" and with the personal name of Liu Ying , was last emperor of the Chinese Western Han Dynasty from AD 6 to AD 9. After Emperor Ping died without heirs, Wang Mang chose the youngest of the available successors in order to maintain his power in...

 
8 Liu Xin
Liu Xin
Liu Xin , later changed name to Liu Xiu , courtesy name Zijun , was a Chinese astronomer, historian, and editor during the Xin Dynasty . He was the son of Confucian scholar Liu Xiang and an associate of other prominent thinkers such as the philosopher Huan Tan...

 completes his star catalogue
Star catalogue
A star catalogue, or star catalog, is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, and this article covers only some...

 of 1080 stars, as well as fixing the year at 365.25016 days long (11 minutes longer than the modern year) by calculating the synodic month to be 29 43/81 days long, with a total of 235 synodic months adding up to 19 years. He is also the first Chinese to attempt a more accurate calculation of pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

 at 3.154, as the Chinese before him simply approximated it to 3. Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

 and Liu Hui
Liu Hui
Liu Hui was a mathematician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In 263, he edited and published a book with solutions to mathematical problems presented in the famous Chinese book of mathematic known as The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art .He was a...

 would later improve upon Liu's calculation in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, respectively.

Xin Dynasty
Xin Dynasty
The Xin Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty which lasted from AD 9 to 23. It followed the Western Han Dynasty and preceded the Eastern Han Dynasty....

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
9 Wang Mang
Wang Mang
Wang Mang , courtesy name Jujun , was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin Dynasty , ruling AD 9–23. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow and his rule marks the separation between the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty...

 
Emperor Ruzi
Ruzi Ying
Emperor Ruzi of Han , commonly known as "Ying the Kid" and with the personal name of Liu Ying , was last emperor of the Chinese Western Han Dynasty from AD 6 to AD 9. After Emperor Ping died without heirs, Wang Mang chose the youngest of the available successors in order to maintain his power in...

 is dethroned; Wang Mang initiates the short-lived Xin Dynasty
History of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty , founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang ,From the Shang to the Sui dynasties, Chinese rulers were referred to in later records by their posthumous names, while emperors of the Tang to Yuan dynasties were referred to by their temple names, and emperors of the Ming and Qing...

Wang Mang introduces the well-field system
Well-field system
The well-field system was a Chinese land distribution method existing between the ninth century BCE to around the end of the Warring States Period...

 of land distribution and agricultural production.
10 Wang Mang introduces an income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

 of 10% for professionals and skilled laborers.
Wang Mang outlaws the private use of crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

s. Despite this, Liu Xiu (later Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...

) purchases them on the black market to aid the rebellion of his brother Liu Yan and rebel leader Li Tong in early winter of 22.
12 With pressure from aristocrats, Wang is forced to rescind the well-field system
Well-field system
The well-field system was a Chinese land distribution method existing between the ninth century BCE to around the end of the Warring States Period...

.
17 Wang Mang imposes government monopolies on liquor, salt, iron, coinage, forestry, and fishing. Mother Lü
Mother Lü
Mother Lü was a Chinese woman who lived during the reign of Wang Mang. When her son, Lü Yu, was executed for not collecting taxes from the peasants, she began a peasant rebellion against Wang Mang.-Source:*...

 initiates rebellion against a county magistrate in Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

 province.
18 Death of Yang Xiong, a poet, Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

 and author who wrote the first dialect dictionary of China, the Fangyan
Fangyan
The Fāngyán , edited by Yang Xiong, was the first Chinese dictionary of dialectal terms. The full title is Yóuxuān shǐzhĕ juédài yǔ shì biéguó fāngyán "Local speeches of other countries in times immemorial explained by the Light-Carriage Messenger," which alludes to a Zhou Dynasty tradition of...

.
23 Battle of Kunyang
Battle of Kunyang
The Battle of Kunyang was fought between June–July in 23AD, between the resurgent Han and Xin forces. The Han forces were led by Liu Xiu, while the far more numerous Xin were led by Wang Yi and Wang Xun...

 
Storming of Weiyang Palace
Weiyang Palace
Weiyang Palace was a palace complex, located near the city of Chang'an . Built in 200 BC at the request of Han Gaozu, under the supervision of his prime minister Xiao He, it served as the administrative centre and imperial residence of the Western Han Dynasty, as well as the Western Jin dynasty...

, Wang Mang is killed, Emperor Gengshi
Emperor Gengshi of Han
Emperor Gengshi of Han, ch. 漢更始帝, py. gèng shĭ dì, wg. Keng-Shih-ti, , also known as the Prince of Huaiyang , courtesy name Shenggong , was an emperor of the restored Chinese Han Dynasty following the fall of Wang Mang's Xin...

 restores the Han Dynasty.

Eastern Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
23 Emperor Gengshi
Emperor Gengshi of Han
Emperor Gengshi of Han, ch. 漢更始帝, py. gèng shĭ dì, wg. Keng-Shih-ti, , also known as the Prince of Huaiyang , courtesy name Shenggong , was an emperor of the restored Chinese Han Dynasty following the fall of Wang Mang's Xin...

 
25 Emperor Guangwu
Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...

 
27 Chimei
Chimei
Chimei refers, as an umbrella term, to one of the two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, that eventually led to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources, allowing the leader of the other...

 rebels surrender to Han authority after defeat
31 Prefect Du Shi
Du Shi
Du Shi was a Chinese governmental Prefect of Nanyang in 31 AD and a mechanical engineer of the Eastern Han Dynasty in ancient China. Du Shi is credited with being the first to apply hydraulic power to operate bellows in metallurgy...

 invents waterwheel-powered bellows
Bellows
A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...

 for the blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...

 in making cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

.
33 Rebellion of Gongsun Shu; Gongsun blockades the width of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

 with a fortified floating pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

, but his defenses give in once Han general Cen Peng employs "castle ships" to ram and attack Gongsun's rebel navy
43 Second Chinese domination of Vietnam 
52 The first known gazetteer
Gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...

 of China, the Yuejue Shu, is written.
57 Sino-Japanese relations 
58 Death of chancellor Deng Yu
Deng Yu
Deng Yu , courtesy name Zhonghua , was a Han Dynasty general and statesman who was a major contributor to Emperor Guangwu 's campaign to reestablish the Han Dynasty...

.
65 Liu Ying
Liu Ying
Liu Ying was a son of Emperor Guangwu of Han, and half-brother of Emperor Ming. After becoming Prince of Chu, he was a known supporter of many religions...

, son of Emperor Guangwu, sponsors Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

.
68 White Horse Temple
White Horse Temple
White Horse Temple is, according to tradition, the first Buddhist temple in China, established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming in the Eastern Han capital Luoyang. Today the site is located just outside the walls of the ancient Eastern Han capital, some east of Luoyang in Henan...

, the first Buddhist temple in China, is founded.
73 Battle of Yiwulu
Battle of Yiwulu
The Battle of Yiwulu, was a battle under a major expedition against the Xiongnu launched by the Han Dynasty in the February, 73, ever since the fall of Xin Dynasty. The battle was a success for the Han, who were led by Dou Gu...

 
83 Wang Chong
Wang Chong
Wang Chong , courtesy name Zhongren , was a Chinese philosopher active during the Han Dynasty. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic account of the world and of human beings and gave a materialistic explanation of the origin of the universe. His main work was the Lùnhéng...

 correctly theorizes the nature of the water cycle
Water cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and solid at various places in the water cycle...

; he is also the first in Chinese history to mention the use of the chain pump.
87 Yuan An
Yuan An
Yuan An 袁安 was a prominent scholar, administrator and statesman at the Han Dynasty courts of Emperor Zhang and Emperor He...

, an advocate of marriage alliance policies with the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

, is promoted to the position of Minister over the Masses
Minister over the Masses
Minister over the Masses was one of the three most important official posts during the Han Dynasty, called the Three Excellencies. The nominal salary attached was 20,000 dàn of grain. The position and title had existed since the Warring States, but was only standardised during the Qin Dynasty....

.
88 Emperor He 
89 Battle of Ikh Bayan
Battle of Ikh Bayan
The Battle of Ikh Bayan , was a major expedition launched against the Xiongnu by the Han Dynasty in June, 89. The battle was a success for the Han under Dou Xian The Battle of Ikh Bayan , was a major expedition launched against the Xiongnu by the Han Dynasty in June, 89. The battle was a success...

 
97 Ban Chao
Ban Chao
Ban Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....

 sends envoy Gan Ying
Gan Ying
Gan Ying , was a Chinese military ambassador who was sent on a mission to Rome in 97 CE by the Chinese general Ban Chao.Although Gan Ying never reached Rome, only travelling to as far as the Parthian coast of the Persian Gulf, he is, at least in the historical records, the Chinese who went the...

 to the outskirts of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

.
100 The Shuowen Jiezi
Shuowen Jiezi
The Shuōwén Jiězì was an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary , it was still the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them , as well as the first to use the...

dictionary is completed by Xu Shen
Xu Shen
Xǔ Shèn was a Chinese philologist of the Han Dynasty. He was the author of Shuowen Jiezi, the first Chinese dictionary with character analysis, as well as the first to organize the characters by shared components. It contains over 9,000 character entries under 540 radicals, explaining the origins...

.
105 Cai Lun
Cai Lun
Cai Lun , courtesy name Jingzhong , was a Chinese eunuch. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper...

 invents papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...

 
Goguryeo-Han Wars
106 Emperor Shang
Emperor Shang of Han
Emperor Shang of Han, ch. 漢殤帝, py. Hàn Shāng dì, wg. Han Shang-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty....

 
111 Ban Zhao
Ban Zhao
Bān Zhāo , courtesy name Huiban , was the first known female Chinese historian. She completed her brother Ban Gu's work as he was imprisoned and executed in the year 92 BCE. because of his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou. It was said her works could have filled eight volumes...

 completes the Book of Han
Book of Han
The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty |Fan Ye]] . Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE...

, which was begun by her father Ban Biao
Ban Biao
Ban Biao , courtesy name , was a Chinese historian, and an official born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han Dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng....

 and continued by her older brother Ban Gu
Ban Gu
Ban Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century Chinese historian and poet best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han. He also wrote in the main poetic genre of the Han era, a kind of poetry interspersed with prose called fu. Some are anthologized by Xiao Tong in his Selections of...

.
120 Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

 completes his star catalogue
Star catalogue
A star catalogue, or star catalog, is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, and this article covers only some...

, documenting 2,500 stars in over 100 constellations, writes a new formula for pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

, corrected mistakes in the Chinese calendar
Chinese calendar
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well...

, gave reasoning for a spherical moon that reflects light, and noted that lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...

 occurred when the earth obstructed the sunlight reaching the moon, while a solar eclipse
Solar eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...

 was the moon's obstruction of sunlight reaching earth.
125 Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

 invents the first hydraulic-powered armillary sphere
Armillary sphere
An armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky , consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features such as the ecliptic...

, given motive power by a waterwheel and incorporating an inflow water clock
Water clock
A water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions...

, the latter of which he improved by adding a compensating tank between the reservoir and the inflow vessel.
The earliest known Chinese depiction of a mechanical distance-marking odometer
Odometer
An odometer or odograph is an instrument that indicates distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or automobile. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two. The word derives from the Greek words hodós and métron...

 is drawn on a mural of the Xiaotangshan Tomb.
132 Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

 invents a seismometer
Seismometer
Seismometers are instruments that measure motions of the ground, including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other seismic sources...

 device that, with a pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...

 and complex set of gears and cranks, is able to discern the cardinal direction
Cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...

 of earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s by the dropping of bronze balls into wrought toad's mouths indicating the direction.
Birth of Cai Yong
Cai Yong
Cai Yong was a Chinese scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was well-versed in calligraphy, music, mathematics and astronomy. One of his daughters is the famous Cai Wenji.-Early life:...

, a mathematician, astronomer, musician and calligrapher.
142 Emperor Shun
Emperor Shun of Han
Emperor Shun of Han, trad. ch. 漢順帝;, sim. ch. 漢顺帝, py. hàn shùn dì, wg. Han Shun-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the seventh emperor of the Eastern Han period...

 
The Kinship of the Three
The Kinship of the Three
The Cantong qi is deemed to be the earliest book on alchemy in China. The title has been variously translated as Kinship of the Three, Akinness of the Three, Triplex Unity, The Seal of the Unity of the Three, and in several other ways...

 
147 Birth of Lokaksema
Lokaksema
Lokakṣema , born around 147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana sutras into the Chinese language and as such was an important figure in Buddhism in China. The name Lokakṣema means 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit.-Origins:Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity...

, a Yuezhi
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi, or Rouzhi , also known as the Da Yuezhi or Da Rouzhi , were an ancient Central Asian people....

 monk from Kushan
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...

 who translated Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...

 Buddhist texts into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.
148 An Shigao, a Persian prince from Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

, arrives in China in this year to translate Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...

 and Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...

 Buddhist texts into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.
166 Roman embassy
Sino-Roman relations
Romano-Chinese relations were essentially indirect throughout the existence of both empires. The Roman Empire and Han China progressively inched closer in the course of the Roman expansion into the Ancient Near East and simultaneous Chinese military incursions into Central Asia...

 reaches China.
Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions
Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions
The Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions refers to two incidents in which a number of Confucian scholars who served as officials in the Han imperial government and opposed to powerful eunuchs, and the university students in the capital Luoyang who supported them The Disasters of Partisan...

168 Emperor Ling
Emperor Ling of Han
Emperor Ling of Han, trad. ch. 漢靈帝;, sim. ch. 汉灵帝, py. hàn líng dì, wg. Han Ling-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out during Emperor Ling's reign.Emperor Ling's reign saw yet another repetition of...

 
177 Birth of Cai Wenji
Cai Wenji
Cai Wenji , also known as Cai Yan, was a Han Dynasty poet and composer. She was the daughter of Cai Yong, also a musician. Her style name was originally Zhaoji, but it was changed to Wenji during the Jin Dynasty to avoid a naming conflict with Sima Zhao.She spent part of her life as a prisoner of...

, a female poet and music composer.
179 Earliest known reference to The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art is a Chinese mathematics book, composed by several generations of scholars from the 10th–2nd century BCE, its latest stage being from the 1st century CE...

180 Ding Huan invents the manual-powered rotary fan
Fan (mechanical)
A mechanical fan is a machine used to create flow within a fluid, typically a gas such as air.A fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades which act on the air. Usually, it is contained within some form of housing or case. This may direct the airflow or increase safety by preventing...

, which is recorded in the Book of the Later Han as being able to make halls cool enough for people to shiver during the summer. During the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

, hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...

 were applied to power the rotary fan first innovated by Ding.
184 Yellow Turban Rebellion
Yellow Turban Rebellion
The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

 
Liang Province Rebellion
185 Zhi Yao
Zhi Yao
Zhi Yao was a Kushan Buddhist monk from modern day Kabul, Afghanistan of Yuezhi ethnicity. He was involved with the translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese around 185 CE. His origin is described in his adopted Chinese surname Zhi, abbreviation of Yuezhi.Zhi Yao was a student of Lokaksema...

, a Yuezhi
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi, or Rouzhi , also known as the Da Yuezhi or Da Rouzhi , were an ancient Central Asian people....

 monk from Kushan
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...

, translates Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 texts into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.
189 Emperor Shao
Prince of Hongnong
The Prince of Hongnong , was briefly an emperor of China during the Han dynasty. He is also known as "Emperor Han Shao" , a name which he shares with several other emperors with brief reigns...

 
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

 deposes Emperor Shao (demoted to the status of Prince of Hongnong
Prince of Hongnong
The Prince of Hongnong , was briefly an emperor of China during the Han dynasty. He is also known as "Emperor Han Shao" , a name which he shares with several other emperors with brief reigns...

)
Massacre of eunuchs
Ten Attendants
The Ten Attendants were a group of eunuchs from the Eunuch Faction of the Han Imperial Court in China...

190 Emperor Xian
Emperor Xian of Han
Emperor Xian of Han , personal name Liu Xie, style name Bohe, was the last emperor of the Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

 
Campaign against Dong Zhuo
Campaign against Dong Zhuo
The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of State, in 190 during the late Han Dynasty of Chinese history...

 
Battle of Xingyang
191 Battle of Jieqiao
Battle of Jieqiao
The Battle of Jieqiao or the Battle of Jie Bridge was a military engagement fought between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in 191, at the beginning of the civil wars in China leading up to the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was the first significant clash of arms between the rival warlords in the contest...

 
Battle of Yangcheng
Battle of Yangcheng
The Battle of Yangcheng was a battle fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu as the coalition against Dong Zhuo fell apart in 191 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

, Battle of Xiangyang
Battle of Xiangyang (191)
The Battle of Xiangyang in 191 was a battle fought between Sun Jian and Liu Biao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Liu Biao emerged victorious against Sun Jian's forces...

192 Lü Bu
Lü Bu
Lü Bu was a military general and later a minor warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Lü Bu was highly-skilled in horse-riding and archery, and was thus nicknamed "Flying General"...

 murders Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

 in an assassination plot masterminded by minister Wang Yun
Wang Yun
Wang Yun was a Minister over the Masses under Emperor Xian during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. During Wang Yun's time, the emperors were mere puppets under the power of eunuchs and warlords. In 192, Wang Yun plotted and successfully staged Lü Bu's assassination of Dong Zhuo, the...

.
193 Battle of Fengqiu
Battle of Fengqiu
The Battle of Fengqiu was a battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu in the spring of 193 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Cao Cao emerged victorious against Yuan Shu's forces.-The battle:...

 
194 Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong  Battle of Yan Province
Battle of Yan Province
The Battle of Yan Province was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu for control of Yan Province during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

197 Battle of Wancheng
Battle of Wancheng
The Battle of Wancheng or Battle of Wan City was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu in 197 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
198 Battle of Xiapi
Battle of Xiapi
The Battle of Xiapi was a battle fought by the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 198 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
Battle of Yijing
Battle of Yijing
The Battle of Yijing was a battle that took place in northern China between 198 and 199 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

199 Campaign against Yuan Shu
Campaign against Yuan Shu
The campaign against Yuan Shu was a punitive expedition that took place in 199 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The campaign was initiated by the Han Dynasty government against the Zhong Dynasty of Yuan Shu, after Yuan declared himself "Son of Heaven", an act...

 
200 Battle of Guandu
Battle of Guandu
The Battle of Guandu was a military conflict between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle, which concluded with victory for Cao Cao, was a turning point in the war between the two warlords...

 
202 Battle of Bowang
Battle of Bowang
The Battle of Bowang, also known as the Battle of Bowang Slope, was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 202 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.-Background:...

 
204 Gongsun Kang
Gongsun Kang
Gongsun Kang was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He became a vassal of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period.-Biography:...

, a Chinese warlord of Liaodong, establishes the Daifang Commandery
Daifang Commandery
Daifang Commandery was one of the remnants of the Four Commanderies of Han in the Korean peninsula.-History:Gongsun Kang, a warlord in Liaodong, separated the southern half from the Lelang commandery and established the Daifang commandery in 204 to make administration more efficient...

 in northern Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

.
208 Battle of Red Cliffs
Battle of Red Cliffs
The Battle of Red Cliffs, otherwise known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. It was fought in the winter of 208/9 AD between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan...

 
Battle of Changban
Battle of Changban
The Battle of Changban was a battle fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 208 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

, Battle of Xiakou
Battle of Xiakou
The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery , which was defended by Liu Biao's general Huang Zu...

, Battle of Yiling
Battle of Yiling (208)
The Battle of Yiling of 208 was fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Cao Cao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was an integral part in the Red Cliffs campaign, as it was fought immediately after the major engagement at Wulin during the Battle of Red...

, Battle of Jiangling
Battle of Jiangling
The Battle of Jiangling was fought by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei against Cao Cao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

211 Battle of Tong Pass
Battle of Tong Pass (211)
The Battle of Tong Pass was fought between the warlord Cao Cao and a coalition of forces from Guanxi from March to September 211 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was initiated by Cao Cao's western expansion, which triggered uprisings in Guanxi...

 
213 Siege of Jicheng
Siege of Jicheng
The Siege of Jicheng was a part of the campaign Ma Chao initiated in an attempt to retake Liang Province after the coalition of warlords from Guanxi was defeated at the Battle of Tong Pass in the winter of 211 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.-Background:Being...

 
Battle of Lucheng
214 Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province was a military campaign by the warlord Liu Bei in taking control of Yi Province from its Governor, Liu Zhang. The campaign took place between 212 and 215 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
Battle of Jiameng Pass
Battle of Jiameng Pass
The Battle of Jiameng Pass is a fictional battle described in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The battle was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Zhang Lu in 214 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

215 Battle of Yangping
Battle of Yangping
The Battle of Yangping, also known as the Battle of Yangping Pass, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Zhang Lu in 215 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle concluded with victory for Cao Cao....

 
Battle of Baxi
Battle of Baxi
The Battle of Baxi was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 215 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Liu Bei's forces, led by Zhang Fei, scored a victory over Cao Cao's army, which was led by Zhang He....

217 Battle of Xiaoyao Ford
Battle of Xiaoyao Ford
The Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, also known as the Battle of Leisure Ford, Battle of Hefei, and Hefei Campaign, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Sun Quan between 215 and 217 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history over the control of Hefei...

 
Battle of Ruxukou
218 Battle of Mount Dingjun
Battle of Mount Dingjun
The Battle of Mount Dingjun was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Liu Bei's victory in the battle marked a major milestone in his Hanzhong Campaign.-The battle:...

 
219 Lü Meng's invasion of Jing Province
Lü Meng's invasion of Jing Province
Lü Meng's invasion of Jing Province was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei in 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sun Quan's forces, led by Lü Meng, invaded Liu Bei's territory of Jing Province , which was defended by Guan Yu, and succeeded...

 
Battle of Han River
Battle of Han River
The Battle of Han River was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

, Battle of Fancheng
Battle of Fancheng
The Battle of Fancheng was fought between the forces of warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

220 Cao Pi
Cao Pi
Cao Pi , formally known as Emperor Wen of Wei, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Born in Qiao County, Pei Commandery , he was the second son of the late Han Dynasty warlord Cao Cao.Cao Pi, like his father, was a poet...

 forces Emperor Xian to abdicate and proclaims himself Emperor of Cao Wei
Cao Wei
Cao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...

.

Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

Date Emperor
(Cao Wei
Cao Wei
Cao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...

)
Emperor
(Shu Han
Shu Han
Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu...

)
Emperor
(Eastern Wu
Eastern Wu
Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan region of China...

)
Events Other people/events
221 Cao Pi
Cao Pi
Cao Pi , formally known as Emperor Wen of Wei, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Born in Qiao County, Pei Commandery , he was the second son of the late Han Dynasty warlord Cao Cao.Cao Pi, like his father, was a poet...

 
Liu Bei
Liu Bei
Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

 
Battle of Xiaoting
Battle of Xiaoting
The Battle of Xiaoting, also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting, was fought between the states of Eastern Wu and Shu Han in 222 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
222 Sun Quan
Sun Quan
Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....

 
Battle of Yiling
Battle of Xiaoting
The Battle of Xiaoting, also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting, was fought between the states of Eastern Wu and Shu Han in 222 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
225 Liu Shan
Liu Shan
Liu Shan, , was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. As he ascended the throne at the young age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretariat Li Yan...

 
Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign, also known as the War of Pacification in Nanzhong, refers to a military campaign led by Shu Han chancellor Zhuge Liang to suppress opposing forces in the south in 225 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
227 Cao Rui
Cao Rui
Cao Rui , formally known as Emperor Ming of Wei, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was a son of Cao Wei's first emperor Cao Pi according to Liu Song dynasty historian, Pei Songzhi, but was a son of Yuan Xi according to modern...

 
Battle of Xincheng
Battle of Xincheng
The Battle of Xincheng referred to two rebellions by Meng Da against the state of Cao Wei in coordination with the rival state of Shu Han from 227 to 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The revolts were suppressed by the Cao Wei general Sima Yi in 228.-The battle:Zhuge Liang...

 
228 Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions  Battle of Tianshui
Battle of Tianshui
The Revolt of Tianshui refers to the rebellions that broke out in northwest China in the spring of 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Military forces from the state of Shu Han, led by chancellor Zhuge Liang, planned to seize control of Chang'an, a strategic city in the rival...

, Battle of Jieting
Battle of Jieting
The Battle of Jieting was fought between the states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was part of the first Northern Expedition led by Shu's chancellor Zhuge Liang to attack Wei...

, Battle of Shiting
Battle of Shiting
The Battle of Shiting was fought between the contending states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle concluded with victory of Wu over Wei.-The battle:...

, Siege of Chencang
Siege of Chencang
The Siege of Chencang was a siege of the Cao Wei stronghold at Chencang by forces of the rival state of Shu Han from December 228 to early 229 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The siege was part of second Northern Expedition led by Shu's chancellor Zhuge Liang to attack Wei...

232 Death of Cao Zhi
Cao Zhi
Cao Zhi was a poet who lived during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. His poetry style, greatly revered during the Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, came to be known as the Jian'an style....

, a famous poet and son of Cao Cao
Cao Cao
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

.
234 Battle of Wuzhang Plains
Battle of Wuzhang Plains
The Battle of Wuzhang Plains was a standoff between the contending states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 234 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
244 Cao Fang
Cao Fang
Cao Fang , formally known as Duke Li of Shaoling, was the third emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He retained the title Prince of Qi after he was deposed by the regent Sima Shi...

 
Battle of Xingshi
Battle of Xingshi
The Battle of Xingshi was a failed invasion on the state of Shu Han by its rival Cao Wei in 244 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
247 Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions
Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions
Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions refer to a series of nine military campaigns launched by Shu Han general Jiang Wei against the rival state of Cao Wei from 247 to 262 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Each expedition was aborted eventually due to inadequate food supplies or...

 
248 The rebellion of Triệu Thị Trinh
Trieu Thi Trinh
Triệu Thị Trinh was a Vietnamese female warrior in 3rd century AD Vietnam who managed, for a time, to successfully resist the Kingdom of Wu during their occupation of Vietnam...

 in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 is crushed by Eastern Wu
Eastern Wu
Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan region of China...

.
249 Incident at Gaoping Tombs
Incident at Gaoping Tombs
The Incident at Gaoping Tombs in 249 was a coup d'etat that occurred in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The parties involved were Cao Shuang and Sima Yi. Sima Yi seized power during the coup and had Cao Shuang killed...

 
250 Introduction of Buddhism in China
Buddhism in China
Chinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.At the peak of the...

 
255 Cao Mao
Cao Mao
Cao Mao , formally known as the Duke of Gaogui, was the fourth emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was a grandson of Cao Wei's first emperor Cao Pi. Described as intelligent and studious, Cao Mao made repeated attempts to seize back state power...

 
Sun Liang
Sun Liang
Sun Liang was the second emperor of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was the founding emperor Sun Quan's youngest son and heir...

 
Ma Jun
Ma Jun
Ma Jun , style name Deheng , was a Chinese mechanical engineer and government official during the Three Kingdoms era of China...

 invents the south-pointing chariot, a mechanical directional pathfinder that acts like a compass in that it always points south. This device may have employed a differential gear system, the same found in modern automobiles.
Battle of Didao
Battle of Didao
The Battle of Didao, also known as the Battle of Taoxi, was fought between the states of Shu Han and Cao Wei in 255 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle concluded with a Wei Pyrrhic victory.-Prelude:...

, Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin start a rebellion in Shouchun
Three Rebellions in Shouchun
The Three Rebellions in Shouchun, also known as Three Rebellions in Huainan, were a series of revolts that occurred in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The rebellions broke out in the later years of Cao Wei when the Sima clan, headed by Sima Yi, usurped...

263 Cao Huan
Cáo Huàn
Cao Huan , formally known as Emperor Yuan of Wei, was the fifth and last emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history....

 
Sun Xiu  Conquest of Shu by Wei
Conquest of Shu by Wei
The conquest of Shu by Wei was a military campaign launched by the state of Cao Wei against its rival Shu Han in 263 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The campaign culminated in the fall of Shu and the tripartite equilibrium maintained in China for over 40 years since the end of...

 
Liu Hui
Liu Hui
Liu Hui was a mathematician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In 263, he edited and published a book with solutions to mathematical problems presented in the famous Chinese book of mathematic known as The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art .He was a...

 publishes the revised version of The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art is a Chinese mathematics book, composed by several generations of scholars from the 10th–2nd century BCE, its latest stage being from the 1st century CE...

, with Liu's commentary.
265 Sun Hao
Sun Hao
Sun Hao , style name Yuanzong , originally named Sun Pengzu with the style name Yuanzong , was the fourth and last emperor of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. He was the son of Sun He, a one-time crown prince of the founding emperor Sun Quan...

 
Nine-rank system
Nine-rank system
The nine rank system , or much less commonly nine grade controller system, was a civil service nomination system during the Three Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China...

 
280 Emperor Wu of Jin
Emperor Wu of Jìn
Emperor Wu of Jin, , personal name Sima Yan , style name Anshi , was the grandson of Sima Yi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, last ruler of the state of Cao Wei, to abdicate to him. He reigned from 265 to 290, and after conquering the...

 
Conquest of Wu by Jin
Conquest of Wu by Jin
The conquest of Wu by Jin was a military campaign launched by the Jin Dynasty against the state of Eastern Wu in 280 towards the end of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 

Western Jin Dynasty

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
265 Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Jìn
Emperor Wu of Jin, , personal name Sima Yan , style name Anshi , was the grandson of Sima Yi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, last ruler of the state of Cao Wei, to abdicate to him. He reigned from 265 to 290, and after conquering the...

 
Sometime between this year and 271, the Jin Dynasty cartographer and geographer Pei Xiu
Pei Xiu
Pei Xiu , style name Jiyan , was a minister, geographer, and cartographer of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, as well as the subsequent Jin Dynasty. Pei Xiu was very much trusted by Sima Zhao, and participated in the suppression of Zhuge Dan's coup...

 noted a groundbreaking development in Chinese cartography, as he was the first to describe the grid reference
Grid reference
Grid references define locations on maps using Cartesian coordinates. Grid lines on maps define the coordinate system, and are numbered to provide a unique reference to features....

 and graduated scale
Scale (map)
The scale of a map is defined as the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.If the region of the map is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, then the scale may be taken as a constant ratio over the whole map....

 of measurement for Chinese maps; however, it is known that grids and familiarity with scaled distance on maps existing beforehand, while scholars point to evidence that it might have been an original innovation of Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

.
271
280 Unification of China, Conquest of Wu by Jin
Conquest of Wu by Jin
The conquest of Wu by Jin was a military campaign launched by the Jin Dynasty against the state of Eastern Wu in 280 towards the end of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

 
Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms , is regarded as the official and authoritative historical text on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history covering the years 184-280 CE. Written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century, the work combines the smaller histories of the rival states of Cao Wei , Shu Han and...

by Chen Shou
Chen Shou
Chen Shou was a historian during the Jin Dynasty period of Chinese history. He is best known as the author of Records of Three Kingdoms, a historical account of the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period.-Biography:...

290 Emperor Hui
Emperor Hui of Jin
Emperor Hui of Jin, sim. ch. 晋惠帝, trad. ch. 晉惠帝, py. jìn huì dì, wg. Chin Hui-ti , personal name Sima Zhong , courtesy name Zhengdu , was the second emperor of the Jin Dynasty...

 
291 War of the Eight Princes
War of the Eight Princes
The War of the Eight Princes or Rebellion of the Eight Kings or Rebellion of the Eight Princes was a civil war for power among princes and dukes of the Chinese Jin Dynasty from AD 291 to AD 306. It was fought mostly in northern China and devastated the country, later triggering the Wu Hu ravaging...

 
304 Sixteen Kingdoms
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereign states in China proper and its neighboring areas from 304 to 439 AD after the retreat of the Jin Dynasty to South China and before the establishment of the Northern Dynasties...

 (Han Zhao
Han Zhao
The Han Zhao , or Former Zhao, or Northern Han , was a Southern Xiongnu state during Sixteen Kingdoms period coeval with the Chinese Jin Dynasty...

, Later Zhao
Later Zhao
The Later Zhao was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity...

, Cheng Han
Cheng Han
The Cheng Han was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It represented two states, the Cheng state proclaimed in 304 by Li Xiong and the Han state in 338 by Li Shou...

, Former Liang
Former Liang
The Former Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin dynasty in China. It was founded by the Zhang family of the Han Chinese...

, Later Liang
Later Liang
The Later Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Lü family of the Di ethnicity.All rulers of the Later Liang proclaimed themselves "Heavenly Prince" ....

, Northern Liang
Northern Liang
The Northern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Xiongnu Juqu family, although they initially supported the Han official Duan Ye as prince, they overthrew him in 401 and took over themselves....

, Western Liang
Western Liang
The Western Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Li family of the Han Chinese. The founder of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan , traced his ancestry to the Western Liang rulers....

, Southern Liang
Southern Liang
The Southern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. The founding family Tufa was of Xianbei ethnicity and distant relative of the Tuoba imperial house of Northern Wei...

, Former Yan
Former Yan
The Former Yan was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin Dynasty -created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, after seizing most of the former Later Zhao territory, Murong Juan would...

, Later Yan
Later Yan
The Later Yan was a Murong-Xianbei state, located in modern day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.All rulers of the Later Yan declared themselves "emperors". Later Yan fell to the Goguryeo dynasty.-Rulers of the Later Yan:...

, Northern Yan
Northern Yan
The Northern Yan was a state of Han Chinese during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.The second Emperor of Northern Yan, Feng Ba, was Han chinese.All rulers of the Northern Yan declared themselves "emperors".-Rulers of the Northern Yan:...

, Southern Yan
Southern Yan
The Southern Yan was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Its territory roughly coincided with modern Shandong...

, Former Qin
Former Qin
The Former Qin was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Founded by the Fu family of the Di ethnicity, it completed the unification of North China in 376. Its capital had been Xi'an up to the death of the ruler Fu Jiān. Despite its name, the Former Qin was much later and less powerful than...

, Later Qin
Later Qin
The Later Qin was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. Note that the Later Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Western Qin....

, Western Qin
Western Qin
The Western Qin was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Note that the Western Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Later Qin....

, Xia
Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms)
Tiefu was a pre-state Xiongnu tribe during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Its chieftain Liu Bobo established the state of Xia in 407 and changed his family name into Helian....

)
306
307 Emperor Huai
Emperor Huai of Jin
Emperor Huai of Jin, sim. ch. 晋怀帝, trad. ch. 晉懷帝, py. Jìn Huáidì, wg. Chin Huai-ti , personal name Sima Chi , courtesy name Fengdu , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty ....

 
311 Emperor Min
Emperor Min of Jin
Emperor Min of Jin, Simplified Chinese character 晋愍帝, Traditional Chinese character 晉愍帝, Pinyin. Jìn Mǐndì, Wade-Giles Chin Min-ti , personal name Sima Ye , courtesy name Yanqi , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the last of the Western Jin Dynasty.Emperor Min surrendered in 316 to Liu Yao, a...

 
Emperor Huai
Emperor Huai of Jin
Emperor Huai of Jin, sim. ch. 晋怀帝, trad. ch. 晉懷帝, py. Jìn Huáidì, wg. Chin Huai-ti , personal name Sima Chi , courtesy name Fengdu , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty ....

 is captured by Han Zhao
Han Zhao
The Han Zhao , or Former Zhao, or Northern Han , was a Southern Xiongnu state during Sixteen Kingdoms period coeval with the Chinese Jin Dynasty...

 forces, the capital is moved from Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...

 to Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

.
313 The state of Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

 in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

 and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 conquers the Jin-Chinese Lelang Commandery
Lelang Commandery
Lelang was one of the Chinese commanderies which was established after the fall of Gojoseon in 108 BC until Goguryeo conquered it in 313. Lelang Commandery was located in the northern Korean peninsula with the administrative center near modern P'yongyang....

.
316 Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

 falls, Emperor Min
Emperor Min of Jin
Emperor Min of Jin, Simplified Chinese character 晋愍帝, Traditional Chinese character 晉愍帝, Pinyin. Jìn Mǐndì, Wade-Giles Chin Min-ti , personal name Sima Ye , courtesy name Yanqi , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the last of the Western Jin Dynasty.Emperor Min surrendered in 316 to Liu Yao, a...

 surrenders to Liu Yao
Liu Yao
Liu Yao , courtesy name Yongming , was the final emperor of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empire was soon divided in half, as the general Shi Le declared...

, a general of the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

 state Han Zhao
Han Zhao
The Han Zhao , or Former Zhao, or Northern Han , was a Southern Xiongnu state during Sixteen Kingdoms period coeval with the Chinese Jin Dynasty...

. The Eastern Jin Dynasty's capital is established in Jiankang
Jiankang
Jiankang was the capital city of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties. Its walls are extant ruins in the modern municipal region of Nanjing.-History:...

 (present-day Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

).
318 Emperor Min is executed by Liu Cong, emperor of Han Zhao
Han Zhao
The Han Zhao , or Former Zhao, or Northern Han , was a Southern Xiongnu state during Sixteen Kingdoms period coeval with the Chinese Jin Dynasty...

.

Eastern Jin Dynasty

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
317 Emperor Yuan
Emperor Yuan of Jin
Emperor Yuan of Jin , personal name Sima Rui , courtesy name Jingwen , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the first of the Eastern Jin Dynasty...

 
Sixteen Kingdoms
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereign states in China proper and its neighboring areas from 304 to 439 AD after the retreat of the Jin Dynasty to South China and before the establishment of the Northern Dynasties...

 and Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties is a collective noun for six Chinese dynasties during the periods of the Three Kingdoms , Jin Dynasty , and Southern and Northern Dynasties ....

 
322 First accurate tomb depiction of stirrup
Stirrup
A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...

s.
323 Emperor Ming
Emperor Ming of Jin
Emperor Ming of Jin , personal name Sima Shao , courtesy name Daoji , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty...

 
324 The sick and ailing rebel Wang Dun
Wang Dun
Wang Dun , courtesy name Chuzhong , was a Jin Dynasty general and later warlord.Having brought Emperor Yuan to submission with his military force, Wang Dun had paramount authorities. However, although he later appeared to intend to seize the Jin throne by force, he grew ill in 324...

 dies while his forces are defeated by Emperor Ming's troops.
325 Emperor Cheng
Emperor Cheng of Jin
Emperor Cheng of Jin , personal name Sima Yan , courtesy name Shigen , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty . He was the eldest son of Emperor Ming and became the crown prince on April 1, 325...

 
328 Su Jun
Su Jun
Su Jun was a Jin Dynasty general, whose rebellion against Emperor Cheng's regent Yu Liang was initially successful, allowing him to take over the imperial government, but he was eventually defeated by Tao Kan and Wen Jiao's forces and killed in battle...

, who waged war against the regent Yu Liang
Yu Liang
Yu Liang , courtesy name Yuangui , formally Marquess Wenkang of Duting , was a Jin Dynasty official and general who impressed many with his knowledge but whose inability to tolerate dissent and overly high evaluation of his own abilities led to the disastrous revolt of Su Jun, weakening Jin's...

, is defeated by generals Tao Kan
Tao Kan
Tao Kan , courtesy name Shixing , formally Duke Huan of Changsha , was a renowned Jin Dynasty general and governor. He was the great-grandfather of the Jin Dynasty poet Tao Yuanming.- Early career :...

 and Wen Jiao
Wen Jiao
Wen Jiao , courtesy name Taizhen , formally Duke Zhongwu of Shi'an , was a renowned Jin Dynasty general and governor.-Family:...

.
342 Emperor Kang
Emperor Kang of Jin
Emperor Kang of Jin , personal name Sima Yue , courtesy name Shitong , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty . He was a son of Emperor Ming and younger brother of Emperor Cheng...

 
344 Emperor Mu
Emperor Mu of Jin
Emperor Mu of Jin , personal name Sima Dan , courtesy name Pengzi , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty...

 
353 Calligrapher Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi was a Chinese calligrapher, traditionally referred to as the Sage of Calligraphy , who lived during the Jin Dynasty...

 writes the Lantingji Xu in semi-cursive script
Semi-cursive script
Semi-cursive script is a cursive style of Chinese characters. Because it is not as abbreviated as cursive, most people who can read regular script can read semi-cursive....

.
361 Emperor Ai
Emperor Ai of Jin
Emperor Ai of Jin , personal name Sima Pi , courtesy name Qianling , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty . During his brief reign, the actual powers were largely in the hands of his granduncle Sima Yu the Prince of Kuaiji, and the paramount general Huan Wen...

 
365 Emperor Fei
Emperor Fei of Jin
Emperor Fei of Jin , personal name Sima Yi , courtesy name Yanling , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. He was the younger brother of Emperor Ai and later deposed by military leader Huan Wen...

 
366 Painter Gu Kaizhi
Gu Kaizhi
Gu Kaizhi , is a celebrated painter of ancient China. His style name was 'Changkang' . He was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and first painted at Nanjing in 364. In 366, he became an officer . Later he was promoted to royal officer . He was also a talented poet and calligrapher...

 becomes an officer of Jin.
369 Jin general Huan Wen
Huan Wen
Huan Wen , courtesy name Yuanzi , formally Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery , was a general of the Jin Dynasty...

 is defeated by Murong Chui
Murong Chui
Murong Chui , courtesy name Daoming , formally Emperor Wucheng of Yan was a great general of the Chinese/Xianbei state Former Yan who later became the founding emperor of Later Yan...

, a general of the ethnic Xianbei
Xianbei
The Xianbei were a significant Mongolic nomadic people residing in Manchuria, Inner Mongolia and eastern Mongolia. The title “Khan” was first used among the Xianbei.-Origins:...

 state of Former Yan
Former Yan
The Former Yan was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin Dynasty -created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, after seizing most of the former Later Zhao territory, Murong Juan would...

.
372 Emperor Xiaowu
Emperor Xiaowu of Jin
Emperor Xiaowu of Jin , personal name Sima Yao , courtesy name Changming , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China...

 
383 Battle of Fei River
Battle of Fei River
The Battle of Fei River or “Feishui” was a battle in 383, where Fu Jiān of the Di Former Qin Empire was decisively defeated by the numerically inferior Jin army of Eastern Jin....

396 Emperor An
Emperor An of Jin
Emperor An of Jin , personal name Sima Dezong , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. He was described as so developmentally disabled that he was unable to speak, clothe himself, or be able to express whether he was hungry or full...

 
399 Faxian
Faxian
Faxian was a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India, Sri Lanka and Kapilavastu in today's Nepal between 399 and 412 to acquire Buddhist scriptures...

 sails to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 to recover Buddhist texts.
405 Poet Tao Qian goes into retirement for the next 22 years, until his death.
419 Emperor Gong
Emperor Gong of Jin
Emperor Gong of Jin was last emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. He became emperor in 419 after his developmentally disabled brother Emperor An was killed by the regent Liu Yu, and during his brief reign, actual power was in Liu Yu's hands. In 420, under pressure from Liu Yu, he...

 
420 The regent Liu Yu
Emperor Wu of Liu Song
Emperor Wu of Song , personal name Liu Yu , courtesy name Dexing , nickname Jinu , was the founding emperor of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. He came from a humble background, but became prominent after leading a rebellion in 404 to overthrow Huan Xuan, who had usurped the Jin throne in 403...

 seizes the throne from Emperor Gong
Emperor Gong of Jin
Emperor Gong of Jin was last emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. He became emperor in 419 after his developmentally disabled brother Emperor An was killed by the regent Liu Yu, and during his brief reign, actual power was in Liu Yu's hands. In 420, under pressure from Liu Yu, he...

, initiating the Liu Song Dynasty
Liu Song Dynasty
The Liu Song Dynasty , also known as Song Dynasty , Former Song , or Southern Song , was first of the four Southern Dynasties in China, succeeding the Eastern Jin Dynasty and followed by the Southern Qi Dynasty....

.

Southern and Northern Dynasties
Southern and Northern Dynasties
The Southern and Northern Dynasties was a period in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589 AD. Though an age of civil war and political chaos, it was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spreading of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
386
404 Huiyuan, founder of Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism , also referred to as Amidism in English, is a broad branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism and currently one of the most popular traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. Pure Land is a branch of Buddhism focused on Amitābha Buddha...

, writes the book On Why Monks Do Not Bow Down Before Kings, where he argues that Buddhist clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 should stay out of politics but Buddhist laypeople
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

 make good subjects because of belief in karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....

.
439
475 Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...

 arrives in China
477 Oldest known painted depiction of a horse collar
Horse collar
A horse collar is a part of a horse harness device used to distribute load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plow. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wood pieces, called hames, to which the traces of the harness are attached...

, on a cave mural
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes , also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas , form a system of 492 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China...

 of Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...

, Northern Wei
Northern Wei
The Northern Wei Dynasty , also known as the Tuoba Wei , Later Wei , or Yuan Wei , was a dynasty which ruled northern China from 386 to 534 . It has been described as "part of an era of political turbulence and intense social and cultural change"...

.
485 After the well-field system
Well-field system
The well-field system was a Chinese land distribution method existing between the ninth century BCE to around the end of the Warring States Period...

 had fallen out of use, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei , personal name né Tuoba Hong , later Yuan Hong , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei....

 introduces the equal-field system
Equal-field system
The Equal-field system land system was a historical system of land ownership and distribution in China used from the Six Dynasties to Mid-Tang dynasty....

.
496 Change of Xianbei names to Han names
Change of Xianbei names to Han names
The Change of Xianbei family names to Han names was part of a larger sinicization campaign. It was at its peak intensity under Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty in 496.-Background:...

 
501 Cui Hong begins compiling the Shiliuguo Chunqiu
Shiliuguo Chunqiu
The Shiliuguo Chunqiu is a biographial history work compiled by Cui Hong between 501 to 522. It became one of the chief sources for the compilation of the Book of Wei and Book of Jin in the beginning....

523 Songyue Pagoda
Songyue Pagoda
The Songyue Pagoda , constructed in 523 AD, is located at the Songyue Monastery on Mount Song, in Henan province, China. Built during the Northern Wei Dynasty, this pagoda is one of the few intact sixth-century pagodas in China and is also the earliest known Chinese brick pagoda...

 is built, the earliest known fully brick pagoda in China, in departure from the fully timber tradition. It still stands at a height of 40 m (131 ft).
543 The Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important...

 Yupian
Yupian
The Yupian is a circa 543 CE Chinese dictionary edited by Gu Yewang during the Liang Dynasty. It arranges 12,158 character entries under 542 radicals, which differ somewhat from the original 540 in the Shuowen Jiezi...

is completed by Gu Yewang.
581 Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou , personally name né Yuwen Yan , later Yuwen Chan , was the last emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. He became emperor at the age of six, after his father Emperor Xuan formally passed the throne to him, but Emperor Xuan retained the imperial powers...

 is forced to step down from the throne by his regent Yang Jian, who assumes power as Emperor Wen of Sui
Emperor Wen of Sui
Emperor Wen of Sui — personal name Yang Jian , Xianbei name Puliuru Jian , nickname Naluoyan — was the founder and first emperor of China's Sui Dynasty . He was a hard-working administrator and a micromanager. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state...

, initiating the Sui Dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

.

Sui Dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
581 Emperor Wen
Emperor Wen of Sui
Emperor Wen of Sui — personal name Yang Jian , Xianbei name Puliuru Jian , nickname Naluoyan — was the founder and first emperor of China's Sui Dynasty . He was a hard-working administrator and a micromanager. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state...

 
582 Compilation begins on the Jingdian Shiwen
Jingdian Shiwen
Jingdian Shiwen , often abbreviated as Shiwen in Chinese philological literature, was a circa 582-589 CE exegetical dictionary or glossary, edited by the Tang Dynasty classical scholar Lu Deming...

dictionary.
589 Yan Zhitui
Yan Zhitui
Yan Zhitui was a Chinese scholar, calligrapher, painter, musician, and government official who served four different Chinese states during the late Southern and Northern Dynasties: the Liang Dynasty in southern China, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties of northern China, and their...

 makes the first reference to toilet paper
Toilet paper
Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...

 in history.
598 Goguryeo–Sui Wars begin in what is now North Korea.
600 First of the Japanese embassies to China.
601 Lu Fayan publishes the rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

 Qieyun
Qieyun
The Qieyun is a Chinese rime dictionary, published in 601 CE during the Sui Dynasty. The title Qieyun literally means "cutting rimes" referring to the traditional Chinese fănqiè system of spelling, and is thus translatable as "Spelling Rimes."Lù Făyán was the chief editor...

.
602 Third Chinese domination of Vietnam 
604 Emperor Yang
Emperor Yang of Sui
Emperor Yang of Sui , personal name Yang Guang , alternative name Ying , nickname Amo , known as Emperor Ming during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong), was the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, and the second emperor of China's Sui Dynasty.Emperor Yang's original name was Yang Ying, but...

 
605 Imperial examination
Imperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...

s are instituted, beginning a long bureaucratic tradition of scholar-officialdom
Scholar-bureaucrats
Scholar-officials or Scholar-bureaucrats were civil servants appointed by the emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance from the Sui Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, China's last imperial dynasty. These officials mostly came from the well-educated men known as the...

 in China.
Zhaozhou Bridge
Zhaozhou Bridge
The Anji Bridge is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge. Credited to the design of a craftsman named Li Chun, the bridge was constructed in the years 595-605 during the Sui Dynasty...

 completed.
607 Japanese emissary Ono no Imoko
Ono no Imoko
was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period.Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy to the Sui court in 607 , and he delivered the famous letter from Japan's Prince Shōtoku which began "The Son of Heaven where the sun rises...

 arrives in China.
609 Grand Canal of China completed.
610 Engineers Geng Xun and Yuwen Kai improve the clepsydra
Water clock
A water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions...

 clock model when they provided a steelyard balance
Steelyard balance
A steelyard balance or steelyard is a straight-beam balance with arms of unequal length. It incorporates a counterweight which slides along the calibrated longer arm to counterbalance the load and indicate its weight...

 that allowed seasonal adjusment in the pressure head
Pressure head
Pressure head is a term used in fluid mechanics to represent the internal energy of a fluid due to the pressure exerted on its container. It may also be called static pressure head or simply static head...

 of the compensating tank and could then control the rate of flow for different lengths of day and night. The earlier Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

 of the Han Dynasty was the first to add the compensating tank between the reservoir and the inflow vessel.
Emperor Yang collaborates a huge effort for all the commanderies of China to submit gazetteer
Gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...

s describing their local areas and providing maps to the central government, in an effort to maintain control and provide better security.
611 Four Gates Pagoda
Four Gates Pagoda
The Four Gates Pagoda is a Sui Dynasty stone Chinese pagoda located in central Shandong Province, China. It is thought to be the oldest remaining pavilion-style stone pagoda in China...

 is completed.
612 Battle of Salsu
Battle of Salsu
The Battle of Salsu was an enormous battle that occurred in the year AD 612, during the second Goguryeo-Sui War, between the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo and the Chinese Sui Dynasty. Goguryeo cavalry forces, pursuing the Sui army, attacked and defeated it at the Salsu River.In 612 the Sui Emperor...

 
617 After capturing Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

, the rebel-turned-emperor Li Yuan
Emperor Gaozu of Tang
Emperor Gāozǔ of Táng , born Lǐ Yuān , courtesy name Shūdé , was the founder of the Tang Dynasty of China, and the first emperor of this dynasty from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-day Shanxi, and was based in Taiyuan.In 615, Li Yuan was assigned...

 demotes Emperor Yang to the status of a Taishang Huang (retired emperor).

Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
618 Emperor Gaozu
Emperor Gaozu of Tang
Emperor Gāozǔ of Táng , born Lǐ Yuān , courtesy name Shūdé , was the founder of the Tang Dynasty of China, and the first emperor of this dynasty from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-day Shanxi, and was based in Taiyuan.In 615, Li Yuan was assigned...

 
Transition from Sui to Tang
Transition from Sui to Tang
The transition from Sui to Tang refers to a period in which the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty disintegrated into a number of short-lived states, some ruled by former Sui officials and generals and some by agrarian rebel leaders, and then those states were consolidated into Tang Dynasty, founded by...

 
621 Battle of Hulao
Battle of Hulao
The Battle of Hulao of 28 May 621, located just east of Luoyang, was a decisive victory for Li Shimin, through which he was able to subdue two warlords, Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong. Li Shimin led a siege on the city of Luoyang, head of the self-declared emperor Wang Shichong, who solicited help...

 
624 The Yiwen Leiju
Yiwen Leiju
The Yiwen Leiju is a Chinese encyclopedia completed during the Tang Dynasty by the calligrapher Ouyang Xun.It was divided into 47 sections and many subsections. It covered all subjects and contains many quotations from older works, many long lost. It also cites its sources. It was completed by...

encyclopedia is completed by Ouyang Xun
Ouyang Xun
Ouyang Xun , courtesy name Xinben , was a Confucian scholar and calligrapher of the early Tang Dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province.-Achievements:...

.
626 Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Shìmín , was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649...

 
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Eastern Tujue
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Eastern Tujue
Emperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, faced a major threat from Tang's northern neighbor, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, whom his father Emperor Gaozu of Tang had been subjugated by in several manners...

 
Incident at Xuanwu Gate
Incident at Xuanwu Gate
The Incident at Xuanwu Gate refers to an incident on July 2, 626, when Li Shimin the Prince of Qin, a son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang , in an intense rivalry with his older brother Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince and fearing that Li Jiancheng was about to kill him, set an ambush at Xuanwu Gate, the...

635 First Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 arrive in China: Nestorian
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...

 monks from Asia Minor
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 and Persia, building Daqin Pagoda
Daqin Pagoda
Daqin Pagoda in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province, located about two kilometres to the west of Louguantai temple, is the remnant of the earliest surviving Christian church in China. The church and the monastery were built in 640 by early Nestorian missionaries...

. Alopen
Alopen
Alopen is the first recorded Christian missionary to reach China, during the Tang Dynasty. He was a Nestorian, and probably a Syriac-speaker from Persia...

, a Persia bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...

, also writes the Jesus Sutras
Jesus Sutras
The Jesus Sutras are early Chinese language manuscripts of Christian teachings. They are connected with the 7th century mission of Alopen, a Nestorian bishop from Persia....

.
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tuyuhun
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tuyuhun
Emperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, throughout most of his reign, faced challenges from Tang's western neighbor, the state of Tuyuhun, whose Busabuo Khan Murong Fuyun constantly challenged Chinese authority in the border regions...

; also, Book of Liang
Book of Liang
The Book of Liang , was compiled under Yao Silian, completed in 635. The book heavily relied on his father, Yao Ca's original manuscript, as his comments were quoted in several chapters....

is published.
636 Xumi Pagoda
Xumi Pagoda
The Xumi Pagoda or Sumeru Pagoda, also known as Summer Pagoda is a Chinese pagoda of the Buddhist Kaiyuan Monastery west of Zhengding, Hebei province, China. This square-base stone and brick pagoda was built in the year 636 AD during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty...

 is completed.
Compilations of the Book of Chen
Book of Chen
The Book of Chen was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Chen Dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China, and was compiled by the Tang Dynasty historian Yao Silian, completed in 636....

, Book of Northern Qi
Book of Northern Qi
The Book of Northern Qi , was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. It was written by the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao and was completed in 636. It is listed among the official Twenty-Four Histories of China. The original book contains 50 chapters but it was found during...

, Book of Zhou
Book of Zhou
The Book of Zhou was the official history of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, and it ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by the Tang Dynasty historian Linghu Defen and was completed in 636...

, and the Book of Sui
Book of Sui
The Book of Sui was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty, and it ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by a team of historians led by the Tang Dynasty official Wei Zheng and was completed in 636.-External links:* of the Book of Sui,...

.
638 Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tufan
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tufan
Emperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, subjugated the Xianbei state Tuyuhun in 635. Thereafter, Tuyuhun's southwestern neighbor, the Tibetan state Tufan, rose in power and soon displaced Tuyuhun as the major threat to Tang's west...

 
639 Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xueyantuo
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xueyantuo
Emperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, early in his reign, had allied with Xueyantuo, a vassal of the powerful Eastern Tujue Khanate, against Eastern Tujue, which Tang successfully defeated in 630...

 
640 Protectorate General to Pacify the West
Protectorate General to Pacify the West
The Protectorate General to Pacify the West, Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the West, or Anxi Protectorate was a Chinese outpost established by Tang Dynasty in 640 to control the regions of Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains...

 
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xiyu states
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xiyu states
Emperor Taizong of Tang of Tang Dynasty China, after subjugating the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, began to exert his military power toward the Western Regions, then dominated by the Western Turkic Khaganate as well as a number of city-states loosely allied with the Western Turkic Khaganate...

643 Emperor Taizong commissions artist Yan Liben
Yan Liben
Yan Liben , formally Baron Wenzhen of Boling , was a Chinese painter and government official of the early Tang Dynasty. His most renowned work is the Thirteen Emperors Scroll...

 to paint the portraits of 24 different emperors and 18 noted scholars for the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion
Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion
The Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion refer to the 24 portraits that Emperor Taizong of Tang commissioned the great painter Yan Liben to paint on Lingyan Pavilion in 643, within his palace, to commemorate the 24 great contributors to Tang rule. The commission order was issued on March 23, 643...

.
644 Emperor Taizong's campaign against Goguryeo
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Goguryeo
The First Goguryeo–Tang War started when Emperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, asserting that a campaign against Goguryeo was necessary to protect Tang's ally Silla, as well as to punish Goguryeo's Dae Mangniji Yeon Gaesomun for his killing of Goguryeo's...

, Tang allies with Korean Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 during the Goguryeo–Tang Wars 
646 Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions is a narrative of Xuanzang's nineteen year journey through Chang'an to Central Asia and eventually South Asia between 626 and 645...

is compiled by Bianji
Bianji
Bianji was a Chinese Buddhist monk, translator and the author of Great Tang Records on the Western Regions lived during the Tang Dynasty. Little is known about his life, he was a translator of several Buddhist scriptures and sutras before he was executed by Emperor Taizong, who was angry about his...

, documenting the travels of Buddhist monk Xuanzang
Xuanzang
Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...

 through the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

, Kucha
Kucha
Kuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...

, Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...

, Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...

, Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...

, and finally to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 where he studied at Nalanda
Nalanda
Nālandā is the name of an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India.The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the...

.
647 Protectorate General to Pacify the North
Protectorate General to Pacify the North
The Protectorate General to Pacify the North or Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the North was a Chinese military government established by Tang Dynasty in 647 to manage and to control the former territory of Xueyantuo, which extended from Lake Baikal to the north, the Gobi Desert to the...

 
648 Book of Jin
Book of Jin
The Book of Jin is one of the official Chinese historical works. It covers the history of Jin Dynasty from 265 to 420, which written by a number of officials commissioned by the court of Tang Dynasty, with the lead editor being the Prime Minister Fang Xuanling, drawing mostly from the official...

is compiled.
649 Emperor Gaozong
Emperor Gaozong of Tang
Emperor Gaozong of Tang , personal name Li Zhi , was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683...

 
Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar
Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar
The Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar, otherwise known as siyi , is a term used to describe four main accomplishments required of the Chinese scholar gentleman...

 (est.)
650 The Records of the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 describes a landmark visit to China by Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
Saad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam in 610-11 and one of the important companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sa'd was the seventeenth person to embrace Islam at the age of seventeen...

, one of the sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...

, in 650 C.E. This event is considered to be the birth of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 in China.
657 Emperor Gaozong commissions the compilation of a large materia medica
Materia medica
Materia medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing . The term 'materia medica' derived from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD, De materia medica libre...

 documenting the use of 833 medicinal drugs.
659 Compilations for the History of Southern Dynasties
History of Southern Dynasties
The History of Southern Dynasties is one of the official Chinese historical works in the Twenty-Four Histories canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, and Chen Dynasty. Like the History of Northern Dynasties, the...

and History of Northern Dynasties
History of Northern Dynasties
The History of Northern Dynasties is one of the official Chinese historical works in the Twenty-Four Histories canon. It contain 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Sui Dynasty...

is completed.
663 Battle of Baekgang
Battle of Baekgang
The Battle of Baekgang, also known as Battle of Baekgang-gu or by the Japanese name Battle of Hakusukinoe , was a battle between Baekje restoration forces and their ally, Yamato Japan, against the allied forces of Silla and the Tang Dynasty of ancient China...

, Silla-Tang forces defeat Japanese-Baekje navy.
666 Two Chinese Buddhist monks, Zhi Yu and Zhi You, craft a mechanical South Pointing Chariot
South Pointing Chariot
The south-pointing chariot was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretched arm...

 for Japanese Emperor Tenji
Emperor Tenji
, also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Tenji's reign spanned the years from 661 through 671.-Traditional narrative:...

.
668 Protectorate General to Pacify the East
Protectorate General to Pacify the East
The Protectorate-General to Pacify the East was a short-lived military government established at Pyongyang by Tang Dynasty China in 668. It played an important role in the turbulent events of the peninsula in the late 7th century....

 
684 Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian , personal name Wu Zhao , often referred to as Tian Hou during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant...

 
Qianling Mausoleum
Qianling Mausoleum
The Qianling Mausoleum is a Tang Dynasty tomb site located in Qian County, Shaanxi province, China, and is northwest from Xi'an, formerly the Tang capital. Built by 684 , the tombs of the mausoleum complex house the remains of various members of the royal Li family. This includes Emperor...

 is completed.
Death of poet Luo Binwang
Luo Binwang
Luo Binwang , courtesy name Guanguang , was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty. His family was from modern Wuzhou, Zhejiang, but he was raised in Shandong...

.
699 Chinese troops retake the Four Garrisons of Anxi
Four Garrisons of Anxi
The Four Garrisons of Anxi were Chinese military garrisons installed by Tang Dynasty between 648 and 658 that stationed at the city and capital of the Indo-European statelet Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar and Karashahr, the capital of Kucha was also the seat of Protectorate General to Pacify the West...

 from the Tibetans
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

.
700 Approximate date for the creation of the Dunhuang map
Dunhuang map
The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representation of stars from ancient Chinese astronomy, dated to the Tang Dynasty . Prior to this map, many of the star information mentioned in historical Chinese texts had been questioned...

, an astronomical chart.
704 Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda , is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty and originally had five stories, although the structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior...

 is rebuilt.
709 Emperor Zhongzong
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu...

 
Small Wild Goose Pagoda
Small Wild Goose Pagoda
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, sometimes Little Wild Goose Pagoda , is one of two significant pagodas in the city of Xi'an, China, the site of the old Han and Tang capital Chang'an. The other notable pagoda is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, originally built in 652 and restored in 704...

 is completed.
710 Emperor Ruizong
Emperor Ruizong of Tang
Emperor Ruizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Dàn , known at times during his life as Li Xulun , Li Lun , Wu Lun , and Wu Dan , was the fifth and ninth emperor of Tang Dynasty...

 
The Shitong
Shitong
The Shitong is the first Chinese work about historiography compiled by Liu Zhiji between 708 and 710. The book describes the general pattern of the past official dynastic historiography on structure, method, order of arrangement, sequence, caption and commentary back to the pre-Qin era.It contains...

, a history of Chinese historiography
Chinese historiography
Chinese historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history.-History of Chinese Historians:Record of Chinese history dated back to the Shang Dynasty. The Classic of History, one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts is one of the earliest...

 up until the late 8th century, is compiled by Liu Zhiji
Liu Zhiji
Liu Zhiji , courtesy name Zixuan , was a Chinese historian and author of the Shitong born in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu during the Tang Dynasty. Liu's father Liu Zangqi and elder brother Liu Zhirou were officials, famous for their literary compositions...

.
Death of Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er , imperial consort rank Zhaorong , posthumous name Wenhui , was the granddaughter of Shangguan Yi and was one of the women most famous in Chinese history for her talent...

, a female writer, government official, and concubine.
712 Emperor Xuanzong  Pear Garden
Pear Garden
The Pear Garden or Lìyuán was the first known royal acting and musical academy in China. It was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Emperor Xuanzong...

, an Academy of Music that trained acting troupes.
713 Kaiyuan newspaper
Kaiyuan Za Bao
Kaiyuan Za Bao, or Kaiyuan Chao Pao, Bulletin of the Court, was an official publication which first appeared in the 8th century, during the Kaiyuan era. Its main subscribers were imperial officials. Every day the political news and domestic news were collected by the editors, and the writers...

 
725 Yi Xing
Yi Xing
Yi Xing , born Zhang Sui , was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, mechanical engineer,and Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty...

 invents a water-powered celestial globe
Armillary sphere
An armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky , consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features such as the ecliptic...

 featuring an escapement
Escapement
In mechanical watches and clocks, an escapement is a device that transfers energy to the timekeeping element and enables counting the number of oscillations of the timekeeping element...

 mechanism and striking clock
Striking clock
A striking clock is a clock that sounds the hours audibly on a bell or gong. In 12 hour striking, used most commonly in striking clocks today, the clock strikes once at 1 AM, twice at 2 AM, continuing in this way up to twelve times at 12 noon, then starts over, striking once at 1 PM, twice at 2...

.
729 Gautama Siddha
Gautama Siddha
Gautama Siddha, astronomer, astrologer and compiler of Indian descent, known for leading the compilation of the Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era during the Tang Dynasty. He was born in Chang'an, and his family was originally from India, according to a tomb stele uncovered in 1977 in Xi'an...

 completes the compilation of the Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era
Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era
The Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era is a Chinese astrology encyclopedia compiled by the lead editor Gautama Siddha and numerous scholars from 714 to 724 AD during the Kaiyuan era of Tang Dynasty. The compilation is attributed to the author by 729. Its full title is regarded as the Great...

.
740 This year marks the death of the painter Wu Daozi
Wu Daozi
Wu Daozi was a Chinese artist of the Tang Dynasty, famous for initiating new myths in his artwork.The myth follows the creation by Wu Daozi of a mural commissioned by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China...

 and poet Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Unsuccessful in his official career, he mainly lived in and wrote about his birthplace....

.
744 Poets Du Fu
Du Fu
Du Fu was a prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty.Along with Li Bai , he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations...

 and Li Bai
Li Bai
Li Bai , also known in the West by various other transliterations, especially Li Po, was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period. He has been regarded as one of the greatest poets in China's Tang period, which is often called China's "golden age" of poetry. Around a thousand existing...

 meet for the first time.
751 Battle of Talas
Battle of Talas
The Battle of Talas in 751 AD was an especially notable conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control not only of the Syr Darya region, but even more...

; this battle marks the beginning of the westward transmission of the ancient Chinese papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...

 process.
755 An Lushan Rebellion  Death of the painter Zhang Xuan
Zhang Xuan
Zhang Xuan was a Chinese painter who lived during the Tang Dynasty .Zhang Xuan painted many pieces of art, one of his best known paintings is Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk, of which a single copy survives painted by Emperor Huizong of Song in the early 12th century...

.
756 Emperor Suzong
Emperor Suzong of Tang
Emperor Suzong of Tang , personal name Li Heng , né Li Sisheng , known as Li Jun from 725 to 736, known as Li Yu from 736 to 738, known briefly as Li Shao in 738, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the son of Emperor Xuanzong...

 
Battle of Yongqiu
Battle of Yongqiu
The Battle of Yongqiu was a battle in Yongqiu in 756 AD during the An Shi Rebellion, between An Lushan and the Tang army. The Tang army, led by Zhang Xun, finally won this battle.-Background:...

 
758 Arab and Persian pirates loot and burn the seaport of Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, causing Chinese officials to virtually shut down the port for five decades while foreign vessels from the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 came mostly to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

 in Chinese-controlled Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 to trade there instead.
757 Battle of Suiyang
Battle of Suiyang
The Battle of Suiyang was a battle in Suiyang during the An Shi Rebellion, between the rebel An Lushan's Yan army and the loyalist forces of the Chinese Tang army. Although the battle was ultimately won by Yan, it suffered a major loss of manpower and time...

 
760 Earliest date for The Classic of Tea
The Classic of Tea
The Classic of Tea or Tea Classic is the very first monograph on tea in the world, written by Chinese writer Lu Yu between 760 CE and 780 CE during the Tang Dynasty....

by Lu Yu
Lu Yu
Lu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...

.
761 Death of Wang Wei, a painter, musician, poet, scholar and official.
762 Emperor Daizong
Emperor Daizong of Tang
Emperor Daizong of Tang , personal name Li Yu , né Li Chu , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty....

 
The Jingxingji
Jingxingji
The Jingxingji was a now lost journey book written by Du Huan shortly after he returned to China in 762 from the Abbasid Caliphate. Only about 1,511 words are being preserved under the Tongdian. It recorded about thirteen main countries, and a separated book was later pusblished by Wang Guowei...

is written by Du Huan
Du Huan
Du Huan was a Chinese travel writer born in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. He was one of a few Chinese captured in the Battle of Talas along with artisans Fan Shu and Liu Ci and fabric weavers Le Wei and Lu Li, as mentioned in his writings. After a long journey through Arab countries, he...

, which described several major foreign countries including the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

.
763 Shi Siming
Shi Siming
Shi Siming , or Shi Sugan , was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who followed his childhood friend An Lushan in rebelling against Tang, and who later succeeded An Lushan's son An Qingxu as emperor of the Yan state that An Lushan established.-Background:It is not known when Shi Sugan was born,...

 is killed by his son. The An Lushan Rebellion ends.
781 Emperor Dezong
Emperor Dezong of Tang
Emperor Dezong of Tang , personally name Li Kuo , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the oldest son of his father Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty...

 
Nestorian Stone
Nestorian Stele
The Nestorian Stele is aTang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of history of early Christianity in China. It is a 279-cm tall limestone block with text in both Chinese and Syriac, describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China...

 is composed.
783 Death of the famous painter Han Gan
Han Gan
Han Gan was a Tang Dynasty painter.He came from a poor family in either Chang'an, modern day Xi'an, Shaanxi; Lantian, modern day Shaanxi; or Daliang, modern day Kaifeng, Henan. As a young man, Han Gan was recognized by Wang Wei, a prominent poet, who sponsored Han in learning arts...

.
785 Official Jia Dan
Jia Dan
Jia Dan , courtesy name Dunshi , formally Duke Yuanjing of Wei , was a Chinese scholar-official, general, geographer, and cartographer from Cangzhou, Hebei during the Tang Dynasty of China.- Background :...

 begins a monumental work of cartography and geography. In it he describes many foreign places, including present-day Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...

, the Euphrates River
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

 and Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 of present-day Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, and minaret lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

s in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 that were later described by Al-Masudi
Al-Masudi
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi , was an Arab historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs." Al-Masudi was one of the first to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work, Muruj adh-dhahab...

 and Al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...

.
794 Prince Li Gao
Li Gao
Li Gao , courtesy name Xuansheng , nickname Changsheng , formally Prince Wuzhao of Liang , was the founding duke of the Chinese state Western Liáng...

 has the first Chinese paddle-wheel ships
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 made.
798 The Army of Divine Strategy, staffed by eunuch officers, reaches 240,000 troops, thanks largely to the revenues of the salt commission
Salt commission
The Salt Commission was an organization in Tang China used to raise tax revenue from the state monopoly of the salt trade.-History:Following the An Lushan Rebellion revenues from the land tax began to fall. The equal-field system that sustained the land tax was undermined by the aristocracy and...

.
799 The lucrative trade of the salt commission
Salt commission
The Salt Commission was an organization in Tang China used to raise tax revenue from the state monopoly of the salt trade.-History:Following the An Lushan Rebellion revenues from the land tax began to fall. The equal-field system that sustained the land tax was undermined by the aristocracy and...

, a government monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

, accounts for half of the government's incoming revenues by this year.
801 Compilation of the Tongdian
Tongdian
The Tongdian is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 to 801...

history and encyclopedia by Du You
Du You
Du You , courtesy name Junqing , formally Duke Anjian of Qi , was a Chinese scholar, historian and chancellor of the Tang Dynasty, who devoted thirty-six years to the compilation of the Tongdian, a historical encyclopedia with 200 sections , a collection of laws, regulations, and general events...

 is complete.
806 Emperor Xianzong
Emperor Xianzong of Tang
Emperor Xianzong of Tang , personal name Li Chun , né Li Chun , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty...

 
With a renewed military, Emperor Xianzong begins a series of seven major military campaigns in which he quells all remaining rebelling provinces except for two.
824 Emperor Jingzong
Emperor Jingzong of Tang
Emperor Jingzong of Tang , personal name Li Zhan , was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 824 to 827...

 
Death of Han Yu
Han Yu
Han Yu , born in Nanyang, Henan, China, was a precursor of Neo-Confucianism as well as an essayist and poet, during the Tang dynasty. The Indiana Companion calls him "comparable in stature to Dante, Shakespeare or Goethe" for his influence on the Chinese literary tradition . He stood for strong...

, an essayist and poet who was an early proponent of the Classical Prose Movement
Classical Prose Movement
The Classical Prose Movement of the late Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty in China advocated clarity and precision rather than the florid piantiwen or parallel prose style that had been popular since the Han dynasty...

, while his works are considered foundations for later Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

. He was also an early polemecist and advocate against Buddhism.
831 Emperor Wenzong
Emperor Wenzong of Tang
Emperor Wenzong of Tang , personal name Li Ang , né Li Han , was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 827 to 840. Emperor Wenzong was the second son of Emperor Muzong and younger brother of Emperor Jingzong...

 
A Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

 Turk
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

 sues the son of a Tang grand general who had failed to repay a debt of 11 million government-issued copper coins. Emperor Wenzong hears the news and is so upset that he not only banishes the general, but also attempts to ban all trade between Chinese and foreigners except for trade in livestock. This ban is unsuccessful and trade with foreigners resumes, especially in maritime affairs overseas.
843 Emperor Wuzong
Emperor Wuzong of Tang
Emperor Wuzong of Tang , né Li Chan , later changed to Li Yan just before his death, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, reigning from 840 to 846. Emperor Wuzong is mainly known in modern times for the religious persecution that occurred during his reign...

 
Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

, a large fire consumes 4,000 homes, warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...

s, and other buildings in the East Market, yet the rest of the city is at a safe distance from the blaze (which is largely quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....

d in East Central Chang'an thanks to the large width of roads in Chang'an that produce fire breaks).
845 Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution initiated by Tang Emperor Wuzong reached its height in the year 845 CE. Among its purposes were to appropriate war funds and to cleanse China of foreign influences. As such, the persecution was directed not only towards Buddhism but also towards other foreign...

 
846 Emperor Xuānzong
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...

 
Death of Bai Juyi, a poet who penned over 2,800 poems in his lifetime.
851 Arab merchant Suleiman al-Tajir visits Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 seaport and describes Chinese porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 manufacture, tea consumption, granaries and the Islamic mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 of the city. He notes that the Chinese use toilet paper
Toilet paper
Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...

 instead of washing with water.
852 Death of Du Mu
Du Mu
Du Mu was a leading Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty. His courtesy name was Muzhi , and sobriquet Fanchuan .He was born in Chang'an into an elite family whose fortunes were declining...

, a famous poet renowned for his vivid and realistic style.
853 Duan Chengshi
Duan Chengshi
Duan Chengshi was an author and scholar of the Tang Dynasty in China. He was born to a wealthy family in present day Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan 段志玄 , and the son of Duan Wenchang 段文昌, a high official under Tang Xuanzong, his family background enabled him...

 publishes his Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang
Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang
The Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang is a miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous and mundane, as well as notes on such topics as medicinal herbs and tattoos....

.
858 An enormous flood along the Grand Canal and on the North China Plain
North China Plain
The North China Plain is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains edge of the Shanxi plateau. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain...

 kills tens of thousands of people.
863 Emperor Yizong
Emperor Yizong of Tang
Emperor Yizong of Tang , né Li Wen , later changed to Li Cui , was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 859 to 873. Yizong was the eldest son of Emperor Xuānzong...

 
Duan Chengshi
Duan Chengshi
Duan Chengshi was an author and scholar of the Tang Dynasty in China. He was born to a wealthy family in present day Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan 段志玄 , and the son of Duan Wenchang 段文昌, a high official under Tang Xuanzong, his family background enabled him...

 describes the slave trade
History of slavery
The history of slavery covers slave systems in historical perspective in which one human being is legally the property of another, can be bought or sold, is not allowed to escape and must work for the owner without any choice involved...

, ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

 trade, and ambergris
Ambergris
Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales....

 trade in Berbera
Berbera
Berbera is a city and seat of Berbera District in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed Independent Republic with de facto control over its own territory, which is recognized by the international community and the Somali Government as a part of Somalia...

, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

.
868 Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....

 of the Diamond Sutra
Diamond Sutra
The Diamond Sūtra , is a short and well-known Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or "Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment...

874 Emperor Xizong
Emperor Xizong of Tang
Emperor Xizong of Tang , né Li Yan , later name changed to Li Xuan , was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 873 to 888. He was the fifth son of his predecessor Emperor Yizong and was the elder brother of his successor Emperor Zhaozong...

 
Huang Chao Rebellion
Huang Chao
Huang Chao was the leader of the Huang Chao Rebellion , known in mainland China as the Huang Chao Revolution in China that seriously weakened the once mighty Tang Dynasty of China...

 
879 Huang Chao burns and loots the international seaport at Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, killing thousands of native Chinese and foreign merchants from all over the Asian continent.
884 The Huang Chao Rebellion is crushed by Tang troops.
907 Emperor Ai
Emperor Ai of Tang
Emperor Ai of Tang , also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan , born Li Zuo, later Li Zhu , was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 904 to 907. The Ai Emperor was the son of Emperor Zhaozong....

 
Zhu Wen overthrows the Tang Dynasty and initiates the Later Liang
Later Liang
The Later Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Lü family of the Di ethnicity.All rulers of the Later Liang proclaimed themselves "Heavenly Prince" ....

 
Ten thousand years
Ten thousand years
The use of the phrase "ten thousand years" in various East Asian languages originated in ancient China as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor, and is typically translated as "long live" in English...

 (est.)

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was between 907–960/979 AD and an era of political upheaval in China, between the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the founding of the Song Dynasty. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the north, and more than 12 independent states were...

Date 5 Dynasties 10 Kingdoms Events
907 Later Liang Dynasty
Later Liang Dynasty
The Later Liang was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China. It was founded by Zhu Wen, posthumously known as Taizu of Later Liang, after he forced the last emperor of the Tang dynasty to abdicate in his favour...

Wu
Wu (Ten Kingdoms)
Wu , also referred to as Huainan , Hongnong , Southern Wu , or Yang Wu , was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China which was in existence between the years of 907 and 937. Its capital was Jiangdu Municipality...


Wuyue
Wuyue
Kingdom of Wuyue , 907-978, was a small independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Qian family, which remains widespread in the kingdom's former territory.-Founding:...


Min
Min (Ten Kingdoms)
Min was one of the Ten Kingdoms which was in existence between the years of 909 and 945. It existed in a mountainous region of modern day Fujian province of China and had a history of quasi-independent rule. Its capital was Fuzhou 福州. It was founded by Wang Shenzhi .-Founding:Wang Shenzhi’s older...


Chu
Chu (Ten Kingdoms)
Chǔ was a kingdom in southern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period . It existed from 907 to 951.-Founding:Ma Yin was named regional governor by the Tang court in 896 after fighting against a rebel named Yang Xingmi. He declared himself as the Prince of Chu with the fall of the...


Southern Han
Southern Han
Southern Han was a kingdom that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period along China’s southern coast from 917 to 971. The Kingdom greatly expanded her capital city Hing Wong Fu , namely present-day Guangzhou...


Former Shu
Former Shu
Great Shu called in retrospect Former Shu was one of the Ten Kingdoms formed during the chaotic period between the rules of the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty...


Later Shu
Later Shu
Later Shu was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China from 907 to 960. It was located in present-day Sichuan with its capital in Chengdu.-Founding:...


Jingnan
Jingnan
Jingnan was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China created in 924, marking the beginning of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Jingnan (荆南) (also called Nanping (南平)) was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China created in 924, marking the beginning of the Five Dynasties and...


Southern Tang
Southern Tang
Southern Tang was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China created following the Tang Dynasty from 937-975. Southern Tang replaced the Wu Kingdom when Li Bian deposed the emperor Yang Pu....


Northern Han
Northern Han
The Northern Han kingdom is a state of the Ten Kingdoms in the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It was founded by Liu Min , formerly known as Liu Chong , and lasted from 951 – 979.-Founding of the Northern Han:...

 
917 Earliest known description in China of Greek fire
Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on water....

.
919 Earliest known description of a flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...

 in China.
923 Later Tang Dynasty
Later Tang Dynasty
The Later Tang Dynasty was a short-lived dynasty that lasted from 923 to 937 one of the five dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was also the first in a series of three dynasties ruled by the Shatuo Turks...

 
936 Later Jin Dynasty
Later Jin Dynasty (Five Dynasties)
Note that there are four periods of Chinese history using the name "Jin" The Later Jìn was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China. It was founded by Shi Jingtang, posthumously known as Gaozu of Later Jin...

 
947 Later Han Dynasty
Later Han Dynasty (Five Dynasties)
The Later Han Dynasty was founded in 947. It was the fourth of the Five Dynasties and the third consecutive Shatuo Turk dynasty...

 
950 The earliest known depiction of a fire lance
Fire lance
The fire lance or fire spear is one of the first gunpowder weapons in the world.- Description :The earliest fire lances were spear-like weapons combining a bamboo tube containing gunpowder and projectiles tied to a Chinese spear. Upon firing, the charge ejected a small projectile or poison dart...

 (proto gun) and lobbed grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...

.
960 Around this time, Gu Hongzhong
Gu Hongzhong
Gu Hongzhong was a Chinese painter during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history.Little is known about Gu Hongzhong's life. He was most likely a court painter for the Southern Tang Emperor Li Yu. Gu was active from 943 to 960 C.E. His most well-known work is the Night...

 paints the classic Night Revels of Han Xizai.
951 Later Zhou Dynasty
Later Zhou Dynasty
The Later Zhou Dynasty was the last a succession of five dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, which lasted from 907 to 960 and bridged the gap between the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.-Founding of the Dynasty:Guo Wei, a Han...

 
960
961 Huqiu Tower
Huqiu Tower
The Huqiu Tower, or Yunyan Pagoda and Tiger Hill Pagoda, is a Chinese pagoda situated at Changmen in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It has several other names, including the Leaning Tower of China and the Yunyan Temple Tower...

 is built.
979

Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
907 Emperor Taizu
Emperor Taizu of Liao
The Emperor Taizu of Liao was the first emperor of the Liao Dynasty . His given name was Abaoji . Some sources also suggest that the surname Yelü was adopted during his lifetime, though there is no unanimity on this point....

 
926 Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizong of Liao
The Emperor Taizong of Liao , born as Yelü Deguang , was the second emperor of the Khitan Empire .-Succession to the Throne:...

 
947 Emperor Shizong
Emperor Shizong of Liao
The Emperor Shizong of Liao , born as Yelü Ruan , also known as Wuyu, was the third emperor of Liao dynasty, reigning from 16 May 947 to 7 October 951. He is the son of Prince Bei, the eldest son of Abaoji, the founder of the Khitan Empire...

 
951 Emperor Muzong
Emperor Muzong of Liao
The Emperor Muzong of Liao ; born as Yelü Jing , was an emperor of the Liao Dynasty and reigned from 11 October 951 to 12 March 969...

 
969 Emperor Jingzong
Emperor Jingzong of Liao
The Emperor Jingzong of Liao , born as Yelü Xian , was an emperor of the Liao Dynasty and reigned from 13 March 969 to 13 October 982....

 
993 Emperor Shengzong
Emperor Shengzong of Liao
Emperor Shengzong of Liao , born as Yelü Longxu , succeeded Emperor Jingzong as Emperor of the Liao Dynasty at the age of 12 in 982. As he was too young to actually rule, his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao, effectively ruled the kingdom...

 
The First Goryeo–Khitan War
First Goryeo–Khitan War
The First Goryeo-Khitan War was a 10th-century conflict between the kingdom of Goryeo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea...

, marking the beginning of the Goryeo–Khitan Wars 
997 The Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important...

 Longkan Shoujian
Longkan Shoujian
Longkan Shoujian is a Chinese dictionary compiled during the Liao Dynasty by the monk Xingjun . Completed in 997, the work had originally been entitled Longkan Shoujing , but had its title changed owing to naming taboo when it was later printed by the Song publishers...

is compiled by the monk Xingjun.
1005 Shanyuan Treaty
Shanyuan Treaty
The Shanyuan Treaty in 1004/05 was the pivotal point in the relations between the Northern Song and the Liao Dynasties . The ruling class of the Liao were a people of nomadic origin known as the Khitan who rose in the northeast around present-day Heilongjiang Province...

 
1010 Second Goryeo–Khitan War
Second Goryeo–Khitan War
The Second Goryeo-Khitan War was an 11th-century conflict between the kingdom of Goryeo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea. It was the second of the Goryeo-Khitan Wars, with the First Goryeo-Khitan War occurring in 993, the second in 1010, and the third in...

 
1018 Third Goryeo–Khitan War  Battle of Gwiju
1031 Emperor Xingzong
Emperor Xingzong of Liao
Emperor Xingzong of Liao , born Yelü Zongzhen , was an emperor of the Liao Dynasty. He reigned from 25 June 1031 to 28 August 1055....

 
1056 Emperor Daozong
Emperor Daozong of Liao
Emperor Daozong of Liao , born Yelü Hongji or Yehlu Hongji , was an emperor of the Liao dynasty, a kingdom of the Khitan people in what is now northeastern China. Succeeding his father, Xingzong, in 1055, Daozong ruled until he was murdered in 1101. He was succeeded by his grandson, Tianzuodi...

 
Pagoda of Fogong Temple
Pagoda of Fogong Temple
The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple of Ying County, Shanxi province, China, is a wooden Chinese pagoda built in 1056, during the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty. The pagoda was built by Emperor Daozong of Liao at the site of his grandmother's family home...

 is completed.
1120 Emperor Tianzuo  Pagoda of Tianning Temple is completed.
1124 Kara-Khitan Khanate
Kara-Khitan Khanate
The Kara-Khitan Khanate, or Western Liao was a Khitan empire in Central Asia. The dynasty was founded by Yelü Dashi, who led the remnants of the Liao Dynasty to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen conquest of their homeland in North and Northeast of modern day China...

 
1125 Song
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 and Jin conquest of Liao.

Northern Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
960 Emperor Taizu
Emperor Taizu of Song
Emperor Tàizǔ , born Zhao Kuangyin , was the founder of the Song Dynasty of China, reigning from 960 to 976.-Ancestry and early life:...

 
Chenqiao Mutiny In the Wuli Xiaoshi (1630), Fang Yizhi states that Song Taizu was presented with gunpowder-impregnated fire arrow
Fire Arrow
Fire arrows are an early form of gun powder rocket which were attached to a stick. The Chinese are credited with the first use of fire arrows in a military application, they may have developed fire arrows from their use of fireworks.- Design :...

s in this year. Hundred Family Surnames
Hundred Family Surnames
The Hundred Family Surnames is a classic Chinese text composed of common surnames in ancient China. The book was composed in the early Song Dynasty. It originally contained 411 surnames, but was later expanded to 504. Of these, 444 are single-character surnames, and 60 are double-character surnames...

 (est.)
971 Song troops defeat the war elephant
War elephant
A war elephant was an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks. A division of war elephants is known as elephantry....

s of Southern Han
Southern Han
Southern Han was a kingdom that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period along China’s southern coast from 917 to 971. The Kingdom greatly expanded her capital city Hing Wong Fu , namely present-day Guangzhou...

.
974 Song troops construct and defend a floating pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

 across the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

 in order to secure supply lines while fighting against the Southern Tang
Southern Tang
Southern Tang was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China created following the Tang Dynasty from 937-975. Southern Tang replaced the Wu Kingdom when Li Bian deposed the emperor Yang Pu....

 forces.
976 Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizong of Song
Emperor Taizong , born Zhao Kuangyi, was the second emperor of the Song Dynasty of China from 976 to 997. He was the younger brother of Emperor Taizu. His temple name Taizong means "Grand Ancestor".-Overview:...

 
Yuelu Academy
Yuelu Academy
The Yuelu Academy is located on the east side of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, China, on the west bank of the Xiang River....

 founded.
977 Longhua Pagoda is built.
978 Extensive Records of the Taiping Era is completed. It is the first of the Four Great Books of Song
Four Great Books of Song
The Four Great Books of Song was compiled by Li Fang and others during the Song Dynasty . The term was coined after the last book was finished during the 11th century...

.
981 Battle of Bach Dang 
983 Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era
Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era
The Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era is a massive encyclopedia compiled by a number of officers commissioned by the imperial court of the Song Dynasty with the lead editor being Li Fang from 977 to 983 during the era of Taiping Xingguo. It is divided into 1,000 volumes and 55 sections, which...

is completed.
984 Canal pound lock invented by Qiao Weiyo 
986 Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature
Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature
The Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature is an anthology of poetry, odes, songs and writings from the Liang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties era. The book was compiled by a team of officers headed by Li Fang under an imperial order from 982 to 986, during the Song Dynasty...

is completed.
990 Famous painter Fan Kuan
Fan Kuan
Fan Kuan was a Chinese landscape painter of the Song Dynasty considered among the great masters of the tenth and eleventh centuries. Almost no biographical details survive about him. He modeled his early work after that of the artist Li Cheng , but later he concluded that nature was the only...

 is born around this time.
1100 Emperor Zhenzong
Emperor Zhenzong of Song
Emperor Zhenzong was the third emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to 1022. Zhenzong was the third son of Emperor Taizong. His personal name was Zhao Heng and his temple name Zhenzong means "True Ancestor".Zhenzong's reign was noted for the consolidation of power and the...

 
Sometime between this year and the end of the century, the Chinese discovered how to use bituminous coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 instead of charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 for blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...

s in casting iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

, sparing thousands of acres of prime timberland from deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

.
1005 The Shanyuan Treaty
Shanyuan Treaty
The Shanyuan Treaty in 1004/05 was the pivotal point in the relations between the Northern Song and the Liao Dynasties . The ruling class of the Liao were a people of nomadic origin known as the Khitan who rose in the northeast around present-day Heilongjiang Province...

 is signed between Liao and Song.
1010 After 39 years in the making, the enormous atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...

 of China commissioned by the emperor and drawn by a team of scholars under Lu Duosun and Song Zhun is completed in 1556 chapters, including maps for individual towns, districts, counties, prefectures, circuits (provinces), and a map of the whole of China.
1011 The Guangyun
Guangyun
The Guangyun is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the auspices of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Chen Pengnian and Qiu Yong were the chief editors....

rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

 is completed by Chen Pengnian and Qiu Yong.
1013 Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau
Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau
The Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau was the largest encyclopedia compiled during the Chinese Song Dynasty . It was the last of the Four Great Books of Song, the previous three encyclopedias published in the 10th century....

is completed.
1037 Emperor Renzong
Emperor Renzong of Song
Emperor Renzong was the fourth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was Zhao Zhen . He reigned from 1022 to 1063. Renzong was the son of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Despite his long reign of over 40 years, Renzong is not widely known...

 
Ding Du publishes the Jiyun
Jiyun
The Jiyun is a Chinese rime dictionary published in 1037 during the Song Dynasty. The chief editor Ding Du and others expanded and revised the Guangyun. It is possible, according to Teng and Biggerstaff , that Sima Guang completed the text in 1067...

rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

.
1041 Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
Bì Shēng was the inventor of the first known movable type technology. Bi Sheng's system was made of Chinese porcelain and was invented between 1041 and 1048 in China.-Movable type printing:...

 invents the earliest movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....

 printing.
1043 Fan Zhongyan
Fan Zhongyan
Fan Zhongyan , born in Wuxian , Suzhou , was a prominent politician and literary figure in Song dynasty China. He was also a strategist and educator...

 and Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu was a Chinese statesman, historian, essayist and poet of the Song Dynasty. He is also known by his courtesy name of Yongshu, and was also self nicknamed The Old Drunkard 醉翁, or Householder of the One of Six 六一居士 in his old age...

 introduce the Qingli Reforms
Qingli Reforms
The Qingli Reforms also called Minor Reforms, took place in China’s Song Dynasty under the leadership of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Taking place from 1043 to 1045, it was a short-lived attempt to introduce reforms into the traditional way of conducting governmental affairs in China...

, which would soon be rescinded in 1045.
1044 Wujing Zongyao
Wujing Zongyao
The Wujing Zongyao was a Chinese military compendium written in 1044 AD, during the Northern Song Dynasty. Its authors were the prominent scholars Zeng Gongliang , Ding Du , and Yang Weide , whose writing influenced many later Chinese military writers. The book covered a wide range of subjects,...

, first book with written gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 formula; the book also describes the double-piston flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...

.
1045 Lingxiao Pagoda
Lingxiao Pagoda
The Lingxiao Pagoda is a Chinese pagoda west of the Xinglong Temple in Zhengding, Hebei Province, China.-History:The original pagoda that stood at the same site was dubbed the Wooden Pagoda, and was built in 860 AD during the Tang Dynasty...

 is completed.
1049 Iron Pagoda
Iron Pagoda
The Iron Pagoda of Youguo Temple , Kaifeng City, Henan province, is a Buddhist Chinese pagoda built in 1049 C.E. during the Song Dynasty of China. The pagoda is so-named not because it is made of iron, but because its colour resembles that of iron...

 is completed.
1055 Liaodi Pagoda
Liaodi Pagoda
The Liaodi Pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery, Dingzhou, Hebei Province, China is the tallest existing pre-modern Chinese pagoda and tallest brick pagoda in the world, built in the 11th century during the Song Dynasty . The pagoda stands at a height of , resting on a large platform with an octagonal base...

 is completed.
1060 The compilation of the New Book of Tang
New Book of Tang
The New Book of Tang , is a classic work of history about the Tang Dynasty edited by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi and other official scholars of the Song Dynasty. The emperor called for a revision of the former Book of Tang in 1044. The New Book was presented to the throne in 1060. It was given its...

, edited by Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu was a Chinese statesman, historian, essayist and poet of the Song Dynasty. He is also known by his courtesy name of Yongshu, and was also self nicknamed The Old Drunkard 醉翁, or Householder of the One of Six 六一居士 in his old age...

, is presented to the emperor.
1063 Emperor Yingzong
Emperor Yingzong of Song
Emperor Yingzong was the fifth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was originally Zhao Zongshi but he later changed it to Zhao Shu. He reigned from 1063 to 1067...

 
Pizhi Pagoda
Pizhi Pagoda
The Pizhi Pagoda is an 11th century Chinese pagoda located at Lingyan Temple, Changqing, near Jinan, Shandong province, China. Although originally built in 753 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , the present pagoda is a Song Dynasty reconstruction from 1056 until 1063, during the last...

 is completed.
1068 Emperor Shenzong
Emperor Shenzong of Song
Emperor Shenzong of Song was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Song Dynasty. His personal name was Zhao Xu...

 
First use of the drydock in China
1069 Chancellor Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted controversial, major socioeconomic reforms...

 introduces the reforms of the New Policies, which included the Baojia system
Baojia system
The baojia system was an invention of Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, who created this community-based system of law enforcement and civil control that was included in his large reform of Chinese government from 1069-1076.-Imperial China:...

, his policies breed factionalism at court while the later chancellor Sima Guang
Sima Guang
Sīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty, jinshi 1038.-Life, profession, and works:...

 would lead the conservatives against his party.
1070 Su Song
Su Song
Su Song was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty .Su Song was the engineer of a...

 publishes the Bencao Tujing, an interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....

 pharmaceutical
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

 treatise incorporating information on botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...

.
1072 Guo Xi
Guo Xi
Guo Xi Chinese landscape painter from Henan Province who lived during the Northern Song dynasty. One text entitled "The Lofty Message of Forest and Streams" is attributed to him. The work covers a variety of themes centered around the appropriate way of painting a landscape...

 paints Early Spring.
1075 Diplomat Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...

 asserts Song's rightful borders by using court archives against the bluff of Emperor Daozong of Liao
Emperor Daozong of Liao
Emperor Daozong of Liao , born Yelü Hongji or Yehlu Hongji , was an emperor of the Liao dynasty, a kingdom of the Khitan people in what is now northeastern China. Succeeding his father, Xingzong, in 1055, Daozong ruled until he was murdered in 1101. He was succeeded by his grandson, Tianzuodi...

.
Shen Kuo travels to Cizhou, and describes a forging process of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 under a cool blast that is considered by historians Needham and Hartwell as a predecessor to the metallurgic Bessemer process
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...

.
1076 Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted controversial, major socioeconomic reforms...

 resigns as chancellor.
1077 Su Song
Su Song
Su Song was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty .Su Song was the engineer of a...

 is sent on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

, discovers that the Khitan people
Khitan people
thumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kitan, or Kidan, were a nomadic Mongolic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...

 calendar is more mathematically accurate than the Song; Emperor Zhezong
Emperor Zhezong of Song
Emperor Zhezong was the seventh emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was Zhao4 Xu1. He reigned from 1085 to 1100....

 later sponsors Su Song's clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...

 in order to compete with Liao astronomers.
1078 According to the research of Robert Hartwell, China was producing on annual average 127,000,000 kg (125,000 t) of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 by this year, a sixfold increase since the year 806 during the Tang.
1080 Song forces inflict defeats on the Western Xia Dynasty, Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...

 takes up defense at Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....

.
1081 An officer disobeys commands and his army is destroyed by the Tangut
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

s; although he successfully defended Yan'an, Shen Kuo is blamed for the fiasco and impeached.
Su Song
Su Song
Su Song was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty .Su Song was the engineer of a...

 publishes a 200 volume work on Liao
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

-Song
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 relations.
1084 Sima Guang
Sima Guang
Sīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty, jinshi 1038.-Life, profession, and works:...

 completes the compilation of Zizhi Tongjian
Zizhi Tongjian
The Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE, Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered the great historian Sima Guang to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the...

, a universal history
Universal history
Universal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...

 text of 294 volumes with 3 million Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

s.
The female poet Li Qingzhao
Li Qingzhao
Li Qingzhao was a Chinese writer and poet of the Song Dynasty, regarded by many as the premier female poet in the Chinese language.-Biography:She was born Li Qingzhao (Traditional Chinese: 李清照; Simplified Chinese: 李清照, pinyin: Lǐ Qīngzhào; Wade-Giles: Li Ch'ing-chao, pseudonym Yi'an Jushi (易安居士...

 is born.
1085 Emperor Zhezong
Emperor Zhezong of Song
Emperor Zhezong was the seventh emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was Zhao4 Xu1. He reigned from 1085 to 1100....

 
The New Policies Group, a political faction once led by Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted controversial, major socioeconomic reforms...

, is ousted from power as the new Empress dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

 and regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 overrule the young Emperor Zhezong with the political faction led by Sima Guang
Sima Guang
Sīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty, jinshi 1038.-Life, profession, and works:...

.
1088 Dream Pool Essays
Dream Pool Essays
The Dream Pool Essays was an extensive book written by the polymath Chinese scientist and statesman Shen Kuo by 1088 AD, during the Song Dynasty of China...

by Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...

, first book to describe the magnetic compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...

; Shen also postulates theories in early geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...

 and paleoclimatology
Paleoclimatology
Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils; it then...

, describes Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
Bì Shēng was the inventor of the first known movable type technology. Bi Sheng's system was made of Chinese porcelain and was invented between 1041 and 1048 in China.-Movable type printing:...

's movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....

 printing, atmospheric refraction
Atmospheric refraction
Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other things like humanelectromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of altitude...

, problems of calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...

 and trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...

, methods of archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

, and is the first in China to describe camera obscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...

 (after Ibn al-Haytham) and the concept of true north
True north
True north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole.True geodetic north usually differs from magnetic north , and from grid north...

.
1090 First known description of the mechanical belt drive
Belt (mechanical)
A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently, or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys. In a two pulley system, the belt can either drive the pulleys in the...

 is found in the Book of Sericulture by Qin Guan.
1094 Clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...

 of Su Song
Su Song
Su Song was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty .Su Song was the engineer of a...

 is completed in Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

, featuring an escapement
Escapement
In mechanical watches and clocks, an escapement is a device that transfers energy to the timekeeping element and enables counting the number of oscillations of the timekeeping element...

 mechanism and chain drive
Chain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...

 to rotate an armillary sphere
Armillary sphere
An armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky , consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features such as the ecliptic...

 and sound an intricate striking clock
Striking clock
A striking clock is a clock that sounds the hours audibly on a bell or gong. In 12 hour striking, used most commonly in striking clocks today, the clock strikes once at 1 AM, twice at 2 AM, continuing in this way up to twelve times at 12 noon, then starts over, striking once at 1 PM, twice at 2...

.
1094 Dongpo Academy
Dongpo Academy
The Dongpo Academy or Dongpo Academy of Classical Learning , was an academy located in Hainan, China. It was originally built in 1098 in memory of the Song dynasty literary figure, Su Dongpo, who was exiled here....

 is established on the island of Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...

, on the same spot where famous poet and official Su Shi
Su Shi
Su Shi , was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...

 was exiled by the New Policies court faction.
1103 Emperor Huizong  Yingzao Fashi
Yingzao Fashi
The Yingzao Fashi is a technical treatise on architecture and craftsmanship written by the Chinese author Li Jie , the Directorate of Buildings and Construction during the mid Song Dynasty of China. A promising architect, he revised many older treatises on architecture from 1097 to 1100...

architectural treatise is published by Li Jie and is promoted by Huizong's government as a standard manual for construction and building.
1107 Death of the painter, calligrapher and poet Mi Fu
Mi Fu
Mi Fu , also known as Mi Fei , was a Chinese painter, poet, and calligrapher born in Taiyuan, Shanxi during the Song Dynasty. In painting he gained renown for his style of painting misty landscapes. This style would be deemed the "Mi Fu" style and involved the use of large wet dots of ink applied...

.
1111 Donglin Academy
Donglin Academy
The Donglin Academy , also known as the Guishan Academy , was originally built in AD 1111 during the Northern Song dynasty at present-day Wuxi in China...

 is founded.
1119 Zhu Yu
Zhu Yu (author)
Zhu Yu was an author of the Chinese Song Dynasty . He retired in Huang Gang of the Hubei province, bought a country house and named it "Pingzhou". He called himself "Expert Vegetable Grower of Pingzhou ". Between 1111 and 1117 AD, Zhu Yu wrote the book Pingzhou Ketan , published in 1119 AD...

 publishes his Pingzhou Table Talks, confirming Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...

's description of the magnetic compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...

 by stating its use in seafaring.
1125 Song Dynasty forces ally with rebel Jurchens to topple the Khitan Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

.
1127 Emperor Qinzong
Emperor Qinzong of Song
Emperor Qinzong was the ninth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the last emperor of the Northern Song. His personal name was Zhao Huan. He reigned from January 1126 to January 1127....

 
Jingkang Incident
Jingkang Incident
The Jingkang Incident , the Humiliation of Jingkang , or The Disorders of the Jingkang Period took place in 1127 when invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing , the capital of the Song Dynasty of China...

, the northern third of China is conquered by the Jurchens under the Jin Dynasty, the capital of Song Dynasty is moved south from Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

 to Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

.

Southern Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1132 Emperor Gaozong
Emperor Gaozong of Song
Emperor Gaozong , born Zhao Gou, was the tenth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the first emperor of the Southern Song. He reigned from 1127 to 1162. He fled south after the Jurchens overran Kaifeng in the Jingkang Incident, hence the beginning of the Southern Song dynasty 1127–1279...

 
China's first permanent standing navy
Naval history of China
The naval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the late Spring and Autumn Period about the ancient navy of China and the various ship types used in war. China was leading maritime power in the years 1405-1433, when Chinese shipbuilders began to build massive...

 is established, with Song naval headquarters at Dinghai
Dinghai District
Dinghai is a district of Zhoushan City made of 128 islands in Zhejiang province, China. It is based on the larger northwestern half of Zhoushan Island, where it borders Putuo in the east. The district boundary meets that of Daishan County entirely on sea to the north...

.
A fire destroys some 13,000 homes in the new capital at Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

.
1135 Yue Fei
Yue Fei
Yue Fei , style name Pengju, was a military general of the Southern Song Dynasty. His ancestral home was in Xiaoti, Yonghe Village, Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Henan...

 defeats the rebels under Yang Yao by first entangling his paddle-wheel ships
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 in rotten logs and other floating debris.
1141 The Treaty of Shaoxing
Treaty of Shaoxing
The Treaty of Shaoxing is the agreement which ended the conflicts between the Jin Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty. It also legally drew up the boundaries of the two countries and forcing the Song Dynasty to renounce all claims to its former territories north of the Huai river...

 is signed between Jin and Song.
1142 Yue Fei
Yue Fei
Yue Fei , style name Pengju, was a military general of the Southern Song Dynasty. His ancestral home was in Xiaoti, Yonghe Village, Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Henan...

 is accused of alleged treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

 by the chancellor Qin Hui
Qin Hui (Song Dynasty)
Qin Hui or Qin Kuai was a Chancellor of the Song Dynasty in China, who is widely regarded as a traitor of the Han race for his part in the political execution of General Yue Fei...

 and put to death on Emperor Gaozong's orders.
1161 Battle of Tangdao
Battle of Tangdao
The naval Battle of Tangdao took place in 1161 between the Jurchen Jin and the Southern Song Dynasty of China on the East China Sea. It was an attempt by the Jin to invade and conquer the Southern Song Dynasty, yet resulted in failure and defeat for the Jurchens. The Jin Dynasty navy was set on...

 and Battle of Caishi
Battle of Caishi
The naval Battle of Caishi took place in 1161 and was the result of an attempt by forces of the Jurchen Jin to cross the Yangtze River, thus beginning an invasion of Southern Song China...

, Song naval victories over Jin after the latter attempted to conquer southern China.
The Yunjing
Yunjing
The Yunjing is the oldest existing Chinese rime table. Current versions of the Yunjing date back to the 1161 and 1203 editions published by Zhang Linzhi ....

rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

 is compiled by Zhang Linzhi.
1162 Emperor Xiaozong
Emperor Xiaozong of Song
Emperor Xiaozong was the eleventh emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the second emperor of the Southern Song. His personal name was Zhao Shen. He reigned from 1162 to 1189. His temple name means "Filial Ancestor"....

 
Beisi Pagoda
Beisi Pagoda
The Beisi Pagoda or North Temple Pagoda is a Chinese pagoda located at Bao'en Temple in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The base of the pagoda has an octagonal frame, and the tower rises nine stories in a total height of 76 m . The pagoda was once eleven stories tall, but was damaged and...

 is completed.
1165 Liuhe Pagoda
Liuhe Pagoda
Liuhe Pagoda , literally Six Harmonies Pagoda or Six Harmonies Tower, is a multi-story Chinese pagoda in southern Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. It is located at the foot of Yuelun Hill, facing the Qiantang River...

 is completed
1179 White Deer Grotto Academy
White Deer Grotto Academy
The White Deer Grotto Academy was located at the foot of Wulou Peak in Lushan, now in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province. It was one of the Four Great Academies of China.- History :...

 is rebuilt by Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi
Zhū​ Xī​ or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...

.
1215 Emperor Ningzong
Emperor Ningzong of Song
Emperor Ningzong 寧宗 was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty who reigned from 1194 to 1224. His temple name means "Tranquil Ancestor". His reign was noted for the cultural and intellectual achievements...

 
Battle of Beijing
Battle of Beijing
The Battle of Beijing was a battle in 1215 between the Mongols and the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, which controlled northern China. It saw the Mongols win and allowed them to continue their conquest of China....

 
1241 Emperor Lizong
Emperor Lizong of Song
Emperor Lizong 理宗 was the 14th emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the fifth emperor of the Southern Song. His personal name was Zhao Yun . He reigned from 1224 to 1264. His temple name means "Reasonable Ancestor"...

 
Emperor Lizong sponsors Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi
Zhū​ Xī​ or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...

's Four Books and Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

.
1247 Qin Jiushao writes his Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections
Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections
The Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections is a mathematical text written by Chinese Southern Song dynasty mathematician Qin Jiushao in the year 1247.This book contains nine chapters:#Da Yan type ;#Heaven phenomena...

, which included use of the Horner scheme
Horner scheme
In numerical analysis, the Horner scheme , named after William George Horner, is an algorithm for the efficient evaluation of polynomials in monomial form. Horner's method describes a manual process by which one may approximate the roots of a polynomial equation...

 hundreds of years before it was discovered independently by William George Horner
William George Horner
William George Horner was a British mathematician and schoolmaster. The invention of the zoetrope, in 1834 and under a different name , has been attributed to him.-Life:...

.
1259 Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan , born Möngke, , was the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from July 1, 1251 – August 11, 1259. He was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign...

 dies in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...

 during the Battle of Fishing Town.
1260 Ariq Böke
Ariq Boke
Ariq Böke , the components of his name also spelled Arigh, Arik, Bukha, Buka , was the youngest son of Tolui , a son of Genghis Khan. After the death of his brother the Great Khan Mongke, Ariq Boke briefly took power while his brothers Kublai and Hulagu were absent...

 threatens civil war, forcing Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

 to retreat north as Song chancellor Jia Sidao pushes Mongol troops north of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

 in an opportune assault.
1261 Emperor Duzong  Although written of around 1100, Yang Hui
Yang Hui
Yang Hui , courtesy name Qianguang , was a Chinese mathematician from Qiantang , Zhejiang province during the late Song Dynasty . Yang worked on magic squares, magic circles and the binomial theorem, and is best known for his contribution of presenting 'Yang Hui's Triangle'...

 draws the first known Chinese diagram of the Pascal's triangle
Pascal's triangle
In mathematics, Pascal's triangle is a triangular array of the binomial coefficients in a triangle. It is named after the French mathematician, Blaise Pascal...

.
From this year until the conquest of Song, Kublai Khan attempts to gain southern Chinese acceptance in benevolent displays of releasing large bands of Southern Song merchants after short periods of capture and detainment at the border.
1265 The Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

, under Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

's leadership, invade Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

 and capture 146 Song naval ships as war booty.
1267 Battle of Xiangyang
Battle of Xiangyang
The Battle of Xiangyang also known as the Battle of Xiangfan was a six-year battle between invading Yuan Dynasty armies founded by the Mongols and Southern Song forces between AD 1267 and 1273. After the battle, the victorious Yuan forces pushed farther into the Song heartland...

 begins
1269 In this year, and every consecutive year until 1272, the Song navy attempts to break the enormous Mongol and Northern Chinese naval blockade on the Han River
Han River (Hanshui)
The Han River is a left tributary of the Yangtze River with a length of 1532 km. Historically it was referred to as Hànshuǐ and the name is still occasionally used today....

. All attempts are unsuccessful, as thousands of men and hundreds of ships are lost in the process.
1271 Voyage of Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...

 begins
1273 Battle of Xiangyang
Battle of Xiangyang
The Battle of Xiangyang also known as the Battle of Xiangfan was a six-year battle between invading Yuan Dynasty armies founded by the Mongols and Southern Song forces between AD 1267 and 1273. After the battle, the victorious Yuan forces pushed farther into the Song heartland...

 concludes with Yuan victory.
1275 Turkish general Bayan
Bayan of the Baarin
Bayan of the Baarin , also known as "Bayan chingsang" or, to Marco Polo, as "Bayan Hundred Eyes" , was a Mongol general...

 defeats Song chancellor Jia Sidao's army of 130,000 troops; Jia is impeached
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

 from court and killed by one of his own guards.
1276 Emperor Duanzong
Emperor Duanzong of Song
Emperor Duānzōng was the eighth and penultimate emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty of China who reigned from 1276 to 1278 and died at the early age of ten. He was also known as the "Nation Establishing Duke " ....

 
Unlike his contemporary and fellow painter Zhao Mengfu
Zhao Mengfu
Zhao Mengfu courtesy name Ziang , pseudonyms Songxue , Oubo , and Shuijing-gong Dao-ren , was a prince and descendant of the Song Dynasty, and a Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty.He was recommended by the Censor-in-chief Cheng Jufu to pay an audience...

, the scholar-official Qian Xuan
Qian Xuan
Qian Xuan courtesy name Shun Ju , pseudonyms Yu Tan , Xi Lan Weng , and Zha Chuan Weng was a Chinese painter from Hu Zhou Qian Xuan courtesy name Shun Ju (舜举), pseudonyms Yu Tan (玉潭, "Jade Pool"), Xi Lan Weng (习嬾翁), and Zha Chuan Weng (霅川翁) was a Chinese painter from Hu Zhou Qian Xuan courtesy...

 declines the offer to serve the Yuan government and spends the rest of his life creating works of art.
1278 Scholar-general Wen Tianxiang
Wen Tianxiang
Wen Tianxiang , Duke of Xinguo, was a scholar-general in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Song, and for his refusal to yield to the Yuan Dynasty despite being captured and tortured, he is a popular symbol of patriotism and...

 leads Song forces to resist the Mongol invaders. Wen is captured and refuses to surrender to the Yuan government. He spends four years in prison before being executed on Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

's orders in 1283.
1279 Emperor Bing
Emperor Bing of Song
Emperor Bing of Song was the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty of China. He was also known as Lord Perpetual-Nation ....

 
Battle of Yamen
Battle of Yamen
The naval Battle of Yamen took place on 19 March 1279 and is considered to be the last stand of the Song Dynasty against the invading Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty...

; the Yuan general Zhang Hongfan
Zhang Hongfan
Zhang Hongfan was a Han Chinese general of the Mongol Empire in China. As commander of the Mongol army and navy, he annihilated the Southern Song by crushing the last Song resistance at the Battle of Yamen in 1279, where he is said to have captured 8000 enemy vessels...

 crushes the last resistance of Southern Song.

Western Xia
Western Xia
The Western Xia Dynasty or the Tangut Empire, was known to the Tanguts and the Tibetans as Minyak.The state existed from 1038 to 1227 AD in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1038 Emperor Jingzong
Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia
Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia , born Li Yuanhao , or Tuoba Yuanhao , was the first emperor of the Western Xia Empire located in northwestern China, reigning from 1038 to 1048...

 
1048 Emperor Yizong
Emperor Yizong of Western Xia
Emperor Yizong of Western Xia was Emperor of the Western Xia from 1048 to 1067. After his father's death in 1048, Yizong assumed the throne at the age of one, but most of the power laid in the hands of the Dowager. In 1049, the Liao Dynasty attacked Western Xia and forced it to become a vassal...

 
1067 Emperor Huizong
Emperor Huizong of Western Xia
Huizong was Emperor of Western Xia .After his father's sudden death, Huizong assumed the throne at the young age of six. His mother became the regent for the rest of Huizong's reign. In 1076, Huizong turned sixteen, and was supposed to assume direct control of the throne, but was stopped by the...

 
1086 Emperor Chongzong
Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia
Emperor Xixia Chongzong of Western Xia , or Li Qianshun , was a Tangut emperor of Western Xia from 1086 until 1139. Where Chongzong is his temple name and Li Qianshun his living name, Shèngwéndì is his posthumous name...

 
1139 Emperor Renzong
Emperor Renzong of Western Xia
Emperor Renzong , born Li Renxiao, was the 5th emperor of the Western Xia dynasty .Li Renxiao was the eldest son of Emperor Chongzong, and succeeded him at the age of sixteen. After ascending into the throne, Renzong made friendly overtures to the Jin Dynasty...

 
1193 Emperor Huanzong
Emperor Huanzong of Western Xia
Emperor Huanzong of Western Xia lived from 1177 to 1206 and reigned from 1193 to 1206.He was the son of Emperor Renzong, and tried to follow the policies dictated by his father. However, the high-ranking officials in the Western Xia government became more corrupt as time passed, starting the...

 
1206 Emperor Xiangzong
Emperor Xiangzong of Western Xia
Emperor Xiangzong of Western Xia lived from 1170 to 1211, and reigned from 1206 to 1211.Xiangzong came into power after a coup d'état with his cousin Renzong's empress against Renzong. Many historians regarded him as incompetent. Xiangzong attacked the Jin Empire, destroying the years of peace...

 
1211 Emperor Shenzong
Emperor Shenzong of Western Xia
Shenzong, né Li Zunxu, was emperor of Western Xia from 1211 to 1223. He lived from 1163 to 1226.Shenzong took power after a coup d'état and continued Xiangzong's policy of invading Jin Empire. He started many campaigns against Jin before the Jin Emperor counterattacked, killing many Western Xia...

 
1223 Emperor Xianzong
Emperor Xianzong of Western Xia
Emperor Xianzong of Western Xia lived from 1181 to 1226. He reigned for three years and was the second son of Emperor Shenzong.Xianzong changed his predecessor's policy and decided to ally with Jin. However, the Jin Empire was under a barrage of assault from the Mongol Empire and was unable to help...

 
1226 Emperor Mozhu
Emperor Mozhu of Western Xia
Emperor Mozhu or Emperor Modi of Western Xia was the last emperor of Western Xia and reigned from 1226 to 1227. His Chinese name was Lǐ Xiàn 李睍...

 
1227 Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

 dies during the siege on the final Western Xia stronghold. His successor, Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...

, conquers Western Xia and resumes the war against the Jurchen Jin Dynasty.

Jin Dynasty

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1115 Emperor Taizu  Wanyan Aguda (Emperor Taizu) leads the Jurchens to attack the Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

.
1127 Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizong of Jin
Emperor Taizong of Jin was emperor of the Jin Dynasty, which ruled northern China from September 27, 1123 to February 9, 1135. His birth name was Wányán Wúqǐmǎi , and his reign name was Tiānhuì ....

 
Jingkang Incident
Jingkang Incident
The Jingkang Incident , the Humiliation of Jingkang , or The Disorders of the Jingkang Period took place in 1127 when invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing , the capital of the Song Dynasty of China...

 
1153 Emperor Hailingwang
Emperor Hailingwang of Jin
Emperor Hailingwang of Jin was emperor of the Jin Dynasty, the Jurchen dynasty which ruled northern China. He reigned from January 9, 1150 to December 15, 1161....

 
The Jin capital is moved from Huining Fu
Huining Fu
Huining Fu was a prefecture in the Shangjing region of Manchuria . It served as the first superior capital of the Jin Dynasty between 1122 to 1234 .- History :...

 to Zhongdu
History of Beijing
The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing was for centuries the capital of the ancient state of Yan. During the first millennia of imperial rule, Beijing was a provincial city in...

 (present-day Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

)
1157 The capital is moved again, this time from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 to Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

.
1161 Emperor Shizong  Hailingwang attempts to invade and conquer the Southern Song Dynasty, but their naval forces are destroyed at the Battle of Tangdao
Battle of Tangdao
The naval Battle of Tangdao took place in 1161 between the Jurchen Jin and the Southern Song Dynasty of China on the East China Sea. It was an attempt by the Jin to invade and conquer the Southern Song Dynasty, yet resulted in failure and defeat for the Jurchens. The Jin Dynasty navy was set on...

 and Battle of Caishi
Battle of Caishi
The naval Battle of Caishi took place in 1161 and was the result of an attempt by forces of the Jurchen Jin to cross the Yangtze River, thus beginning an invasion of Southern Song China...

 
1164 The Treaty of Longxing between Song and Jin ushers in four decades of peace.
1189 Chengling Pagoda is built.
1211 Emperor Weishaowang
Emperor Weishaowang of Jin
Emperor Weishaowang of Jin was the emperor of the Jin Dynasty whom ruled most of northern China in the 12th and 13th centuries. His name at birth was Wányán Yǒngjì Weishaowang was the seventh of ten emperors of the Jin Dynasty...

 
The Mongol leader Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

 launches a military campaign against the Jin Dynasty.
1214 Emperor Xuanzong
Emperor Xuanzong of Jin
Emperor Xuanzong of Jin , Jin Xuanzong, was emperor of the Jin Dynasty which ruled most of northern China in the 12th and 13th centuries. His name at birth was Wányán Xún...

 
In the terms of a treaty with Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

, the Jin Dynasty becomes a vassal state of the expanding Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...

.
1215 When the Jin court moves their capital from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 to Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

 once more, Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

 sees this as open revolt and sacks the former capital Beijing, burning the city to the ground.
1216 The Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 attacks Jin from the south and again in 1223 while the Jin empire was collapsing.
1227 Emperor Aizong
Emperor Aizong of Jin
Emperor Aizong of Jin was emperor of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, which ruled most of northern China in the 12th and 13th centuries. His name at birth was Wányán Shǒuxù...

 
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

 died during the siege of the final Western Xia
Western Xia
The Western Xia Dynasty or the Tangut Empire, was known to the Tanguts and the Tibetans as Minyak.The state existed from 1038 to 1227 AD in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and...

 stronghold in 1227. His successor, Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...

, resumes the war against Jin in the same year.
1233 The Jin capital at Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

 is captured by Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...

's forces.
1234 Emperor Modi
Emperor Modi of Jin
Emperor Modi of Jin was the last emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Ruling for less than one day on February 9, 1234 before being killed by the Mongolians, he is the shortest-reigning monarch in Chinese history.-Brief history:...

 
Emperor Modi is killed by Mongol forces in present-day Runan County of Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

.

Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1260 Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

 makes the Tibetan lama Drogön Chögyal Phagpa
Drogön Chögyal Phagpa
Zhogön Qögyä Pagba, Zhogoin Qoigyai Phagspa or Drogön Chögyal Phagpa , born Lochö Gyäcän or Lochoi Gyaicain , was the fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He became the first vice-king of Tibet and played an important political role...

 State Preceptor and grants him power over Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, his Sakya
Sakya
The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug...

 regime lasted until its overthrow in the 1350s by the Phagmodru myriarchy.
1270 Sambyeolcho Rebellion
Sambyeolcho Rebellion
The Sambyeolcho Rebellion was a Korean rebellion against the Goryeo Dynasty that happened at the last stage of the Mongol invasions of Korea.-Background:...

 in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 against Mongol-dominated Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

.
1271 Emperor Shizu
(Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

)
Kublai Khan founds the Yuan Dynasty.
1273 Battle of Xiangyang
Battle of Xiangyang
The Battle of Xiangyang also known as the Battle of Xiangfan was a six-year battle between invading Yuan Dynasty armies founded by the Mongols and Southern Song forces between AD 1267 and 1273. After the battle, the victorious Yuan forces pushed farther into the Song heartland...

 
1274 Mongol invasions of Japan
Mongol invasions of Japan
The ' of 1274 and 1281 were major military efforts undertaken by Kublai Khan to conquer the Japanese islands after the submission of Goryeo to vassaldom. Despite their ultimate failure, the invasion attempts are of macrohistorical importance, because they set a limit on Mongol expansion, and rank...

1276 Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory
Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory
Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory, also known as the Dengfeng Observatory, is a World Heritage Site in Duke Zhou Gong's shrine, Gaocheng Town, near Dengfeng in Henan Province, China. This site has a long tradition of astronomical observations, from the time of the Western Zhou up to the early Yuan...

 is built.
1279 Battle of Yamen
Battle of Yamen
The naval Battle of Yamen took place on 19 March 1279 and is considered to be the last stand of the Song Dynasty against the invading Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty...

 
1287 Rabban Bar Sauma
Rabban Bar Sauma
Rabban Bar Sauma , also known as Rabban Ṣawma or Rabban Çauma, , was a Turkic/Mongol monk turned diplomat of the Nestorian Christian faith. He is known for embarking on a pilgrimage from Mongol-controlled China to Jerusalem with one of his students, Rabban Markos...

, a Nestorian
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...

 Uyghur Turk
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

 from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, travels to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in this year and hosted by Andronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos , Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes...

 of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

, Philip IV of France
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...

, and Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

 in hopes of forming an alliance
Franco-Mongol alliance
Franco-Mongol relations were established in the 13th century, as attempts were made towards forming a Franco-Mongol alliance between the Christian Crusaders and the Mongol Empire against various Muslim empires. Such an alliance would have seemed a logical choice: the Mongols were sympathetic to...

 to seize Jerusalem, then under the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...

 Bahri dynasty
Bahri dynasty
The Bahri dynasty or Bahriyya Mamluks was a Mamluk dynasty of mostly Kipchak Turkic origin that ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1382 when they were succeeded by the Burji dynasty, another group of Mamluks...

.
Battle of Pagan
Battle of Pagan
The Battle of Pagan was fought in 1287 between Kublai Khan's Mongol, and their neighbors to the south, the Pagan Empire. The invasion ended the Pagan Empire, which disintegrated to several small kingdoms.-Overview:...

, end of Pagan Kingdom
Pagan Kingdom
The Pagan Kingdom or Pagan Dynasty was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute the modern-day Burma...

1288 Battle of Bạch Đằng 
1289 Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 friars begin mission work in China
1298 Emperor Chengzong  Wang Zhen
Wang Zhen (official)
Wang Zhen was an official of the Yuan Dynasty of China. He is credited with the invention of the first wooden movable type printing in the world, while his predecessor of the Song Dynasty , Bi Sheng , invented the world's first earthenware movable type printing...

 improves the movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....

 printing of Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
Bì Shēng was the inventor of the first known movable type technology. Bi Sheng's system was made of Chinese porcelain and was invented between 1041 and 1048 in China.-Movable type printing:...

 by introducing the first successful wooden type characters; he also experiments with tin metal type characters.
1316 Emperor Renzong  Guo Shoujing
Guo Shoujing
Guo Shoujing , courtesy name Ruosi , was a Chinese astronomer, engineer, and mathematician born in Xingtai, Hebei who lived during the Yuan Dynasty...

 dies; among his life achievements were fixing the calendar year at 365.2425 (same as the Gregorian Calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

), building upon Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...

's mathematical work on trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...

 by introducing spherical trigonometry
Spherical trigonometry
Spherical trigonometry is a branch of spherical geometry which deals with polygons on the sphere and the relationships between the sides and the angles...

, and engineered an artificial Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake is the central lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. Together with the Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake forms the key landscape features of the Summer Palace gardens....

 in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.
1324 Emperor Taiding  The rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

 Zhongyuan Yinyun
Zhongyuán Yinyùn
Zhongyuan Yinyun , literally meaning "The phonology of the Central Plains", is a rime book from the Yuan Dynasty compiled by Zhou Deqing in 1324...

is published by Zhou Deqing.
1330 Emperor Wenzong  Pagoda of Bailin Temple
Pagoda of Bailin Temple
The Pagoda of Bailin Temple , located in Zhao County, Hebei province, China is an octagonal-based brick Chinese pagoda built in 1330 during the reign of Emperor Wenzong, ruler of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty .-Features:...

 is completed
1334 Emperor Huizong  Wang Dayuan
Wang Dayuan
Wang Dayuan was a traveller from Quanzhou, China during the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century. He made two major trips on ships. During 1328-1333, he sailed along the South China Sea and visited many places in Southeast Asia and reached as far as South Asia, landing in Sri Lanka and India...

 ventures to North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

.
1352 Zhu Yuanzhang joins the Red Turban Rebellion
Red Turban Rebellion
The Red Turban Rebellion was an uprising much influenced by the White Lotus Society members that targeted the ruling Yuan Dynasty.- Causes :...

 
1356 Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel force captures Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

.
1363 Battle of Lake Poyang
Battle of Lake Poyang
The naval battle of Lake Poyang took place 30 August – 4 October AD 1363 and was one of the final battles fought in the fall of China's Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty...

, one of the largest naval battles in world history in terms of personnel.
1368 Rebel general Xu Da
Xu Da
Xu Da was a Chinese military general who lived in the early Ming Dynasty and contributed to the founding of the dynasty. Apart from being a friend of the Hongwu Emperor, founding emperor of the dynasty, Xu was also the father of Empress Xu, who would marry the third ruler of the Ming, the Yongle...

 defeats Yuan forces, while Emperor Huizong flees from Dadu
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq or Dadu refers to a city which is now Beijing, the current capital of the People's Republic of China...

 (present-day Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

). Zhu Yuanzhang establishes the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 and becomes the Hongwu Emperor
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor , known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang and by his temple name Taizu of Ming , was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China...

.

Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1368 Hongwu Emperor
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor , known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang and by his temple name Taizu of Ming , was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China...

 
Zhu Yuanzhang overthrows the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

 and founds the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. He adopts the reign title of "Hongwu".
1371 Haijin (maritime trade ban)
1373 Emperor Hongwu bans the Imperial examination
Imperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...

s in favor of a recommendation system.
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is an ancient Buddhist temple originally built in 537 in the Liang Dynasty in Guangzhou, southern China....

 is rebuilt.
1375 Latest possible date for the writing of the Huolongjing
Huolongjing
The Huolongjing is a 14th century military treatise that was compiled and edited by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji of the early Ming Dynasty in China...

treatise on gunpowder weapons, as its co-editor Liu Ji dies on May 16.
1380 Hongwu abolishes the Chancellery of China, taking over direct responsibility of the Three Departments and Six Ministries
Three Departments and Six Ministries
The Three Departments and Six Ministries system was the main central administrative system adopted in ancient China. The system first took shape after the Western Han Dynasty , was officially instituted in Sui Dynasty , and matured during Tang Dynasty...

, although the later Grand Secretariat
Grand Secretariat
The Grand Secretariat was nominally a coordinating agency but de facto the highest institution in the Ming imperial government. It first took shape after Emperor Hongwu abolished the office of Chancellor in 1380 and gradually evolved into an effective coordinating organ superimposed on the Six...

 would aid the emperor in managing the state.
1381 The Ming Dynasty annexes land from the Kingdom of Dali
Kingdom of Dali
Dali or Great Li was a Bai kingdom centred in what is now Yunnan Province of China. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was conquered by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali.- History :The Kingdom of...

, in present-day Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

 and Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...

, spurring a Chinese migration of hundreds of thousands.
1382 The Jinyi Wei
Jinyi Wei
The Jinyi Wei was the imperial military secret police of the Chinese emperors of the Ming Dynasty and were bound to serving the emperor only. The Jinyi Wei was founded by the Hongwu Emperor in 1368 to serve as his personal bodyguards and it developed into a military organization the following year...

, a secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....

 organization, is established.
1384 Imperial examinations are reinstated by Hongwu, but he had the chief examiner executed on charges of corruption.
1397 The Ming Code of Law
Code (law)
A code is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the code was enacted, by a process of codification. Though the process and motivations for codification are similar in common law and civil law...

is completed, yet drawing much of its clauses from the earlier Tang Code
Tang Code
The Tang Code was a penal code that was established and used during the Tang Dynasty in China. Supplemented by civil statutes and regulations, it became the basis for later dynastic codes not only in China but elsewhere in East Asia. The Code synthesised Legalist and Confucian interpretations of...

 of 653.
1402 Yongle Emperor
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...

 
Yongle takes the throne after a three-year long civil war with his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor
Jianwen Emperor
The Jianwen Emperor , with the personal name Zhu Yunwen , reigned as the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty...

.
1405 The overseas voyages of admiral Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

 begin, sailing around Southeast Asia, throughout the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, and as far as East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 to reestablish tributary relations of foreign countries with China.
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. It lies at the southern foot of Purple Mountain , located east of the historical center of Nanjing, China...

 is completed.
1406 Construction of the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...

 begins, as well as new Beijing city fortifications 
1407 Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam, although Chinese troops were pushed out two decades later by Lê Lợi of the Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....

.
Deshin Shekpa
Deshin Shekpa
Deshin Shekpa , also Deshin Shegpa, was the fifth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.Deshin Shekpa was born in Nyang Dam in the south of Tibet. According to the legend he said after being born: "I am the Karmapa. Om mani padme hum shri." Deshin Shekpa was taken to Tsawa...

, the fifth Karmapa
Karmapa
The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyupa , itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism....

 of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, visits the court
Tibet during the Ming Dynasty
The exact nature of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming Dynasty of China is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts, and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist...

 of Yongle
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...

.
1408 The massive Yongle Encyclopedia
Yongle Encyclopedia
The Yongle Encyclopedia was a Chinese compilation of information commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in 1403 and completed by 1408...

is completed.
1415 Restoration work on the Grand Canal is completed.
1420 After 13 years of a massive construction project for a new capital and Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...

, the Yongle Emperor
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...

 declares Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 the new capital, while Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

 is demoted.
Ming Dynasty Tombs
Ming Dynasty Tombs
The Ming Dynasty Tombs are located some 51.35 kilometers due north of central Beijing, within the suburban Changping District of Beijing municipality...

 are built.
1427 Xuande Emperor
Xuande Emperor
The Xuande Emperor was Emperor of China from 1425 to 1435. His era name means "Proclamation of Virtue".-Biography:...

 
Famous painter Shen Zhou
Shen Zhou
Shen Zhou , courtesy name Qinan , was a Chinese painter in the Ming dynasty.-Life:Shen Zhou was born into a wealthy family in Xiangcheng, near the thriving city of Suzhou, in the Jiangsu province, China...

 is born.
1431 The Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....

 of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 is recognized by the Ming court as a tribute state.
1443 Zhengtong Emperor
Zhengtong Emperor
Zhu Qizhen was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He ruled as the Zhengtong Emperor from 1435 to 1449, and as the Tianshun Emperor from 1457 to 1464....

 
The Zhihua Temple is built.
1446 The Precious Belt Bridge
Precious Belt Bridge
The Precious Belt Bridge is a Chinese stone arch bridge located near the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The Precious Belt Bridge is located at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Dantai Lake, about 2.5 kilometer south east of Suzhou....

 is rebuilt.
1449 Jingtai Emperor
Jingtai Emperor
The Jingtai Emperor was Emperor of China from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his older brother, the Zhengtong Emperor, when the latter was captured by Mongols following the Tumu Crisis...

 
Tumu Crisis
Tumu Crisis
The Tumu Crisis ; also called the Crisis of Tumubao or Battle of Tumu Fortress , was a frontier conflict between the Oirat Mongols and the Chinese Ming Dynasty which led to the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor on September 1, 1449 and the loss of an army of 500,000 men to a much smaller force....

; the Zhengtong Emperor
Zhengtong Emperor
Zhu Qizhen was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He ruled as the Zhengtong Emperor from 1435 to 1449, and as the Tianshun Emperor from 1457 to 1464....

 is captured by the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 after losing the battle and is released a year later
1457 Tianshun Emperor Zhu Qizhen (former Zhengtong Emperor) seizes power from the Jingtai Emperor in a palace coup and begins his second reign as the "Tianshun Emperor".
1461 Rebellion of Cao Qin
Rebellion of Cao Qin
The Rebellion of Cao Qin was a day-long uprising in the Ming Dynasty capital of Beijing on August 7, 1461, staged by Chinese general Cao Qin and his Ming troops of Mongol and Han descent against the Tianshun Emperor...

 
1464 Chenghua Emperor
Chenghua Emperor
The Chenghua Emperor was Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China, between 1464 and 1487. His era name means "Accomplished change".-Childhood:Born Zhu Jianshen, he was the Zhengtong Emperor's son. He was only 2 years old when his father, the Zhengtong emperor, was captured by the Oirat Mongols and...

 
The Miao people
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

 and Yao people
Yao people
The Yao nationality is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south...

 of Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...

 rebel against Ming authority; a combined Ming force of 190,000 (including 1,000 Mongols) crushes the rebellion within two years.
1473 Zhenjue Temple
Zhenjue Temple
The Five Pagoda Temple, formally known as the "Temple of the Great Righteous Awakening" or "Zhenjue Temple" for short, is a Buddhist temple from the era of the Ming Dynasty located in the city of Beijing, China.-Architecture:...

 is completed.
1488 Hongzhi Emperor
Hongzhi Emperor
The Hongzhi Emperor was emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1487 and 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng , he was the son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called the Hongzhi...

 
The Korean official Choe Bu
Choe Bu
Choe Bu was a Korean official during the early Joseon Dynasty . He is most well known for the account of his shipwrecked travels in China from February to July 1488, during the Ming Dynasty . He was eventually banished from the Joseon court in 1498 and executed in 1504 during two political purges...

 shipwrecks along Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

 coast of China. Travels the entire length of the Grand Canal to repatriate back to Joseon Korea
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

. He later wrote a famous book on his travels, which was printed in both Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in the latter half of the 16th century.
1516 Zhengde Emperor
Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor was emperor of China between 1505-1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son...

 
First Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

 contact by Jorge Álvares
Jorge Álvares
Jorge Álvares is credited as the first Portuguese explorer to have reached China and Hong Kong. The Fundação Jorge Álvares , founded by Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira prior to the handover of Macau, got its name from him also having reached there.-Exploration:In May 1513 Álvares sailed under the...

 in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, followed up by Rafael Perestrello
Rafael Perestrello
Rafael Perestrello was a Portuguese explorer and a cousin of Filipa Moniz Perestrello, the wife of the famed explorer Christopher Columbus...

 in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

.
1517 Fernão Pires de Andrade
Fernão Pires de Andrade
Captain Fernão Pires de Andrade was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat under the explorer and Malacca governor Afonso de Albuquerque...

 and Tomé Pires
Tomé Pires
Tomé Pires was an apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in South East Asia...

 are sent as ambassadors to China by Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

; they land at Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

.
1521 Jiajing Emperor
Jiajing Emperor
The Jiajing Emperor was the 11th Ming Dynasty Emperor of China who ruled from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin...

 
Events, such as the Portuguese conquest of Malacca
Portuguese Malacca
Portuguese Malacca was the territory of Malacca that, for 130 years , was a Portuguese colony.- History :From the writing of the Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia in the middle of the 16th century, the site of the old city of Malacca was named after the Myrobalans, fruit-bearing trees...

, lead to the rejection of the Portuguese embassy and the new Jiajing Emperor calling upon the Portuguese to return power of Malacca to the loyal Ming vassal Mahmud Shah; Chinese and Portuguese ships fight at Tuen Mun
Tuen Mun
Tuen Mun is a town near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in Hong Kong which can be dated back to the Neolithic period. In the more recent past, it was home to many Tanka fishermen who gathered at the Castle...

, but relations are eventually smoothed out later by Leonel de Sousa and others determined to repair the reputation that the Portuguese initially won in China.
1529 Death of philosopher Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...

 
1530 Around this time, mechanical engineer Zhou Shuxue improves Zhan Xiyuan's 14th century sand-driven mechanical clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...

 by adding a fourth large gear wheel, revising gear teeth ratios, and widening the orifice which collected sand in Zhan's clock, since Zhou complained that the device clogged up too often. Although lacking the essential escapement
Escapement
In mechanical watches and clocks, an escapement is a device that transfers energy to the timekeeping element and enables counting the number of oscillations of the timekeeping element...

 mechanism of earlier Chinese clocks, this sand-driven clock of Zhan and Zhou featured a stationary dial face
Dial (measurement)
A dial is generally a flat surface, circular or rectangular, with numbers or similar markings on it, used for displaying the setting or output of a timepiece, radio, clock, watch, or measuring instrument...

 over which a pointer circulated by mechanical timing.
1549 Portuguese ships
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

 make continuous annual trade stops to Shangchuan Island
Shangchuan Island
Shangchuan Island also written is the main island of Chuanshan Archipelago on the southern coast of China. Its name originated from São João - Saint John in Portuguese. It is part of the Guangdong province, in the South China Sea...

 from now on.
1550 Altan Khan
Altan Khan
Altan Khan , whose given name was Anda , was the ruler of the Tümet Mongols and de facto ruler of the Right Wing, or western tribes, of the Mongols...

 breaches the Great Wall
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...

, besieges Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, and burns down its suburbs after looting it.
1553 Outer City of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 to the south is completed, which brought the overall size of the city to 4 by 4½ miles.
1556 Shaanxi Earthquake. 850,000 casualties
1557 The Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 establish permanent settlement in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

.
1558 Ming forces led by Qi Jiguang
Qi Jiguang
Qi Jiguang was a Chinese military general and national hero during the Ming Dynasty. He was best remembered for his courage and leadership in the fight against Japanese pirates along the east coast of China, as well as his reinforcement work on the Great Wall of China.-Early life:Qi Jiguang was...

 defeat Japanese pirates
Wokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...

 at Cengang.
1567 Longqing Emperor
Longqing Emperor
The Longqing Emperor was the 12th emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1567-1572. His era name means "Great celebration". His name at birth was Zhu Zaihou and he was born during the reign of his father Emperor Jiajing, at the Forbidden City at the Ming Dynasty capital Beijing....

 
Haijin laws are formally repealed; government allows private foreign maritime trade, although the state had conducted all foreign trade during the ban.
1573 Wanli Emperor
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor was emperor of China between 1572 and 1620. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son...

 
After the Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

 establish a permanent base at Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, their American
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

-mined silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 trade with China trumps the Portuguese-Japanese silver trade.
1574 Qin Liangyu
Qin Liangyu
Qin Liangyu was a general who fought the Manchus as they invaded China at the end of the Ming Dynasty.-Education:Qin Liangyu was born in Zhong County, Sichuan during the late Ming Dynasty to ethnic Miao parents. Her father, Qin Kui, believed girls should get the same education as boys and had her...

, a later female military officer of Miao heritage
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

, is born.
1576 Pagoda of Cishou Temple
Pagoda of Cishou Temple
The Pagoda of Cishou Temple , originally known as Yong'anwanshou Pagoda , is a 16th century stone and brick Chinese pagoda located in the Buddhist Cishou Temple of Balizhuang, a suburb of Beijing, China. This octagonal-shaped pagoda is roughly 50 m tall, with elaborate ornamental carvings,...

 is built.
1577 Wanshou Temple
Wanshou Temple
The Wanshou Temple is a temple located at the Suzhou Jie in Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum....

 is built.
1581 Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng
Zhang Juzheng
Zhang Juzheng , courtesy name: Shuda , pseudonym: Taiyue , was a powerful Grand Secretary in the Ming Dynasty under the Longqing and Wanli emperors. Zhang was born in Jiangling, Hubei province, China and died in Beijing....

 implements the Single Whip Reform, allowing the land tax to be paid entirely in silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 due to inflated paper currency
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...

 and widespread counterfeit coinage.
1582 Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 begin mission work in China
Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of...

 
First reference is made about the publishing of private newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.
1584 Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius
thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) (April 14, 1527 – June 28,exile in England to take...

, in his atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...

 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, is the first known European to feature an illustration of the Chinese invention known as the 'sailing carriage', essentially a wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...

 with a ship's mast and a sail
Junk (ship)
A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...

.
1587 Physician and pharmacologist Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen , courtesy name Dongbi , was one of the greatest Chinese herbologists and acupuncturists in Chinese history. His major contribution to medicine was his 27-year work, which is found in his epic book the Bencao Gangmu...

 publishes the Bencao Gangmu, detailing the use of over 1,800 medicinal drugs.
1590 Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the attributed author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.-Biography:Wu was born in Lianshui, in Jiangsu...

 writes Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...

.
1592 When Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 invades Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 in the Imjin War, Ming China aids Korea with troops and supplies.
1593 Siege of Pyongyang 
1597 Siege of Ulsan
Siege of Ulsan
On September 22, 1598, Korean and Chinese allied forces made a second attack against Japanese forces. The alliance army formation was Commander Ma Gui, leading an army of 24,000 Chinese, and an army of 5,500 Koreans were led by general Kim Eung-seo...

 
1598 Battle of Sacheon
Battle of Sacheon (1598)
The 1598 battle of Sacheon was a siege by Korean and Chinese forces against the Japanese fortification of Sacheon on September 28-29, 1598, during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea.-Background:...

 
Battle of Noryang; the theatrical drama The Peony Pavilion
The Peony Pavilion
The Peony Pavilion is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598 at the Pavilion of Prince Teng. One of Tang's "Four Dreams", it has traditionally been performed as a Kunqu opera, but Chuan and Gan opera versions also exist...

, written by playwright Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu , courtesy name Yireng , was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial...

, is performed at the Pavilion of Prince Teng
Pavilion of Prince Teng
The Pavilion of Prince Teng or Tengwang Pavilion is a building in the north west of the city of Nanchang, in Jiangxi province, China, on the east bank of the Gan River and is one of the Four Great Towers of China. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over its history...

.
1602 From this year until 1682, the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 ships some six million Chinese porcelain items to Europe.
1604 Donglin movement
Donglin movement
The Donglin movement was an ideological and philosophical movement of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties of China.The movement was established in 1604, during the Wanli era, when Gu Xiancheng , a Ming Grand Secretary, and Gao Panlong , a scholar, restored the Donglin Academy in Wuxi with the...

 
1607 The Greek mathematical
Greek mathematics
Greek mathematics, as that term is used in this article, is the mathematics written in Greek, developed from the 7th century BC to the 4th century AD around the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Greek mathematicians lived in cities spread over the entire Eastern Mediterranean, from Italy to...

 treatise Euclid's Elements
Euclid's Elements
Euclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates , propositions , and mathematical proofs of the propositions...

is translated into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 by Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi , was a Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician in the Ming Dynasty. Xu was a colleague and collaborator of the Italian Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Sabatino de Ursis and they translated several classic Western texts into Chinese, including part of...

, Sabatino de Ursis
Sabatino de Ursis
Sabatino de Ursis was an Italian Jesuit who was active in 17th-century China, during the Jesuit China missions.-Career:...

, and Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th-18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God....

.
1609 Sancai Tuhui
Sancai Tuhui
The Sancai Tuhui, compiled by Shanghai natives Wang Qi and Wang Siyi , is a Chinese encyclopedia known at the time as a type of Book by category , completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the Ming dynasty, featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heaven, earth, and...

encyclopedia is published.
1610 Plum in the Golden Vase
Jin Ping Mei
Jin Ping Mei, or The Plum in the Golden Vase is a Chinese naturalistic novel composed in the vernacular during the late Ming Dynasty. The author was Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng , "The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling", a clear pseudonym, and his identity is otherwise unknown...

is published.
1615 The Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important...

 Zihui
Zihui
The Zìhuì is a Chinese dictionary, edited by Mei Yingzuo during the late Ming Dynasty and published in 1615, the forty-third year of the Ming Wanli Emperor. The work is divided into 14 fascicles and contains a total of 33,179 Chinese characters. It was the first dictionary to introduce the...

is compiled by Mei Yingzuo.
1616 Nurhaci
Nurhaci
Nurhaci was an important Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late sixteenth century in what is today Northeastern China...

 found the Later Jin Dynasty (later renamed to Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

) in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

 
The Nanjing Religious Incident begins in this year, when all foreign Jesuits were expelled from the Ming court and the astronomy bureau; this was a temporary triumph of traditionalist Confucian officials who rejected Western science
Scientific revolution
The Scientific Revolution is an era associated primarily with the 16th and 17th centuries during which new ideas and knowledge in physics, astronomy, biology, medicine and chemistry transformed medieval and ancient views of nature and laid the foundations for modern science...

 in favor of Chinese science
History of science and technology in China
The history of science and technology in China is both long and rich with many contributions to science and technology. In antiquity, independently of other civilizations, ancient Chinese philosophers made significant advances in science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy...

; by 1622 this policy was reversed, and the astronomy burea was once again staffed by European Jesuits and Chinese supportive of Western science.
1619 Battle of Sarhu
Battle of Sarhu
The Battle of Sarhū refers to the series of conflicts between the Manchus and Ming Dynasty of China in the winter of year 1619, which ended in the overwhelming victory for the former....

 
Chinese philosopher Wang Fuzhi
Wang Fuzhi
Wang Fuzhi , 1619–1692) courtesy name Ernong , pseudonym Chuanshan , was a Chinese philosopher of the late Ming, early Qing dynasties.-Life:...

 is born.
1624 Tianqi Emperor
Tianqi Emperor
The Tianqi Emperor was the 15th emperor of the Ming dynasty from 1620 to 1627. Born Zhu Youxiao, he was the Taichang Emperor's eldest son. His era name means "Heavenly opening".-Biography:...

 
Headquartered in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

, the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 establishes Dutch rule of Taiwan.
1626 Johann Adam Schall von Bell
Johann Adam Schall von Bell
Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a German Jesuit and astronomer. He spent most of his life as a missionary in China and became an adviser to the Chinese emperor.- Life :...

 writes the first treatise on the telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 into the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.
Jesuit Nicolas Trigault
Nicolas Trigault
Nicolas Trigault was a Flemish Jesuit, and a missionary to China. He was also known by his latinised name Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jīn Nígé .-Life and work:...

 writes the Xiru Ermu Zi, establishing the first system of Chinese Romanization
Romanization of Chinese
The romanization of Mandarin Chinese is the use of the Latin alphabet to write Chinese. Because Chinese is a tonal language with a logographic script, its characters do not represent phonemes directly. There have been many systems of romanization throughout history...

.
1627 Chongzhen Emperor
Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...

 
First Manchu invasion of Korea
First Manchu invasion of Korea
The First Manchu invasion of Korea occurred in 1627, when Hong Taiji led the Manchu army against Korea's Joseon dynasty. It was followed by the Second Manchu invasion of Korea.-Background:...

; downfall of eunuch Wei Zhongxian
Wei Zhongxian
Wei Zhongxian is considered by most historians as the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history. Originally a hoodlum and gambler, his initial name was Wei Si . He took the step of becoming a eunuch and entering palace service to escape from his creditors, taking the name Li Jinzhong...

, who ruled as a virtual dictator for seven years; Zhang Zilie publishes the Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important...

 Zhengzitong
Zhengzitong
The Zhengzitong was a 17th century Chinese dictionary. The Ming Dynasty scholar Zhang Zilie originally published it in 1627 as a supplement to the 1615 Zihui dictionary of Chinese characters, and called it the Zihui bian...

.
Polish Jesuit Michał Boym first introduces the heliocentric
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...

 model of the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

 into Chinese astronomy
Chinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...

.
1628 Battle of Ningyuan
Battle of Ningyuan
The Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....

 
1632 By this time, the Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...

s have conquered much of Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

.
1634 Chongzhen Emperor
Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...

 acquires the telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 of the late Johann Schreck
Johann Schreck
Johann Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo, Deng Zhen Lohan, was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath...

.
1635 Liu Tong
Liu Tong
Liu Tong was a Chinese prose master and official from Macheng in Huanggang. He was a figure in the Ming Dynasty's Jingling school of Chinese prose literature in contrast to the Gongan school and the well known Yuan Hongdao and his brothers...

 adds his preface to the Dijing Jingwulue
Dijing Jingwulue
The Dijing Jingwulue is a 17th century Chinese prose classic. The principal author was Liu Tong, an official with a Jinshi degree and member of the Jingling school in Chinese prose literature. His co-authors were Yu Yizheng and Zhou Sun , two scholars outside of official circles. The preface...

, a Chinese prose
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...

 classic.
1637 Second Manchu invasion of Korea
Second Manchu invasion of Korea
The second Manchu invasion of Korea occurred in 1636, when the Manchu Qing Empire brought Korea's Joseon dynasty into submission. It followed the first Manchu invasion of Korea of 1627.-Background:...

 
Song Yingxing
Song Yingxing
Song Yingxing , born in Yichun of Jiangxi, was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty . He was the author of an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons...

 publishes the Tiangong Kaiwu
Song Yingxing
Song Yingxing , born in Yichun of Jiangxi, was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty . He was the author of an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons...

encyclopedia; due to his scholarly and encyclopedic achievements, scientist and sinologist Joseph Needham
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA , also known as Li Yuese , was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British...

 calls him the "Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....

 of China".
1638 The Beijing Gazette
Gazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...

switches its production method from woodblock printing
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....

 to movable type printing
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....

 in this year.
1639 The Nongzheng Quanshu agricultural treatise of Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi , was a Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician in the Ming Dynasty. Xu was a colleague and collaborator of the Italian Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Sabatino de Ursis and they translated several classic Western texts into Chinese, including part of...

 is published.
Painter Chen Hongshou
Chen Hongshou
This is a Chinese name; the family name is 陈 Chen Hongshou ; 1598-1652) was a Chinese painter of late Ming Dynasty.-Life:A native of Zhuji, ZheJiang province, was a painter of the Ming dynasty. His style name was Zhanghou . His pseudonyms were Laolian , Fuchi , Yunmenseng , Huichi , Chiheshang ...

 travels to Beijing and earns instant acclaim by the court.
1641 Death of Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake , born Xu Hongzu , courtesy name Zhenzhi , was a Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming Dynasty known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery and humility. He traveled throughout China for more than 30 years, documenting his travels extensively...

, whose published travel diary
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...

 of some 404,000 Chinese characters includes notes on regional geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...

, and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...

.
1642 Kaifeng flood
1642 Kaifeng Flood
The 1642 Yellow River flood or Kaifeng flood was a man-made disaster principally located in Kaifeng, now a prefecture-level city in the People's Republic of China's Henan province and a former capital of China. The city is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, which has been prone to...

 
With new additional Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 banners, the full Eight Banners
Eight Banners
The Eight Banners were administrative divisions into which all Manchu families were placed. They provided the basic framework for the Manchu military organization...

 of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are established.
1644 Battle of Shanhai Pass
Battle of Shanhai Pass
The Battle of Shanhai Pass, fought on 27 May 1644 at Shanhaiguan at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China, was a decisive battle leading to the formation of the Qing dynasty in China...

; the Chongzhen Emperor hangs himself from the Guilty Chinese Scholartree
Guilty Chinese Scholartree
The Guilty Chinese Scholartree , a specimen of Pagoda Tree located in Beijing's Jingshan park, is a famous tree and national landmark on which the last Ming Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself after a group of peasants successfully stormed the Forbidden City in 1644.The tree was uprooted during the...

, after hearing that rebels under Li Zicheng breached the gates of Beijing
Ming general Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...

 and the Manchu prince Dorgon
Dorgon
Dorgon , also known as Hošoi Mergen Cin Wang, the Prince Rui , was one of the most influential Manchu princes in the early Qing Dynasty. He laid the groundwork for the Manchu rule of China.-Early life:Dorgon was born in Yenden, Manchuria , China...

 occupy Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

; soon after, the Shunzhi Emperor
Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...

 is proclaimed ruler of China under the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

.

Shun Dynasty
Shun Dynasty
The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1644 Li Zicheng 

Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

Date Emperor Events Other people/events
1644 Shunzhi Emperor
Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...

 
The Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 is established in China.
1652 The 5th Dalai Lama of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 visits the court of Shunzhi in Beijing.
1659 Jesuits Martino Martini
Martino Martini
Martino Martini was an Italian Jesuit missionary, cartographer and historian, mainly working on ancient Imperial China.-Early years:Martini was born in Trento, in the Bishopric of Trent...

 and Ferdinand Verbiest
Ferdinand Verbiest
Father Ferdinand Verbiest was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in Flanders, later part of the modern state of Belgium. He is known as Nan Huairen in Chinese...

 arrive in China, the former for the second time.
1661 On the death of the Shunzhi Emperor, his confidant Johann Adam Schall von Bell
Johann Adam Schall von Bell
Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a German Jesuit and astronomer. He spent most of his life as a missionary in China and became an adviser to the Chinese emperor.- Life :...

 is thrown into prison, eventually released, but dies shortly after.
1662 Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...

 
The Siege of Fort Zeelandia
Siege of Fort Zeelandia
The Siege of Fort Zeelandia , which took place in 1661 and 1662, ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island...

 ends with the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

's surrender of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 to Koxinga
Koxinga
Koxinga is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong , a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa .A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of...

.
1674 Revolt of the Three Feudatories
Revolt of the Three Feudatories
The Revolt of the Three Feudatories was a rebellion in the Qing Dynasty during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. The revolt was led by the three lords of the fiefdoms in Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces against the Qing central government....

 
1682 Belgian Jesuit Antoine Thomas
Antoine Thomas
Antoine Thomas was a Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary and astronomer in China.- Early life :Born in Namur in 1644, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1660 and first taught in the schools of Armentières, Huy and Tournai...

 arrives in China.
1683 Battle of Penghu
Battle of Penghu
The Battle of Penghu of 1683 is where the admiral Shi Lang of Qing attacked the fleet of Kingdom of Tungning in Penghu. Both parties possessed more than 200 warships each. Liu Guoxuan was outmaneuvered by Shi Lang, whose forces outnumbered him three to one. Liu Guoxan surrendered when his flagship...

, surrender of the Kingdom of Tungning
Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning was a government that ruled Taiwan between 1661 and 1683. A pro-Ming Dynasty state, it was founded by Koxinga after the Ming government in mainland China was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty...

 
1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk
Treaty of Nerchinsk
The Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 was the first treaty between Russia and China. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as far as the Stanovoy Mountains and kept the area between the Argun River and Lake Baikal. This border along the Argun River and Stanovoy Mountains lasted until...

 with Russia
1690 Death of Yun Shouping
Yun Shouping
Yun Shouping , also known as Nantian , was a major artist of the early Chinese Qing dynasty. He was regarded as one of the "Six Masters" of the Qing period, together with the Four Wangs and Wú Lì.-Biography:...

, a painter who was considered one of the "Six Masters" of the Qing era.
1698 Lugou Bridge
Lugou Bridge
The Lugou Bridge , also known as the Marco Polo Bridge in English, is a famous stone bridge located 15 km southwest of the Beijing city center across the Yongding River—a main tributary of Hai River The Lugou Bridge (Simplified: 卢沟桥; Traditional: 盧溝橋; Pinyin: Lúgōu Qiáo), also known as...

 is reconstructed.
1705 Papal legate Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon
Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon
Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon was a papal legate and cardinal to the East Indies and China.-Biography:...

 arrives in China.
1700 Thirteen Factories
Thirteen Factories
The Thirteen Factories was an area of Canton , China, where the first foreign trade was allowed in the 18th century since the hai jin ban on maritime activities...

 
1711 British East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 establishes a trading post in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 
The Peiwen Yunfu
Peiwen Yunfu
The Peiwen Yunfu is a 1711 Chinese rime dictionary of literary allusions and poetic dictions. Collated by tone and rime, the dictionary serves the composition of poetry....

rime dictionary
Rime dictionary
thumb|upright=1.0|A page from Shiyun Hebi , a rime dictionary of the [[Qing Dynasty]]A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genres requiring rhymes. A rime dictionary focuses on pronunciation and collates...

 is completed.
1716 Publication of the Kangxi Dictionary
Kangxi dictionary
The Kangxi Dictionary was the standard Chinese dictionary during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kangxi Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty ordered its compilation in 1710. The creator innovated greatly by reusing and confirming the new Zihui system of 596 radicals, since then known as 596 Kangxi...

1720 In opposition to the Dzungars
Dzungar people
The Dzungar or Zunghar is the collective identity of several Oirat tribes that formed and maintained the Zunghar Khanate in the 17th to 18th century...

, Qing troops conquer and occupy Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

 in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

.
1721 In a culmination of the Chinese Rites controversy
Chinese Rites controversy
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry...

, the Kangxi Emperor delivers a decree banning Christian preaching in China
Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of...

 in response to a papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 by Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...

.
1725 Yongzheng Emperor
Yongzheng Emperor
The Yongzheng Emperor , born Yinzhen , was the fifth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the third Qing emperor from 1722 to 1735. A hard-working ruler, Yongzheng's main goal was to create an effective government at minimal expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng used military...

 
The Gujin Tushu Jicheng
Gujin Túshu Jíchéng
The Gujin Tushu Jicheng , is a vast encyclopaedic work written in China during the reigns of Qing emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng, completed in 1725. The work was headed initially by scholar Chen Menglei , and later by Jiang Tingxi. It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters...

encyclopedia is completed.
1732 Death of Jiang Tingxi
Jiang Tingxi
Jiang Tingxi , courtesy name Yangsun , was a Chinese painter, and an editor of the encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng .Jiang was born in Changshu, Jiangsu...

, a painter, calligrapher, and encyclopedist
1750 Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...

 
French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
Jean Joseph Marie Amiot was a FrenchJesuit missionary.-Life:Joseph Marie Amiot was born at Toulon. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1737 and was sent in 1750 as a missionary to China. He soon won the confidence of the Qianlong Emperor and spent the remainder of his life at Beijing...

 is sent to China.
1755 Ten Great Campaigns
Ten Great Campaigns
The Ten Great Campaigns were a series of wars fought during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, much celebrated in the official Qing Dynasty annals. They included three to enlarge the area of Qing control in Central Asia: two against the Dzungars and the pacification of Xinjiang...

 
Puning Temple
Puning Temple
The Punning Temple , or Temple of Universal Peace of Chengde, Hebei province, China is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built in 1755, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor to show the Qing's respect to the ethnic minorities...

 is built in commemoration of the defeat of the Dzungars.
1760 Initiation of the Canton System
Canton System
The Canton System served as a means for China to control trade with the west within its own country. Seen from the European view, it was a complement to the Old China Trade.-History:...

.
1771 Putuo Zongcheng Temple
Putuo Zongcheng Temple
The Putuo Zongcheng Temple of Chengde, Hebei province, China is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor . It is located near the Chengde Mountain Resort, which is south of the Putuo Zongcheng. Along with the equally famed...

 is completed.
1774 The Wenjin Chamber
Wenjin Chamber
The Wenjin Chamber is an imperial library built in 1773 by Emperor Qian Long inside the Mountain Resort in Chengde, China. A copy of Siku Quanshu was stored in this library.Wenyuan Chamber is another remaining imperial library of the Qing Dynasty....

 is built.
1780 Fragrant Hills
Fragrant Hills
Fragrant Hills Park is a public park at the foot of the Western Mountains in the Haidian District, in the northwestern part of Beijing, China. It covers 1.6 km² and consists of a natural pine-cypress forest, hills with maple trees, smoke trees and persimmon trees, as well as landscaped areas with...

 Pagoda is built.
1782 Imperial collection of Four
Siku Quanshu
The Siku Quanshu, variously translated as the Imperial Collection of Four, Emperor's Four Treasuries, Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, is the largest collection of books in Chinese history and probably the most ambitious editorial...

 encyclopedia is completed.
1791 Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber , composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of...

is published.
1793 Anglo-Chinese relations and the Macartney Embassy
Macartney Embassy
The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was a British embassy to China in 1793. The Mission ran from 1792–94 . It is named for the first envoy of Great Britain to China, George Macartney, who led the endeavour...

; Lord Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...

, the first British envoy to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, is hosted by Qianlong's confidant Heshen
Heshen
Heshen or Hešen , from the Manchu Niohuru clan, was a Manchu official of the Qing Dynasty, a favourite of the Qianlong Emperor. Born Shanbao , his given name was later changed to Heshen. His courtesy name was Zhizhai . He was a member of the Plain Red Banner, as well as one of the most corrupt...

.
1796 Jiaqing Emperor
Jiaqing Emperor
The Jiaqing Emperor was the seventh emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1796 to 1820....

 
White Lotus Rebellion
White Lotus Rebellion
The White Lotus Rebellion was a rebellion that occurred during the Qing Dynasty of China. It broke out in 1796 among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces...

 
1807 Robert Morrison, first Protestant missionary arrives 
1823 Daoguang Emperor
Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.-Early years:...

 
Publication of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

1839 First Opium War
First Opium War
The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...

 
1842 First of the Unequal Treaties,
Treaty of Nanjing 
1844 Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan , born Wei Yuanda , courtesy names Moshen and Hanshi , was a Chinese scholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved to Yangzhou in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the provincial degree in the Imperial examinations and subsequently worked in the secretariat of...

 publishes his Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms, a gazetteer
Gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...

 inspired by the desire to learn more of the West and the threat it posed to Qing China.
Treaty of Wanghia
Treaty of Wanghia
The Treaty of Wanghia , is a diplomatic agreement between the Qing Dynasty of China and the United States, signed on 3 July 1844 in the Kun Iam Temple...

 between the Qing Empire and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, with the first United States Ambassador to China
United States Ambassador to China
The United States Ambassador to China is the chief American diplomat to People's Republic of China . The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as Commissioner, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia. Commissioners represented the United States in...

.
1850 Ten Tigers of Canton
Ten Tigers of Canton
The Ten Tigers of Canton or Ten Tigers of Guangdong refer to a group of ten Chinese martial artists from Guangdong , China, who lived during the late Qing Dynasty . They were said to be the best fighters in southern China at that time...

 
1851 Xianfeng Emperor
Xianfeng Emperor
The Xianfeng Emperor , born Aisin-Gioro I Ju, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1850 to 1861.-Family and his early years:...

 
Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...

 
Jintian Uprising
Jintian Uprising
The Jintian Uprising was an armed revolt formally declared by Hong Xiuquan on 11 February 1851 during the late Qing Dynasty. The uprising was named after Jintian , the place where it took place...

1855 Third Pandemic
Third Pandemic
Third Pandemic is the designation of a major Bubonic plague pandemic that began in the Yunnan province in China in 1855. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents, and ultimately killed more than 12 million people in India and China alone...

 of Bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...

 
Punti–Hakka Clan Wars
1856 Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...

 
1858 Battle of Sanhe
Battle of Sanhe
The Battle of Sanhe was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion, occurring in 1858. During this battle, the crack troops of Zeng Guofan’s Hunan Army was lost, along with one of its most capable commanders, Li Xubin.-Prelude:In August, 1858, Taiping Army took Luzhou , modern day Anhui, and...

 
Treaty of Aigun
Treaty of Aigun
The Treaty of Aigun was a 1858 treaty between the Russian Empire, and the empire of the Qing Dynasty, the sinicized-Manchu rulers of China, that established much of the modern border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria , which is now known as Northeast China...

,
Treaty of Tianjin
1860 Burning of Old Summer palace
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing...

 
Beijing Convention
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or the First Convention of Peking is the name used for three different unequal treaties, which were concluded between Qing China and the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.-Background:...

1861 Following the Convention of Peking
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or the First Convention of Peking is the name used for three different unequal treaties, which were concluded between Qing China and the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.-Background:...

, Prince Gong establishes the Zongli Yamen
Zongli Yamen
Zongli Yamen was the government body in charge of foreign affairs in imperial China during the late Qing dynasty. It was established by Prince Gong in 1861, following the Convention of Peking. It was abolished in 1901 and replaced with a Foreign Office of ministry rank.The former site of the...

 (Foreign Office).
1862 Tongzhi Emperor
Tongzhi Emperor
The Tongzhi Emperor , born Aisin-Gioro Dzai Šun, was the tenth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1861 to 1875. His reign, which effectively lasted through his adolescence, was largely overshadowed by the rule of his mother, the Empress...

 
Dungan revolt  The Tongwen Guan
Tongwen Guan
Tongwen Guan , or the School of Combined Learning was a government school for teaching Western languages , founded at Beijing, China in 1862 during the late-Qing Dynasty...

, or School of Combined Learning, is established to teach Chinese students Western languages
Languages of Europe
Most of the languages of Europe belong to Indo-European language family. These are divided into a number of branches, including Romance, Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Greek, and others. The Uralic languages also have a significant presence in Europe, including the national languages Hungarian, Finnish,...

.
1864 After fighting the Taiping rebels for four years, the Ever Victorious Army
Ever Victorious Army
The Ever Victorious Army was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th–century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions....

 is disbanded; it was the first Chinese army that employed a European officer corps
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 and as well as tactics, strategy, and techniques.
1868 Yangzhou riot
Yangzhou riot
The Yangzhou riot of August 22–23, 1868 was a brief crisis in Anglo-Chinese relations during the late Qing Dynasty. The crisis was fomented by the gentry of Yangzhou who opposed the presence of foreign Christian missionaries in the city, who claimed that they were legally residing under the...

 
End of the Nien Rebellion
Nien Rebellion
The Nien Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion in South China...

1870 Tianjin Massacre
Tianjin Massacre
The Tianjin Religious Case , more commonly known as the Tientsin Massacre in Western sources, occurred in Tientsin in 1870. It is considered to be one of the most important incidents involving missionaries in the late Qing Dynasty...

 
1871 The famous general Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang or Li Hung-chang , Marquis Suyi of the First Class , GCVO, was a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire...

 is appointed to the position of Viceroy of Zhili
Viceroy of Zhili
The Viceroy of Zhili , fully referred to as the Governor General of Zhili and surrounding areas; Overseeing Military Affairs, Food Production; Manager of Waterways; Director of Civil Affairs , was one of eight regional viceroys in China proper during the Qing Dynasty of China...

, an office he would hold until 1895, serving again in the same post from 1900 to 1901, until replaced by Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...

.
1873 End of the Panthay Rebellion 
1876 Guangxu Emperor
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor , born Zaitian of the Aisin-Gioro clan, was the eleventh emperor of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898...

 
After the murder of Augustus Raymond Margary
Augustus Raymond Margary
Augustus Raymond Margary was a British diplomat and explorer. The murder of Margary and his entire staff, while surveying overland Asian trade routes, sparked the Margary Affair which led to the Chefoo Convention....

 in the 'Margary Affair
Margary Affair
Margary Affair is the name of a crisis in Sino-British relations, which followed the murder of British official Augustus Raymond Margary in 1875....

', the Chefoo Convention
Chefoo Convention
The Chefoo Convention was an "unequal treaty" between the Qing and British Empires, which was signed by Sir Thomas Wade and Li Hongzhang in Chefoo on 21 August 1876...

 is held to resolve the issue but turns into an excuse for the British to press for additional concessions.
1884 Sino-French War
Sino-French War
The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...

 
1885 Battle of Fuzhou 
1891 Founding of Shanghai Sharebrokers Association
Shanghai Stock Exchange
The Shanghai Stock Exchange , abbreviated as 上证所/上證所 or 上交所, is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other is the Shenzhen Stock Exchange...

 
1894 First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...



(Battle of Pungdo
Battle of Pungdo
The Battle of Pungdo or Feng-tao was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 25 July 1894 offshore of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy of Meiji Japan and components of the Beiyang Fleet of Qing China.-Background:Both Qing...

,
Battle of Seonghwan
Battle of Seonghwan
The Battle of Seonghwan was the first major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 29 July 1894 at Seonghwan, outside of Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...

,
Battle of Pyongyang
Battle of Pyongyang
The Battle of Pyongyang was the second major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 15 September 1894 in Pyongyang, Korea between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...

,
Battle of Yalu River,
Battle of Jiuliancheng,
Battle of Lushunkou
Battle of Lushunkou
The Battle of Lüshunkou was a major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 21 November 1894 in Lüshunkou, Manchuria between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...

,
Battle of Weihaiwei
Battle of Weihaiwei
The Battle of Weihaiwei was a 23 day siege with a major land and naval component during the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895 in Weihai, Shandong Province, China) between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...

,
Battle of Yingkou
Battle of Yingkou
The Battle of Yinkou was a land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China, fought outside the treaty port town of Yingkou, Manchuria...

)
1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War. The peace conference took place from March 20 to April 17, 1895...

1898 Hundred Days' Reform
Hundred Days' Reform
The Hundred Days' Reform was a failed 104-day national cultural, political and educational reform movement from 11 June to 21 September 1898 in late Qing Dynasty China. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters...

 
Coup led by Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi1 , of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908....

1900 Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

 
1901 Boxer Protocol
Boxer Protocol
The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901 between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands after China's defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the...

 
1910 Xuantong Emperor
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...

 
Huanghuagang Uprising 
1911 Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...

 
Wuchang Uprising
Wuchang Uprising
The Wuchang Uprising began with the dissatisfaction of the handling of a railway crisis. The crisis then escalated to an uprising where the revolutionaries went up against Qing government officials. The uprising was then assisted by the New Army in a coup against their own authorities in the city...


Republic of China

Date Head of State Events Other people/events
1912 Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

 
Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...

 
Foundation of Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 
1913 Four big families of the Republic of China
Four big families of the Republic of China
The Four big families of the Republic of China are an initial group of families in the Republic of China era. They were responsible for much of China's management of finance, politics, economy and law. The four big families begin with the Chinese surname Chiang, Soong, Kung and...

 
1915 Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...

 
Empire of China

New Culture Movement
New Culture Movement
The New Culture Movement of the mid 1910s and 1920s sprang from the disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Chinese Republic, founded in 1912 to address China’s problems. Scholars like Chen Duxiu, Cai Yuanpei, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, and Hu Shi, had...

 
National Protection War
National Protection War
The National Protection War , also known as the anti-Monarchy War, was a civil war that took place in China between 1915 and 1916. The cause of this war was Yuan Shikai's proclamation of himself as Emperor. Only three years earlier, the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, had been overthrown...



Japan's Twenty-One Demands
Twenty-One Demands
The ' were a set of demands made by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu sent to the nominal government of the Republic of China on January 18, 1915, resulting in two treaties with Japan on May 25, 1915.- Background :...



Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu played many different roles in Chinese history. He was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its first General Secretary....

 starts New Youth
1916 (various leaders) Warlord era
Warlord era
The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...

 begins
1919 May Fourth Movement
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement growing out of student demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919, protesting the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles, especially the Shandong Problem...

 
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

1920 Push for written vernacular Chinese   
1921 Foundation of Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 
The True Story of Ah Q
The True Story of Ah Q
The True Story of Ah Q , is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection Call to Arms in 1923 and is the longest of the stories in the collection...

1923 Radio Corporation of China
Radio Corporation of China
- History :It was founded in January 1923 by American E.G. Osborn. It was not a radio station run by Chinese citizens, and was shutdown by the Northern warlords before 1927.- Influence :...

1924 First United Front 
1926 Northern Expedition 
1927 Nanchang Uprising
Nanchang Uprising
The Nanchang Uprising was the first major Kuomintang-Communist engagement of the Chinese Civil War, in order to counter the anti-communist purges by the Nationalist Party of China....



Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

 
Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

-Communist
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 split
1928 Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 . He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926...

 
Nanjing decade
Nanjing decade
The Nanjing decade was the decade from 1927 to 1937 in the Republic of China. It began when Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took the city from Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang halfway through the Northern Expedition in 1927. He declared it to be the national capital despite the...

 
Jinan Incident
Jinan Incident
The Jinan Incident or May 3rd Tragedy , was an armed conflict between the Japanese Army allied with Northern Chinese warlords against the Kuomintang's southern army in Jinan, the capital of Shandong in 1928 during the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition.-Background:During the Northern Expedition,...

1930 Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 
Encirclement Campaign against Northeastern Jiangxi Soviet
Encirclement Campaign against Northeastern Jiangxi Soviet
The Encirclement Campaign against the Northeastern Jiangxi Soviet was a campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government intended to destroy the communist Chinese Soviet Republic and its local military forces. It was met by the Communists' Counter-Encirclement Campaign at Northeastern...

 
1931 Chinese Soviet Republic

1931 China floods 
Invasion of Manchuria

Mukden Incident
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....

1932 Lin Sen
Lin Sen
Lin Sen , courtesy name Zichao , sobriquet Changren , was President of the National Government of the Republic of China from 1931 until his death.-Early life:...

 
Imperial Japanese colonialism in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...



Pacification of Manchukuo
Pacification of Manchukuo
The Pacification of Manchukuo, was a campaign to pacify the resistance to the newly established puppet state of Manchukuo between the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies of Manchuria and later the Communist Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and the Imperial Japanese Army and the forces of the...

 
January 28 Incident
January 28 Incident
The January 28 Incident was a short war between the armies of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937.- Naming :...



Defense of Harbin
Defense of Harbin
The Defense of Harbin occurred during the early Second Sino-Japanese War, as part of the campaign of the Invasion of Manchuria by forces of the Empire of Japan from 25 January to 4 February 1932.-Background:...

1933
1934 Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...

 
New Life Movement
New Life Movement
The New Life Movement was set up by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong May-ling in February 1934, with the help of the Blue Shirts Society and the CC Clique within the Chinese Nationalist Party...

1935 December 9th Movement
December 9th Movement
The December 9th Movement refers to a mass protest led by students in Beiping on December 9, 1935 that demands the Kuomintang government to actively resist potential Japanese aggression.-Background:...

 
First Encirclement Campaign against Hubei–Henan–Shaanxi Soviet
1936 Xi'an Incident
Xi'an Incident
The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 is an important episode of Chinese modern history, taking place in the city of Xi'an during the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War...

 
Japan establishes the Mengjiang
Mengjiang
Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...

1937 Second Sino-Japanese War 

(Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...

,
Battle of Shanghai
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...

,
Battle of Pingxingguan
Battle of Pingxingguan
The Battle of Pingxingguan , also commonly called the "Great Victory of Pingxingguan" in Mainland China, was an engagement fought between the 8th Route Army of the Communist Party of China and the Imperial Japanese Army on September 25, 1937....

,
Battle of Nanjing
Battle of Nanjing
The Battle of Nanking began after the fall of Shanghai on October 9, 1937, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanking on December 13, 1937 to Japanese troops, a few days after the Republic of China Government had evacuated the city and relocated to Wuhan...

,
Battle of Tai'erzhuang
Battle of Taierzhuang
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, between armies of Chinese Kuomintang and Japan, and is sometimes considered as a part of Battle of Xuzhou....

,
Battle of Changsha 1939
Battle of Changsha (1939)
Battle of Changsha was the first attempt by Japan to take the city of Changsha, China, during the second Sino-Japanese War. It was the first major battle of the war to fall within the timeframe of what's widely considered World War II.- Background and strategy :The war had already reached a...

,
Hundred Regiments Offensive
Hundred Regiments Offensive
The Hundred Regiments Offensive was a major campaign of the Communist Party of China's Red Army commanded by Peng Dehuai against the Imperial Japanese Army in Central China.-Background:...

,
Battle of Changsha 1941
Battle of Changsha (1941)
The Battle of Changsha was Japan's second attempt at taking the city of Changsha, China, the capital of Hunan Province, as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War.-Overview:...

,
Battle of Changsha 1942
Battle of Changsha (1942)
The third Battle of Changsha was the first major offensive in China by Imperial Japanese forces following the Japanese attack on the Western Allies....

,
Battle of Changsha 1944
Battle of Changsha (1944)
The Battle of Changsha , was an invasion of the Chinese province of Hunan by Japanese troops near the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War...

)
Nanking Massacre
Nanking Massacre
The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second...



Second United Front
1938 Bombing of Chongqing
Bombing of Chongqing
The bombing of Chongqing was part of a terror bombing operation conducted by Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the Chinese provisional capital of Chongqing, authorized by the Imperial General Headquarters.A conservative estimate places the...

1939
1940
1941 Yan'an Rectification Movement
1942
1943 Cairo Declaration
Cairo Declaration
The Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China were present...

1944 Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 
1945 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...

, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 ends

The Nationalist government
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 become one of the founding members of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...



The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northeast China
Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northeast China
Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northeast China was a counterinsurgency / counter guerrilla campaign fought between the bandits turned guerrillas allied with nationalists and the communists during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the communist...

1947 228 Incident
228 Incident
The 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10,000 to 30,000 or more...

 
 
1948 Liaoshen Campaign
Liaoshen Campaign
Liaoshen Campaign , literally the abbreviation of Liaoning-Shenyang Campaign, was part of the three major campaigns launched by the People's Liberation Army during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War. This engagement is known in the Nationalist government as the Battle of Liaoshi...

, Pingjin Campaign
Pingjin Campaign
Pingjin Campaign , known as the Battle of Pingjin to the Nationalist Government, was part of the three major campaigns launched by the People's Liberation Army during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War. It began on November 29, 1948, and ended on January 31, 1949, lasted a total of 64 days...

 and Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...

 

PRC/ROC

Date
People's Republic of China (Mainland China)
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Paramount Leader Events Other people/events President Events Other people/events
1949 Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...



(Mao Zedong Thought
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

)
Founding of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 
Li Tsung-jen
Li Zongren
Li Zongren or Li Tsung-jen , courtesy name Delin , was a prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang military commander during the Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War...

 
Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 retreats to Taiwan Area 
White Terror
White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...

1950 Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River
Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River
The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, also known as the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on or the Second Phase Campaign Western SectorThe Eastern Sector is the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. , was a decisive battle in the Korean War, and it took place from November 25 to December 2, 1950 along the Ch'ongch'on...

, Landing Operation on Hainan Island
Landing Operation on Hainan Island
Landing Operation on Hainan Island , also known as Hainan Island Campaign or Hainan Campaign for short, was a series of battles fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II period, and resulted in a communist...

 
Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...



Canidrome massacre
Canidrome (Shanghai)
The Shanghai Cultural Plaza precinct is an area in Shanghai's Luwan District, in the former French Concession of Shanghai, China. The area began as the Canidrome , a stadium structure originally built for greyhound racing in 1928....

 
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 
1951 Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet
Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet
The Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, or the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet for short, is the document by which the delegates of the 14th Dalai Lama allegedly reached an...

 
1952 Three-anti/five-anti campaigns
Three-anti/five-anti campaigns
The Three-anti Campaign and Five-anti Campaign were reform movements originally issued by Mao Zedong a few years after the founding of the People's Republic of China in an effort to rid Chinese cities of corruption and enemies of the state...

 
1953 Five Year Plan
Five-Year Plans of China
The five-year plans of People's Republic of China are a series of economic development initiatives. The economy was shaped by the Communist Party of China through the plenary sessions of the Central Committee and national congresses...

1956 Hundred Flowers campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...

 
1957 Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...

 
Asian Flu
H2N2
H2N2 is a subtype of the type influenzavirus A. H2N2 has mutated into various strains including the Asian flu strain , H3N2, and various strains found in birds...

 
1958 Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...

 
1959 Great sparrow campaign
Great sparrow campaign
thumb|right|250px|At the direction of [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]], sparrows were killed by the peasants, causing a major [[ecological]] imbalance in the environment...

 causes famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...



Three Years of Natural Disasters
Three Years of Natural Disasters
The Great Chinese Famine , officially referred to as the Three Years of Natural Disasters by the People's Republic of China, was the period in the People's Republic of China between 1958 and 1961 characterized by widespread famine...

 begins
Tibetan uprising
1959 Tibetan uprising
The 1959 Tibetan uprising, or 1959 Tibetan Rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the Communist Party of China since the Seventeen Point Agreement in 1951...

 
1960 Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...

 
1961
1962 Sino-Indian War
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...

 
1964 Destruction of Four Olds
Four Olds
The Four Olds or the Four Old Things were Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas. One of the stated goals of the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China was to bring an end to the Four Olds...



State Council
State Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...

 pushed for Simplified Chinese character
Simplified Chinese character
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Xiandai Hanyu Tongyong Zibiao for use in Mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of many standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language...

 in the mainland
First PRC atomic bomb detonation, 596 nuclear test
596 (nuclear test)
596 is the codename of the People's Republic of China's first nuclear weapons test, detonated on October 16, 1964 at the Lop Nur test site. It was a uranium-235 implosion fission device and had a yield of 22 kilotons...

 
Taiwan continues the use of Traditional Chinese characters 
1966 Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...



Three-Self Patriotic Movement
Three-Self Patriotic Movement
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement or TSPM is a state-controlled Protestant church in the People's Republic of China...



Down to the Countryside Movement
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous...

 
The Little Red Book  Chinese Cultural Renaissance
Chinese Cultural Renaissance
The Chinese Cultural Renaissance or the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement was a movement promoted in Taiwan to undo the cultural destructions caused by the Communist Party of China during the Cultural revolution.-Movement:...

 
1967
1968 Deng Pufang handicap incident 
1969 Zhenbao Island
Zhenbao Island
Zhenbao Island or Damansky Island is a small island measuring . It is located on the Ussuri River on the border between Russia and the People's Republic of China ....

 Sino-Soviet border conflict
Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino–Soviet border conflict was a seven-month military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino–Soviet split in 1969. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii...

 
Beijing Subway
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing municipality. It is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the wholly state owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., which operates 12 lines, and the Beijing MTR...

 
1970 Long March rocket
Long March rocket
A Long March rocket or Chang Zheng rocket as in Chinese pinyin is any rocket in a family of expendable launch systems operated by the People's Republic of China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology...

, first satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 launch
1971 Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

 visits Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 
UN resolution 2758, PRC replace ROC as UN representative 
1972 Shanghai Communiqué
Shanghai Communiqué
The Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communiqué , was an important diplomatic document issued by the United States of America and the People's Republic of China on February 27, 1972 during President Richard Nixon's visit...



Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 visits China 
1974
1975 Four Modernizations
Four Modernizations
The Four Modernizations were goals, set forth by Zhou Enlai in 1963, to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, national defense, science and technology...

 
Yen Chia-kan
Yen Chia-kan
Yen Chia-kan , or Yen Chia-jin , better known as C. K. Yen, succeeded Chiang Kai-shek as President of the Republic of China upon Chiang's death on April 5, 1975. He served out the remainder of Chiang's term until May 20, 1978.-Biography:C. K...

 
1976 Hua Guofeng
Hua Guofeng
Su Zhu, better known by the nom de guerre Hua Guofeng , was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the Paramount Leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in 1976, he succeeded Zhou as the second Premier of the People's Republic of China...



(Two Whatevers
Two Whatevers
The Two Whatevers refers to the statement that "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave" ....

)
Tiananmen incident
Tiananmen Incident
The Tiananmen Incident took place on April 5, 1976 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The incident occurred on the traditional day of mourning, the Qingming Festival, after the Nanjing Incident, and was triggered by the death of Premier Zhou Enlai earlier that year...

 following the death of Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...



The Great Tangshan earthquake
1976 Tangshan earthquake
The Tangshan Earthquake also known as the Great Tangshan Earthquake, was a natural disaster that occurred on July 28, 1976. It is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, People's Republic of China, an...



Death of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 
1977 Beijing Spring
Beijing Spring
The Beijing Spring refers to a brief period of political liberalization in the People's Republic of China which occurred in 1977 and 1978. The name is derived from "Prague Spring", an analogous event which occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968....

 
1978 Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...



(Deng Xiaoping Theory
Deng Xiaoping Theory
Deng Xiaoping Theory , also known as Dengism, is the series of political and economic ideologies first developed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. In theory, it does not reject Marxism or Mao Zedong Thought but instead seeks to adapt them to the existing socio-economic conditions of China.Since the...

)
Chinese economic reform
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform refers to the program of economic reforms called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the People's Republic of China that were started in December 1978 by reformists within the Communist Party of China led by Deng Xiaoping.China had one of the world's largest...

s
Democracy Wall Movement  Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo , Kuomintang politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China...

 
1979 One-child policy
One-child policy
The one-child policy refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China . The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy...



Four cardinal principles
Four Cardinal Principles
The Four Cardinal Principles were stated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 and are the four issues for which debate was not allowed within the People's Republic of China...



Sino-American relations
Sino-American relations
For the article on U.S.-Taiwan relations, see Republic of China – United States relations.Sino-American or People's Republic of China–United States relations refers to international relations between the United States of America and the government of People's Republic of China...

 
Border-war with Vietnam
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...

 
Taiwan Relations Act
Taiwan Relations Act
The Taiwan Relations Act is an act of the United States Congress passed in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and the breaking of relations between the United States and the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan by President Jimmy Carter...

 passed by United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 
Kaohsiung Incident
Kaohsiung Incident
The Kaohsiung Incident also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident or the Formosa Magazine incident was the result of pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1979....

1980 Special Economic Zone
Special Economic Zone
A Special Economic Zone is a geographical region that has economic and other laws that are more free-market-oriented than a country's typical or national laws...

s
Trial of
Gang of Four 
1984 Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

 in China, signs Sino-British Joint Declaration
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration, formally known as the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, was signed by the Prime Ministers, Zhao Ziyang and Margaret...

 
1987 Lifting of Martial Law 
1988 Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui is a politician of the Republic of China . He was the 7th, 8th, and 9th-term President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct...

 
1989 Tiananmen Square protests
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...

 
PRC declares Martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

 on Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 
Cheng Nan-jung
Cheng Nan-jung
Cheng Nan-jung was a Taiwanese publisher and pro-democracy activist. He was the founder of the Freedom Era Weekly. He is most known internationally for setting himself on fire in support of Taiwanese independence.-Background and career:...

 self-immolation
Self-immolation
Self-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...

 
1990 Wild Lily student movement
Wild Lily student movement
Taiwan's Wild Lily student movement or March student movement was a six-day student demonstration in 1990 for democratic reform. The sit-in at Memorial Square in Taipei, initiated by a few students from National Taiwan University, soon drew the participation of over 300,000 demonstrators...

 
1991 First McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

 restaurant in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 
Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...


represents
Taiwanese Independence 
1992 Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...



(Three Represents
Three Represents
The Three Represents is a socio-political ideology credited to General Secretary Jiang Zemin which became a guiding ideology of the Communist Party of China at its Sixteenth Party Congress in 2002....

)
1992 Consensus
1992 Consensus
The 1992 Consensus or Consensus of 1992 is a term describing the outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semi-official representatives of the People's Republic of China in mainland China and the Republic of China in Taiwan...

 
1996 Karamay fire incident
1994 Karamay fire
The 1994 Karamay fire is considered one of the worst civilian fires in the history of the People's Republic of China that occurred on December 8, 1994. A fire broke out in a theatre hosting 1,000 children and teachers in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region...

 
Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China in the waters surrounding Taiwan including the Taiwan Strait from July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996...

 
1997 Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 handover
Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...

, becomes a Special Administrative Region 
Death of Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...

 
1998 Great Firewall of China  Banning of China Democracy Party
China Democracy Party
Democracy Party of China is a political party that started in the People's Republic of China, and was banned by the Communist Party of China . The history of the DPC and its foundation date is unclear because it has many historical paths under different groups of founders...

 
1999 Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

 handover

NATO bombing of embassy
NATO Bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
On May 7, 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia , five US JDAM bombs hit the People's Republic of China embassy in the Belgrade district of New Belgrade, killing three Chinese reporters and outraging the Chinese public. President Bill Clinton later apologized for the bombing, stating it was...

 
Falun Gong banned by the PRC government  Resolution on Taiwan's Future
Resolution on Taiwan's Future
The Resolution on Taiwan's Future is a document ratified by the Democratic Progressive Party during its eighth annual national assembly on May 7-8, 1999 in the southern port-city of Kaohsiung...

 
2000 The PRC passes Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as the country with which the USA has the largest trade deficit 
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...

 
DDP
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...

 ended Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 rule in the 2000 ROC election 
Four Noes and One Without
Four Noes and One Without
The Four Noes and One Without , also known as the Four Noes was a pledge by former President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian made in his inauguration speech on 20 May 2000 concerning the political status of Taiwan...

2001 Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

Accession to World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...

 
Hainan Island incident
Hainan Island incident
On April 1, 2001, a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China called the Hainan...

 
2002 Accession to World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...

 
2003 SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...

 outbreak
Shenzhou 5
Shenzhou 5
Shenzhou 5  — was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China , launched on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999...

, PRC's first manned space mission 
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...

 outbreak
2004 Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...



(Scientific Development Concept
Scientific Development Concept
The scientific development concept, sometimes translated as the scientific development perspective, is the current official guiding socio-economic ideology of the Communist Party of China incorporating sustainable development, social welfare, a humanistic society, increased democracy, and,...

)
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...

 retires from his post as Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Central Military Commission
A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....

 
3-19 shooting incident
3-19 shooting incident
The 3-19 shooting incident was an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu while they were campaigning in Tainan on March 19, 2004, the day before Taiwan's presidential election...

 
2005 Anti-Secession law
Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China
The Anti-Secession Law is a law of the People's Republic of China. It was passed by the third conference of the 10th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China . It was ratified on March 14, 2005, and went into effect immediately. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of...

 
Jilin Chemical plant explosions
2005 Jilin chemical plant explosions
The Jilin chemical plant explosions were a series of explosions which occurred on November 13, 2005, in the No.101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin City, Jilin Province, China, over the period of an hour...



Anti-Japanese history revisionism 
Pan-Blue visit
2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China
The 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China were a series of groundbreaking visits by delegations of the Kuomintang to mainland China. They were hailed as the highest level of exchange between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang since Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met in Chongqing,...

 
2006 Structural work finished in the Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...

 
Renaming of "Chiang Kai-shek Airport" to "Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport" 
2007 Head of SFDA Zheng Xiaoyu
Zheng Xiaoyu
Zheng Xiaoyu was director of the State Food and Drug Administration of the People's Republic of China. He was sentenced to death in the first instance trial at Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court on May 29, 2007...

 executed

Chang'e 1 of Lunar Exploration Program
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program , also known as the Chang'e program, is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the China National Space Administration , the space agency of the People's Republic of China...

 
Chinese slave scandal
2007 Chinese slave scandal
The 2007 Chinese slave scandal was a series of forced labour cases in Shanxi, China. Thousands of Chinese people including children had been forced to work as slaves in illegal brickyards, and tortured by the owners of the brickyards...



Reincarnation application
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 is an order from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the People's Republic of China's agency charged with keeping religion under state control. Order No...

 
Renaming "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" to "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall"
Renaming of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The renaming of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall was announced by President Chen Shui-bian on May 15, 2007. The surrounding plaza was rededicated to democracy as Liberty Square...

 
2008 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

/2008 Summer Paralympics
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....



Hangzhou Bay Bridge
Hangzhou Bay Bridge
Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. At in length, Hangzhou Bay Bridge is one of the longest trans-oceanic bridges in the world...

 opens

Shenzhou 7
Shenzhou 7
- Backup crew :Of the back-up crew, only Chen Quan had not previously flown in space.- Mission highlights :The Long March 2F rocket launched the Shenzhou 7 into an initial elliptical orbit of 200 x 330 kilometres inclined at 42.4 degrees on 25 September 2008. About seven hours later the spacecraft...

 first spacewalk
Zhai Zhigang
Zhai Zhigang is an officer in the People's Liberation Army Air Force and a CNSA astronaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, he became the first Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk.-Early career:...

 
Early winter storms
2008 Chinese winter storms
The 2008 Chinese winter storms(2008年中国雪灾、2008年中国南方雪灾)are a series of winter storm events that affected large portions of southern and central China starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The systems affected most of the area with heavy snows, ice and cold temperatures causing extensive...



Tibetan unrest
2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...



Sichuan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...



Milk scandal
2008 Chinese milk scandal
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a food safety incident in the People's Republic of China, involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, adulterated with melamine....

 
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou is the 12th term and current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman...

 
Cross-strait charter
Cross-strait charter
The cross-strait charters are special flights between Taiwan and mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait. After the Chinese Civil War, no direct flights were allowed between Taiwan and mainland China due to mistrust and security concerns; this remained the case until 2003...



1025 demonstration

Second Chen-Chiang summit
Second Chen-Chiang summit
The Second Chen-Chiang summit was part of a series of the Chen-Chiang summit of cross-strait meetings. It was the first major meeting between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Straits Exchange Foundation leaders in Taiwan. The meeting lasted from November 3 to 7,...



Wild Strawberry student movement
Wild Strawberry student movement
The Wild Strawberry student movement is a protest movement in Taiwan begun on November 6, 2008 after the visit of China's ARATS chairman Chen Yunlin to the island. Police actions on protests aimed at Chen suppressed the display of Taiwan's national flag and the playing of Taiwanese songs...

 
Lien Chen & Hu Jintao at APEC Peru
2009 Urumqi riots

60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China
60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on October 1, 2009. A military parade involving 10,000 troops and the display of many high-tech weapons was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country...

 
Typhoon Morakot
Typhoon Morakot (2009)
Typhoon Morakot was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. It formed early on August 2, 2009 as an unnamed tropical depression...

 
2010 2010 Yushu earthquake
2010 Yushu earthquake
The 2010 Yushu earthquake struck on April 14, 2010, and registered a magnitude of 6.9Mw or 7.1Ms . It originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China, at local time. According to the Xinhua News Agency, 2,698 people have been confirmed dead, 270 missing, and 12,135 injured of which 1,434 are severely injured...



2010 Shanghai World Expo 

See also

  • Current year in the People's Republic of China
  • Current year in the Republic of China

By era

  • List of Palaeolithic sites in China
  • List of Neolithic cultures of China
  • List of Chalcolithic cultures in China
  • History of China
    History of China
    Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

    • History of the Republic of China
      History of the Republic of China
      The History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...

      • History of Taiwan
        History of Taiwan
        Taiwan was first populated by Negrito, and then Austronesian people. It was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Han Chinese including Hakka immigrants from areas of Fujian and Guangdong of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait...

         (timeline
        Timeline of Taiwanese history
        This is a timeline of the History of Taiwan including the History of the Republic of China on Taiwan .For the timeline of the History of the Republic of China on mainland China , see Timeline of Republic of China history....

        )
    • History of the People's Republic of China
      History of the People's Republic of China
      The history of the People's Republic of China details the history of mainland China since October 1, 1949, when, after a near complete victory by the Communist Party of China in the Chinese Civil War, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China from atop Tiananmen...

      • History of Hong Kong
        History of Hong Kong
        Hong Kong began as a coastal island geographically located off the southern coast of China. While pockets of settlements had taken place in the region with archaeological findings dating back thousands of years, regular written records were not made...

         (timeline
        Timeline of Hong Kong history
        - Imperial China :- British Crown colony :- Japan :- British Crown colony :- People's Republic of China :- See also :* Political events in Hong Kong since 1997* Timeline of Chinese history* Hong Kong 1 July marches- External links :*...

        )
      • History of Macau
        History of Macau
        Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It was administered by Portugal for 442 years, first as a trading post, however self administration was not achieved until the 1840's, it was subsequently turned as a Portuguese territory, until its handover to China in...


By individual categories

  • Chinese sovereign
    Chinese sovereign
    Chinese sovereign is the ruler of a particular period in ancient China. Several titles and naming schemes have been used throughout history.-Emperor Title:...

  • Dynasties in Chinese history
    Dynasties in Chinese history
    The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...

  • Foreign relations of Imperial China
    Foreign relations of Imperial China
    Imperial China had a long tradition of foreign relations. From the Qin Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, the Culture of China had an impact upon neighboring and distant countries, while gradually being transformed by outside influences as well....

  • Historical capitals of China
    Historical capitals of China
    The Chinese phrase Four Great Ancient Capitals of China traditionally refers to Beijing , Nanjing, Luoyang, and Chang'an ....

  • History of the political divisions of China
    History of the political divisions of China
    The history of the administrative divisions of China is quite complex. Across history, what is called 'China' has taken many shapes, and many political organizations...

  • Table of Chinese monarchs
    Table of Chinese monarchs
    The following list of Chinese monarchs is in no way comprehensive. From the Shang Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty, rulers usually held the title "King"...

     (very long)
  • List of recipients of tribute from China
  • List of tributaries of Imperial China
  • Unequal Treaties
    Unequal Treaties
    “Unequal treaty” is a term used in specific reference to a number of treaties imposed by Western powers, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, on Qing Dynasty China and late Tokugawa Japan...


External links

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