The Most Important Events in Chinese History

The Great Wall of China What: The Qin Dynasty is one of the oldest known empires ever recorded. They were the dynasty that began work on the Great Wall of China Why: The Great Wall of China took over 2,300 years of construction. The reason for its building was to protect dynasty from outside aggressors and to preserve its culture from the foreign barbarians Who: Qin Shi Huang was the man who masterminded the Great Wall of China, being the first emperor ever recorded, the unifier of China, and the founder

Confucius What: This period marked the spread of fame of Confucius, a teacher, politician, and philosopher, who had lived in poverty Why: Confucius is important because he wanted to make education more available and establish teaching as a profession Who: Confucius was a teacher, politician, and philosopher who became involved in politics after his popularity spread. He also set up ethical, moral, and social standards, which paved the way for Confucianism

Silk Road, gunpowder, books, paper and the printing press What: During this time, the Silk Road, paper and books, gunpowder and the printing press came to be Why: The Silk Road connected China to Asia and Europe, enabling trade led by merchants like Marco Polo and Zhang Qian. It spread inventions such as paper, books, and gunpowder, leading to printing and firearms. Who: Zhang Qian’s expedition opened a safe route from Han China, starting the Silk Road. Paper, books, and the printing press spread literat

The First Opium War What: The British imported opium into the Qing Dynasty, leading to a massive addiction The Chinese banned the drug, leading to war, which led to the Qing Dynasty handing over Hong Kong to the British Why: The Chinese weren't interested in trading with outsiders (xenophobia), which made the British decide to import a lot of opium, drugging the market people, and letting the British get what they wanted Who: The British and the Chinese, the British believed they should be able to import

The Second Opium War What: Essentially, same thing as last time, but now USA, Russia, and France have joined Britian Why: These foreigners wanted the Qing Dynasty to abolish ts xenophobia and legalise opium trade Who: USA, Russia, Great Britain, and France. As aforementioned, they fought for the legalisation of opium and other foreign trade

Revolutions Galore What: 15 northern Qing provinces declared independence under revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, forming the Republic of China. The CCP was founded in 1921. Why: The Republic arose from Japanese pressure and anti-Qing nationalism. The CCP, inspired by Lenin, aimed to empower the oppressed. Who: As Sun, Chen, and Li disrupted the Qing, Chiang Kai-shek stepped in to reunify the nation.

The Civil War What: A fight between the red army (CCP) & nationalists (against communism) breaks out into a bloody, 18-year civil war, resulting in a victory for the communists Why: The CCP believed communism would end lordship, modernise China & empower the lower classes. The nationalists believed it was a threat to the economic & social order to China & its trade interests Who: Mao Zedong led the CCP against the nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang even fought the Japanese at the same time.

The Great Leap Forward {1} What: The Great Leap Forward was the agricultural transformation where China went from agriculture to industrial. This was unsuccessful and led to 56m deaths, 3m by suicide Why: To modernise their economy, caths up with the west, commitment to communism & self-sufficiency Who: This campaign was led by none other than Mao, the chairman of the CCP at the time. He wanted China to become economically powerful. Unfortunately, his campaign led to a famine, killing almost 60m people

The Cultural Revolution {2} What: The Cultural Revolution was made by Mao to remove capitalist and former Chinese culture and bring in a new ideology known as Maoism Why: To reassert Mao's authority by removing foreign and former beliefs. Mao did this by using the youth against the population. 1.5m people died. Who: Mao Zedong was the person who initiated this to reassert his authority. He brought in the youth creating groups like the Red Guards, attacking people who didn't want to succumb to Mao's rule

The Tiananmen Square Protests {3} What: Protests organised by students against the government. They gained worldwide publicity when the Chinese violently cracked down on them. In total, 300 died Why: For freedom of speech, freedom of the press & democracy. This was known as the '89 Democracy Movement Who: Organised by the Union, 50k-100k students from all Beijing universities marched towards the Tiananmen Square, gaining public support

The Three Gorges Project {4} What: The construction of the world's largest hydroelectric dam. Proposed in 1920, involved flooding many towns and displacing over a million people Why: To supply the world's largest hydroelectric plant and to prevent the devastating floods in the area Who: The China Three Gorges Corporation was tasked with building the dam. The corporation was established in 1993 and began use of the dam in 2008

The Return of Hong Kong {5} What: In a midnight ceremony, the British officially returned Hong Kong to China after 156 years under the rule that it would remain capitalist Why: China managed to get it after agreeing it would be a "one country, two systems" situation Who: Lee Teng-hui, China's leader at the time, and Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister at the time, came to terms and Hong Kong was returned to China

Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) {6} What: An agreement between China and Taiwan to begin communications once more, however, following the Taiwanese 2016 election, when China repealed its terms Why: To begin trading between China and Taiwan again, but stopped due to Taiwan's "discriminatory" trade decisions Who: The ECFA was signed between China and Taiwan to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers between the two nations and improve cross-strait relations.

The Zhou Dynasty {7} What: The Zhou Dynasty was a hierarchical, political, and social system with the royal house at its centre. Aristocrats were bestowed power over regions. Eventually, the system crumbled and became a power struggle, which Confucius lived through Why: The Zhou believed it was their heavenly mandate to seize the Shang's wealth & land to bring good governance back to the people Who: Wuwang was the founder and first leader of the Zhou dynasty. He was also known as nianhao (reign name)

Period of Disunity (Six Dynasties Period) {8} What: During this time, the empire was broken. Invaders from the borderland & steppes ruled the north Whilst the south was ruled by successive "Chinese" dynasties. Why: The Eastern Han Dynasty was facing political corruption, civil unrest & external pressures. All of this led to its collapse & the Period of Disunity Who: There were 19 dynasties at the time. Most were short-lived, but the two which survived the most were the Three Kingdoms & the Jin Dynasty

The Song Dynasty {9} What: The Song Dynasty was a time of economic & social reformations. Monetised currency, growth in all forms of trade, urban expansion & technological advancements Why: The Song Dynasty began promoting people based on merit, not nobility. They also started commercial expansion along with scientific innovation, education & relative peace Who: Zhao Kuangyin was a military general of the former Zhou Dynasty. he rebelled and claimed the title of Emperor Taizu of Song.

The Tang Dynasty {10} What: The Tang Dynasty was one of China's most powerful & vibrant dynasties. The Tang Dynasty is widely considered China's golden age due to its advancements in art & literature Why: The Tang Dynasty was formed after Li Yuan took advantage of the Sui Dynasty's power vacuum (revolts) Who: Li Yuan was the founder of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin, one of China's greatest conquerors, Empress Wu Zetian, China's only female ruler & Emperor Xuanzong, who saw the dynasty's peak & downfall

The Sui Dynasty {11} What: The Sui Dynasty unified North and South China, centralised power, linked the two halves with the Great Canal & reformed the entire economy Why: China had been broken for years until a powerful general conquered the south and unified China. The Sui centralised government helped lay the foundations for a new empire Who: Emperor Wen ruled until 604 CE, when his son, Yang Guang, took his place. But, Yang fought too many costly wars, leading to revolts & the downfall of the Sui

The Most Important Events in Chinese History

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