Guide to Chinese Dynasties

Chinese Dynasties

The history of China may be traced according to the dynasties that established their reign from time to time in the country. Starting from the pre-historic and Neolithic age to the beginning of class society, the development of society and town planning followed by years of rule by invading dynasties and the formation of the Republic of China till today is an exiting historical sojourn. Sometimes the reign of one dynasty clashed with that of the other and hence there is no distinct and definite ending or starting date of the respective dynasties. In most cases dynasties would make themselves prominent prior to the total extinction of the existing regime or managed to continue even after their defeat. Divided for much longer durations, various regions of China were ruled by varied groups or clans and as such the country lacked a unified ruler during times.

The first ruler who deserves mention is probably the Yellow king of Qin dynasty Qinshi Huangdi before whom tribes of diverse origin laid their establishments in the country. His tomb happens to be an archaeological site with terra cotta guards and horses strewn all around. The mythical period dating back to 5000 years stands for much of China's cultural activities. With the Qin Dynasty continued the tradition of a primary leader who acted as the leader of the dynasty and was succeeded by an able successor through birthright unless overthrown by an opposing group. Co-existence of dynasties is not an unusual aspect of Chinese history. Chinese dynasties followed a basic pattern that included overthrow of a weak kingdom by a strong leader, development of civilization under the strong ruler through generations and giving over to a new stronger ruler from an opponent clan. China has been through both short-lived and long-lived dynasty civilizations with frequent upheavals and unstable periods of rule. Often a person belonging to the past might be judged according to the dynasty that he or she belonged to and the ruling emperor. Thus, dynasties have their own special importance even till this day.

Classification of Chinese dynasties

The Chinese dynasties may be broadly classified as under:

The Mythical Rulers ruled China from 2953-2357 B.C following which the Patriarchs took over the country from 2357-2205 B.C. The Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties made their mark in China from 2205-1766 B.C., 1766-1121 B.C. and 1121-255 B.C. respectively, after which the Qin dynasty laid its foundations for the first time with an able ruler. The Qins continued to rule from 221-206 B.C. Qins were followed by the Han Dynasty from 206 B.C.-220 A.D.

After the Hin dynasty's rule, the country saw the rising of Three Kingdoms, namely the Wei, Shu and Wu in between 220-280 A.D. Then came the Jin Dynasty from 265-420 A.D. which was taken over by the Song Dynasty from 420-479 A.D. The Six Dynasties of Qi, Liang, Chen, Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou ruled from 479-589 A.D. giving away to the Song Dynasty again from 960-1280 A.D. Then followed the reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368 AD), the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD).

The Qing dynasty was the last ruling Chinese dynasty after which the country was united and named as the Republic of China by Sun Yatsen. Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. This continues to be the present governmental structure for the whole of China except Taiwan that still subscribes to the earlier Republic of China.

10 rulers of the Qin dynasty

The rulers of the last ruling Qin dynasty deserve special mention. They were Qing Shi Zu, Qing Sheng Zu, Qing Shi Zong, Qing Gao, Qing Ren Zong, Qing Xuan Zong, Qing Wen Zong, Qing Mu Zong, Qing De Zong and Qing Xuan Tong Di in order of their rule.