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.

Song Dynasty and its northern neighbors, the Liao and the Jin

In 960, the Song Dynasty (960-1279) (宋朝) gained power over most of China and established its capital in Kaifeng, establishing a period of economic prosperity, while the Khitan Liao Dynasty (辽朝) ruled over Manchuria and eastern Mongolia. In 1115 the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) (金朝) emerged to prominence, annihilating the Liao Dynasty in 10 years. It also took power over northern China and Kaifeng from the Song Dynasty, which moved its capital to Hangzhou. The Southern Song Dynasty also suffered the humiliation of having to acknowledge the Jin Dynasty as formal overlords. In the ensuing years China was divided between the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Tangut Western Xia. Southern Song was a period of great technological development which can be explained in part by the military pressure that it felt from the north.

Related Topics:
960 - Song Dynasty (960-1279) - Kaifeng - Khitan - Liao Dynasty - Manchuria - Mongolia - 1115 - Jurchen - Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) - Hangzhou - Tangut - Western Xia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

References

• Shiba, Yoshinobu. 1970. Commerce and Society in Sung China. Originally published in Japanese as Sōdai shōgyō-shi kenkyū. Tokyo, Kazama shobō, 1968. Yoshinobu Shiba. Translation by Mark Elvin, Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.