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China History

China, representing one of the earliest civilizations in the world, has a recorded history of about 3,600 years. It possesses rich historical documents as well as ancient relics. Like other nations, China, in its development, passed through the stages of primitive society, slave society, and feudal society. During the middle decades of the 19th century, capitalist forces of foreign countries invaded China, and China was slowly transformed into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 marked China's entry into the socialist stage. During the long period of historical development, the industrious, courageous, and intelligent Chinese people of all nationalities collectively created a great civilization. They made great contributions to all of mankind. The following is a list of the dynasties: Chinese Dynasties Period Prehistoric Times 1.7 million years - the 21st century BC Xia Dynasty 21st - 16th century BC Shang Dynasty 16th - 11th century BC Zhou Dynasty Western Zhou (11th century BC - 771 BC) Eastern Zhou ---- Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC) ---- Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) Qin Dynasty 221 BC - 206 BC Han Dynasty Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) Eastern Han (25 - 220) Three Kingdoms Period 220 - 280 Jin Dynasty Western Jin (265 - 316) Eastern Jin (317 - 420) Northern and Southern Dynasties Northern Dynasties (386 - 581) Southern Dynasties (420 - 589) Sui Dynasty 581 - 618 Tang Dynasty 618 - 907 Five Dynasties and Ten States Five Dynasties ---- Later Liang (907 - 923) ---- Later Tang (923 - 936) ---- Later Jin (936 - 946) ---- Later Han (947 - 951) ---- Later Zhou (951 - 960) Ten States (902 - 979) Song Dynasty Northern Song (960 - 1127) Southern Song (1127 - 1279) Liao Dynasty 916 --- 1125 Jin Dynasty 1115 --- 1234 Yuan Dynasty 1271 --- 1368 Ming Dynasty 1368 --- 1644 Qing Dynasty 1644 --- 1911

 

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