#shaohao

China has a long, long history. There’s no denying it. Even if you were to ignore the mythical time of the 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors and the undocumented but “it probably existed” Xia Dynasty (more on that in a moment) the documented history of the country still stretches over 3600 years. There’s approximately 10 Dynasties we know existed but the country has seen multiple periods of division and in fighting, even up to the 1900s. So, with the monstrous task now ahead of me, let’s get started!

The first people who were human like to arrive in China were Homo Erectus and the estimated dates are between 2.24 million and 800,000 years ago. That’s quite a while. Tooth fragments have been found elsewhere that date back 80,000 years.

So, how about mythical beginnings? Well, one of the key mythical figures in almost every story told is the Jade Emperor. The first Chinese people came from Fu Xi and Nü Wa, brother and sister who survived a flood that swept away their homeland. The siblings came to the Jade Emperor for help and he gave them the power to create new human life. The two married and made the human race through clay models. Fu Xi then ruled over the group for 115 years, establishing the ritual of marriage and making conception a shared act, having previously been a miracle occurrence that solely involved females. There is a monument erected in his memory in Gansu Province.

There is a slight…erm. Okay let’s be frank, girls don’t win in history very often. This mythical period is known as the era of the 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors and there is some debate about who the three sovereigns were. While most name them as Fu Xi, Shennong and Huangdi others declare Nü Wa the first or second sovereigns but most of the time gets left out almost altogether. Sucks to us.

So, onto the next Sovereign – Shennong. Shennong is famous in Chinese mythology for introducing tea. He was also known for making himself a guinea pig and regularly testing new medicines on himself – tea being his antidote. Shennong, it should be noted, was also known as Yandi (炎帝) and is the God of Agriculture, supposedly teaching Slash and Burn techniques to his people. It should also come as no surprise that Shennong’s death is related to his habit on testing things on himself. He died after consuming a poison herb and his intestines putrefied as he was unable to reach his tea in time. There is also speculation that the title Yandi was a dynastic title and that it spanned a longer period of time, some sources recording names for the Kings of Shennong.

The final sovereign is Huangdi, for whom we have an actual name for, he is noted as Gongsun Xuanyuan which was recorded by the Grand Historian – Sima Qian. Another name, Youxiong, is also noted but the consensus seems to be that this was more of a clan name than anything else.

The myth goes that Shennong and Huangdi ruled in neighboring states – wikipedia likes to suggest than Shennong (or Yuwang) and Xuanyuan were in fact brothers, born to Lady Fu Bao and step sons of Shao Dian, a supposed ancestor of Boyi who we well get to later. Either way, during their reigns an evil spirit named Chi You attacked Shennong with 86 other tribes, so Shennong enlisted the help of little brother/neighbor Huangdi. The two defeated Chi You and joined their two lands, naming their people the Huaxia whom the main Han ethnic group all claim descent from.

However, both Emperors’ pride was damaged and the two went to war. Huangdi would win and become sole ruler of the Huaxia peoples. Huangdi would rule for 100 years – from 2698BCE – 2598 BCE – and is credited with the creation of a calender, the writing system, laws and even football. Hats off to you indeed Huangdi. One of his wives, Leizu, is also credited with teaching people how to weave silk and dye clothes.

Now, this is where things get a little weirder. 5 Emperors with almost 450 years to cover stretches the bounds of credibility just a little bit but that’s fine. There’s also something to be said about the number 5, it’s a symbol of completeness so there were probably (definitely) more than 5 Emperors but 5 have been crammed in and strung out over impossible periods of time to fit this. To confuse just about everyone and fitting this idea of 5 but there were actually more there are six potential rulers for 5 spots.

The six are: Shaohao (reigned c. 2598BCE - 2518BCE) he was the son of Huangdi and is also the one who is passed over by Sima Qian. Zhuanxu (reigned c. 2518BCE - 2440BCE) a Grandson of the Yellow Emperor and nephew of Shaohao he either followed his Grandfather or was his Uncle's assistant from the age of 10 to 20 years old. Emperor Ku (reigned c. 2440BCE - 2377BCE) the Grandson of Shaohao. Supposedly rode on Dragon back for half of the year. His four sons would ultimately all rule, two as Kings/Emperors in their own right and two who became dynastic founders of Shang and Zhou. Emperor Zhi (reigned c. 2377BCE - 2368BCE) Emperor Ku's son who was passed over for his younger brother, Yao. Promptly usurped the throne and lasted a meagre nine years. Well, you tried Zhi.  Emperor Yao (reigned c. 2368BCE - 2269BCE) the younger son of Emperor Ku. He is remembered as a wise and kind ruler who those in the future sought to emulate.

Emperor Shun (reigned c. 2269BCE - 2219BCE) A distant relative of the yellow emperor through Zhuanxu he either took over from Yao peacefully after making himself well respected for his humble life. Alternatively he usurped the throne, killed Yao and banished his heir. Honestly, seen as this I mythology you can take your pick.

Finally, we get onto Dynastic China. China’s first dynasty, the Xia, is still largely considered fictional and wasn’t believed to have existed at all until the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology project lead to the uncovering of evidence of a culture called the Erlitou who were around the same time as the dates we’re given for the Xia.

The Xia would have a total of 17 Kings over 395 years. The first would be Yu the Great, calmer of the flood waters and his son, Qi, would begin the rule of primogenitor (as put by The History of China podcast, “the first-born son wins rule”). The final King of Xia would be Jie and they would be usurped by the Shang Dynasty whose dynastic founder was one of the sons of Emperor Ku.

The Shang Dynasty had 30 Kings over 630 years and has two names. It is known as the Shang Dynasty as that is where the rulers were from however in Korea and Japan it is known as the Yin Dynasty as that was the city where they had their capital. The first King would be Tang of Shang and the last King Zhou of Shang, a tyrant. An additional note on the Shang – this is where China’s written history begins as the Oracle bones date back to this period and provide an insight into the beliefs and lives of the Shang people.

Next come the Zhou, the longest reigning (sort of) Dynasty in Chinese History, their own Dynastic founder being the other son of Emperor Ku. I’m sure when that happened one looked at the other and said, “Thanks. Thanks a lot.” The Zhou Dynasty is split into two halves, the Western and Eastern. Western Zhou saw almost complete rule by the Kings of Zhou and lasted from 1046CE – 771BCE. In Eastern Zhou this changed, the Kings became little more than puppets and were eventually deposed in 256BCE.

During this time the two periods Spring and Autumn and Warring States would take hold of China, fracturing it once Zhou rule became nothing more than a memory. The separate states and eventually Kingdoms would spend centuries fighting for the right to be Hegemon. The period also brought the classics The Confucian Analects and The Art of War. The infighting would continue for another 30 years after the final Zhou King was deposed before the Qin Dynasty and China’s first real Emperor claimed rulership over the land.

Despite the permanent mark it left on China and the culture the Qin Dynasty was something of a blip. Qin Shi Huang would take the throne in 221BCE and rule for only 14 years before ingesting Mercury in a bid for immortality and instead, not surprisingly, dying. His eldest son, Fu Su, would be forced to commit suicide by his minister Li Si and the Eunuch Zhao Gao and his 18th son, Huhai, installed as Qin Er Shi.

Boy that went well. Qin Er Shi, only a teenager at the time, fell under the influence of the Eunuch Zhao Gao. Oh and get ready for Eunuchs, they really, really love bringing an end to Dynasties. Eventually Zhao Gao would force the young Emperor to commit suicide and pass power onto Ziying – generally accepted as another son of Qin Shi Huang – who, along with his two sons, would murder the Eunuch.

Another warring states would follow, known as the Chu-Han contention, which ended with the succession of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty is undoubtedly one of China’s most famous Dynasties and left the most visible print on the country. The main ethnic group are known as the Han people, the clothes are called Hanfu and the writing system is Hanzi. The Han would rule for a little over 400 years, only facing usurpation once when the Xin Dynasty tried to take hold of the country. Han would have 30 rulers in 414 years and was followed by The Three Kingdoms.

You ever played Dynasty Warriors? Or just heard of it? I love those games, they’re what got me into this period to begin with. The Three Kingdoms – Wei, Wu and Shu – would fight for dominance over China for almost a century before all three of the ruling families (Cao, Sun and Liu) would be beaten and usurped by the Sima family. The age gave us some of the best tactical thinkers in Chinese history and some of the most badass warriors ever. If you want to know more about this period than what I’m telling you I suggest you go and read the blogs of @daolunofshiji and @the-archlich , though, you’ve probably already heard of them. Bonus they're both pretty funny.

Not that the Jin Dynasty did very well. It took two Emperors before pretty much everything went horribly wrong in the form of the War of the Eight Princes. The monarchs would ultimately become utterly powerless over the 155 year rule and the land would fragment into 16 Kingdoms. Nice going, Sima family. I can see Sima Yi shaking his head in shame.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties saw the land fragmented again for almost 180 years and eventually it culminated into the Sui Dynasty. The Sui were another blip in history, lasting for only 37 and going through three emperors it was something of a Qin 2.0. It had reunited China after a long period of division and had only three Emperors. The Eunuchs seem to be missing from this time, it was more a demand of labor that brought the Sui down.

Tang would take over from the Sui and last for 289, seeing 21 Emperors and the first and only Empress of China, Wu Zetian who would rule as Empress Dowager Wu of Tang and then Empress of Zhou. Two of her sons would sit on the throne and another would be given the title of Emperor posthumously. I’d personally argue she was one of the most powerful women of the time.

After the Tang, China would fracture once again into the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms which would shrink to just four. Song, Liao, Xia and Jin. Song would reign triumphant eventually, splitting into two periods, Northern Song (960 – 1127) and Southern Song (1127 – 1279) after which it was conquered by Kublai Khan and brought in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan dynasty, beginning officially in 1279, was the first foreign Dynasty to rule China. Headed by Kublai Khan, a Grandson of Genghis Khan, it consisted of most of modern day China, Mongolia and Korea. During the Yuan dynasty Princes from Korea would spend several years at the Yuan court, allowing for greater culture exchange. The Dynasty would begin to falter in the early 1300s with onsets of famine and general unrest. For the other Khanates, the Yuan had become “too Chinese” and distrusted them while the populace saw them as foreigners and so they were untrusted by both parties. It would fracture in 1368 into the Northern Yuan and Ming Dynasty.

While the Northern Yuan retreated to Mongolia (although it would keep right on going until the Qing Dynasty) the Ming set up in Beijing and were the last Dynasty that was ethnically Han Chinese. They’re known well throughout the world, especially for their vases. The Ming also saw much increased trade with other countries both in Europe and nearby Japan. The 276 reign of the Ming dynasty saw 18 emperors before being taken over by China’s final dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The Qing dynasty is the one no one seems to have heard of but everyone knows exactly what they look like? They’re the ones where the men’s hair is braided and shaved at the front. The Qing dynasty was turbulent at best, it’s when my country (yay Britain…christ I hate this) decided that we’d sell Opium to them and there’s a political cartoon of European countries and Japan dividing up China and I’ll be honest that is basically what happened. Towards the late 1800s there were multiple rebellions and the Dynasty finally fell in 1912 when Emperor Puyi abdicated, although there was a botched attempt to reinstate the dynasty 1917 which went…swimmingly.

The Republic of China was ushered in and would continue until 1949. The period was also devastating, seeing civil war, the Japanese invasion and the second world war. In 1949 the Communist Party of China would come to power under Mao Zedong. There are endless, endless books you can read on this period and it’s common knowledge that this was perhaps some of the darkest years of Chinese history. After Mao’s death in 1976 and the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 China has turned around. Though still legally communist, the economic make up of the country takes it further from this definition often as it moves toward the status of super power, industrializing and producing most of the world’s goods.