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HISTORY

Ancient Times (from antiquity to 1840 A.D.) 500,000-1,000,000 years ago, there were primitive human beings such as Yuanmou Man, Lantian Man and Peking Man in the wide expanse known today as China. After the long period of primitive existence, the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in Chinese history, was established in the 21st century B.C., heralding the beginning of a slave society in China. The following Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties saw further development of the slave society. Then came the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods which served as the transition from slave to feudal society. In 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ended the rivalry among the independent principalities in the Warring States Period and established the first centralized, unified, multi -national state in Chinese history-the Qin Dynasty.Subsequently, one dynasty replaced another. They included the Han, Wei, Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasty, Sui, Tang,Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing. Chronology

Dynasty Year
 Xia..............................................21st- 16th century B.C.
 Shang............................................17th- 1st century B.C.
 Western Zhou......................... ....11th century - 771 B.C.
 Eastern Zhou............................................770 - 256 B.C.
 Spring and Autumn Period......................770 - 476 B.C.
 Warring State Period................................475 - 221 B.C.
 Qin.....................................................221 - 206 B.C.
 Western Han.....................................206 B.C. - A.D. 24
 Eastern Han..............................................25 - A.D. 220
 Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu)......................220 - 280
 Western Jin..............................................265 - 316
 Eastern Jin..............................................317 - 420
 Southern Dynasties.......................................420 - 589
 Northern Dynasties...................................... 386 - 581
 Sui......................................................581 - 618
 Tang.....................................................618 - 907
 Five Dynasties..........................................907 - 960
 Song.....................................................960 - 1279
 Liao.....................................................916 - 1125
 Kin.....................................................1115 - 1234
 Yuan.....................................................1271 - 1368
 Ming.....................................................1368 - 1644
 Qing.....................................................1644 - 1911
 Republic of China........................................1912 - 1949
 P. R.China..............................................1949 - present