China: Political History and Notable People (inc. Politicians, Generals, Inventors, Explorers, etc.)

Dates indicate time of reign, not lifespan (unless otherwise noted or there is no date of reign publicly available)

1600 BCE - 1046 BCE - Shang Dynasty (All Facts)

• 1st historical dynasty of China

• Its capital was at Zhengzhou in Henan

• Characterized by

  • The practice of human sacrifice

1075 BCE - 1046 BCE - King Zhou / Zhou Xin (All Facts)

• 17th and final king of the Shang Dynasty of China

• Was reputed to be so strong strong that he could slay wild beasts with one blow of his fist

• He and his dynasty ended in fire and blood when he was deserted by his warriors, literally having went out in a blaze of glory when he supposedly put on his most splendid robes and jewels and set fire to his palace, perishing in the flames

1046 BCE - 246 BCE - Zhou Dynasty (All Facts)

• 2nd historical dynasty of China

• Composed of two smaller dynasties, its “Western” and “Eastern” variants

1046 BCE - 771 BCE - Western Zhou Dynasty (All Facts)

• 2nd historical dynasty of China, the first of the two sub-dynasties

• Its capital was at Hao in Xi’an

• Originally vassals of their predecessors, they overthrew them to establish their rule

• Characterized by

  • Their wise rule, having delegated authority over much of China to junior members of the royal family and to nobles who were given fiefs to rule

    • These nobles sought to continually expand the (Chinese) empire’s boundaries

  • The practice of human sacrifice, although it was not as prevalent as it was in the preceding dynasty

    • This was because they abandoned the preceding dynasty’s religion of ancestor worship and developed a newer theology in its place

  • Their recorded history, having inscribed their achievements on ornate bronze vases, and having provided accurate dates of events for the first time

• Developed a theology in which they worshipped Tian or “Heaven,” which was a semi-personal divinity

781 BCE - 771 BCE - King You (All Facts)

• He was the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty

  • Was killed and his capital was sacked by disaffected vassals and hostile neighboring peoples

771 BCE - 246 BCE - Eastern Zhou Dynasty (All Facts)

• 2nd historical dynasty of China, the second of the two sub-dynasties

• Its capital was at Luoyang, which replaced the capital of the preceding dynasty which fell by the time this sub-dynasty emerged

• Dynasty that had established the state of Qin in the area of the former capital of Hao in the Wei valley

770 BCE - 481 BCE - The Spring and Autumn Period (All Facts)

• Period in Chinese political history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou

• Characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy

685 BCE - 643 BCE - Duke Huan of Qin Ch’in (All Facts)

• Was recognized as “Ba” or ruler, at a meeting of feudal warlords anxious to bring order to the country which has been in turmoil since the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty

  • This prince of the line was rescued by a loyal feudal lord with a new capital established in the east at Luoyang

  • Ruled still owing allegiance to the Zhou

• Pursued a vigorous policy of building up the military and economic power of his state, encouraging agriculture, and developing the sea-salt industry

• Under his rule, the namesake state was the most advanced the powerful of the Chinese states

475 BCE - 221 BCE - Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty (All Facts)

• Period in Chinese political history in which the Kingdom of Jin (Chin) had split into three warring principalities: the Han, Wei, and Zhao

  • Prompted by a coup in 453 BCE

• Period of political and moral crisis and profound anarchy in which the great feudal lords tore each other apart

• Characterized by warfare, bureaucratic and military reform, and political consolidation

• Concluded with the wars of conquest that saw the state of Qin annex each of the other contender states by 221 BC and found the Qin dynasty

390 BCE - 338 BCE - Shang Yang (All Facts)

• Statesman of the western state of Qin (Chin) during the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty

• Introduced a remarkable series of reforms to the state of Qin including having

  • Strengthened the power of the central government by dividing the state into 31 counties

    • Each county was governed by a magistrate directly responsible to himself

  • Made the sale and purchase of land easier

  • Insisted that agricultural taxes to be collected in cash rather than in kind (or by working them off in the fields)

  • Instituted a strict penal code characterized by having been applied to everyone regardless of their social status

• Enforced these new laws rigorously via his creation of “mutual responsibility groups”

• Under his regime, good work was rewarded

  • Success in farming and warfare brought

    • A grant of land

    • A non-hereditary title

338 BCE - 311 BCE - King Huiwen / Yang Si (All Facts)

• Statesman of Qin

• Notable for being the first ruler of Quin to adopt the title of “King” (wang) rather than “Duke”

  • This thus represented his making a claim to be the legitimate ruler of the whole of China at the time

  • This thus led to the increasing political consolidation of the Qin state, which would eventually overtake all of China at the time

251 BCE - 235 BCE - Lu Buwei (All Facts)

• Chancellor of Qin during the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty

  • Commissioned his namesake “Spring and Autumn Annals”

• Was originally a merchant

  • While a merchant, he befriended the young prince of Quin who had been driven into exile

  • Sealed their friendship by presenting the prince with his own favorite concubine and when the prince ascended the throne, he rose with him

  • The new king married the concubine, who presented him with a son that looked like the namesake figure

  • When the king died, the queen showed renewed interest in the namesake figure

  • Fearing the consequences of getting together with her, he introduced her to a man of almost legendary virility whose sexual powers were seemingly unquenchable

  • From there, everyone seemed satisfied

• Was determined to raise the cultural standards of the Qin state, having been ashamed at Qin’s reputation for coarseness

247 BCE - 221 BCE - Qin Shi Huang (King Zheng of Qin)

• Final King of the Qin State

• State which succeeded in conquering all its rivals after decades of ruthless war in which hundreds of thousands were slaughtered

• After conquering all its rivals, he declared himself emperor

221 BCE - 207 BCE - Qin Dynasty (All Facts)

• 3rd historical dynasty of China

• Shortest lasting historical dynasty of China

221 BCE - 210 BCE - Shi Huang of Qin (All Facts)

• First Emperor and Founder of (Imperial) China and First Emperor and Founder of the Qin Dynasty

  • Succeeded in conquering all the warring states (rivals of the Qin State) of China, thus ending the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty and starting the Qin Dynasty

  • Unified all of China, then assumed the throne

  • Proclaimed himself “First August Lord” or Emperor of China

  • Architect of China’s political and administrative unity

• Constructed the First Great Wall of China

  • His first priority was in successful defense of China from northern invaders

  • Conscripted 300K men to build it

  • Formed a single line of frontier defense

  • Stretched from Liaodong in the East of China to Lintao in the West of China

  • Joined together the separate parts of the Great Wall

• Held a great assembly of ministers to decide how the other conquered states were to be governed

  • Their decisions were far-reaching yet had a profound effect on the future history of China

  • He rejected one proposal put forth by a group of conservative advisors which would have entailed the division of the empire into fiefs governed by his family and supporters in the old feudal style

    • His wisdom was shown since it was this very system of feudalism that led to the war between the old fiefdoms during the warring states period of the Zhou Dynasty

    • Thus, in short, he rejected the Feudal System of the Zhou Dynasty because it did not work and led to mass-slaughter

  • Instead, he set up a system of commanderies and prefectures run by salaried civil servants responsible to the central government

    • By this method, he had gathered the reins of power into his own hands

• Because he was the emperor, he wanted to make sure there would be no rebellion against his strict rule, so he

  • Ordered that all weapons must be handed in and melted down

  • Supervised the powerful families of the defeated states in which he had them fathered together in the capital of the Qin state where they were lodged comfortably

• Oversaw the enactment of civil laws to turn China into a genuinely unified state

  • Established that a single standard script be used for all official documents

  • Suppressed local variant scripts

  • Standardized weights and measures

  • Regulated the axle-width of carts so that they fit the established road-ruts

  • Applied the strict system of in law to every part of China

• Ordered that all books be burnt except for those that useful subjects such as medicine, agriculture, and divination

• Established the Qin Dynasty’s capital at Xianyang

• Buried in a vast tomb beneath a man-made mountain near his established capital at Xianyang

  • Guarded by an army of soldiers, made out of terracotta

    • These soldiers were buried in the ground around the tomb, ready to spring to their master’s aid in the afterlife

  • Rich grave-goods surround the body of the emperor, which were to be used by him in the afterlife

  • The interior of the dome which forms the roof of his tomb depict the constellations of the heavens, while the mountains and rivers of China are modelled below

210 BCE - 207 BCE - Er Shi of Qin (All Facts)

• Second and final emperor of the Qin Dynasty of China

• Son of his predecessor

• Was an extremely weak ruler who fell under the influence of the court eunuch Zhao Gao, who had designs for the throne, who eventually forced him to commit suicide, leading to the decline of the dynasty and the emergence of the succeeding dynasty

  • The tight hold maintained by his predecessor fell away

  • Different factions struggled for power

  • He was forced to commit suicide, but his eunuch was then assassinated

  • The shockwaves then spread to the far corners of the empire

  • The conquered states began to rebel against the oppressive rule of the Qin under his regime

  • From all this turmoil, there emerged two contenders for supreme power

    • One was an aristocratic general named Xiang Yu

    • The other was his successor

202 BCE - 220 CE - Han Dynasty (All Facts)

• 4th historical dynasty of China

• Founded by Liu Bang / Gaozu

• Its capital was Changan

202 BCE - 9 CE - Western Han Dynasty (All Facts)

• 1st Half of the Han Dynasty of China, it ended with the ascendancy of Wang Mang and the Xin Dynasty

202 BCE - 195 BCE - Liu Bang / Gaozu of Han (All Facts)

• First Emperor and Founder of the Han Dynasty

• Man of humble peasant origins yet he was a forceful leader

• Consolidated his power and assumed the throne, bringing him victory over his rival Xiang Yu and having him be proclaimed to the throne via his

  • cautious approach

  • careful choice of subordinates

• Named his dynasty “Han” after the river which gave it name to the first state over which he ruled during his rise to power

• Promised to repeal the harsh laws of the prior Qin Dynasty established by Qin Shi Huang

  • However, after his first two years on the throne he negated that promise, setting on continuing to implement the harsh law of his predecessors

195 BCE - 180 BCE - Empress Dowager Lu (All Facts)

• Queen regent of the Han Dynasty

• Dominated court politics from the death of the founder of the Dynasty until the assumption to the throne of the fifth and succeeding emperor

180 BCE - 157 BCE - Wen of Han / Liu Heng (All Facts)

• 5th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

196 BCE - 154 BCE - Liu Pi / Prince of Wu (All Facts)

• King of Wu

• His son and heir was killed in a quarrel over a game of chess with the imperial heir-apparent

  • In response, he staged a revolt where he joined forces with six other kings and revolted against the imperial house

  • However, his revolt failed, marking a new stage in the centralization of Chinese imperial power at the time

195 BCE - 114 BCE - Zhang Qian (All Facts)

• Chinese politician, diplomat, and explorer

• Known as the “Great Traveler,” he was a strong and resourceful man

• He faced great dangers in opening up trade and diplomacy with India, Parthia, and Syria

• He made first contact with the Hellenistic world

• He brought the grapevine and alfalfa sprout to China

• He helped China greatly expand its knowledge of the world, especially in the Mediterranean

  • His travels changed the vast country of China’s relations with the rest of the world forever

• He volunteered to pass through the land of China’s enemies, the nomadic Xiongnu Confederation to make an alliance with the Yuezhi

  • He was captured almost immediately and taken to the Great Khan who treated him kindly and gave him a wife, but kept him prisoner for 10 years

  • He then escaped with his wife and one servant, but instead of fleeing to safety, he continued his journey

• He spent a year in Bactria where he found that smuggled had established a route there from China

• On his journey home, he again fell into the hands of the Xiongnu Confederacy, but escaped after a year in captivity

• After the Xiongnu had been defeated, he led an expedition with 300 men and gifts of gold and silk to dazzle the west with China’s riches

  • Thus, his exploration initiatives led to the establishment of the “Silk Roads” to central Asia

• Emperor Wu had made him “Marquis of Bowang”

157 BCE - 87 BCE - Wu of Han / Wudi / Liu Che (All Facts)

• 7th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• Known as the “Martial Emperor”

  • He had waged successful but costly wars in central Asia, expanding Chinese territory considerably

  • Under his reign, China conquered the kingdoms of Yue (Fukien) and Nanyue (Canton and North Vietnam), with all the best lands in their known world belonging to them at that point

  • Pursued a ruthless policy of expansion, having taken Zhaoxian, a border kingdom in the Korean Peninsula

  • Captured Li-Guang-li and his large army of the states of the Tarim basin and Ferghana, making China the master of most of central Asia at that point

• Established Confucianism as the state religion

  • Established Confucian scholarship in order to control civil administration

• Under his reign, a magnificent canal was built

  • It was over 100 miles long

  • It connected the Changan (the Han Dynasty’s capital) with the Yellow River

• Turned the salt and iron industries into state monopolies

• Oversaw an infamous debate which was described in the pages of an edict he devised called “Discussions on Salt and Iron”

• Levied taxes on boats and carts

• Changed the system of officially appointed academicians, of whom there were traditionally 72, establishing chairs for only the 5 main classical traditions

140 BCE - 117 BCE - Huo Qubing (All Facts)

• Chinese military general and politician during the Han Dynasty

• Drove north of the Gobi Desert the Xiongnu, long-standing enemies of China, and became a national hero

100’s BCE - 74 BCE - Li Ling (All Facts)

• Chinese military general during the Han Dynasty

• Penetrated deep into central Asia at great odds, which ended in his surrender and defection to the Xiongnu

• Performed a heroic feat of arms near Dunhuang in 99 BCE

• Died tragically, a captive among adversaries

• Was praised by Siam Qian

87 BCE - 74 BCE - Zhao of Han (All Facts)

• 8th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• Presided over the debate of the “Discourses on Salt and Iron”

  • He had his regent, Huo Guang, call on all the scholars of the empire to come to the capital, Changan, to debate the government's economic policies

  • He ordered the debate to look into matters such as the state’s monopoly of the salt and iron industries, a policy of his predecessor, but made it clear that he wanted to examine the suffering of the people more broadly

74 BCE - 48 BCE - Xuan of Han (All Facts)

• 10th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• Under his reign, he

  • Forced the warrior nomads of the north, of the Xiongnu Confederacy, to pay tribute to him

  • Huhanye came to his court to celebrate the Chinese New Year where

    • Treated Huhanye and his Xiongnu Confederacy of nomads as a rival head of state more so than as a vassal

      • He was given the great honor of not having to prostrate himself before the emperor

      • He was seated higher than all the other nobles at court

    • Rewarded Huhanye and his Xiongnu Confederacy generously for his participation in the Han Tributary System

      • He was given tangible marks of the emperor’s appreciation including gold, silk, suits of clothes, 15 horses, and wagon loads of grain; which accompanied him back to his journey to the wild steppes of the Xiongnu

  • Diminished the Xiongnu Confederacy nomad threat to China

9 CE - 23 CE - Xin Dynasty (All Facts)

• 10+ year interruption of the Han Dynasty by the usurper Wang Mang 

• His reign marked the end of the Western Han Dynasty

• He and his dynasty fell after a rebellion against him 

9 CE - 23 CE - Wang Mang (All Facts)

• Usurper of the Han throne, having taken it from the imperial heir-apparent Liu Ying 

  • He legitimized his action on the pretense of fabricated omens 

  • His usurpation was also made possible by his family’s relationship of marriage to the imperial line 

• Declared the Han defunct and established his own dynasty, the Xin, of which he was the sole ruler

• He was an agrarian reformer

• He was quite popular early on in his rule

  • However, when the forces of nature changed the course of the mighty Yellow River and inflicted catastrophe on the countryside causing widespread famine during his reign, peasants left the land and formed themselves into armed bands against him

• He and his imperial forces failed to suppress a rebellion in Shandong comprised of peasants known as the “Red Eyebrows”

• He was beaten and killed during a revolt by partisans of the legitimate Han regime

  • Revolt which was provoked by merchants and capitalists employed as administrators, whose underhand practices were trying to be curbed by the namesake

• His death sparked off a quarrel between the Han princes as to who should succeed the namesake 

25 CE - 220 CE - Eastern Han Dynasty (All Facts)

• 2nd Half of the Han Dynasty of China

• Established by Liu Xiu or Guangwu

25 CE - 57 CE - Guangwu of Han (All Facts)

• 16th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• 1st Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the second half of the Han Dynasty 

• Ascended the throne over other rival protagonists in the struggle for power during the Civil War at the end of the Xin Dynasty 

  • He overthrew his cousin Liu Xuan to ascend the throne 

• Under his reign, the Han imperial line was restored

• He moved the capital to Loyang 

• He reestablished Chinese domination over the peoples of inner Mongolia 

• During his reign, an ambassador from a kingdom in Japan at the time arrived in Loyang, where, in return for the homage he paid to the Emperor, he was given a seal confirming his kingship in the name of the Emperor 

  • He first arrived to the court of the Emperor 

  • He then told many fabulous tales about Japan (at the time) and its people, which fascinated the Emperor and the Chinese people with him 

  • The seal he gave to this ambassador was given to 30 of the many autonomous tribes that made similar overtures to China by 57 CE 

• He died and was succeeded by his successor 

57 - 75 - Ming of Han (All Facts) 

• 17th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• 2nd Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the second half of the Han Dynasty 

• Converted to Buddhism, the first Chinese Emperor to do so 

  • He converted after he had a dream in which he saw a golden deity flying by his palace 

  • During his reign,

    • A Buddhist monastery was founded at Loyang by monks from his brother Liu Yeng’s capital of Pengcheng 

    • Buddhist monasteries multiplied throughout the country

  • Had his brother, Liu Ying, Prince of Chu, converted during his reign, who had not been not above conspiring to seize the throne of China for himself in the past 

32 - 102 - Ban Chao (All Facts) 

• General under Emperor Ming of Han

• He was a man of great fitness and strength of character 

• He extended Han power along the Silk Road through Turkestan to the west until only the Caspian Sea and Armenian mountains separated the Han and Roman Empires 

• He spent most of his life fighting the northern nomads, having won his way through the often hostile tribes as far west as Kashgar  

• 73 - He was sent to the western regions where he established Chinese control over the oasis states, making a peak in Eastern Han military success 

• 74 - He was sent to the border kingdoms to make alliances and gain recognition of Han supremacy 

• 75 - Puts down a general uprising in the region of the Tarim Oases 

• 91 - Inflicted a defeat on Kanishka and the Indian Kushans at the Tarim Basin

• 94 - Completed his conquest of the Tarim Basin after capturing Karashar 

• His military successes were not approved of by a faction art court which opposed westward expansion 

  • He was eventually recalled before he had time to consolidate his gains 

• Upon the accession of Zhang of Han, he was enabled to mount another expedition

  • Her subjugated the tribal kings

  • With an army of 70K men, he stood on the shores of the Caspian Sea awaiting news from the envoy he had sent to make first contact with the Romans 

• 102 - Organized the Chinese territories of the Tarim Basin

  • He proceeded to retreat

75 - 88 - Zhang of Han (All Facts)

• 18th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• 3rd Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the second half of the Han Dynasty 

88 - 106 - He of Han (All Facts) 

• 19th Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• 4th Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the second half of the Han Dynasty 

106 - 125 - An of Han (All Facts) 

• 21st Emperor of the Han Dynasty 

• As a young boy, his mother Deng ruled as regent empress 

106 - 121 - Empress Deng Sui of Han (All Facts) 

• Empress of the Han Dynasty

• Ruled as regent over her sons Shang of Han and An of Han 

• During her reign, a Japanese prince sent a present of 160 slaves to the Chinese court

125 - Marquess of Beixang / Empress Yan (All Facts)

• Interim rulers between Emperor An and Shun

• Their attempted rule led to a violent uprising that crushed it and led to their successors’ rule 

50 - 121 - Cai Lun (All Facts) 

• Eunuch who served in the imperial court during the Han Dynasty

  • He held the court position of Shang Fang Si 

  • He was praised by Emperor He of Han for his invention of paper

• He invented paper

  • He this did this by soaking and pounding flat the bark of trees, rag, hemp, and old fishing nets

    • Up to that point, heavy tablets of bamboo and expensive pieces of silk were used to write 

    • Now, he made it so that large quantities of cheap, easily transportable writing material could be manufactured 

  • He further worked to refine and the color and texture of paper, which soon became known as “the paper of the namesake Marquis”

100s - 128 - Ban Yong (All Facts) 

• Youngest son of Ban Chao

• Repelled an attempt by the Kushans of the Kushan Empire in India to conquer the Tarim Basin 

• However, under his watch, the Chinese domination of the Tarim basin began to weaken 

146 - 168 - Huan of Han (All Facts) 

• 27th Emperor of the Han Dynasty 

• While an infant, the dowager Empress ruled as regent, she was a member of the Liang family

• Her brother Liang Ji, helped the Empress and her family reach the height of their power during this emperor’s reign 

• When he grew up, he eliminated the Liang clan, putting an end to the dominance of the dowager empresses and relying increasingly upon the power of the palace eunuchs

• He died without an heir, so the Empress Dou was declared dowager, giving her a major say in the choice of successor

168 - Empress Dou (All Facts)

• Declared dowager upon Huan’s death

• She chose Ling, a 12-year-old boy of noble birth and 1000 eunuchs were sent to Jieduting to bring him to the capital at Loyang

  • The journey took 2.5 weeks

  • During this period, she tried to put her late husband’s nine concubines to death

  • However, only one of the concubines was killed before two eunuchs intervened

• She ennobled her father Dou Wu

• After Ling’s victory, she was imprisoned and her father committed suicide 

100s - 168 - Dou Wu (All Facts)

• Empress dowager’s father who attempted and failed to kill the palace eunuchs, leading to the palace eunuchs reassertion of their power

  • In so doing, the Han dynasty declined as struggles between the eunuchs and the mandarins who staffed the bureaucracy became more intense

• When he arrived at Loyang, a bitter power struggle ensured as he resolved to kill the eunuchs but there but they were equally anxious to kill him and his family

• After much bloodshed, Ling, the successor chosen by his daughter, the empress dowager Dou, succeeded Huan

• His daughter was imprisoned and he committed suicide

168 - 189 - Ling of Han (All Facts)

• 28th Emperor of the Han Dynasty 

• He was the last Han Emperor to exercise effective power during his reign

  • This was due to the increasing power given to the imperial court eunuchs 

184 - Zhang Jue (All Facts)

• Leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion during the Han Dynasty

  • Rebellion which started when he sent a delegation of Yellow Turbans (his followers) to the imperial court, where they proceeded to be murdered by the eunuchs there 

• He was known as a Taoist sorcerer capable of performing miracles, which made him extremely popular

  • He gained power by curing Chinese of an epidemic which swept through the central provinces

  • His followers believed that his spells made them immoral

• After becoming popular, he proclaimed the government as corrupt and oppressive, and he and his followers attempted to take over the capital city of Lyon 

• He and his followers were eventually defeated by the Han rulers, but they significantly weakened the Han Dynasty 

189 - 192 - Dong Zhuo (All Facts) 

• Warlord who presided over the Han Dynasty after being summed by a faction in the imperial court 

• He put an end to the rule of the eunuchs by massacring them and then took power as a result

• After he allowed his soldiers to burn down the Han capital of Loyang, he was assassinated and China descended into anarchy

189 - 220 - Xian of Han (All Facts) 

• 30th and Final Emperor of the Han Dynasty

• Became the puppet of the celebrated general and warlord Cao Cao

• Was forced to abdicate, thus leading to the end of the Han Dynasty

220 - Fall of the Han Dynasty (All Facts) 

• Caused by

  • The seizure of power by the battle-hardened army, which had

    • Put down a series of peasant revolts

    • Destroyed the power of the court eunuchs

  • The inability of successive emperors to cope with and address the increasing financial and social problems of the empire 

  • Provincial governors waging war against each other

  • Emperor indulging in court intrigues while being cut off from the Chinese countryside

  • Anarchy

• Dynasty which was succeeded by three generals which rescued China from anarchy but which contended for power between each other 

216 - 220 - Cao Cao (All Facts) 

• General and Poet who conquered northern China

• Warlord who held the fugitive boy emperor captive, subjecting him to being a mere pawn in the hands of other contending warlords 

  • The namesake’s son would succeed Xian 

• He laid the foundation for the state of Cao Wei, one of the three major dynastic states during the Three Kingdoms period

220 - 280 - Three Kingdoms Period / San Kuo (All Facts) 

• Period in which China was divided into Three Kingdoms: the Wei, Shu, and Wu 

• Period which came after the fall of the Han Dynasty 

220 - 266 - Cao Wei Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period in China 

• Founded by Cao Pi 

• Descendants of its warlord founders succumbed to a palace coup initiated by their own chief general Sima Yi, and thereafter the dynasty continues only in name

• Dynasty which eventually absorbed the western kingdom of Shu Han

220 - 226 - Cao Pi (All Facts) 

• First Emperor and Founder of the Cao Wei Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms Period in China 

• He only had control of Wei in the northern third of China 

222 - 280 - Eastern Wu Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period in China 

• Founded by Sun Quan

229 - 252 - Sun Quan (All Facts) 

• First Emperor and Founder of the Eastern Wu Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms Period in China 

221 - 263 - Shu Han Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period in China 

• Founded by Liu Bei 

221 - 223 - Liu Bei (All Facts) 

• First Emperor and Founder of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period in China 

239 - 251 - Sima Yi (All Facts)

• Initiated a palace coup that leads to the collapse of the Cao Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms Period 

266 - 420 - Jin Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty founded by Sima Yan 

266 - 315 - Western Jin Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty founded by Sima Yan

• It falls following the capture of Changan by the Xiongnu Confederacy

266 - 290 - Sima Yan of Jin (All Facts) 

• First Emperor and Founder of the Jin Dynasty 

• Ousted the Cao Wei Dynasty, forcing Cao Huan to abdicate and ruling that northern kingdom / dynasty until he reunited the Three Kingdoms of China altogether into one empire and founded the dynasty 

  • He usurped the throne and was proclaimed emperor with great ceremony

  • He then sent his forces across the Blue River and crushed the forces of the southern kingdom of Wu or the Eastern Wu Dynasty 

  • All this allowed him to consolidate power and become emperor of all of China 

• He presided over a China in which 

  • Its strength was drained

  • Its countryside was devastated

  • Its borders were threatened by nomads like the Xiongnu to the North

317 - 420 - Eastern Jin Dynasty (All Facts) 

• Founded by Yuan (Sima Rui) 

317 - 323 - Yuan of Jin (All Facts)

• Founded the Eastern Jin Dynasty 

• Established their capital at Nanjing, south on the Yangzi River 

420 - 589 - Northern and Southern Dynasties Period (All Facts) 

• Relatively unstable period of Chinese political history that lasted from the end of the Jin Dynasty to the start of the Sui Dynasty 

• Consisted of the Northern Wei Dynasty and four Southern Dynasties 

• Period which featured

  • Civil war and political chaos

  • Flourishing arts and culture

  • Advancement in technology

  • Spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism

  • Large-scale migration of Han Chinese people to lands south of the Yangtze River 

386 - 535 - Northern Wei Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty founded by the Toba people of Mongolian origin who proved to have far greater capacity for bringing stability to northern China than ethnic Chinese during this period 

  • Up until its foundation, China had been a battleground for various short-lived dynasties of non-Chinese origin 

• Dynasty whose capital was established at Pingcheng (Datong)

• Dynasty who oversaw the fall of the Northern Liang dynasty in which the northern and southern courts proceeded to stand in direct conflict with one another

  • However, this dynasty completes the unification of North China into and under a single regime by 439 

• Dynasty that established Buddhism as the official state religion

• Dynasty which split into Eastern and Western halves upon its demise

440 - 465 - Wencheng of Northern Wei (All Facts) 

• Ruler of the Northern Wei Dynasty

• Oversaw the construction of the Yungang Buddhist Grotto fashioned by thousands of employees within a huge cave temple in a sandstone cliff in the northern Shanxi province of China

• He sought to allow his people to rest after his grandfather's expansionist policies and extensive campaigns, and who also reformed the laws to become more lenient

420 - 479 - Liu Song Dynasty (All Facts)

• First of the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period

• Dynasty founded by Liu Yu (Wu) 

420 - 422 - Wu of Liu-Song (All Facts)

• First Ruler and Founder of the Liu-Song Dynasty

• He was born into great poverty

• He owed his rise to power to an exceptional military career

• He temporarily recaptured Loyang in northern China from its non-Chinese occupiers

• He overthrew the preceding Eastern Qin Dynasty to establish his own Lou Song Dynasty

479 - 502 - (Southern) Qi Dynasty (All Facts)

• 2nd of the Four Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period

• Dynasty founded by Gao (Xiao Daocheng)

427 - 482 - Gao of Southern Qi / Xiao Daocheng (All Facts)

• First Ruler and Founder of the Southern Qi Dynasty

• Killed the Final Emperor of the Liu-Song Dynasty and set himself up as regent in his place

• Had the boy emperor and all the members of the imperial family murdered 

• Fought against the Toba of the prior Dynasty 

502 - 557 - Liang Dynasty (All Facts)

• 3rd of the Four Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period 

• Dynasty founded by Wu (Xiao Yan)

502 - 549 - Wu of Liang / Xiao Yan (All Facts)

• First Ruler and Founder of the Liang Dynasty

• He marched on Nanjing, forcing the Qi rulers, his own kinsmen, to cede their power so that he could take their place 

• During his reign, Mahayana Buddhism became the predominant sect of Chinese Buddhism

534 - 550 - Eastern Wei Dynasty (All Facts) 

• Dominated by the Gao family

534 - 557 - Western Wei Dynasty (All Facts) 

• Dominated by the Yuwen family 

548 - 552 - Hou Jing (All Facts) 

• Military General 

• Toba northerner 

• Entered the service of the Chinese Liang Dynasty in the south 

• Led a rebellion against his masters and led his troops onto Nanjing, to which he laid waste 

• Driven out of Nanjing by General Chen Baxian in 552 

552 - 559 - Wu of Chen (All Facts) 

• General during the Liang Dynasty who drove out of Nanjing the mutinous Toba general before him named Hou Jing and established his own short-lived dynasty to replace the power vacuum that was caused by his driving out Hou Jing and after he had ousted the contending heirs to the throne

550 - 559 - Wenxuan of Northern Qi / Gao Yang (All Facts) 

• Deposed the last Emperor of the Northern Qi and gained control of most of northern China 

560 - 578 - Wu of Northern Zhou (All Facts)

• Deposed the last Emperor of the Western Wi Dynasty and founded the Northern Zhou Dynasty

• Conquered the Northern Qi Dynasty and reunified China 

579 - 581 - Jing of Northern Zhou (All Facts) 

• Final Emperor of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period of China

• Final Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty

• Overthrown by one of his own partly-Chinese generals who succeeded him

581 - 618 - Sui Dynasty (All Facts) 

• Reconstituted a centralized government, providing the foundation upon which China would once again become prosperous

581 - 604 - Wen of Sui / Yang Jian (All Facts)

• Founder and First Emperor of the Sui Dynasty

  • He overthrew his predecessor, the last Emperor of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period and Northern Zhou Dynasty, whom he served under as general 

  • He then proceeded to massacre the Yu-wen royal family to consolidate his power 

  • He launched a successful combined naval and land attack against the Chen Dynasty’s capital on the Yangtze River, thus having taken the South

  • He subdued the rest of China 

• He 

  • Was a ruthless warlord of mixed Chinese and Tartar blood 

  • Was miserly as well as despotic

• He thus reunified China after 400 years of political fragmentation (known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period)

• During his reign, he

  • Reorganized the administration

  • Restored the economy

  • Established an efficient tax-gathering system

  • encouraged the spread of Buddhism throughout China

  • began the Grand Canal which his successor would complete 

• Under his reign, 

  • China oversaw its government warehouses filling up with rice and silk, enjoying strength and prosperity it has not enjoyed since the start of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period or long “Period of Division”

• The largest danger that faced him was his overly-impatient son awaiting the throne

604 - 618 - Yang of Sui (All Facts) 

• 2nd and Final Emperor of the Sui Dynasty

• During his reign, the Grand Canal started by his predecessor was completed, which

  • connected the agricultural south to the populated north

  • fostered economic growth

  • helped unify the varied ethnic and cultural groups of China

  • was built by slaves and incurred a huge human cost, which contributed to the end of his reign and dynasty 

  • stretched over 1,000 miles

618 - 907 - Tang Dynasty (All Facts)

• Extended China’s boundaries north into Mongolia, west into Central Asia, and south into Vietnam

• Under their rule, China’s population grew significantly

• Their ability to grow a fast-ripening variety of rice allowed peasants to produce more calories per acre, so the land could support more people

• Expanded the civil service exam and the empire’s bureaucracy which developed into an ongoing feature of the Chinese government

• Under their rule, the Chinese

  • Invented gunpowder

  • Developed paper money, which facilitated trade

  • Ushered in a second golden age of the Silk Roads

• Neo-Confucianism, which is a blend of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist philosophies, originated during this dynasty 

• Declined due to

  • Internal peasant uprisings

  • External invasions from the west and north

960 - 1279 - Song Dynasty (All Other Facts)

• Under their rule, China

  • Continued its Golden Age

  • Had the largest cities in the world with up to 100K people, the most urbanized land in the world during its time 

• Under their rule

  • The Chinese meritocracy allowed for more upward mobility than any other hiring system of its time

  • Neo-Confucianism, which is a blend of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist philosophies, became popular among the people

  • China’s bureaucracy expanded, strengthening the dynasty early on but it became too large and led to the dynasty’s collapse 

    • By creating so many jobs and by paying officials so handsomely, they increased the costs of government to the point where they began drying up China’s surplus wealth 

• Under their rule

  • China consisted of most of the area that is present-day Eastern China 

  • China’s population increased from 25% to 40% of the total world population 

• The main cities and trading centers during their rule included 

  • Chang-an 

  • Hangzhou

  • Guangzhou  

  • Kaifeng 

960 - 1279 - Song Dynasty: Agricultural Innovations (All Facts)

• Dynasty under which Chinese farmers

  • Inserted (human and animal) manure on the fields to enrich their soil 

  • Built elaborate irrigation systems to increase productivity which made use of  

    • Ditches

    • Water Wheels 

    • Pumps 

    • Terraces 

  • Used new heavy plows pulled by water buffalo or oxen, which allowed previously unusable land to be cultivated 

• This combination of agricultural innovations under this dynasty produced an abundance of food and thus allowed for China’s population to grow rapidly and immensely 

960 - 1279 - Song Dynasty: Economic Innovations (All Facts)

• Under their rule China became the world’s most commercialized society

• Its economy changed from local consumption to market production

• Mainly exported porcelains, textiles, and tea

• Became the leading manufacturer in the world producing

  • Iron

  • Steel

  • Silk

  • Porcelain

• Exported from East Asia to other parts of the world many items including 

  • Paper Money 

  • Magnetic Compass

  • Gunpowder

  • Guns

• Had recorded its first written formulas for gunpowder in military manuscripts

960 - 1279 - Song Dynasty: Social Innovations (All Facts)

• The government provided aid to the poor and established public hospitals where people could receive free care 

960 - 976 - Emperor Taizu of Song / Zhao Kuangyin (All Facts)

• Founder and First Emperor of the Song Dynasty 

• One of the military generals of the regionally splintered kingdoms of the preceding dynasty who ended the fragmentation and reunified China, assuming the mandate of heaven

• Expanded the educational opportunities to young men of the lower economic classes so they could serve well on the civil service exams