This article is designed to provide visitors with the essential knowledge required to appreciate the historical heritage sites of China and to understand the underlying cultural philosophies that shape Chinese identity. Since last 2 millennium before the Qin dynasty there were warring states in China. One of the warring states was Qin. It was first dynasty to have seen the dream of uniting them.
Qin Dynasty (221 BC- 207 BC)
Qin Shi Huang translates to “First Emperor of the Qin.” His birth name was Ying Zheng. He lost his father at the age of 13 and navigated numerous family intrigues involving his half-brothers, who were born of concubines. His father had long envisioned the unification of the warring states and had been preparing for this by gathering an army and accumulating weapons. He directed resources towards the restoration of ancient walls and the construction of new fortifications, which are now known as the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall, the Ling Canal in Guilin, and the Terracotta Army were significant projects initiated during Qin’s reign. He implemented a standardized writing system, mandating that all subjects use the Qin script, and established uniform weights and measures. His emphasis on obedience was so severe that he condemned his own son to labor on the Great Wall, a punishment that was tantamount to a death sentence. The harsh conditions of his projects led to the deaths of a substantial portion of the population. Qin’s demise was attributed to a toxic substance he ingested in his quest for immortality. The Qin dynasty ultimately fell due to widespread rebellion, paving the way for the rise of the Han dynasty.
Han Dynasty (202 BC- 220AD)
The Han dynasty emerged from the ethnic group that constitutes the majority of the present-day Chinese population. Many Chinese individuals take pride in their heritage, tracing their lineage back to the Han Dynasty.
The Han dynasty is tainted by few gruesome family murders but it is also famous for their art, trade and culture. We can find the evidences of art and culture of Han dynasty in the tombs excavated in JiaXiang Heritage site. The tomb were not looted as these were not decorated from outside. We can find their house models in toy form, pottery, clothes, ancient paper etc. The major inventions of Han dynasty were paper, rudder, stirrup (used in horse riding), suspension bridge, seismograph, blast furnace, deep drilling up to 4800 feet and wheel barrow.
Their fall also was due to family strife and civil wars.
Six Kingdoms Rule (220 AD – 589 AD) – Period of Disunion
Three Kingdoms (Wei, Wu and Shi)– A period of Disunion (220-280 AD)
Following the collapse of the Han dynasty, numerous warlords emerged in China, engaging in fierce conflicts among themselves. Ultimately, three factions prevailed: Wei, Wu, and Shu. The Three Kingdoms Period is cherished in Chinese history as a time when the highest principles of chivalry and strategic acumen were exemplified. Although their reigns were brief, their influence on China’s history and culture endures, as evidenced by their presence in contemporary Chinese comics, tales of adventure, and narratives centered on chivalry, military strategy, and diplomacy. Notably, in recent political discussions, Chinese President Xi Jinping has referenced this era. These events are vividly portrayed in the classic adventure novel from the Ming Dynasty, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” During this period, Confucianism was the dominant philosophy. Cao Zhi, the son of Cao Cao, is celebrated as one of China’s greatest poets. His distinctive style and profound emotional depth in poetry have left a lasting impact on subsequent poets of this era. One of his poignant poems reflects on his relationship with his brother, expressing the sentiment of having been born from the same root yet separated too soon.
Fry beans with bean stalks as fuel.
Beans wept sadly in the wok.
From the same root we both grew.
What’s the big hurry in the grill?
The war strategy of these kingdoms can be evident from the real story of battle of Redcliffs which was fought between Cao Cao of Wei kingdom and Liu Bei of Shu kingdom and Shun Quan of Wu kingdom. This story is a must know for all tourists as any guide in China will mention about that.
The Tale of Redcliffs – In the period leading up to the fall of the Han Dynasty, numerous warlords emerged within society. Cao Cao, the leader of the Wei kingdom, assembled an army comprising between 220,000 and 800,000 soldiers and advanced southward across the Yangtze River to confront the warlords of Wu and Shu, accompanied by a fleet of numerous ships. To enhance the stability of his vessels, he secured them together. The Wu and Shu warlords, with only 50,000 troops at their disposal, became aware of this tactic and devised a cunning plan. The Wu Emperor dispatched a letter of surrender to Cao Cao, along with a few boats. However, this was merely a ruse, as these boats were laden with flammable oil rather than soldiers. Upon reaching Cao Cao’s fleet, the oil ignited, setting ablaze the tied ships and compelling Cao to retreat. Unfortunately for Cao Cao, this retreat proved disastrous, as his soldiers became mired in mud during the rain. Consequently, the aspirations of the Wei warlords to unify China were thwarted, allowing the Wu and Shu kingdoms to maintain their independence.
During this era, Confucianism and Taoism was undermined and Buddhism rose supreme. There was great improvement in maps by invention of a grid system of coordinates. This era boasts a rich and plentiful cultural heritage marked by sites such as the Wuhou Temple, the Mingyue Gorge Trail in Guangyuan, Minyang Ziyun Pavilion, the Jianmen Pass, Langzhong Ancient City and many more. There are also many legends about this period that have been passed down over hundreds of years including Cao Cao’s planned assassinations, the Battle of Red Cliffs, Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage and Borrowing Arrows with Thatched Boats. During Ming Dynasty a novel was written by Luo Guanzhong’s Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In this he portrayed the ideologies of these three kingdoms.
Let us see how these three kingdoms philosophy is being adopted by China in 21st century.
Wei Kingdom – Bent upon to expand his kingdom by tyrany and hegemony. They were ruthless leaders who want to slave their neighbours into vassals. “I would rather betray the whole world then have the world betray me.” Likewise, China today uses its economic influence to coerce weaker states into submission. It builds infrastructure in Latin America, Asia and Africa, but rarely ever teaches the local workers how to maintain it, creating a system of dependence. In return, China demands that these countries give up their natural resources to China for years or even decades. Militarily, China is also becoming ever more aggressive against Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, and against Japan, Vietnam etc.
Wu Kingdom – Wu had no grand ambition to take over world but wanted to keep his own riverlands, his family history lands safe by using any hegemony, tricks or diplomacy. To save his land Wu kingdom joined Shu kingdom to defeat mighty Wei.
Shu Kingdom – In Chinese legendary Shu is personified as sage kingdom. It does not have his own ideas, instead relies on strategic wise men around him and does not hesitate to join hands with Wu to defeat mighty Wei kingdom. Likewise China has increased its international engagement through such projects as the One Belt One Road, which plans to link Western China with Central Asia, Europe, and South Asia. President Xi Jinping, along with his advisor Liu Mingfu, have made popular the concept of the “China Dream,” when China will soon become the leading global power. These actions suggest that China wants to be like Liu Bei of Shu, a wise king that hopes to be the humane authority of the world.
Jin Dynasty (266 AD-420 AD)
There are two periods in this. It started with Western Jin and after their fall founded on east side as Eastern Jin.
Western Jin Dynasty -Founded by Sima Yan and unified China for a short time. This unification did not last long as Nomad ethnic groups started waging wars which setup a series of regimes in Northern china called “sixteen kingdoms”. China was once again disintegrated and disunited.
Eastern Jin Dynasty- After fall of Western Jin, a few courtiers of Jin dynasty took shelter in the east region. Sima Rui founded by Eastern Jin dynasty. The period of unity was short-lived as the state was soon weakened by corruption, political turmoil, and internal conflicts. This also fell due to uprising in their army and was usurped by Liu Yu to found Liu Song Dynasty, the first of the four Southern Dynasties in China.
Northern and Southern Dynasty (420 AD- 589 AD)
Some part of this period is overlap of sixteen kingdoms and this is also period of disunion. They were lenient and just. They emphasized more on Buddhism and even 50% of population was turned to monk. Taoism and Confucianism was undermined. Literature was particularly vibrant during the Southern Dynasty and tended to be flowery, while Northern Dynasty literature was rougher and more straightforward. Imperial Nanjing University was world famous. Zu Chongzhi, a student of this University, devised the new accurate Daming Calendar in 465 AD and also calculated accurate eclipses.
Sui Dynasty (581 AD-618 AD)
Founded by Yang Jiang (Known as Emperor Wen) by conquering Northern and southern kingdoms. After the disunion of China it brought the China under one rule though only for short time. They established better tax system, giving land to poor and setup grain reserve. But the empire did not last long. Son of Yah Jiang was tyrant. He forced peasants to work to rebuild great wall of China and Grand canal projects. People rebelled and Sui dynasty ended.
Tang Dynasty (618 AD-907 AD)
This is another Golden age of ancient China after Han dynasty. It made China a powerful country of world. It was founded by Li Yuan. It was time of rise of China in all aspects. The biggest contributions were Wood block printing that helped mass book publishing, encyclopedia, written history, gun powder used in some festivals. Its further development continued in other dynasties), porcelain, advance map making, gas cylinder of natural gas, medicine, detailed law code, painting, poetry, state run schools, open test for civil service, farmers to work in army for some time. Finished Grand canal work which was started by Sui dynasty. They invented toilet paper.
Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms (907 AD-960 AD)
These originated by giving powers to warlords by waning Tang. This period is a period of tumult. These dynasties were warlords and rules in their regions and even passed the kingship to their sons.
Five dynasties did not exist at same time but succeeded one after other. Under them were relatively stable regimes ruled and were called 10 kingdoms. These existed in Southern and eastern China.
Song Dynasty (960 AD -1207 AD)
Founder of Northern Song Dynasty was a Tang Dynasty General Zho Kuanguyin after fall of Tang. The major cause of his downfall was scholars to lead army which resulted in weak army. The Southern Song was started by son of last emperor who escaped to south. Southern Song was conquered by Jinn co-existing that time in region.He paid ransom to Jinn for 100 years. But then he tied up with Mongol (Kublai Khan) to defeat Jin. But Mongols after defeating Jinn also turned out Southern Dynasty kingdom. Kublai Khan established mongol empire Yuan Dynasty in China.
The inventions in this period were magnetic compass, availability of books to many, High importance to education, drought resistant rice. In this period the painful tradition of binding foot of women started.
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD)
Founded by Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) of Mongolia who attacked China in 1271. He hired experienced Chinese to know how to run a large empire. Marco Polo visited in this time and even he served in Yuan Court for some time. Kublai Khan instituted class system by giving highest class to Mongols, and next to Muslim and Turks. Lowest class was Chinese. Even he married only Mongols. This dynasty weakened after the death of Kublai and peasants rebelled against Yuan dynasty. The chief of peasant became the king now and started Ming Dynasty.
Ming Dynasty (1368 AD- 1644AD)
The founder was a peasant Zhu Yuanzhang. He took control and named himself Emperor Hongwu. In Ming dynasty period the great wall of China was almost fully re-built. Also the Grand canal was re-built by them. He also built “Forbidden City” palace in Beijing which had about 1000 buildings inside and was in 185 acres. Emperors permission was needed to enter and so called forbidden city. They conducted a very tough civil service exam and highest meritorious only in government works.
“The total length of the Great Wall of China built in different dynasties is 21,196 KM, announced by China’s State Administration of Cultural Relics in 2012. The length of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty is 8,852 KM, and there is about 526 KM lying in Beijing.”
Quing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD)
In early 1600s the Manchu people of northern China started uniting against Ming. They mobilized large army and crossed great wall in 1644 and took control and establish a new dynasty called Quing dynasty. During this period China remained isolated from world. Christianity was also outlawed. They followed Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. In their time Manchu were highest class and majority Hans were discriminated. Opium war started by British in this regime and lot people were addicted. Govt soon made this illegal and they seized British ships with opium and dumped in sea. This infuriated British and they captured Hongkong in 1860, Christianity was legalized and British merchants were allowed. Multiple natural disasters, internal rebel and war with Japan weakened this dynasty and in 1911 group of revolutionist lead by Sun Yat Sen overthrew Quing dynasty and next year Republic of china (ROC) took over.
Republic of China
Quing dynasty became unpopular and risky for territorial integrity from foreign invasions, dominance of local warlords, population growth and so food shortage, famines, corruption and ruler incompetence. Also there was majority of Hans in China and Quing dynasty was Manchu from Manchurian region. This culminated in civil war at various places and Sun-Yat- Sen coalesced all rebellions and made Kumintang party (KMT) for dethroning the imperialism. This party was more of nationalist.
In North east Communist party was also made. So there were four factions acting in China – local warlords, KMT, CCP and Empire of Japan . Japan captured Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing. There was mass rapes in Nanjing. In 1945 Japan had to withdraw. The Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the Chinese communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) by Chairman Mao Zedong took control of Mainland China. The Republic of China, led by President Chiang Kai-Shek, retreated to Taiwan to make government of Republic of China (ROC). There is freedom of speech and democracy in Taiwan and so there are more struggles for freedom from China. This is unacceptable to PRC Main land.
The relations between Taiwan and China are not good and PRC does not recognize ROC.
Let us see the policies of Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung) and how it affected China. He was chairman from 1949-76. His policies were faulty and ran the country in famine and economy troubles. He declared that there is no private land and distributed land to poor all over China. To make China independent he allowed mass production of steel even in every houses. The quality of steel was not good and lot of money and resources wasted. His agriculture policy had serious shortcomings and led to very low crop production and caused severe famine and poverty among masses. The economy thus failed. He also employed red guards to suppress anti communist forces and to publicize his policies. Good this was that he abolished imperialism and reduced economic disparity. He made China a nuclear power.
After Mao one of his colleague Deng Xiao Ping became Chairman of PRC. His policy were opposite to Mao policies and supported “communism with market economy“. He encouraged foreign investments, influenced by West he encouraged free trade and liberal education system. But like Mao he also suppressed the pro-democracy protests ruthlessly. We know Tienanmen Square protest where govt opened file and killed 3000 protesters.
Let us now look into Xi Jinping policies. He became president of PRC in 2013. he brought his doctrines of running the communist govt by concept of written seven censorship with respect to policy criticism, democracy, media independence etc. and removed it from the education material. Xi Jinping is criticized to spread hegemony through his monitory assistance, investments in South China Sea, Asia and Africa.
Epilogue
Ancient China differs usually from other ancient history of nations that the kingship in China was rarely patriarch. The new kingdoms made most of the time by civil wars. The Great wall of China played an important roles time to time in turning the kingdoms. The over exploitation and forced labor was cause of uprising among public and caused the turning of thrones. Ironically it did really not defend the kingdoms. Another character in China history is that there was a dream of “Unified China” among many kingdoms since first Qin dynasty. Chinese kingdoms continued to carry forward the new day today life inventions to improve the public life. paper, natural gas cylinders, porcelain, wheel barrow, detailed law code, magnetic compass, drought resistant rice, wood block printing were some important contributions of Chinese to mankind.
Modern China is being accused by world for its hegemony and expansionism through capital investment in Asian, African poor countries. China major problem is over dependence on export. Rapidly over ageing population, gender ratio, issues with one child policy, income disparity, pollution, separatists in Tibet, adjacent Mongolia, Xinjiang, seal on public mouth, no participation of rich and middle class in policy making and above all China is losing face in entire world due to frequent hegemony. Accusations are also for helping infamous nations with nuclear technology.
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