Things to learn about China (Packet 4 of 12)

1. Pangu

The creator of the universe in Chinese myth. In the beginning the universe was contained in a big black egg. He was born inside of this egg and slept for 18,000 years, during which time the Yin and Yang balanced as he grew. When he awoke, he cracked the egg and began to push it apart, essentially splitting the Yin and Yang. The upper half of the shell became the sky above him, and the lower half became the earth. After another 18,000 years he died, his body forming the various parts of the earth. His breath became the wind, mist and clouds; his voice, thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the moon; his head, the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood, rivers; his muscles, fertile land; his facial hair, the stars and Milky Way; his fur, bushes and forests; his bones, valuable minerals; his bone marrow, sacred diamonds; his sweat, rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became animals. Humans were later molded out of yellow clay.

2. Mandate of Heaven

An ancient Chinese philosophical concept, which originated during the Zhou Dynasty. It determines whether an emperor of China is sufficiently virtuous to rule; if he does not fulfill his obligations as emperor, then he loses the it and thus the right to be emperor.

There are four principles to it:
1) Tian grants the emperor the right to rule.
2) Since there is only one Tian, there can only be one emperor at any given time.
3) The emperor's virtue determines his right to rule.
4) No one dynasty has a permanent right to rule.

3. The Yellow Emperor

Also know as Huang Di, the most ancient of five legendary Chinese emperors as well as a patron of Taoism, one of China's main religions and philosophies. He was also a culture hero, credited with civilizing the earth, teaching people many skills, and inventing numerous useful items, including the wheel, armor and weapons, ships, writing, the compass, and coined money. According to tradition, he began ruling in 2697 B.C. His long reign was said to be a golden age, and he was honored as a benevolent and wise ruler. Before Huang-Di came to the throne, order and government were unknown in the world. He introduced systems of government and law to humankind, and he also invented music and the arts.

4. Yu the Great

A legendary ruler in 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. He lived sometime between 2200-2100 BCE. The dates proposed for his reign precede the oldest known written records in China, the oracle bones of the late Shang dynasty, by nearly a millennium. Stories about his life and reign were transmitted orally in various areas of China, and first recorded in texts from the Western Zhou period. Many were collected in Sima Qian's famous Records of the Grand Historian. He and other "sage-kings" of Ancient China were lauded for their virtues and morals by Confucius and other Chinese teachers

5. Xia Dynasty

Lasting from c. 2010 to c. 1600 BCE, it is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese history. It is described in ancient historical chronicles such as the Bamboo Annals, the Classic of History and the Records of the Grand Historian. According to tradition, the dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave his throne to him. It was later succeeded by the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). Although the it is an important element in early Chinese history, reliable information on the history of China before 13th century BC can only come from archaeological evidence since China's first established written system on a durable medium, the oracle bone script, did not exist until then. Thus, the concrete existence of the it has yet to be proven, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link it to Bronze Age Erlitou archaeological sites.

6. Yellow River

Also called the Huanghe, it is  the "mother river of China". Its basin was the center of Chinese politics, economy and culture for over 2,000 years. It is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze), and sixth longest in the world.  Almost all Chinese agree that the its river basin was the cradle of Chinese Civilization. A great amount of archeological information proves that it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history (2100–1046 BC). It is not just a river of China, but also the symbol of the Chinese spirit: bearing burdens (its sedimentation), adaptation (its course changes), and perseverance (its continual flow).

7. Yangtze River

The third longest river in the world, but the longest river within a single country. It has the highest source of any of the world's major rivers at over 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea level, on the border of Qinghai Province and Nagqu Prefecture, Tibet. The world's highest railway, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, passes only 100 km (60 miles) from the source. It drains one-fifth of the land area of China and its river basin is home to one-third of the country's population. It is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world.

8. The Bamboo Annals

A set of Chinese court records written on wooden slips, from the state of Wei, one of the many small states into which China was divided during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BCE). The state records were hidden in a tomb uncovered some six miles southwest of the present-day city of Weihui in Henan province about 279 CE, long after the use of wooden slips had gone out of style. They contain one of the few written records of the earliest period in Chinese history, but the originals have been lost, and the later copies that survive have been proved to contain much incorrect information.

9. Records of the Grand Historian

A monumental history of ancient China finished around 109 BCE by the Han dynasty official Sima Qian after having been started by his father, Sima Tan, Grand Astrologer to the imperial court. The work covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese and a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time. It has been called a “foundational text in Chinese civilization.” It set the model for the 24 subsequent dynastic histories of China. Unlike Western historical works, it does not treat history as a continuous, sweeping narrative, but rather break it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.

10. Chinese Zodiac

It is a scheme and systematic plan of future action that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes according to a 12-year mathematical cycle and it remains popular in several East Asian countries including China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Thailand. traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat (1996) and continues through Ox (1997), Tiger (1998), Rabbit (1999), Dragon (2000), Snake (2001), Horse (2002), Goat (2003), Monkey (2004), Rooster (1993), Dog (1994) and Pig (1995). It goes with the Chinese Lunar calendar so the start of each new year varies from January 21 to February 20.

11. Shang Dynasty

Recorded history in China begins with the Shang dynasty. Scholars today argue about when the dynasty began, with opinions ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-16th century B.C.E. Regardless of the dates, one event more than any other signaled the advent of the dynasty — the Bronze Age. It was during the dynasty that bronze working became common. Thousands of artifacts from the ruins of Yin, their last capital, were unearthed in the late 1920s and '30s. Bronze vessels for drinking were used in ritual ceremonies, while bronze chariots and axes were used in battle. The last king of the dynasty, Shang Chou, was a cruel man known for his methods of torture. The dynasty had been weakened by repeated battles with nomads and rivaling tribes within China. Shang Chou was ousted by the rebel leader Wu-wang in 1111 B.C.E.

12. oracle bones

Pieces of turtle shell or ox bone which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. They bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing and contain important historical information such as the complete royal genealogy of the Shang dynasty. When they were discovered and deciphered in the early twentieth century, these records confirmed the existence of the Shang, which some scholars had until then doubted. Diviners would submit questions to deities regarding future weather, crop planting, the fortunes of members of the royal family, military endeavors, and other similar topics. These questions were carved onto the bone or shell in script using a sharp tool. Intense heat was then applied with a metal rod until the bone or shell cracked due to thermal expansion. The diviner would then interpret the pattern of cracks and write the prognostication upon the piece as well.


13. Ruins of Yin (Yinxu)

The site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the recognition of the earliest known Chinese writing. The remnants of the last capital of China's Shang dynasty which existed through eight generations for 255 years, and through the reign of 12 kings. It was rediscovered in 1899, confirming the existence of the Shang Dynasty. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

14. Zhou Dyansty

The longest-lasting of China’s dynasties (1046-256 BCE). It followed the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) and it finished when the army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou in 256 BCE. Its long history is normally divided in two different periods: Western (1046-771 BCE) and Eastern (770-256 BCE), so called following the move of the capital eastwards where it was safer from invasion. The Eastern section is furthered divided into the Spring and Autumn period and the Period of Warring States. The most influential minds in the Chinese intellectual tradition flourished under this dynasty, particularly towards the Warring States period, considered a time of intellectual and artistic awakening. Many of the ideas developed by figures like Lao Tzu, Confucius, Mencius and Mo Tzu, who all lived during the Eastern period, would shape the character of Chinese civilization up to the present day.

15. Period of Warring States

The 250 years between 475 and 221 BCE near the end of the Zhou Dynasty, when the dynasty was divided between eight states. These states had frequent wars until 221 BCE when Qin conquered them all. Some kings were fighting to survive or retain power, and some wanted more power and territory. The Qin rulers generally wanted to conquer all the others. As the states fought, dominant philosophies and religions of Daoism, Legalism, Confucianism, and Moism emerged in the region and were spread by the surviving states.

16. 100 Schools of Thought
In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and Warring States Period (475-221BC), many schools of thought were flourishing. The four most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. There were also other schools like Yin & Yang, Eclectics, Logicians, Coalition persuaders and Militarism. This showed the fierce political and class struggles for survival among regional wars between the rising landed class and slaveholder class. It intensified activities and debates in the intellectual and ideology system in ancient China and exerted great influence on Chinese culture.

17. Confucius

He was born in 551 BCE in the Lu state of China (near present-day Qufu). His teachings, preserved in the Analects, focused on creating ethical models of family and public interaction, and setting educational standards. He died in 479 BCE. The philosophy based on his teachings later became the official imperial philosophy of China, and was extremely influential during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, and is sometimes referred to as the Chinese National Religion. His teachings were based on a series of unequal relationships, where the greater member of the relationship was expected to rule with care for the lesser member, and the lessor was supposed to listen because of their understanding that the greater member had their best interests at heart. These relationships included:

1) Emperor and his people
2) Man and wife
3) Father and son
4) Elder brother and younger brother

He also listed a fifth basic human relationship that is not unequal – friend to friend. His political beliefs were likewise based on the concept of self-discipline. He believed that a leader needed to exercise self-discipline in order to remain humble and treat his followers with compassion.

18. filial piety
In Confucian philosophy, xiào (The Chinese translation) is a virtue of respect for one's father, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian classic Xiao Jing or Classic of Xiào, thought to be written around the Qin-Han period, has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian tenet of xiào. The book, a conversation between Confucius and his student Zeng Shen, is about how to set up a good society using the principle of xiào. In more general terms, it means to be good to one's parents; to take care of one's parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and ancestors; to perform the duties of one's job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors; not be rebellious; show love, respect and support; display courtesy; ensure male heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers; wisely advise one's parents, including dissuading them from moral unrighteousness; display sorrow for their sickness and death; and carry out sacrifices after their death.

19. The Analects
One of the most widely read and studied books in China for the last 2,000 years, and continues to have a substantial influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today. It is a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been written by Confucius' followers. It is believed to have been written during the Warring States period and it to have achieved its final form during the mid-Han dynasty.

20. Lao Tzu (Laozi)

The founder of Taoism whose life took on almost mythic proportions. He is said to have been a record keeper in the court of the central Chinese Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century BCE, and an older contemporary of Confucius. This could be true, but he may also have been entirely mythical—much like Homer in Western culture. It is certainly very unlikely that (as some legends say) he was conceived when his mother saw a falling star, or born an old man with very long earlobes – or lived 990 years. He is said to have tired of life in the Zhou court as it grew increasingly morally corrupt. So he left and rode on a water buffalo to the western border of the Chinese empire. Although he was dressed as a farmer, the border official recognized him and asked him to write down his wisdom. According to this legend, what he wrote became the sacred text called the Tao Te Ching. After writing this piece, he is said to have crossed the border and disappeared from history, perhaps to become a hermit.

21. Taoism

An ancient tradition of philosophy and religious belief that is deeply rooted in Chinese customs and worldview. It is centered on the Tao or “the Way”, the ultimate creative principle of the universe in which all things are unified and connected. It originated in China 2000 years ago. It is a religion of unity and opposites; yin and yang. The Way is not God and is not worshipped. It promotes, achieving harmony or union with nature, the pursuit of spiritual immortality, being 'virtuous' (but not ostentatiously so) and self-development. The central symbol of it is water.

22. yin and yang

Two halves that together complete wholeness. They are also the starting point for change. When something is whole, by definition it is unchanging and complete. So when you split something into two halves, it upsets the equilibrium of wholeness. This starts both halves chasing after each other as they seek a new balance with each other. It also symbolically shows that in every good there is a little bad, in every dark there is a little light. The yin is associated with the moon, wet, dark, cold, passivity and femininity. The yang is associated with the sun, dry, light, warmth, active and masculinity.

23. Tao Te Ching

The full title is “The Classic of the Way and its Power”, but the more popular shortened title just translates to “The Book of the Way”. It is the founding text of the Taoist religion, often assumed to be written by the philosophy’s founder Lao Tzu. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, and is among the most translated works in world literature.

24. The Art of War

an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly thought of as a definitive work on military strategy and tactics. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and "for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond. Napoleon is said to have had it translated for him to use its tactics, and it was used by American general Douglas MacArthur. Outside of war, its tenets have been used by executives and even in the world of sports where football coaches like Steve Spurrier and Bill Belichick have been known to use strategies from it.

25. Qin Dynasty
The dynasty was brief in duration (221-206 BCE) but very important in Chinese history. It followed the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BCE) and it ended when Liu Bang became the king of Han in 206 BCE. Despite its brevity, it left important marks on Chinese culture. In fact, the name "China" is derived from the name of the dynasty. A series of victories by the dynasty’s namesake state toward the end of the Warring States period resulted in their complete conquest of China in 221 BCE when the empire unified China for the first time in its history. Early in the dynasty, the practice of Legalism reached its peak in Chinese history. This idea of state policy was devised by Shang Yang who came to them as a foreign advisor.

26. legalism

A Classical Chinese philosophy that emphasizes the need for order above all other human concerns. The political doctrine developed during the brutal years of the Fourth Century BCE. The founder of the school was Hsün Tzu or Hsün-tzu. The most important principle in his thinking was that humans are inherently evil and inclined toward criminal and selfish behavior. Thus, if humans are allowed to engage in their natural proclivities, the result will be conflict and social disorder. As a solution to this problem, the ancient sage-kings invented morality. Since morality does not exist in nature, the only way of making humans behave morally is through habituation and harsh punishment The practioners of this believed that government could only become a science if rulers were not deceived by pious, impossible ideals such as "tradition" and "humanity." The people needed a strong government and a carefully devised code of law, along with a policing force that would stringently and impartially enforce these rules and punish harshly even the most minor infractions. Shih Huang-Ti of the Qin dynasty adopted this philosophy for his empire.

27. Shih Huang-Ti

The first ruler to unify all of China. He started out as king of Qin, the most militaristic of the 'Warring States'. In 221 BCE his armies annexed the six states that rivaled Qin, and he assumed the title of First Emperor. The emperor unified China with merciless brutality and vowed that all Confucian doctrine, which set limits to the power of the ruler, should be erased. He ordered his chancellor to burn all the literary classics of the past. He established a centralized administration and constructed a network of roads and canals. He fought against the steppe peoples from the northern desert, and he began that immense work, the Great Wall of China, to set limits to their incursions.

28. Terracotta Warriors

A collection of sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang-Ti, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The figures were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the them held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.

29. The Great Wall of China

A series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BCE; these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger. Especially famous is the wall built 220–206 BCE by Qin Shi Huang-Ti, the first Emperor of China. Little of that wall remains. Since then, it has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty. It runs about 21 feet high on average and 16 feet across, continuing on for more than 5500 miles. It has been suggested that if you count all its branches, it totals about 13,171 miles.

30. burning of books and burying of scholars

This refers to the supposed burning of texts in 213 BCE and burial alive of 460 Confucian scholars in 210E BC by Qin Shih Huang-Ti. The event caused the loss of many philosophical treatises of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Recent scholars doubt the details of these events in the Records of the Grand Historian—an original source of information for the period—since the author, Sima Qian, was an official of the Han dynasty, which succeeded the Qin dynasty, and could be expected to show it in an unfavorable light. While it is clear that the First Emperor gathered and destroyed many works which he regarded as subversive, two copies of each were to be preserved in imperial libraries, which were destroyed in the fighting following the fall of the dynasty.

31. Han Dynasty

The second imperial dynasty of China, spanning over four centuries (206 BCE - 220 CE), the  period is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group names itself after the dynasty and the Chinese script is as well. It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu. It was the first dynasty to officially sponsor Confucianism in education and court politics. Science and technology during the period saw significant advances, including papermaking, the nautical steering rudder, the use of negative numbers in mathematics, the raised-relief map, the hydraulic-powered armillary sphere for astronomy, and a seismometer employing an inverted pendulum. They were also the first to use imperial examinations.

32. imperial examination

A civil service examination system in Imperial China to select candidates for the state bureaucracy. Although there were exams as early as the Han dynasty, the system became the major path to office only in the mid-Tang dynasty, and remained so until its abolition in 1905. Since the exams were based on knowledge of the classics and literary style, not technical expertise, successful candidates were generalists who shared a common language and culture, one shared even by those who failed. This common culture helped to unify the empire and the ideal of achievement by merit gave legitimacy to imperial rule. However, because it required such broad knowledge, richer families, who could afford to have their sons solely study for the exams, had an advantage.

33. Cai Lun

The inventor of paper, he was born in Guiyang during the Eastern Han Dynasty. After serving as a court eunuch from 75 CE, he was given several promotions under the rule of Emperor He of Han. In 89 CE he was promoted with the title of Shang Fang Si, an office in charge of manufacturing instruments and weapons; he also became a Regular Palace Attendant. In 105 CE, he invented the composition for paper along with the papermaking process – though he may have been credited with an invention of someone from a lower class. Tools and machinery of papermaking in modern times may be more complex, but they still employ the ancient technique of felted sheets of fiber suspended in water, draining of the water, and then drying into a thin matted sheet.

34. Yellow Turban Rebellion

A peasant revolt in China against the Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in the year 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling. It took 21 years until the uprising was suppressed in the year 205. The rebellion, which got its name from the color of the cloths that the rebels wore on their heads, marked an important point in the history of Taoism due to the rebels' association with secret Taoist societies. The revolt was also used as the opening event in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is often seen as the beginning of the end of Han Dynsaty rule in China

35. Three Kingdoms Period

Three houses – Wei, Shu and Wu – taken together as a single dynasty, it originated in 220 CE when Wei replaced the Eastern Han Dynasty and ended in 280 CE when the Wu was defeated by the Court of Jin. It is considered to be a special historical period full of power struggles and sophisticated military strategies. It is one of the bloodiest in Chinese history. In fact, it has been considered the second deadliest period of warfare behind World War II, some estimates saying that the population of China fell from 56 million to 16 million during the period.

36. Romance of the Three Kingdoms

A historical novel by Luo Guanzhong set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 169 CE and ending with the reunification of the land in 280. The story – part historical, part legend, and part mythical – romanticizes and dramatizes the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han dynasty or restore it. While the novel follows hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel deals with the plots, personal and military battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years.

37. Sui Dynasty

A short-lived imperial dynasty of China from 589-618 CE. It was preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it unified China for the first time after over a century of north-south division. It was followed by the Tang dynasty.
Founded by Emperor Wen, its capital was Chang'an. Emperors Wen and Yang undertook various centralized reforms including the equal-field system, intended to reduce economic inequality and improve agricultural productivity; the institution of the Three Departments and Six Ministries system; and the standardization and re-unification of the coinage. They also spread and encouraged Buddhism throughout the empire and undertook monumental construction projects including expanding the Great Wall and digging the Grand Canal.

38. The Grand Canal

The longest canal or artificial river in the world and a famous tourist destination. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BCE, although the various sections were finally combined during the Sui dynasty. The total length of it is 1104 miles. Its greatest height is reached in the mountains of Shandong, at a summit of 138 feet. Despite temporary periods of desolation and disuse, the Grand Canal furthered an indigenous and growing economic market in China's urban centers since the Sui period. It has allowed faster trading and has improved China's economy. In the southern portion it is in heavy constant use to the present day.

39. Chang’an

An ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. It means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace"; yet after its fall in 23 CE, the old name was restored. By the time of the Ming dynasty, the name was again changed to Xi'an, meaning "Western Peace", which has remained its name to the present day.

40. T’ang Dynasty

An imperial dynasty of China from 618-907 CE 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. The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. With its capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), which at the time was the most populous city in the world, is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization: a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.  It is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of China's most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang. There was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. It is also known as the first period for the flourishing of Chinese culture.

41. The Silk Road

An ancient network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. At it’s longest ends, it stretched from Chang’an to Constantinople, though no one person was expected to travel it’s entirety.

42. Empress Wu

A Chinese sovereign who ruled unofficially as Empress and later, officially as Emperor of China during the brief Zhou dynasty (690-705 CE), which interrupted the Tang dynasty (618–690 & 705–907). She was the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia.
She was the concubine of Emperor Taizong. After his death, she married his successor and ninth son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's furen or first consort in 655, although having considerable political power prior to this. After Gaozong's debilitating stroke in 690, she ruled as sovereign until 705. The importance to history of Wu Zetian's period of political and military leadership includes the major expansion of the Chinese empire, extending it far beyond its previous territorial limits, deep into Central Asia, and engaging in a series of wars on the Korean peninsula. Within China, besides the more direct consequences of her struggle to gain and maintain supreme power, her leadership resulted in important effects regarding social class in Chinese society and in relation to state support for Taoism, Buddhism, education, and literature.  

43. woodblock printing
        
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. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 CE, and it remained the most common East Asian method of printing books and other texts, as well as images, until the 19th century.  It is carefully prepared as a relief pattern, which means the areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife, chisel, or sandpaper leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The block was cut along the grain of the wood. It is necessary only to ink the block and bring it into firm and even contact with the paper or cloth to achieve an acceptable print. The content would of course print "in reverse" or mirror-image, a further complication when text was involved. The art of carving it is technically known as xylography, though the term is rarely used in English.

44. Guangzhou massacre

Chinese rebels under Huang Chao who were revolting against the Tang dynasty were said to have engaged in a massive slaughter of foreign merchants.  They slaughtered Jews, Muslim Arabs, Muslim Persians, Zoroastrians and Christians when they seized and conquered, according to Arab writer Abu Zayd Hasan As-Sirafi. Huang Chao's army was in Guangzhou during 878–879. Only the Arabic source of Abu Zaid mentions the massacre; Chinese sources of the Tang dynasty history say nothing of the massacre and only mention Huang Chao occupying Guangzhou and retreating after disease struck his army. The main motivation for the alleged killings is generally considered to be that the victims were foreign and wealthy. However, the Student Rebellion could have been against professors, teachers, class, examinations, teaching, and against capitalist wealth. The death toll could have ranged from 120,000 to 200,000 foreigners.

45. Li Bai

Chinese poet who rivaled Du Fu for the title of China’s greatest poet. He liked to regard himself as belonging to the imperial family, but he actually belonged to a less exalted family of the same surname. He was a romantic in his view of life and in his verse. One of the most famous wine drinkers in China’s long tradition of imbibers, hefrequently celebrated the joy of drinking. He also wrote of friendship, solitude, the passage of time, and the joys of nature with brilliance and great freshness of imagination.

46. Du Fu

Chinese poet, considered by many literary critics to be the greatest of all time. Born into a scholarly family, he received a traditional Confucian education but failed in the imperial examinations of 735. As a result, he spent much of his youth traveling. His early poems thread together incidents from his travels and personal accounts of the hardships he endured; he also wrote poems to or about Li Po (Li Bai). He is often described as a poet-historian, and his works convey the emotional impact and import of political and social issues and register a range of private concerns, trials, and dramas. His poems are remarkable for their range of moods as well as contents.

47. An Lushan Rebellion

Lasting from 755 to 763 CE, began as a revolt by a disgruntled general in the Tang Dynasty's army, but it soon engulfed the country in unrest that lasted nearly a decade. Along the way, it nearly brought one of China's most glorious dynasties to an early and ignominious end. Started by its namesake general, when he declared himself emperor of northern China.  The rebellion spanned the reigns of three Tang emperors before it was finally quashed, and involved a wide range of regional powers; besides the Tang dynasty loyalists, others involved were anti-Tang families, especially in An Lushan's base area in Hebei, and Arab, Uyghur and Sogdian forces or influences, among others. The rebellion and subsequent disorder resulted in a huge loss of life and large-scale destruction. It significantly weakened the Tang dynasty, and led to the loss of the Western Regions.

48. The Pear Garden

The first known royal acting and musical academy in China founded during the Tang dynasty by Emperor Xuanzong (712–755). It is an example of an historically early institutional academy of music. The 8th-century Chinese Emperor Xuanzong (also named Ming Huang) established schools in the palace city Chang'an (now Xi'an) for music, dancing, and acting. Three hundred musicians and performers were trained annually under the supervision of the emperor, who sometimes joined in the training as well as the performances.

49. Song Dynasty

It arose about 54 years after the large Tang Empire fell in 906. Overall, over the course of it’s reign (960-1279), the empire was prosperous, the population doubled in the 10th and 11th centuries, and science and technology advanced.  At the end of the Tang Empire in 906 CE, the territory was divided among kingdoms or was conquered by invaders. The time was a period of war and turmoil, and it lasted for about 53 years. In the year 960, a general in one of the kingdoms called Northern Zhou named Zhao Kuangyin rebelled against his king and the court officials and started his own dynasty. This general was called Emperor Taizu, and during his lifetime, he went on to defeat most of the kingdoms around him and so established the empire. The empire is divided into two distinct periods. The early period is called the Northern Period (960-1127), when the Empire was at its greatest strength, and the later period is called the Southern Period (1127-1279), after the empire was driven south of the Yangtze by the rising Jurchen or Second Jin Empire.

50. Emperor Taizu

The first ruler of the Song dynasty, after reuniting China as a military general. He began reigning in the year 960. His capital was in Kaifeng. During his 16 years of rule, he instituted successful policies and won his wars of expansion. He is known as one who set the policy that most of the governing officials should be Confucian literati who passed the imperial exam. This stabilized the process of dynastic succession by ensuring that empire's administrative staff could carry on their duties when the emperor died. This policy helped to ensure that the officials were very intelligent, literate, and loyal to the government. He also created academies that allowed a great deal of freedom of discussion and thought. These academies proved successful in later years in nurturing world leading scientists for their times. The officials were also known for achievement in literature and the arts. Their high level of education helped them formulate policies for trade with other countries and introducing new weapons such as rockets and mortars.

51. foot binding

The custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young girls to prevent further growth. The practice possibly originated among upper-class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Imperial China, then became popular during the Song dynasty and eventually spread to all social classes. Itbecame popular as a means of displaying status (women from wealthy families, who did not need their feet to work, could afford to have them bound) and was correspondingly adopted as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. It was not until the early 20th century that it began to die out as a result of campaigns against it. It resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects, and a few elderly Chinese women still survive today with disabilities related to it.

52. Second Jin Dynasty
        
Founded by the Wanyan clan of the Jurchen people, the ancestors of the Manchu people who established the Qing dynasty some 500 years later, they controlled northern China from 1115-1234. Their name is sometimes written as Kin to differentiate it from an earlier dynasty of China whose name is identically spelled using the Latin alphabet. The Jurchen tribes were united by the chieftain and later first emperor, Wanyan Aguda, who overthrew the Khitan Liao dynasty. During the reign of Aguda's successor, they declared war against the Song dynasty and conquered much of northern China. The Song were forced to flee south of Yangtze River. They dynasty fell after their defeat against the rising Mongol Empire, a steppe confederation that had formerly been a Jurchen vassal.

53. Water Margin

Also translated as Outlaws of the Marsh, Tale of the Marshes, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, it is a novel attributed to Shi Nai'an. Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, along with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber. The novel is written in vernacular Chinese rather than Classical Chinese. The story, set in the Song dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress rebel forces. It has introduced to readers many of the best-known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen.

54. Temujin

The actual name of Genghis Khan, it translates to “of iron”. Born in the Royal Borjigh clan of the Mongols in 1167, his father, Yesugi, was a leader of a small clan in northeastern Mongolia. After his father was poisoned when he was nine, he was first exiled and then entered the service of the Toghril Khan, his father's sworn brother. Toghril was Mongolia's most powerful and ruthless leader at the time. In 1206, when a rival clan, the Merkit, kidnaped his wife. He went to Toghril for help, and Toghril returned the request by supplying him with 20,000 soldiers and men. He effectively destroyed the Merkit Warriors, and then added members to his army. His military strategies were unmatched and unbeatable. His tactics were an ever-changing form of attack. His armies wore a light form of armor that consisted of a quilted jacket or waterproof leather jacket. Underneath they wore a silk shirt, so if wounded in battle the arrow would not penetrate so deep. The silk cloth would wrap around the arrow, reducing the chance of an infection, and lessening the magnitude of the wound. Genghis Khan, being a very smart man, organized his armies into smaller groups so they would be more effective. He attacked without mercy or prejudice; his only goal was to conquer all who opposed him. One of his great attributes as a leader was that he united the different clans. He played on the idea of giving their service for Mongolia instead of for their own individual clans. Any opponent facing Genghis Khan had one of two choices: Surrender and be enslaved, or die. This was the basis for his great empire which spanned across two continents. His reign went from 1206 AD to 1227 AD, during which he conquered many nations. His territories extended from Hungary across Asia to Korea, and from Siberia to Tibet. He also introduced the first written Mongol language. During his reign he developed a carrier service, a primitive but effective form of communication. Tradition states that he died in battle on horseback, probably of a heart attack.

55. The Mongol Empire

Empire that existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in the steppes of Central Asia, it eventually stretched from Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia, eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and the Iranian plateau, and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia. It emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the Mongolia homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan, who was proclaimed ruler of all the tribes (Genghis Khan means universal ruler) in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the east with the west with an enforced Pax Mongolica allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia. Eventually, the empire started to split after the death of Genghis Khan.

56. Yuan Dynasty

The empire or ruling dynasty established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. Although the Mongols had ruled territories including today's North China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm was, by this point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas, including modern Mongolia and Korea. It was the first foreign dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its Mongol rulers returned to their homeland and continued to rule the Northern Yuan dynasty. Some of the Mongol Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others only used their native language.

    57. Kublai Khan

The grandson of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, he was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (1260–94) and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. He assumed the title emperor of China, and his conquest of South China’s Song Dynasty was the last step in the Mongols’ efforts to rule China wholly. With that conquest behind him, he became the overlord of all the Mongol dominions (the Golden Horde in southern Russia, the Il-Khanate of Persia and regions inhabited by traditionally nomadic Mongol princes), as well as the ruler of his own territory of China.

58. Marco Polo

 Born in 1254, in Venice, Italy, he traveled extensively with his family, journeying from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295. He remained in China for 17 of those years. Around 1292, he left China, acting as consort along the way to a Mongol princess who was being sent to Persia. His book Livres des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World) escribes his travels and experiences and influenced later adventurers and merchants. The book was at first hailed, but then panned by later scholars who suggested that he had never actually been to China. When the Chinese finally opened their records to the West, however, they also have detailed record of him being there, vindicating his name.

59. Golden Horde

Also called Kipchak Khanate,  Russian designation for the Ulus Juchi, this was the western part of the Mongol empire, which flourished from the mid-13th century to the end of the 14th century. The people of this group were a mixture of Turks and Mongols, with the latter generally constituting the aristocracy. The ill-defined western portion of the empire of Genghis Khan formed the territorial endowment of his oldest son, Juchi. Juchi predeceased his father in 1227, but his son Batu expanded their domain in a series of brilliant campaigns that included the sacking and burning of the city of Kiev in 1240. At its peak the territory extended from the Carpathian Mountains in eastern Europe to the steppes of Siberia. On the south the Horde’s lands bordered on the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Iranian territories of the Mongol dynasty known as the Il-Khans.

60. Ming Dynasty

 The ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. Described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty), regimes loyal to the their throne – collectively called the Southern Ming – survived until 1662. The greatest achievements accomplished during this time were on architecture.  The Forbidden City in Beijing was crafted this time. Porcelain making was also relevant during this time, which contributed to arts of present day.    Three of the great four novels of China were also written during this period – Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

61. Zheng He

Admiral and diplomat who lived from 1371-1433 and helped to extend Chinese maritime and commercial influence throughout the regions bordering the Indian Ocean. He commanded a large fleet of ships. His first voyage is estimated to have had over 200 total ships and nearly 28,000 men. Some of the ships were large treasure ships estimated to be over 400 feet long and 170 feet wide. They had ships to carry treasure, ships to carry horses and troops, and even special ships to carry fresh water. At his sudden death in India, the new Ming emperor called the entire fleet home and set fire to it, returning China to a period of isolation

62. Beijing

The capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world. Its population in 2013 was 21,150,000. The city's history dates back three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, it has been the political center of the country for much of the past eight centuries. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates, and its art treasures and universities have made it a center of culture and art in China. It’s rise to prominence was greatly helped by being the Northern terminus of the Grand Canal constructed by the Sui, but it didn’t become the country’s capital until the Ming completed the Forbidden City there in 1420.

63. Forbidden City

The Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. It served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 ha (180 acres). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. Since 1925, it has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artefacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

64. eunuchs

A man who (by the common definition of the term) may have been castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences. In China, this castration was the removal of all male sexual organs. From ancient times until the Sui Dynasty, castration was both a traditional punishment (one of the Five Punishments) and a means of gaining employment in the Imperial service. Certain eunuchs gained immense power that occasionally superseded that of even the Grand Secretaries. Zheng He, who lived during the Ming Dynasty, is an example of such a eunuch. Self-castration was a common practice, although it was not always performed completely, which led to its being made illegal. It is said that the justification for the employment of eunuchs as high-ranking civil servants was that, since they were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty.

65. calligraphy

A visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, dip pen, or brush, among other writing instruments. The Eastern version  originated and developed from China. There is a general standardization of the various styles of in this tradition. The Chinese version and ink and wash painting are closely related, since they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques. Chinese painting and writing distinguish themselves from other cultural arts because they emphasize motion and are charged with dynamic life.

66. Jade Emperor

Considered to be the ruler of Heaven. He was thought to be like a human emperor, in that he ruled over a heavenly court populated by all the important gods of China. The Chinese conception of gods is based on the Chinese bureaucracy, and that the social organization of the human government is the essential model that Chinese people use when imagining the gods. At the apex of the divine bureaucracy stands the him in Heaven, corresponding to the human Son of Heaven (Tianzi, another name for emperor) who rules over Earth.

67. Chinese dragons

Legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and Chinese folklore. They have many animal-like forms such as turtles, fish, and imaginary creatures, but they are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. In yin and yang terminology, a they are yang and complements a yin fenghuang ("Chinese phoenix"). They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. It is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it. With this, the Emperor of China usually used it as a symbol of his imperial power and strength. In Chinese daily language, excellent and outstanding people are compared to it, while incapable people with no achievements are compared with other, disesteemed creatures, such as a worm

68. Chinese phoenix

Called fenghuang in China, they are mythological birds of East Asia that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called feng and the females huang but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and they are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be paired with the Chinese dragon, which is traditionally deemed male. The fenghuang is also called the "August Rooster" since it sometimes takes the place of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. Despite its name in the West, the similarities between the two birds’ myths are no more than superficial.

69. Shan Hai Jing

Also called The Classic of Mountains and Seas it is a classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and myth. Versions of the text have existed since the 4th century BCE, but the present form was not reached until the early Han dynasty a few centuries later. It is largely a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology. The book is divided into eighteen sections; it describes over 550 mountains and 300 channels.

70. pinyin

The official phonetic system for transcribing the Mandarin pronunciations of Chinese characters into the Latin alphabet in mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese and a version without diacritic markers is often used in foreign publications to spell Chinese names familiar to non-Chinese and may be used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into computers.

71. Mandarin Chinese

A standard language that is the sole official language of both China and Taiwan, and also one of the four official languages of Singapore. The pronunciation of the standard is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary is drawn from its namesake dialects, and the grammar is based on literature in the modern written vernacular. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a tonal language. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants and tones than southern varieties. Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. Like other varieties of Chinese it is a topic-prominent language and has subject–verb–object word order. The language is written using either traditional or simplified Chinese characters, augmented by Hanyu Pinyin romanization for pedagogical purposes. It is the most spoke native language in the world with over 955 million speakers.

72. Cantonese

The dialect of Yue Chinese spoken in the vicinity of Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China. It is the traditional prestige dialect of Yue. It is the language of its namesake people. Inside mainland China, it is a lingua franca in Guangdong Province and some neighbouring areas, such as the eastern part of Guangxi Province. It is the majority language of Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta region of China. It is also traditionally the most spoken variety of Chinese among overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia (most notably in Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore) and the Western world, especially Canada, Australia, Western Europe, and the United States.