Introduction to China: history, dynasties, geography, regions, peoples, society, economy,
transportation, more, from the Library of Congress
Overview of
Chinese History and China: The World's Oldest Civilization
China: History &
Timelines
[ Top ]
Ancient
China: Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures,
Xia, Shang and Zhou
Xiaohexi Site: 8,500-year-old site in Chifeng City, north China's Inner
Mongolia, is the earliest prehistoric site in northeast China, with pottery mugs and vases
without decoration, sculpture, polished stone tools
Xinglongwa Culture: 8,200-year-old village in north China's Inner Mongolia is
the oldest in China, found in the Xinglonggou Site near the Xiliao River with 150 house
sites, pottery, jade, shells, grinding implements
Chinese History Chronologies: a 4,000-year look at Chinese history starting with Xia, Shang and
Zhou dynasties, outlining both traditional dynasties as well as histories based on
political, economic changes
Chinese Dynasties 2000 BC - 1911 AD:
Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Sung, Jin, Lioa, Yuan, Ming,
Qing or Manchu - and a look at the major political and cultural events of each time period
Chinese Dynasty
Maps: showing territory ruled by the
Zhou [NE China much like Shang], then Qin, Han, Tang, Sung, Yuan, Ming, Qing, including a
map comparing Shang and Zhou
regions
Guide to China's Dynasties: after the Neolithic, the dynasties from Shang to Western and Eastern Chou [Zhou] to Ch'ing - 3000 BC to 1912 AD
Shang Dynasty 1700-1050 BC: the rise of Chinese civilization begins with bronze manufacturing,
military might with horse-drawn
chariots and composite bows and arrows, agriculture, and complex
religious rituals, early writing on oracle bones, art including jade amulets and ritual
blades, with fierce monster mask of Taotie found on bronze vessels
Zhou Dynasty 1050-256 BC: the next Bronze
Age period in China
Explore China's dynasties,
culture, philosophy, politics in depth:
· The Shang - earliest Yellow River culture with
archaeological evidence,
including a look at religion, rituals, bronze, oracle bones, writing
· The Chou - conquered Shang
territories, built alliances; includes the
“mandate of Heaven,” government, armies, philosophy, population
growth
· The Chin - 15-year dynasty
expanded south, creating the first united
Chinese Empire; includes impact of the horse-riding steppe people
· The Han - long dynasty reunified China after wars,
and fostered the
culture known as Chinese. At ca. 50 A.D., China attacked
northern
Hsiung Nu or Huns, sending them north and west into Russia, Europe;
expanded the Silk Road. Also Later
Han, Han Synthesis of ideas
· Later periods: The Sui, The
T'ang, The Late Empire & The Sung
· The Yuan -
Mongol Empire, built by Ghengis
Khan, by 1241 included all
of Northern China; grandson Kublai Khan became emperor, moved his
capital to Beijing, recaptured southern China. After a period of famine,
a Chinese peasant led an uprising against the Yuan, drove them out and
established the Ming Dynasty that lasted until 1644.
China: Geology, Geography
& Maps [ Top ]
Geography of China: eight regions of China from the Tibetan highlands to the eastern
lowlands, plus the mountains, rivers and lakes, more, with map
Geography of China:
population, ethnic groups, climate, terrain, more
China's Geography - Facts
& Figures: size, borders, climate, terrain,more
China's Geography: information
and a study plan for classroooms
Maps of China: five maps provide a look at China's location in Asia, mountains, rivers,
cities, Mongolia, Lake Baikal and Siberia, more
Map
of Russian Far East next to China: map
provides a look at China's eastern neighbor, the RFE from Sakahlin Island to the Bering
Strait
Chinese Dynasty
Maps: showing territory of various
rulers
Maps of China - Neolithic & Links to Maps by Dynasty including:
· Shang Dynasty Map
· Western
Chou or Zhou Dynasty Map
· Eastern Chou or Zhou Dynasty Map
Geography of Russia & Siberia:
China's northern neighbor Russia, including Siberia, is 1.8 times the size of
the USA
Large
Map of China: with provinces, cities, major rivers, and a
map with provinces, and a colorful map with
provinces, neighboring countries
The People of China [ Top ]
China is People: in fact, 1.3 billion people
China's People: while more than 90 percent of Chinese people today are of the Han ethnic
group, there are 55 national
minorities
List of 56
Chinese Ethnic Groups: including:
· Han Chinese:
the dominant group, the name from the Han dynasty
· Mongols: people
of Mongolia, now northern China
· Manchu: people of
northeast China who briefly ruled the countrya
Chinese Minority Groups: a brief history of the civilized Han Chinese and their contacts with the
nomadic Mongols and others, and a list of the minority groups with population numbers from
the 1990 census, including:
· Mongols: Ghengis
Khan was a Mongol, ruled an empire including China,
· Manchu:
of northeast China, once called Manchuria
People from China's Many Ethnic Groups: with profiles for each group
Ancient Art & Culture [ Top ]
China's Art Across the Ages:
from painted Neolithic pottery to
Shang Dynasty jade mask to pottery striding horse to Han Dynasty curled-tail dog of
pottery [ see large image ]
from burial of Emperor Jingdi
Pottery from Neolithic China: including a tripod vase in black pottery, in the shape of an owl - a
popular image - from the Yangshao Culture, and more pottery from China's Neolithic and from Shang
and Zhou Dynasties.
Ancient Pottery Reveals Wine:
8,000-9,000-year-old pottery from Jiahu
in northern China revealed traces of a fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit,
likely hawthorn or wild grape, while 3,000-year-old sealed bronze vessels from Anyang
yielded liquid rice or millet
wine
See also Guide to Pottery from the earliest times in China, Japan, Siberia,
as well as the Americas
Pottery from China: various Neolithic styles, including Longshan Banpo
and painted pottery, plus Neolithic ceramics and pieces from Warring States
period, and the horse in
ancient China
Chinese Pottery &
Ceramics: illustrated with examples from early Dawenkou and
Longshan cultures to Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties
Chinese Artifacts:
from early Neolithic stone tools and a
pottery pig, to Neolithic pottery, Shang
bronzes including a vessel in the
shape of an owl [see pottery owl above], a Shang
bronze mirror, a Zin
bronze mirror in circle shape with raised dot, Han
Dynasty clay warriors, much more
China's Arts
- Chronologically: from Yang Shao
pottery to bronze ritual vessels to jade daggers and scepters, a rare bronze vessel in owl form,
a p'an or
shallow vessel with beasts, and more
from various dynasties, and the evolution of the pen or p'an or shallow tray
China's Art &
Antiquities: painted pottery, bronze vessels, jade, paintings,
and more, plus a guide to China Knowledge in arts, culture, history
China's Art & Artifacts: from bronze vessels to terra cotta figurines, Shang
to Tang dynasties, plus wood and pottery figurines and artifacts such as a Han Dynasty terra cotta curled-tail dog [
see large
image ]
Han Dynasty Pottery Dog: reclining, curled-tail, semi-erect ears of type found in burials [see large
image ]; another Han dog and other
animals, a pottery Chow-type
dog with
suggestion of a harness, a clay tomb dog, a seated Han pottery dog [ see side view for curled tail ], an example of a pottery
snarling dog, a standing dog, and more on China's pottery
dogs and how clay replicas replaced real
grave goods
China's Cultural Achievements
5000 BC: pottery, agriculture including foxtail and broomcorn
millet, pigs, dogs, chickens, more
Cultural Images
from China: various maps, images from art,
archaeology, religion including Shang period oracle bones, ritual bronze vessels, more
Ancient Bronze Age of China:
pictures, descriptions of wine and food
vessels, decorative animals including ram's head, dragons, and the animal or beast mask
called t’aot’ie, and more early bronze objects from Xia, Shang
and Zhou, and the evolution of the taotie mask
Bronze Vessels: browse Art/Handicrafts to find pictures, descriptions of Shang ritual
bronze vessels for food and wine: ding, li, gui, jue, jia, pan, you, zun, others, plus Shang & Tang
bronzes including jue, ting
China -
5,000 Years: jade, bronze, grave
goods, ceramics, painting, more - each shown from several early Chinese dynasties,
including Zhou jade burial
mask reminiscent
of Ipiutak ivory burial mask from Bering
Strait
Earliest Jadeware in
China: serpentine stoneware discovered in Haicheng of Liaoning
Province, 12,000 years old, may be the oldest jadeware, plus a look at jade of the Shang,
Qin, Han dynasties, more
Ancient Chinese Jade - An Introduction and also including:
· Neolithic
Jade as early as 7000 BC
· Shang
to Western Chou Jade
· Eastern
Chou to Han Jade
· Early Bi or Pi
Disk and a Jade Disk
with Spirit Animals
Early Jade
Artifacts in China: 8,000-year old site in Inner Mongolia - Xinglonggou Ruins, Aohan Banner,
Chifeng City - had jade artifacts
Enduring
Art of Jade Age China: carvings of a jade stag, dagger with bird
motif, masked human, more - all nephrite jade
History of Ancient Jade in China: a 6,500-year history illustrated with a jade ax and
animal and bird figurines, the bi disk, cong which could have carved faces with round
eyes, jade burial garments, more
Jade
Objects: select "Jade &
other stones" for pictures, descriptions of many Shang jades including bi disk, cong,
huan. pei, later period pieces, and a carved jade mask from the Qin
dynasty
China's Neolithic Art: painted pottery, jade bi disk,
followed by:
· Shang
Dynasty Art: 2,000-1,000 BC, pottery, bronze, jade
· Zhou & Han
Dynasties: 1,000 BC - 1 AD, jade, bronze vessels, bells
· Eastern Han Dynasty: 1 -
500 AD, stoneware with celadon glaze
· Tang & Song
Dynasties: 500 - 1,000 AD, tomb guardian, painting
Shang Dynasty Cultural
Developments: raising of silkworms,
pigs, dogs, pigs, sheep, oxen, grain-growing, bronze casting, religious rituals including dogs
buried in tombs of wealthy, powerful people, and sea
shells showing
trade with coastal peoples, while discoveries of oracle bones with writing in East China's Shandong Province also shows cultural
elements moved east
Dogs in Shang Dynasty
China: dogs were used as
offerings to the gods, spirits, and were included in Shang era burials including royal
ones
Treasures from a Lost
Civiliation: ancient art from
Sanxingdui, Sichuan, including rare bronze masks, statues, more, Shang period and later
China: 100 Treasures: selections of ancient art from different regions
including bronze
wine vessel, Sanxingdui bronze
head, terra-cotta army of the first
emperor, near X'ian, more - and an
exhibit introduction
Splendors of Imperial China: selections of art from various dynasties including a treasure box with inlaid bi
or pi disk
Chinese Imari ceramics - from the 1700s
Chinese Canton Blue and
White Pottery: from the 1800s
Importance of Trade to Chinese Art and Oriental Architecture: buildings of China, India, more, including charts and photographs
Relics
of Chinese Ethnic Groups: from a Mongol wedding headdress to a
Hazhen fishskin jacket to a Zhuang bronze drum, more
Guide to China's Culture: many links to online resources, some defunct
.
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