The Chinese Imperial Era
The Chinese Imperial Era can be conveniently divided into six
dynasties:
First Chinese Imperial Period
The first Chinese Imperial Period began
in 221 B.C. that constituted China Proper. In the same year, the
strongest of all time periods, the Warring States or the western
frontier state of Qin, subdued the last of its rival states of
Eastern Zhou while depending heavily on the legalist scholar
advisors. The English China was said to be evolved from the Qin
Dynasty. Qin administered centralization through ruthless ways and
emphasized on regulating legal coding and bureaucratic system,
writing and coinage system, thought procedure and scholarship
pattern. After the revolts, Han Dynasty was revived between 206 B.C.
and A.D. 220, and a new capital emerged called Changan. The new
kingdom did adopt the Qin administrative structure with less of
centralized ruling system, and rather established vassals in few
areas to facilitate political structure.
Era of Disunity
After the Han dynasty
was collapsed in A.D. 220, four centuries of rule by warlords
continued. The Three Kingdoms, namely, Wei, Shu and Wu, brought in
the era of civil wars and disunity. All the three kingdoms
overlapped each other in reining the empire during A.D. 220 - A.D.
80. The reputed courteousness of this period was greatly enthralled
by fictions and dramas in the later years. During the Jin Dynasty
(A.D. 365 A.D. 420), the initial years saw unity regaining its
place, but the Jin could not stop the nomadic rulers from intruding
the kingdom. The Sui Dynasty was into existence from 589 618 AD,
the first Sui Emperor being a military servant who seized the throne
from the non-Chinese Zhou of the North. He was able to control South
China too in the next eight years, and made his own capital at
Changan or Xian.
Restoration of the Chinese Empire
After the Sui Dynasty which lasted from
581 - 617 AD, China was unified again and was frequently compared
with the Qin Dynasty in terms of the duration of the two dynasties
and the corrupt practices established by the first Qin Emperor of
China. Due to the Chinese governments dictatorial demands,
excessive tax burden and imposed labor on the local people, the Sui
Dynasty could not survive for long. The labor was being ill-treated
and over-burdened with the construction of the Grand Canal and the
undertaking of many other public works projects, such as the
extension of the Great Wall. During the early seventeenth century,
there were costliest and terrible military campaigns done against
Korea. This led the dynasty dispersed with revolts, infidelity and
assassination.
Mongolian Dominion in China
The Mongols subdued
North China, Korea and the Muslim Empires of Central Asia by the end
of the thirteenth century. The Mongols broke into Europe twice. The
grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan started ruling the Southern
Song from 1215 1294 AD with the help of the resources of his vast
kingdom. Also known as the supreme leader of all tribes of Mongol,
Kublai Khan set up the first alien dynasty called the Yuan from
1279-1368 AD to rule the entire China before the Song Dynasty was
ebbed.
Chinese defeating the Mongolians
The Yuan dynasty
collapsed soon after the outbreak of a rivalry between the
Mongolians and the consequent natural disasters and other peasant
revolutionary acts. In 1368 AD, a Han Chinese peasant who was also
the former Buddhist monk and later turned into a rebel army leader
founded the Ming Dynasty that lasted till 1644 AD. The Ming
Dynastys initial capital was at Nanjing (or Southern Capital) and
then at Beijing (or Northern Capital). In the first quarter of the
fifteenth century itself, the Ming was able to gain control over his
kingdom. The Ming rule was later weakened due to big wars against
the Mongols, invasion of Japanese into Korean societies and
harassment by the Japanese over the Chinese coastal cities during
the sixteenth century.
The Manchus in China
The Manchus came to
China in 1644 AD. The Manchus were quite distinguished from the Han
Chinese and always resisted any change or adoption. But before
ruling China Proper, they had already adopted a great amount of
Chinese culture in the south. They knew from very before that they
would have to adopt certain things in Chinese way in order to
dominate the entire kingdom efficiently. Therefore, the Manchus
never made any changes to the existing institutions of Ming and any
teachings derived out of these institutions. They continued with the
practices of popular Confucianism and temple customs, which were
earlier presided over by ancient emperors.
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