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China was really the first modern state because it had a centralized
government and a corps of bureaucrats who could execute the wishes of that
government.
Lasted from 150 BCE until 1911 CE.
Chinese history is divided into periods called dynasty.
Dynasty is ruled by a king, or as the Chinese know him, an emperor, who
comes from a continuous ruling family.
Empress Wu : founded her own dynasty, as regent in 683 CE, empress in 690
CE, deposed in 705 CE. She ruled China for more than 20 years.
The dynasty can end for 2 reasons : run out of emperors, or the emperor is
overthrown after a rebellion or a war.
The first Chinese dynasty were the Shang who were overthrown by the Zhou
which disintegrated into political chaos called The Warring States Period.
This dynasty ended when the Qin emperor were able to extend his power
over most of the warring states. Then, the Qin were replaced by the Han,
which were the dynasty lasted for almost 400 years that really set the
pattern for most of Chinas history. After that, China fell again into political
chaos which only means there was no dynasty that ruled over all of China.
Out of this chaos were the Sui who are followed quickly by the Tang. Tang
were replaced after a short period of no dynasty by the Song, who saw a
huge growth in Chinas commerce that was still not enough to prevent them
from being conquered by the Yuan. Yuan were both unpopular and unusual
because they were Mongols, which sparked rebellions resulting in the rise of
the Ming. Ming was the dynasty that built the Great Wall and made amazing
vases, but the Great Wall didnt save them from falling to the Manchoos.
Manchoos was the one who founded the dynasty called the Qing, which was
the last dynasty because in 1911, there was a rebellion like in France,
America, and Russia.
Shang Dynasty = 1600 1029 BCE.
Zhou Dynasty = 1029 771 BCE.
The Warring States period = 475 221 BCE.
Qin Dynasty = 221 206 BCE.
Han Dynasty = 206 220 CE.
The Three Kingdoms period = 220 280 CE.
Ruler to ruled
Father to son
Husband to wife
Elder brother to younger brother
Friend to friend