China: from the first peoples to the future of a world power
PublicHomo erectus pekinensis lives at Zhoukoudian
Early hominids, known as 'Peking Man', inhabit caves near present-day Beijing and use fire and stone tools.
Modern humans spread across the area of present-day China
Homo sapiens reaches East Asia and gradually displaces or mixes with earlier hominid populations.
Early Neolithic communities emerge in the Yellow River and Yangtze regions
The first farming communities, such as the Pengtoushan and Jiahu cultures, develop agriculture, pottery, and permanent settlements.
The Yangshao culture flourishes along the Yellow River
Neolithic farming communities develop painted pottery, millet agriculture and early village structures in the Yellow River basin.
Oracle bones and the Shang dynasty
The Shang rulers use painted turtle shells and bones to predict the future, containing the earliest forms of Chinese writing.
the Zhou defeat the Shang at Muye
King Wu of Zhou defeats the last Shang ruler in a decisive battle and founds the Zhou dynasty.
Confucius and the flourishing of Confucianism
The philosopher Confucius teaches students about ethics, rituals and good governance, during the turbulent Spring and Autumn period.
Beginning of the Warring States Period
China splits into seven powerful kingdoms that fight each other for centuries for supremacy, while military and administrative innovations flourish.
Qin Shi Huang unifies China
After centuries of division, the state of Qin subdues the rival kingdoms and proclaims the first emperor of a unified China.
Fall of the Qin dynasty
After the death of Qin Shi Huang, the dynasty quickly falls apart due to uprisings and power struggles.
Liu Bang founds the Han dynasty
After years of civil war, Liu Bang defeats his rival Xiang Yu and proclaims himself emperor.
Opening of the Silk Road
Envoy Zhang Qian explores Central Asia and lays the foundation for trade routes between China and the West.
Cai Lun improves paper production
Court official Cai Lun develops an improved process for making paper from tree bark, hemp and rags.
Fall of the Han dynasty and the Age of the Three Kingdoms
Internal power struggles and peasant uprisings lead to the disintegration of the Han empire into three warring states.
The Sui dynasty reunifies China
Emperor Wen of Sui brings the Chinese empire back under a single administration after centuries of division.
The Tang dynasty: a golden age of culture and poetry
Under the Tang, Chang'an flourishes into a cosmopolitan world city, with poetry, Buddhism and trade along the Silk Road at their height.
The An Lushan Rebellion tears the Tang empire apart
A devastating civil war disrupts the Tang dynasty and costs millions of lives
Decline and fragmentation: the end of the Tang dynasty
Regional military commanders and governors undermine central authority, until the Tang dynasty officially falls in 907.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms: China divided
For nearly half a century, dynasties and kingdoms rapidly succeed one another in a divided China.
Song dynasty: printing and gunpowder change the world
Technological innovations such as movable type printing, the compass and gunpowder emerge or are refined under the Song, with far-reaching global consequences.
Jingkang incident: the fall of Kaifeng and the flight to the south
Jurchen warriors of the Jin dynasty conquer the Song capital Kaifeng, after which the imperial court flees south and founds the Southern Song dynasty.
Mongol conquest and the founding of the Yuan dynasty
Kublai Khan defeats the last Southern Song forces and unites all of China under Mongol rule as the Yuan dynasty, the first time the entire country is ruled by a non-Chinese people.
Zhu Yuanzhang founds the Ming dynasty
The peasant rebel Zhu Yuanzhang drives out the Mongol Yuan rulers and proclaims himself the Hongwu Emperor, thereby founding the Ming dynasty and restoring Han Chinese rule.
The Yongle Emperor ascends the throne and moves the capital to Beijing
After a bloody civil war, prince Zhu Di seizes the throne and, as the Yongle Emperor, becomes the driving force behind Chinese expansion, moving the capital to Beijing and building the Forbidden City.
Zheng He's great voyages of discovery
The Ming admiral Zheng He leads seven massive maritime expeditions that expand China's influence to Southeast Asia, India, Arabia and East Africa.
End of the maritime expeditions and the isolationist sea policy
After the death of Emperor Yongle and the halting of Zheng He's voyages, the Ming court chooses a more inward-looking course: shipbuilding for long ocean voyages is banned and attention turns inward once again.
Fall of the Ming dynasty and the Qing conquest
Peasant uprisings, financial crises and Manchu invasions lead to the collapse of the Ming dynasty; the Manchus found the Qing dynasty and gradually conquer all of China.
Kangxi Emperor consolidates Qing power and conquers Taiwan
Under Emperor Kangxi, the Qing dynasty strengthens its grip on China, suppresses the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, and conquers the island of Taiwan, a stronghold of Ming loyalists.
Qianlong Emperor and the territorial heyday of the Qing empire
Under Emperor Qianlong, the Qing empire reaches its greatest territorial extent through the so-called 'Ten Great Campaigns', including the subjugation of Xinjiang and Tibet.
The Canton System and the Macartney Mission
China restricts foreign trade to the port of Canton through the so-called Canton System, while a British trade delegation under Lord Macartney requests freer trade and diplomatic relations in vain.
The White Lotus Rebellion
A large-scale peasant uprising plagues central China and undermines the authority of the Qing dynasty.
The failed Amherst mission
A British diplomatic delegation under Lord Amherst again attempts to improve trade relations with China, but is refused due to a protocol dispute.
The Opium Wars and the decline of the Qing
Military defeats against Great Britain force China to accept unequal treaties, marking the beginning of a century of humiliation and weakening.
the Taiping Rebellion
A massive peasant uprising led by Hong Xiuquan, who saw himself as the brother of Jesus Christ, tears South China apart in one of the bloodiest civil wars in world history.
The Second Opium War and the plundering of the Old Summer Palace
British and French troops force further concessions from China and destroy the magnificent Yuanmingyuan palace complex near Peking.
The Hundred Days' Reform and its downfall
Emperor Guangxu, with the support of reformers such as Kang Youwei, launches an ambitious modernisation programme, which after a hundred days is crushed by Empress Dowager Cixi.
The Xinhai Revolution and the end of the empire
A revolutionary uprising ends more than two thousand years of imperial rule and leads to the proclamation of the Republic of China.
The Long March of the communists
Under increasing pressure from the Nationalist troops of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong and his communist forces march thousands of kilometers through mountainous terrain to northern China.
Founding of the People's Republic of China
Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China in Beijing after the communist victory in the civil war.
The Great Leap Forward
Mao Zedong launches a massive campaign program to rapidly industrialize China and collectivize agriculture.
The Cultural Revolution
Mao Zedong calls on the youth to destroy the 'Four Olds' and purges the party of suspected revisionists.
Deng Xiaoping launches the Reform and Opening Up
After Mao's death, Deng Xiaoping launches sweeping economic reforms that introduce a market economy in China.
Protests and the Tiananmen Square massacre
Students and citizens demonstrate for months for democratic reforms, after which the army intervenes with force.
Handover of Hong Kong to China
The United Kingdom hands over the colony of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China after 156 years of British rule.
China joins the World Trade Organization
After years of negotiations, China officially becomes a member of the WTO on 11 December 2001, a turning point in its integration into the world economy.
SARS epidemic hits China
In 2002-2003 the SARS virus spreads from Guangdong across China and the world, putting pressure on the Chinese government's healthcare and information policy.
Beijing hosts the Olympic Games
China presents itself as a rising world power with a spectacular opening ceremony during the 2008 Olympic Games.
China becomes the world's second-largest economy
China overtakes Japan to become the world's second largest economy after the United States.
Launch of the Belt and Road Initiative
President Xi Jinping presents the ambitious plan for a new silk road to connect Asia, Africa and Europe through infrastructure and trade.
Outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan
A new coronavirus emerges in the Chinese city of Wuhan and spreads across the entire world within months.
Launch of the Chinese space station Tiangong
China completes the construction of its own permanent space station in low Earth orbit.
China becomes world leader in green energy and electric mobility
China dominates the world market for solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, and leads the global energy transition.
China's artificial intelligence and digital yuan conquer the world
Chinese technology companies and the digital yuan become globally leading, strengthening China's position as a technological superpower.
China as a technological world power in 2049
Speculative: around the hundredth anniversary of the People's Republic, China positions itself as a leading global power in technology, space travel, and economics.
The failed Amherst mission
Like the earlier Macartney mission, the mission of Lord William Amherst foundered on the British refusal to perform the kowtow, the traditional kneeling gesture before the Chinese emperor. Emperor Jiaqing even refused to receive the delegation, further widening the diplomatic gap between the British Empire and the Qing court. This incident reinforced the feeling among British merchants and politicians that only force could open the Chinese market, a view that would lead to armed conflict a few decades later. The image could show a tense encounter between British diplomats in Western clothing and Qing courtiers at the imperial court.