Chinese Dynasties
Xia to Yuan
E.Q. How did China’s imperialistic dynasties transform its
government and change its society?
Xia
2200 – 1750 BCE (approximate)
• Founded by Yu the Great
• First Chinese Dynasty
• No written records
• Only information comes from artifacts of
bronze and pottery
**Not sure of their existance**
Shang (1750 - 1045 BCE)
• Developed writing • Ancestor Worship
system
www.cultural-china.com
en.wikipedia.org
Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE)
• Developed the Mandate of Heaven
• City-states within empire run by
warlords – warlords fought one another
for power and authority
• This weakened the power of the Zhou
rulers
• Became known as the Warring States
Period
• Confucianism and Daoism introduced
Imperial: having supreme
authority over an empire
Imperialism: a nation’s
economic and political
influence over other nations
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• Through series of wars
unified all of China
• Qin Shihuangdi became
China’s first emperor
Boivieapedia.pbworks.com
Transformation of
Government
• Adopted Legalism:
*centralized government
*divided China into regions
*appointed government
officials oversaw the
regions -- enforced the
rules of the emperor –
ensured that workers did
their jobs
*took power away from
nobles (hereditary power)
*burned books
*executed people who Uselesstree.typepad.com
spoke against government
Qin Accomplishments
• Great Wall
*built to protect the
northern frontier
*connected smaller walls
that were already in place
*peasants forced to work
*people taxed to help pay
for it
• Standardized (made the
same throughout China)
– Weights and measures
– Currency (coins) www.hdwallpaperimages.com
– Writing System
Qin Accomplishments
• Built a system of roads
and irrigation canals to
help the army travel
more quickly and to help
the spread of trade
• Terra Cotta Soldiers
– In his obsession with his
death and afterlife, he had
thousands of clay figures
made and put in his burial
chamber
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• Dynasty began by a peasant revolt
against the Qin. The leader of the
revolt, Han Gaozu, became the first
Han Emperor.
• For 300 of the 400 years that the Han
Dynasty ruled, China was peaceful and
prosperous.
• Qin Influence:
• *China remained divided into regions
• *Continued the use of government officials to oversee the
regions.
• Han Changes:
• *Developed a civil service exam to find the best qualified
people to help with the business of the government.
• *Set up a school to train people for government work.
*Confucianism replaced Legalism
• 5 Relationships supported peace and order and strengthened the
position of the Emperor
• Under Han rule, the population of China tripled and the
empire was extended north, south, and west
Han Advancements
• Buddhism
introduced
• Paper invented
• Great Wall
extended
• Silk Road begun
**end of isolation
221 - 581 (CE)
• Warlords control china - no centralized
gov’t
• Non-Chinese nomads control much of
China
• Buddhism becomes popular -
Confucianism failed
Sui (581 - 618 CE)
• Completed Grand
Canal
• High taxes, forced
labor
• Military failures
(couldn’t conquer
Korea)
• Assassination ends
dynasty
Tang (618 - 907 CE)
• High point of Chinese culture
• Rebuilt bureaucracy
– Examination system
– Confucian education
– Limited social mobility
• Buddhism supported, then oppressed
• Invention of movable print, porcelain,
gun powder
Tang (618 - 907 CE)
• Wu Zetian - Only Empress in Chinese
history
Decline
• Weak emperors, nomadic incursions,
economic difficulties
• Warlords take control
Song (969 - 1279 CE)
• Large centralized bureaucracy (Neo-
Confucian)
• Mercantile class grows, increased trade
• Magnetic compass, growing sea power
• Weak military
Yuan (1279 - 1368 CE)
• Mongol Khubilai Khan conquers China
• Economic stability and prosperity
• China more open to trade and travel (Marco
Polo)
• Ignored Chinese traditions, replaced
bureaucrats with non-Chinese
• Unsuccessful attacks on Japan, corruption
weakens dynasty
• Peasant rebellion ends Yuan
