History of China Timeline Activity

1700 b.c. 221 b.c.

In the 1700s the first dynasty arose. It was the Shang dynasty. It ruled
central China for about 600 years.
It was later overthrown by Zhou dynasty. Which lead to the second most
important dynasty.
221 b.c. 1200
The Qin dynasty arose. It united a number of smaller states under a strong
central government and established an empire. It was ruled by Shi Huangdi.
After the Qin Dynasty was the Han Dynasty which is another important
dynasty. There were many other dynasties that ruled after this. Some big,
some small.
1200 1900
European travelers began to explore China. Marco Polo was an explorer who
went to China and he wrote a book about his experience.
The Europeans started to take advantage of the Chinese and forced them to
sign treaties. This angered china and it lead to the Boxer Rebellion.
1644 1911
The Manchu people invaded China. Then they established the Qing dynasty.
Later the Manchus were overthrown by revolutionaries. This ended the
Chinese empire and all the dynasties.
1900 1912
Chinese militants attacked and killed the Europeans and Christians in China.
A multinational force of 20,000 soldiers defeated the Boxers.
After the rebellion, the Qing dynasty land tried to reform the Chinese
government although it was too late. Many people and groups wanted to
form a republic, so the people would have a voice in the government.
1912 1925
Sun Yat-sen founded the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party. The republic was
undermined by the civil war.
Sun Yat-sen died and Chiang Kai-shek took over the Nationalist party. The
Chinese Communists Party became an increasingly powerful force in China.

1958 1960
Mao Zedong started the Great Leap Forward to change China from a
predominantly agrarian society to a modern industrial society. Millions of
Chinese citizens were moved onto communes.
Many farmers had been sent to steel production, which resulted in not
enough people to farm and harvest crops. This lead to a famine which killed
20 to 28 million people.
1966 1976
Mao started the Cultural Revolution in response to the famine. He shut down
schools and called for a massive youth mobilization to take current party
leaders to task for their lack of revolutionary spirit.
The movement escalated quickly. The students formed paramilitary groups
and attacked elderly members and intellectual population.
1976 - 1980
The Nationalist and Communists fought for control over China. Mao Zedong
was the leader of the Communists Party and they defeated the Nationalists.
Mao and the Communists ruled mainland China. Chiang Kai-shek and the
Nationalists fled to Taiwan.
1980 Present Day
Deng Xiaoping became Chinas new leader after Mao Zedong died. In 2003,
Hu Jintao became president and Wen Jiabao became premier.
They took responsibility for the economic reforms and are trying to improve
the standard of living. China remains a Communist government today.