China is a country in East Asia whose culture is considered the oldest,
still extant, in the world. The name `China’ comes from the Sanskrit
Cina
(derived from the name of the Chinese Qin Dynasty, pronounced `Chin’)
which was translated as `Cin’ by the Persians and seems to have become
popularized through
trade along the
Silk Road from
China to the rest of the world. The
Romans and the
Greeks
knew the country as `Seres’, “the land where silk comes from”. The name
`China’ does not appear in print in the west until 1516 CE in Barbosa’s
journals narrating his travels in the east (though the
Europeans
had long known of China through trade via the Silk Road). Marco Polo,
the famous explorer who familiarized China to Europe in the 13th century
CE, referred to the land as `Cathay’. In Mandarin Chinese, the country
is known as `Zhongguo” meaning `central state’ or `middle
empire’.
Pre-History
Well before the advent of recognizable
civilization
in the region, the land was occupied by hominids. Peking Man, a skull
fossil discovered in 1927 CE near Beijing, lived in the area between
700,000 to 200,000 years ago and Yuanmou Man, whose remains were found
in Yuanmou in 1965 CE, inhabited the land 1.7 million years ago.
Evidence uncovered with these finds shows that these early inhabitants
knew how to fashion stone tools and use fire. While it is commonly
accepted that human beings originated in
Africa
and then migrated to other points around the globe, China’s
paleoanthropologists “support the theory of `regional evolution’ of the
origin of man” (China.org) which claims an independent basis for the
birth of mankind. “The Shu Ape, a primate weighing only 100 to 150 grams
and being similar to a mouse in size, lived [in China] in the Middle
Eocene Epoch 4.5 to 4 million years ago. Its discovery posed a great
challenge to the theory of African origin of the human race”
(China.org). This challenge is considered plausible due to genetic links
between the Shu Ape fossil and both advanced and lower primates,
standing, then, as a `missing link’ in the evolutionary process. However
one interprets this data (the Chinese conclusions have been disputed by
the international community), the solid evidence provided by other
finds substantiates a very ancient lineage of hominids and human beings
in China and a high level of sophistication in early culture. One
example of this is Banpo Village, near Xi’an, discovered in 1953 CE.
Banpo is a
Neolithic
village which was inhabited between 4500 and 3750 BCE and comprises 45
houses with floors sunk into the ground for greater stability. A trench
encircling the village provided both protection from attack and drainage
while man-made caves dug underground were used to store food. The
design of the village, and the artifacts discovered there (such as
pottery and tools), argue for a very advanced culture at the time it was constructed.
It has generally been accepted that the Chinese `Cradle of
Civilization’ is the Yellow River Valley which gave rise to villages
sometime around 5000 BCE. While this has been disputed, and arguments
have been made for a more wide-spread development of communities, there
is no doubt that the Henan province, in the Yellow River Valley, was the
site of many early villages and
farming
communities. In 2001 CE, archaeologists uncovered two skeletons “buried
in a collapsed house, which was covered with a thick layer of silt
deposits from the Yellow River. In the layer of deposits, archaeologists
found more than 20 skeletons, an altar, a square, pottery, and stone
and jade utensils” (Chinapage.org). This site was only one of many
prehistoric villages in the area.
The First Dynasties
Yu the Great was so focused on his work that it was said he did not
return home once in all those years, even though he seems to have passed
by his house on at least three occasions...
From these small villages and farming communities grew centralized
government; the first of which was the prehistoric Xia Dynasty (c.
2070-1600 BCE). The Xia Dynasty was considered, for many years, more
myth than fact until excavations in the 1960’s and 1970’s CE uncovered
sites which argued strongly for its existence.
Bronze works and
tombs clearly point to an evolutionary period of development between disparate
Stone Age
villages and a recognizable cohesive civilization. The dynasty was
founded by Yu the Great who worked relentlessly for thirteen years to
control the flooding of the Yellow River which routinely destroyed the
farmer’s crops. He was so focused on his work that it was said he did
not return home once in all those years, even though he seems to have
passed by his house on at least three occasions, and this dedication
inspired others to follow him. After he had controlled the flooding, Yu
conquered the Sanmiao tribes and was named successor (by the then-ruler,
Shun), reigning until his death. Yu established the hereditary system
of succession and, so, the concept of dynasty which has become most
familiar. The ruling class and the elite lived in urban clusters while
the peasant population, which supported their lifestyle, remained
largely agrarian, living in rural areas. Yu’s son, Qi, ruled after him
and power remained in the hands of the family until the last Xia ruler,
Jie, was overthrown by Tang who established the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046
BCE).
Tang was from the kingdom of Shang. The dates popularly assigned to him
(1675-1646 BCE) do not in any way correspond to the known events in
which he took part and must be considered erroneous. What is known is
that he was the ruler, or at least a very important personage, in the
kingdom of Shang who, around 1600 BCE, led a revolt against Jie and
defeated his forces at the
Battle
of Mingtiao. The extravagance of the Xia court, and the resultant
burden on the populace, is thought to have led to this uprising. Tang
then assumed leadership of the land, lowered taxes, suspended the
grandiose building projects begun by Jie (which were draining the
kingdoms of resources) and ruled with such wisdom and efficiency that
art and culture were allowed to flourish.
Writing developed under the Shang Dynasty as well as bronze metallurgy, architecture, and
religion.
Prior to the Shang, the people worshipped many gods with one supreme god, Shangti, as head of the
pantheon (the same pattern found in other cultures). Shangti was considered `the great ancestor’ who presided over victory in
war,
agriculture,
the weather, and good government. Because he was so remote and so busy,
however, the people seem to have required more immediate intercessors
for their needs and so the practice of ancestor worship began. When
someone died, it was thought, they attained divine powers and could be
called upon for assistance in times of need (similar to the Roman belief
in the
Parentes). This practice led to highly sophisticated
rituals dedicated to appeasing the spirits of the ancestors which
eventually included ornate
burials
in grand tombs filled with all one would need to enjoy a comfortable
afterlife. The king, in addition to his secular duties, served as chief
officiate and mediator between the living and the dead and his rule was
considered ordained by divine law. Although the famous Mandate of Heaven
was developed by the later Zhou Dynasty, the idea of linking a just
ruler with divine will has its roots in the beliefs fostered by the
Shang.
The Zhou Dynasty
Around the year 1046 BCE, King Wu, of the province of Zhou, rebelled
against King Zhou of Shang and defeated his forces at the Battle of
Muye, establishing the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046- 226 BCE). 1046-771 BCE
marks the Western Zhou Period while 771-226 BCE marks the Eastern Zhou.
The Mandate of Heaven was invoked by the Duke of Zhou, King Wu’s younger
brother, to legitimize the revolt as he felt the Shang were no longer
acting in the interests of the people. The Mandate of Heaven was thus
defined as the gods’ blessing on a just ruler and rule by divine
mandate. When the government no longer served the will of the gods, that
government would be overthrown. Further, it was stipulated that there
could be only one legitimate ruler of China and that his rule should be
legitimized by his proper conduct as a steward of the lands entrusted
him by heaven. Rule could be passed from father to son but only if the
child possessed the necessary virtue to rule. This mandate would later
be often manipulated by various rulers entrusting succession to unworthy
progeny.
Under the Zhou, culture flourished and civilization spread. Writing was codified and
iron metallurgy became increasingly sophisticated. The greatest and best known Chinese philosophers and poets,
Confucius,
Mencius,
Mo Ti (Mot Zu),
Lao-Tzu, Tao Chien, and the military strategist
Sun-Tzu (if he existed as depicted), all come from the Zhou period in China and the time of the Hundred Schools of Thought. The
chariot,
which was introduced to the land under the Shang, became more fully
developed by the Zhou. It should be noted that these periods and
dynasties did not begin nor end as neatly as they seem to in history
books and the Zhou Dynasty shared many qualities with the Shang
(including language and religion). While historians find it necessary,
for clarity’s sake, to break events into periods, the Zhou Dynasty
remained extant through the following recognized periods known as The
Spring and Autumn Period and The Warring States Period.
The Spring and Autumn Period and The Warring States
During the Spring and Autumn Period (772-476 BCE and so called from the
Spring and Autumn Annals,
the official chronicle of the state at the time and an early
source mentioning General Sun-Tzu), the Zhou government became
decentralized in their move to the new capital at Luoyang, marking the
end of the `Western Zhou’ period and the beginning of `Eastern Zhou’.
This is the period most noted for advances in
philosophy,
poetry, and the arts and saw the rise of Confucian, Taoist, and Mohist
thought. At the same time, however, the different states were breaking
away from central rule by Luoyang and proclaiming themselves sovereign.
This, then, led to the so-called Warring States Period (476-221 BCE) in
which seven states fought with each other for control. The seven states
were Chu,
Han, Qi, Qin,
Wei, Yan, and Zhao all of whom considered themselves sovereign but none
of whom felt confident in claiming the Mandate of Heaven still held by
the Zhou of Luoyang. All seven of the states used the same tactics and
observed the same rules of conduct in battle and so none could gain the
advantage over the others. This situation was exploited by the pacifist
philosopher Mo Ti, a skilled engineer, who made it his mission to
provide each state with equal knowledge of fortifications and siege
ladders in hopes of neutralizing any one state’s advantage and so ending
the war. His efforts were unsuccessful however and, between 262 and 260
BCE, the state of Qin gained supremacy over Zhao, finally defeating
them at The Battle of Changping.
A Qin statesman by the name of Shang Yang (died 338 BCE), a great
believer in efficiency and law, had re-cast the Qin understanding of
warfare
to focus on victory at any cost. Whether Sun-Tzu or Shang Yang is to be
credited with reformation of military protocol and strategy in China
depends on one's acceptance of Sun-Tzu's historicity. Whether Sun-Tzu
existed as people claim, however, it is very probable that Shang Yang
was acquainted with the famous work,
The Art of War, which
bears Sun-Tzu's name as author. Prior to these reforms, warfare was
considered a nobleman’s game of skill with very set rules dictated by
courtesy and the perceived will of heaven. One did not attack the weak
or the unprepared and one was expected to delay engagement until an
opponent had mobilized and formed ranks on the field. Shang advocated
total war in pursuit of victory and counselled taking the enemies’
forces by whatever means lay at hand. Shang’s principles were known in
Qin, and made use of at Changping (where over 450,000 captured Zhao
soldiers were executed after the battle) giving the Qin the advantage
they had been waiting for. Still, they did not make further effective
use of these tactics until the rise of Ying Zheng, King of Qin.
Utilizing Shang’s directives, and with an army of considerable size
utilizing chariots and iron weapons, Ying Zheng emerged from the Warring
States conflict supreme in 221 BCE, subduing and unifying the other six
states under his rule and proclaiming himself
Shi Huangti -`First Emperor’ - of China.
The Qin Dynasty
Shi Huangti thus established the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) which is
also known as the Imperial Era in China. He ordered the destruction of
the walled fortifications which had separated the different states and
commissioned the building of a great
wall
along the northern border of his kingdom. Though little remains today
of Shi Huangti’s original wall, The Great Wall of China was begun under
his rule.
It stretched for over 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) across hill and
plain, from the boundaries of Korea in the east to the troublesome Ordos
Desert in the west. It was an enormous logistical undertaking, though
for much of its course it incorporated lengths of earlier walls built by
the separate Chinese kingdoms to defend their northern frontiers in the
fourth and third centuries. (Scarre and Fagan, 382).
Shi Huangti also strengthened the infrastructure through road building which helped to increase trade through ease of travel.
Five trunk roads led from the imperial capital at Xianyang, each
provided with police forces and posting stations. Most of these roads
were of rammed-earth construction and were 15 metres (50 feet) wide. The
longest ran southwest over 7,500 kilometres (4,500 miles) to the
frontier region of Yunnan. So precipitous was the countryside that
sections of the road had to be built out from vertical cliff faces on
projecting timber galleries. (Scarre and Fagan, 382).
Shi Huangti also expanded the boundaries of his empire, built the Grand
Canal in the south, redistributed land and, initially, was a fair and
just ruler.
While he made great strides in building projects and military
campaigns, his rule became increasingly characterized by a heavy hand in
domestic policy. Claiming the Mandate from Heaven, he suppressed all
philosophies save the Legalism which had been developed by Shang Yang
and, heeding the counsel of his chief advisor, Li Siu, he ordered the
destruction of any history or philosophy books which did not correspond
to Legalism, his family line, the state of Qin, or himself.
Since books were then written on strips of bamboo fastened with swivel
pins, and a volume might be of some weight, the scholars who sought to
evade the order were put to many difficulties. A number of them were
detected; tradition says that many of them were sent to labor on the
Great Wall, and that four hundred and sixty were put to death.
Nevertheless some of the literati memorized the complete works of
Confucius and passed them on by word of mouth to equal memories.
(Durant, 697).
This act, along with Shi Huangti’s suppression of general freedoms,
including freedom of speech, made him progressively more unpopular.
The ancestor worship of the past, and the land of the dead, began to
interest the emperor more than his realm of the living and Shi Huangti
became increasingly engrossed in what this other world consisted of and
how he might avoid traveling there. He seems to have developed an
obsession with death, became increasingly paranoid regarding his
personal safety, and ardently sought after immortality. His desire to
provide for himself an afterlife commensurate with his present one led
him to commission a palace built for his tomb and an army of over 8,000
terracotta warriors created to serve him in eternity. This ceramic army,
buried with him, also included terracotta chariots, cavalry, a
commander in chief, and assorted birds and animals. He is said to have
died while on a quest for an elixir of immortality and Li Siu, hoping to
gain control of the government, kept his death a secret until he could
alter his will to name his pliable son, Hu-Hai, as heir. This plan
proved untenable, however, as the young prince showed himself to be
quite unstable, executing many, and initiating a widespread rebellion in
the land. Shortly after Shi Huangti’ s death, the Qin Dynasty quickly
collapsed through the intrigue and ineptitude of people like Hu-Hai, Li
Siu, and another advisor, Zhao Gao, and the
Han Dynasty began with the accession of Liu-Bang.
The Chu-Han Contention
With the fall of the Qin Dynasty, China was plunged into chaos. Two
generals emerged among the forces which rebelled against the Qin, Prince
Liu-Bang of Hanzhong and King Xiang-Yu of the state of Chu, who fought
for control of the government. Xiang-Yu, who had proven himself the most
formidable opponent of the Qin, awarded Liu-Bang the title of `King of
the Han’ in recognition of Liu-Bang’s decisive defeat of the Qin forces
in the final battle. The two former allies quickly became antagonists,
however, in the power struggle known as the Chu-Han contention until
Xiang-Yu negotiated the Treaty of Hong Canal and brought a temporary
peace. Xiang-Yu suggested dividing China under the rule of the Chu in
the east and the Han in the west but Liu-Bang wanted a united China
under Han rule and, breaking the treaty, resumed hostilities. At the
Battle of Gaixia
in 202 BCE, Liu-Bang’s great general, Han-Xin, trapped and defeated the
forces of Chu under Xiang-Yu and Liu-Bang was proclaimed emperor (known
to posterity as Emperor Gaozu of Han). Xiang-Yu committed suicide but
his family was allowed to live and even serve in government positions.
Liu-Bang treated all of his former adversaries with respect and united
the land under his rule. He pushed back the nomadic Xiongnu tribes, who
had been making incursions into China, and made peace with the other
states which had risen in rebellion against the failing Qin Dynasty. The
Han Dynasty (which derives its name from Liu-Bang’s home in Hanzhong
province) would rule China, with a brief interruption, for the next 400
years, from 202 BCE to 220 CE.
The Han Dynasty
The resultant peace initiated by Liu-Bang brought the stability
necessary for culture to again thrive and grow. Trade with the west
began during this time and arts and technology increased in
sophistication. The Han are considered the first dynasty to write their
history down but, as Shi Huangti destroyed so many of the written
records of those who came before him, this claim is often disputed.
There is no doubt, however, that great advances were made under the Han
in every area of culture. The Yellow Emperor’s
Canon of Medicine, China’s earliest written record on
medicine
was codified during the Han Dynasty. Gunpowder, which the Chinese had
already invented, became more refined. Paper was invented at this time
and writing became more sophisticated. Liu-Bang embraced
Confucianism
and made it the exclusive philosophy of the government, setting a
pattern which would continue on to the present day. Even so, unlike Shi
Huangti, he practised tolerance for all other philosophies and, as a
result,
literature
and education flourished under his reign. He reduced taxes and disbanded
his army who, nevertheless, rallied without delay when called upon.
After his death in 195 BCE, the crown prince Liu Ying succeeded him and
continued his policies. These programmes maintained stability and
culture enabling the greatest of the Han emperors, Wu Ti (also known as
Han Wu the Great, 141- 87 BCE), to embark on his enterprises of
expansion, public works, and cultural initiatives. He sent his emissary
Zhang Qian to the west in 138 BCE which resulted in the official opening
of the Silk Road in 130 BCE. Confucianism was further incorporated as
the official doctrine of the government and Wu Ti established schools
throughout the empire to foster literacy and teach Confucian precepts.
He also reformed transportation, roads, and trade and decreed many other
public projects, employing millions as state workers in these
undertakings. After Wu Ti, his successors, more or less, maintained his
vision for China and enjoyed equal success.
Increase in wealth led to the rise of large estates and general
prosperity but, for the peasants who worked the land, life became
increasingly difficult. In 9 CE, the acting regent, Wang Mang, usurped
control of the government claiming the Mandate of Heaven for himself and
declaring an end to the Han Dynasty. Wang Mang founded the Xin Dynasty
(9-23 CE) on a platform of extensive land reform and redistribution of
wealth. He initially had enormous support from the peasant population
and was opposed by the landowners. His programmes, however, were poorly
conceived and executed resulting in widespread unemployment and
resentment. Uprisings, and extensive flooding of the Yellow River,
further destabilized Wang Mang’s rule and he was assassinated by an
angry mob of the peasants on whose behalf he had ostensibly seized the
government and initiated his reforms.
The Fall of Han and Rise of Xin Dynasty
The rise of the Xin Dynasty ended the period known as Western Han and
its demise led to the establishment of the Eastern Han period. Emperor
Guang-Wu returned the lands to the wealthy estate owners and restored
order in the land, maintaining the policies of the earlier Western Han
rulers. Guang-Wu, in reclaiming lands lost under the Xin Dynasty, was
forced to spend much of his time putting down rebellions and
re-establishing Chinese rule in the regions of modern-day Korea and
Vietnam. The Trung Sisters Rebellion of 39 CE, led by two sisters,
required “ten odd thousands of men” (according to the official state
record of Han) and four years to put down. Even so, the emperor
consolidated his rule and even expanded his boundaries, providing
stability which gave rise to an increase in trade and prosperity. By the
time of the Emperor Zhang (75-88 CE), China was so prosperous that it
was partners in trade with all the major nations of the day and
continued in this way after his death. The Romans under
Marcus Aurelius, in 166 CE, considered Chinese silk more precious than
gold and paid China whatever price was asked.
Disputes between the landed gentry and the peasants, however, continued
to cause problems for the government as exemplified in the Yellow
Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion (both in 184 CE).
While the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion began as a religious conflict, it
involved a large number of the peasant class at odds with the Confucian
ideals of the government and the elite. The power of the government to
control the people began to disintegrate until full-scale rebellion
erupted. The rebel generals Cao-Cao and Yuan-Shao then fought each other
for control of the land with Cao-Cao emerging victorious. Cao was then
defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 CE and China divided into
three warring kingdoms: Cao Wei, Eastern Wu, and Shu Han.
The Han Dynasty was now a memory and other, shorter-lived dynasties
(such as the Wei and Jin, the Wu Hu, and the Sui) assumed control of the
government and initiated their own platforms from roughly 208-618 CE.
The Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE) finally succeeded in reuniting China in 589
CE. The importance of the Sui Dynasty is in its implementation of
highly efficient bureaucracy which streamlined the operation of
government and led to greater ease in maintaining the empire. Under the
emperor Wen, and then his son, Yang, the Grand Canal was constructed,
the Great Wall was enlarged and portions rebuilt, the army was increased
to the largest recorded in the world at that time, and
coinage
was standardized across the realm. Literature flourished and it is
thought that the famous Legend of Hua Mulan, about a young girl who
takes her father’s place in the army, was composed, or at least set
down, at this time (the Wei Dynasty has also been cited as the era of
the poem’s composition). Unfortunately, both Wen and Yang were not
content with domestic stability and organized massive expeditions
against the Korean peninsula. Wen had already bankrupted the treasury
through his building projects and military campaigns and Yang followed
his father’s example and failed equally in his attempts at military
conquest.
Yang was assassinated in 618 BCE which then sparked the uprising of
Li-Yuan who took control of the government and called himself Emperor
Gao-Tzu of Tang.
The Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) is considered the `golden age’ of Chinese
civilization. Gao-Tzu prudently maintained, and improved upon, the
bureaucracy initiated by the Sui Dynasty while dispensing with
extravagant military operations and building projects. With minor
modifications, the bureaucratic policies of the Tang Dynasty are still
in use in Chinese government in the modern day. Despite his efficient
rule, Gao-Tzu was deposed by his son, Li-Shimin, in 626 CE. Having
assassinated his father, Li-Shimin then killed his brothers and others
of the noble house and assumed the title Emperor Taizong. After the
bloody coup, however, Taizong decreed that Buddhist
temples
be built at the sites of the battles and that the fallen should be
memorialized. Continuing, and building upon, the concepts of ancestor
worship and the Mandate of Heaven, Taizong claimed divine will in his
actions and intimated that those he had killed now were his counsellors
in the afterlife. As he proved to be a remarkably efficient ruler, as
well as a skilled military strategist and warrior, his coup went
unchallenged and he set about the task of governing his vast empire.
Taizong followed his father’s precepts in keeping much of what was good
from the Sui Dynasty and improving upon it. This can be seen especially
in Taizong’s legal code which drew heavily on Sui concepts but expanded
them for specificity of crime and punishment. He ignored his father’s
model of foreign policy, however, and embarked on a series of successful
military campaigns which extended and secured his empire and also
served to spread his legal code and Chinese culture. Trade flourished
within the empire and, along the Silk Road, with the West.
Rome having now fallen, the
Byzantine Empire
became a prime buyer of Chinese silk. By the time of the rule of
Emperor Xuanzong (712-756 CE) China was the largest, most populous, and
most prosperous country in the world. Owing to the large population,
armies of many thousands of men could be conscripted into service and
military campaigns against Turkish nomads or domestic rebels were swift
and successful. Art, technology, and
science
all flourished under the Tang Dynasty (although the high point in the
sciences is considered to be the later Sung Dynasty of 960-1234 CE) and
some of the most impressive pieces of Chinese sculpture and silver-work
come from this period.
The Fall of Tang and Rise of the Sung Dynasty
Still, the central government was not universally admired and regional
uprisings were a regular concern. The most important of these was the An
Shi Rebellion (also known as the An Lushan Rebellion) of 755 CE.
General An Lushan, a favourite of the Imperial Court, recoiled against
what he saw as excessive extravagance in government. With a force of
over 100,000 troops, he rebelled and declared himself the new emperor by
the precepts of the Mandate of Heaven. Although his revolt was put down
by 763 CE, the underlying causes of the insurrection, and further
military actions, continued to plague the government through 779 CE. The
most apparent consequence of An Lushan’s rebellion was a dramatic
reduction in the population of China. It has been estimated that close
to 36 million people died as a direct result of the rebellion, either in
battle, in reprisals, or through disease and lack of resources. Trade
suffered, taxes went uncollected, and the government, which had fled
Chang’an when the revolt began, was ineffective in maintaining any kind
of significant presence. The Tang Dynasty continued to suffer from
domestic revolts and, after the Huang Chao Rebellion (874-884 CE) never
recovered. The country broke apart into the period known as The Five
Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960 CE), with each regime claiming for
itself legitimacy, until the rise of the Sung Dynasty.
With the Sung, China became stable once again and institutions, laws,
and customs were further codified and integrated into the culture.
Neo-Confucianism became the most popular philosophy of the country,
influencing these laws and customs, and shaping the culture of China
recognizable in the modern day. Still, in spite of advances in every
area of civilization and culture, the age-old strife between wealthy
landowners and the peasants who worked that land continued throughout
the following centuries. Periodic peasant revolts were crushed as
quickly as possible but no remedies for the people’s grievances were
ever offered and each military action continued to deal with the symptom
of the problem instead of the problem itself. In 1949 CE, Mao Tse Tung
led the people’s revolution in China, toppling the government and
instituting the People’s Republic of China on the premise that, finally,
everyone would be equally affluent.
