Timeline

с. 500,000 В.С.Е

Peking Man hominid fossils

с. 10,000 В.С.Е

Domestication of rice in Jiangxi

с. 4600 В.С.Е

Neolithic village cultures in northern China

с. 2100 В.С.Е

Xia “dynasty” in Yellow River valley

с. 1500 В.С.Е

Shang state on North China Plain

1045 В.С.Е

Zhou Conquest

722-481 В.С.Е

Spring and Autumn period

480-221 В.С.Е

Warring States period

207 В.С.Е

Fall of Qin dynasty

202 В.С.Е.-220 С.Е

Han dynasty

141-87 В.С.Е

Reign of Wudi

81 В.С.Е

Debate on Salt and Iron

9-23 С.Е

Usurpation of Wang Mang

С. 100 С.Е

First Buddhist temple in China

182 С.Е

Yellow Turban uprising

220-280

Three Kingdoms period

с. 310

Turkic migrations into northern China begin

581-618

Sui dynasty

618-906

Tang dynasty

684-705

Reign of Empress Wu Zetian

713-756

Reign of Xuanzong

755-763

An Lushan rebellion

768-824

Han Yu

845

Official suppression of Buddhism

907-960

Five Dynasties period

907-1125

Liao dynasty of the Khitan people

960-1127

Northern Song dynasty

1126-1234

Jin dynasty of the Jurchen people

1127-1279

Southern Song dynasty

1130-1200

Zhu Xi

1206

Mongol qurillai elects Temujin as Great Khan

1260-1368

Mongol Yuan dynasty

1272-1290

Marco Polo in China

1313

Mongols restore Confucian examinations

1340s

Great plague in Yangzi River valley

1368-1644

Ming dynasty

1402

Zhu Di usurps the throne

1405-1435

Ming voyages of exploration

1572-1620

Reign of Wanli emperor

с. 1580

“Single Whip” tax reforms

1626

Nurhaci inaugurates Manchu language use

1636

Qing dynasty proclaimed by Manchus

1644

Fall of Ming dynasty and Manchu invasion

1661-1722

Reign of Kangxi

1673-1681

Rebellion of the Wu Sangui

1712

Kangxi’s tax edict

1723-1735

Reign of Yongzheng

1736-1795

Reign of Qianlong

1793

British trade mission to China

1813

Secret society rebellion against Qing

1839-1842

Opium War

1850-1864

Taiping Rebellion

1864-1895

Self-Strengthening Movement

1894-1895

Sino-Japanese War

1898

100 Days Reforms

1899-1900

Boxer Rebellion

1905

Confucian examinations abolished

October 11, 1911

Wuhan mutiny sets off revolution

February 12, 1912

Abdication of last emperor

February 15, 1912

Yuan Shikai becomes president

1916

Yuan Shikai tries to become emperor

May 4, 1919

Student demonstration in Beijing

July 1921

Founding of Chinese Communist Party

1922-1927

First United Front of Communists and Nationalists

1926

Northern Expedition of Chiang Kaishek

April 1927

Split between CCP and GMD

1929-1934

Jiangxi period of Chinese Communists

September 18, 1931

Japanese invade Manchuria

October 1934-October 1935

Long March

December 1936

Xian incident: Chiang “arrested”

1937-1945

Second United Front

July 7, 1937

Marco Polo Bridge incident: Japanese invasion

1945

End of war with Japan

1945-1949

Civil war between Communists and Nationalists

1948

Nationalists massacre Taiwanese

1949

Nationalists withdraw to Taiwan

October 1, 1949

Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China

1949-1952

Land reform

1950

Marriage law

1958-1959

Great Leap Forward

August 1959

Lushan Plenum: Peng Dehuai purged, Mao retreats from daily leadership

1962

Socialist Education Movement

1966-1969

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

1976

Death of Mao Zedong

1978-1994

Leadership of Deng Xiaoping

1989

Tiananmen student movement, suppressed June 4

1999

China and the United States agree on WTO membership

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