History of China

China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), India (Indus Valley Civilization), the Mayan Civilization, and Ancient Egypt. The Chinese script is still used today by the Chinese and Japanese, and to a lesser extent by Koreans and Vietnamese. This script is one of the few, and the only major, logographic script still used in the world.

The first dynasty according to Chinese sources was the Xia Dynasty, but its references have traditionally been believed to be legendary. Until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the existence of the Xia Dynasty. But since then, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts.

However, the first reliable historical dynasty is the Shang, who settled along the Huang He River from eastern China, dating from the 18th to the 12th centuries BC. The Shang were in turn invaded from the west by the Zhou (12th to 5th centuries BC), whose centralized authority was slowly eroded by the ceding of state-like authority to warlords ruling small states; eventually, in the Spring and Autumn period, many strong independent states, in continuous war, paid but nominal deference to the Zhou state as the Imperial centre. They were all unified under one emperor in 221 BC by Qin Shi Huang, ushering in the Qin Dynasty, the first unified centralized Chinese state.

This state, however, did not last for long, as its legalist approach to control soon led to widespread rebellion. After the fall of the authoritarian Qin Dynasty in 206 BC came the Han Dynasty which lasted until 220 AD. A period of disunion followed again. In 580, China was reunited under the Sui. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China reached its golden age. For a long period of time, especially between the 7th and 14th centuries, China was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world in technology, literature, and art, although change was very gradual and mitigated by Imperial powers. The Song Dynasty fell to the invading Mongols in 1279. The Mongols, under Kublai Khan, established the Yuan Dynasty. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1644. After the Ming dynasty, came the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of Puyi in 1911.

Oftentimes regime change was violent and strongly opposed and the ruler class needed to take special measures to ensure their rule and the loyalty of the overthrown dynasty. For example, after the foreign Qing (Manchus) conquered China, because they were ever suspicious of the Han Chinese, the Qing rulers put into effect measures aimed at preventing the absorption of the Manchus into the dominant Han Chinese population. However, these restrictions proved ineffective against the assimilation of Manchus into the Chinese identity and culture.

In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, with which it had been at war for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind Europe in that respect. This set the stage for the 19th century, in which China adopted a defensive posture against European imperialism while itself engaging in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia. See Imperialism in Asia.

In the 19th century, China entered into an unwilling awakening to the significance of the rest of the world: in particular the West. Simultaneous to the opening up of China to foreign trade and missionary activity came the scourge of opium. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. One result of this weakness was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862 was started by an extremist believer, Hong Xiuquan, partly influenced by Christianity who believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history - costing at least twenty million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War), with some estimates upward of 30 million. The flow of opium led to more decline, even in the face of noble efforts by missionaries such as Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission to stem the tide. Further destruction followed the Boxer Rebellion which aimed to repel Westerners beginning in 1900. Although secretly supporting the rebels, the Empress, Ci Xi, made public efforts to aid foreign forces in suppressing the uprising. In the end the Boxers were defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The year 1912 marked a profound change in the history of China. After a prolonged period of decline, the last Chinese dynasty—the Qing—finally succumbed and the institution of the Emperor of China was abolished, ending 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. The Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang) established the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. However, with the absence of a strong central leadership, China was fragmented and a period of upheavals continued. The following three decades saw a tumultuous era — the Warlord Era, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War that pitted the Nationalists against the Chinese Communist forces.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 (part of World War II) necessiated an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists. With the surrender of Japan in 1945, China emerged victorious but was financially exhausted. The continued distrust among the Nationalists and the Communists meant that the Chinese Civil War would resume shortly afterwards. By 1949, the Communists was poised for victory in the ongoing civil war and was in control of most of mainland China. On October 1 of that same year, they established the People's Republic of China that laid claim to be the successor state of the Republic of China. Meanwhile, the central government of the Republic of China—having lost control of most of its mainland territory—was forced to retreat from the mainland to the island of Taiwan. Major armed hostilities finally ceased in 1950 with both sides technically still at war until now.

Today, the Republic of China (ROC) continues to exist on Taiwan, while the People's Republic of China (PRC) controls the Chinese mainland. Unlike the PRC which continues to be a one-party state, the ROC has moved towards democracy since political reforms were implemented beginning in the 1970s. Both states (the PRC and the ROC) are still officially competing claimants to being the sole legitimate ruler of all of "China". Although the ROC had more international support in the beginning right after 1949, most international diplomatic recognition eventually shifted towards the PRC's favor in the subsequent decades. This change in the political climate was highlighted by the dismissal of the ROC representative (in favor of that of the PRC) from the United Nations (U.N.) in the 1970s despite the ROC being one of the U.N. founders and one of the five permanent U.N. security council members.

Ever since then, the ROC — while never formally renouncing its earlier claims to "China" or changing official maps that show its territory as including both the modern-day PRC and Outer Mongolia — has moved away from this former identity representing its rule over all of China, and increasingly identifies itself as "Taiwan". In the meantime, the PRC continues not to recognize the ROC, as it claims to have succeeded the ROC as the legitimate governing authority of all of China including Taiwan ever since 1949. In fact, the PRC regards Taiwan as its own 23rd province and a renegade territory that must be reunified (by force if necessary). Due to diplomatic and economic pressure from the PRC, the majority of the international community is forced to recognize the One China policy, which considers the PRC as the only legitimate government of "China" and attempts to eliminate any reference to the ROC in official world organizations such as the World Health Organization or the Olympic Games. Today, the number of U.N. member countries that still maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) government has dwindled to 25, arguably the most important of which is the Holy See of Vatican City.

In response, the ROC government does not recognize the claims made by the PRC and continues, despite constant threats from the PRC, to function and administer themselves as an independent sovereign entity. The PRC has historically resisted the ROC's identification of itself as "Taiwan", especially in light of the contemporary movement towards Taiwanese independence (through the creation of the Republic of Taiwan), which have found some supports among the local Taiwanese residents. Significant disputes persist as to the nature and extent of "China", possibility of Chinese reunification, and the political status of Taiwan.

One of the most important events to the Chinese people that happens during the last decade of the 20th century was the return of the colonies of Hong Kong by the United Kingdom and Macao by Portugal to the PRC in 1997 and 1999 respectively. These events provide a boost to China's confidence in the international stage and signals an end to centuries of Chinese humiliation by the Western powers in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Last update on 5 March 2008