China has a rich history that dates back to several hundred
years before the coming of the Christ. The history of China spans
many centuries and is punctuated by the rule of many dynasties.
Before China became a socialist republic in 1949, the country went
thorough many upheavals.
We trace the history of China from the 21st century BC, when the
first dynasty of China-Xia Dynasty-came into being. It was a time,
when Yu the Great was at the helm of affairs and had decided to
abdicate his throne to make way for Boyi, who had assisted him in
flood control work. Soon after the death of Yu, his son Qi, taking
advantage of his position killed Boyi and seized power. Qi
established Xia dynasty and the system of hereditary rule was also
came into being. The Xia Dynasty ruled from 21st to 17th century
BC.
Tang, chief of Shang tribe led a revolt against the Xia Dynasty
and ended the 400 years of Xia rule. He later established his own
dynasty that came to known as Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty
ruled for 600 years, before meeting the same fate as the Xia
Dynasty. The last Shang ruler was a tyrant and was overthrown in
the 11th century BC. The Shangs were followed by Zhou Dynasty,
which was the longest ruling dynasty of China. Zhou ruled for over
800 years.
It was during the 221-207 BC that Qin Dynasty ruled China. To
protect the northern frontier, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty
ordered the construction of the Great Wall. Though the rule of the
Qin Dynasty was short, they etched out an important place in the
history of China by building the Great Wall. The reign of the Han
dynasty that followed Qin can be divided into two periods, Western
Han (206 BC-24 AD) and Eastern Han (25 AD-220 AD). The fall of Hans
saw coming of the Three Kingdom Period, which was followed by the
rule of Jin Dynasty and later Northern and Southern Dynasties were
in power.
From 581 AD to 1644 AD, China was ruled by many dynasties, which
included Sui Dynasty (581-618), Tang (618-907), Song Dynasty
(960-1279), Yuan (1206-1368) and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Manchu founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644 and ruled China till the
first decade of the 19th Century. After the collapse of Qing
dynasty, China once again was in chaos. It was in the 1920s, Dr Sun
Yatsen became the leader of KMT party that started the work of
unifying China. The death of Sun Yatsen in 1925 made way for Chinag
Kai Shek, who took over the KMT. Chiang then launched the 'Northern
Expedition' and successfully unified southern China. But once he
reached Shanghai, Chiang launched a massacre on the CCP members. In
the chaos, one young communist Mao Zedong escaped, who later
changed the face of China. He proclaimed the foundation of People's
Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
|
