Like most great civilizations, China started out with small tribes untill they expanded to what they have today. The oldest dynasty in China is the Xia dynast. Chinas society has progressed through five major stages. Primitive Society - Slave Society - Fudal Society - Semi fudal and Semi colonial Society - Socialist Society. The rise and fall of Chinese dynastys run through nerly all of Chinese history. The first recorded was the Xia dynasty in the 21-17 century BC. Chinas safisticated civilization was able to build more strongly over the yers because of the swperation of other countries of groups of people outside there area. After 10,000 BC Chinese lived by hunting and gathering plants and animals. Then by 5,000 BC they began to farm. Around the same time rice was discovered and grown in southern China wile millet was grown in the north. By 4,000 BC dogs and pigs were domesticated. Then around 3,000 BC sheep and cattle were domesticated, and finally horses were domesticated between 3,000 and 2,000 BC. From then on they had learned to make pottery, lacquer,baskets, and the wheel was invented in China about 2,000 BC. In 2,000 BC human sacrafice and fortune telling was practiced. Dead bodies were heated untill the bones were at breaking point then were broken. After this process the bodies were buried under the structure of buildings. Warefare was growing in China as welth grew so did the temptation to attack other civilizations and steel there goods.
| Dates |
Dynasty |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| ca. 2000-1500 B.C. |
Xia |
 |
|
| 1700-1027 B.C. |
Shang |
 |
|
| 1027-771 B.C. |
Western Zhou |
  |
|
| 770-221 B.C. |
Eastern Zhou |
 |
|
| 770-476 B.C. -- Spring and Autumn period |
  |
||
| 475-221 B.C. -- Warring States period |
 |
||
| 221-207 B.C. |
Qin |
 |
|
| 206 B.C.-A.D. 9 |
Western Han |
 |
|
| A.D. 9-24 |
Xin (Wang Mang interregnum) |
 |
|
| A.D. 25-220 |
Eastern Han |
|
|
| A.D. 220-280 |
Three Kingdoms |
 |
|
| 220-265 -- Wei |
 |
||
| 221-263 -- Shu |
 |
||
| 229-280 -- Wu |
 |
||
| A.D. 265-316 |
Western Jin |
 |
|
| A.D. 317-420 |
Eastern Jin |
|
|
| A.D. 420-588 |
Southern and Northern Dynasties |
   |
|
| 420-588 |
Southern Dynasties |
|
|
| 420-478 -- Song |
 |
||
| 479-501 -- Qi |
 |
||
| 502-556 -- Liang |
 |
||
| 557-588 -- Chen |
 |
||
| 386-588 |
Northern Dynasties |
|
|
| 386-533 -- Northern Wei |
|
||
| 534-549 -- Eastern Wei |
|
||
| 535-557 -- Western Wei |
|
||
| 550-577 -- Northern Qi |
|
||
| 557-588 -- Northern Zhou |
|
||
| A.D. 581-617 |
Sui |
 |
|
| A.D. 618-907 |
Tang |
 |
|
| A.D. 907-960 |
Five Dynasties |
 |
|
| 907-923 -- Later Liang |
 |
||
| 923-936 -- Later Tang |
|
||
| 936-946 -- Later Jin |
|
||
| 947-950 -- Later Han |
|
||
| 951-960 -- Later Zhou |
|
||
| A.D. 907-979 |
Ten Kingdoms |
 |
|
| A.D. 960-1279 |
Song |
|
|
| 960-1127 -- Northern Song |
|
||
| 1127-1279 -- Southern Song |
|
||
| A.D. 916-1125 |
Liao |
 |
|
| A.D. 1038-1227 |
Western Xia |
|
|
| A.D. 1115-1234 |
Jin |
 |
|
| A.D. 1279-1368 |
Yuan |
 |
|
| A.D. 1368-1644 |
Ming |
 |
|
| A.D. 1644-1911 |
Qing |
 |
|
| A.D. 1911-1949 |
Republic of China (in mainland China) |
 |
|
| A.D. 1949- |
Republic of China (in Taiwan) |
||
| A.D. 1949- |
People's Republic of China |
  |
|