The earliest known written records of China’s history originate from 1250 BC, during the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding, who was referred to as the twenty-first Shang monarch by the same. The Book of Documents (early chapters, 11th century BC), the Records of the Grand Historian (c. 100 BC), and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) mention and describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) prior to the Shang, but no writing from the period exists, and Shang writings do not indicate the Xia’s existence.
Yellow River valley
The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley , which is widely regarded as China’s cradle of civilization. Neolithic civilizations, on the other hand, arose in diverse cultural hubs around the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. In China`s history, The civilizations of the Yellow River and Yangtze arose millennia before the Shang. China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, with thousands of years of continuous history. It is considered one of the cradles of civilization.
Bronze age
At the Majiayao culture site, bronze objects have been discovered (between 3100 and 2700 BC). In northeast China, the Bronze Age is also documented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture site (2200–1600 BC). Sanxingdui, in what is now Sichuan province, is thought to be the site of a large Bronze Age city of a previously unknown culture (between 2000 and 1200 BC). The location was discovered for the first time in 1929, and then again in 1986. Archaeologists in China`s history have recognised the Sanxingdui culture as belonging to the ancient kingdom of Shu, and have linked items discovered at the site to the nation’s early legendary kings.
Xia dynasty (c. 2070–c. 1600 BC)
The Chinese Xia dynasty (c. 2070–c. 1600 BC) is the earliest dynasty to be mentioned in ancient Chines historical sources like Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals. Historians dismissed the dynasty as mythological until 1959, when scientific excavations in Erlitou, Henan, unearthed early Bronze Age ruins. Because there are few definite records that match the Shang oracle bones, it’s unknown if these sites are Xia dynasty relics or the remains of another society from the same time period. Excavations that span the Xia’s putative historical period reveal a collection of chiefdoms that are culturally similar.
Shang dynasty (1600 – 1046 BC)
There are two groups of archaeological finds that support the existence of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). The first group comes from Erligang, Zhengzhou, and Shangcheng, and dates from the older Shang period. The second set, from the later Shang or Yin () period, has been established as the final of the Shang’s nine capitals (c. 1300–1046 BC) at Anyang, in modern-day Henan.
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty lasted the longest in China’s history, from 1046 BC until around 256 BC. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty had taken over the Shang’s domain in the Yellow River basin. The Zhou appeared to have ruled in a semi-feudal structure at first. The Zhou lived west of the Shang, and the Shang appointed the Zhou leader as Western Protector. At the Battle of Muye, the Zhou monarch, King Wu, defeated the Shang with the help of his brother, the Duke of Zhou, who served as regent.
Republic of China
On March 12, 1912, the Republic of China’s provisional government was established in Nanking. Sun Yat-sen was elected President of the Republic of China, but he delegated power to Yuan Shikai, the New Army’s commander. Yuan went on to destroy the national and provincial assemblies over the next few years, declaring himself Emperor of the Chinese Empire in late 1915.
