History of China

China is the world's oldest continuous civilization, with written records dating back at least 3,500 years. Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing reminiscent of those of the Shang dynasty have been found and dated to almost 9000 years old. This suggests that the origins of the Chinese civilization, starting first with city-states may be older than 10,000 years. Although 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization when China became a large kingdom or Empire. Successive dynasties developed systems of bureaucratic control, which gave the agrarian-based Chinese an advantage over neighboring nomadic and mountain-dwelling cultures. The forced imposition of a common system of writing by the Qin emperor (200 BC) and the development of a state ideology based on Confucianism (100 BC) strengthened the Chinese civilization. Politically, China alternated between periods of political union and disunion, and was occasionally conquered by external ethnicities, of which many were eventually assimilated into the Chinese identity. These cultural and political influences from many parts of Asia as well as successive waves of immigration and emigration merged to create the familiar image of Chinese culture and people today.

Qin Dynasty: The first Chinese Empire

Though the unified reign of the Qin (秦) Emperor lasted only twelve years, he managed to subdue great parts of what constitutes the core of the Han Chinese homeland and to unite them under a tightly centralized Legalist government seated at Xianyang (in modern Xi'an). His sons, however, were not as successful; as soon as the Qin reign ended, the Qin imperial structure collapsed. The Qin Dynasty is well known for building the Great Wall of China, which would later be augmented and enhanced during the Ming Dynasty.

Related Topics:
Qin - Han Chinese - Legalist - Xi'an - Great Wall of China - Ming

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The English word 'China' was derived from the porcelain or ceramic ware originally made in China. The phonetic derivative was most probably introduced into the English language from Persian or Sanskrit origins for "Chinese People" which ultimately was derived from ? qín and pronounced similarly to "chin".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~