NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY
ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
------

WRITING REPORT
SUBJECT: WORLD CIVILIZATION HISTORY

Topic: Historical Periods of Chinese Civilization.

Group 1
Pham Phuong Anh
Nguyen Quynh Chi
Pham Thuy Duyen
Le Thanh Ha
To Thuy Lan
Pham Quynh Mai
Nguyen Thi Anh Minh
Tran Trang Nhung

1


HÀ NỘI – 2019

2


TASK ALLOCATION AND EVALUATION

Member

Tasks assigned

Evaluation

Grade

Pham Phuong Anh

Ming + Qing Dynasty

Meet Deadline

9.5

Nguyen Quynh Chi

Xia + Shang Dynasty

Meet Deadline

9.5

Pham Thuy Duyen

- Three Kingdoms + Jin
Dynasty
- Aggregate Report from
Xia to Jin Dynasty

Meet Deadline


10

Le Thanh Ha (Leader)

- Five Dynasties and Ten
Kingdoms
- Making powerpoint

Meet Deadline

10

To Thuy Lan

- Tang + Northern and
Southern Dynasties
- Aggregate Report from
North&South Dynasties
to Qing Dynasty

Meet Deadline

10

Pham Quynh Mai

Zhou Dynasty

Meet Deadline


9.5

Nguyen Thi Anh Minh

Song + Yuan Dynasty

Meet Deadline

9.5

Tran Trang Nhung

Qin + Han Dynasty

Meet Deadline

9.5

3


TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. ANCIENT TIMES........................................................................................................4
I.

XIA DYNASTY...........................................................................................................4

II.


SHANG DYNASTY......................................................................................................6

III.

ZHOU DYNASTY........................................................................................................9

B. IMPERIAL TIMES....................................................................................................13
I.

QIN DYNASTY.........................................................................................................13

II.

HAN DYNASTY........................................................................................................16

III.

THREE KINGDOMS...................................................................................................19

IV.

JIN DYNASTY..........................................................................................................22

V.

NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTY....................................................................24

VI.

TANG DYNASTY......................................................................................................30


VII. FIVE DYNASTY

& TEN KINGDOMS..........................................................................35
VIII. SONG DYNASTY......................................................................................................40
IX. YUAN DYNASTY......................................................................................................45
X.
MING DYNASTY......................................................................................................50
XI. QING DYNASTY.......................................................................................................54
C. REFERENCE.............................................................................................................58

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A. Ancient Times
I.

Xia Dynasty (2070 BC – 1600 BC)
Period

Xia Dynasty

Capital

Yangcheng; Zhenxun

Government

Monarchy


Number of Monarchs

17

Establish

2070 B.C

Collapse

1600 B.C

The Xia dynasty is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. Xia dynasty
was the first dynasty to open the period of slavery. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty
was established by the legendary Yu the Great then fell to Cheng Tang of Shang Dynasty.
1. Administrative Geography: divided kingdom into 9 continents to rule.
2. Political institution:
The national structure of the Xia Dynasty originates directly from the structure of tribal
alliances, characterized by:
The area of direct governmental control was limited to the clans only. With those outside
the limit, other tribal leaders were able to gain independent dominance over their territory.
Regarding management regime, there are two major natures: autocratic and democratic,
showing that the national regime began to transit from the democratic clanship regime
towards the monarchy.
In terms of bureaucracy, Xia dynasty set up the chain of big and small officials. Each
official had a unique role to play in the system. For examples, “lục nhân” would manage
national affairs, “quan bách” is downgrade officer of “lục nhân”, “mục chính” is manager
of grazing.
3. Military:
Infantry were major components of Xia’s military, there was no cavalry at that time, the

weapons were rudimentary. There was also no specialized military, Xia soldiers are

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peasants. In peacetime they participated in agricultural and pastoral activities as usual,
during the war, they turned into military forces.
4. Economic:
Regarding Agriculture, Xia Dynasty focus on controling floods to improve producivity.
"Luận ngữ-Thái bá" has mentioned: “Yu improved on his father's flood-controlling
method, dredging the river, uniting tribal people, and finally overcoming the flood.”
As for Handicraft, bronze casting and pottery making played an important role in this
period: pottery, lacquerware, jade, turquoise and bronze were used. The Xia Dynasty
succeeded in bringing Chinese civilization from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age.
In Commercial transactions, Xia people used seashells as currency but sometimes foods
and cattle were directly traded.
5. Culture
Artistic products are classified according to social class. Items used by the ordinary
people had pragmatic shaping and simple decorative patterns related to agricultural
production, such as cattle, fish, etc. Whereas those of nobles had much more diverse
shapes and the decorative patterns were also more elaborate with complex cloud shape,
the eyes, the snake, animal faces, or other subjects likely related to the devil.
Xia people possessed knowledge about calendar astronomy. In Xia dynasty calendar,
there were simple records about climate and weather of months, which was helpful in
agriculture.
The custom of sacrificing people was found in Te Gia culture, in which the wife was often
buried with her husband and later developed into burying servants, claiming that the soul
of them can serve their master in the afterworld. Furthermore, Xia people believed that
sacrifice people could satisfy heaven and the gods for favorable weather for the harvest
season.

6. The fall of the dynasty
Xia Jie was a lotus-eater, he didn't pay any attention to the civilian. Therefore, Cheng
Tang received the support to overthrow Xia Jie causing the Xia dynasty to collapse.

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II.

Shang Dynasty (1600 BC – 1046 BC)
Period

Shang Dynasty

Capital

Bo, Xiao, Xiang, Xing, Bi, Yan (Early Shang Dynasty)
Yin (Late Shang Dynasty)

Government

Monarchy

Number of Monarchs

30

Establish

1600 B.C


Collapse

1046 B.C

The Shang dynasty was the second dynasty of China, succeeding in the semi-mythical Xia
dynasty. This was the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history firmly supported by
archaeological evidence and the first dynasty to open a regime in the form of
decentralized feudalism. This dynasty had 30 monarchs from Cheng Thang King to Zhou
king.
1.

Political Institution

Decentralized feudalism: the king will have direct responsibility for the large vassals, and
the large vassals will again have direct responsibility for the small vassals. The vassals
must comply with the obligation to pay taxes, pay tribute and others as prescribed.
The Shang dynasty also divided the territory into 2 parts: internal and external region. The
internal region was territory around the capital, directly controlled by the central
government. The external region was the territory in which the dynasty established
control through war. In the external region, the dynasty set up military bases, sent a large
number of officials.
2.

Military

The Shang dynasty built the country by invading other territories and tribes. They were
known for their large and forceful army. The army fought in massed formations under
their Shang King and over time, the Shang dynasty had developed and built an army that
enemies would be fearful of. Moreover, in this period, ancient Shang people started to

rear the horse to make horse-drawn chariot in military, they also used a lot of bronze to
make new and more powerful weapons as well as more protective armor.
3.

Society

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There were 4 classes in Shang society: High class, middle class, peasants and slaver.
High class: The aristocracy were the most respected and they were in charge of
governing small areas of the dynasty. Aristocrats and the King are centered around
Anyang, which is the Shang capital. Right below the aristocracy in the hierarchy was the
Shang military, who were respected and honored for their skills. There are two groups of
the military: infantry and chariot warriors.
The middle class were artisans and craftsmen. Their largest contribution was their work
with bronze. Artisans that were skilled in bronze were highly valued.
Peasants were at the very bottom of the social ladder since they were the poorest of the
Chinese citizens. They were limited to farming and selling crops for profit. Peasants were
governed directly by local aristocrats. They did not own the land they farmed. Their land
was under control of the king or nobles. Farmers could only keep enough food to feed
themselves and their families.
At the bottom of the Shang society were slaves. Many slaves were prisoners of war.
They spent most of their lives building tombs and palaces.When their masters passed on,
the slaves were sometimes sacrificed. They were sacrificed because it was believed that
slaves should continue to serve their masters in the afterlife.
4. Economic
Regarding Currency, similar to Xia Dynasty, Shang people also used cowrie shells as
currency. Many Shang writings on bronze refer to cowrie shells as a form of money
As for Commercial transactions, the Shang were in the business of trading goods, they

had trade routes - a network of passages used for trading goods and services - that
extended far and wide. They trade a diversity of goods as salt, copper, and tins. Some of
the goods were imported from other countries.
When it comes to Handicraft, the Shang Dynasty was an advanced civilization for its
time with sophisticated bronze works, ceramics and trinkets made from jade. Unlike their
Bronze Age counterparts, Shang Dynasty artisans used piece-mold casting as opposed to
the lost-wax method. Furthermore, many farmers also knew how to cultivate the silkworm
and weave its thread into beautiful cloth that would be used for clothing. Silk later
became China’s main export.

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Agriculture was the basis of the Shang economy and most of the people were farmers.
Their main income came from farming, some farmers also raised sheep, cattle, pigs, and
other livestock. Shang people dug the canals to supply water to irrigation. At the period,
they did know to brew beer from millet.
5.

Culture

In Shang's first 13 reigns, the regime was the matriarchy, and later was the
patriarchy for the last 4 reigns.
Regarding religion, it was Polytheism since Shang people worship many gods: the god of
the river, mountains, rain, wind, thunder ... especially the god of reproduction. They
believed that when they sacrificed animals and humans for the gods, the gods would meet
their desire for the weather, heaven. Also, within Shang culture, the king functioned as
a priest. It was believed that ancestors communicated through the god Di, and the
Shang king led in the worship of Shangdi, considered the supreme ancestor, as well
as communicating with the other ancestors.

Around 1300 BC the first known scripts appeared in the Shang civilization - they
developed scripts with more than three thousand characters, partly pictograms and partly
pictograms (phonetic - phonetic). This type of writing is shown on the flat bones of cattle
or deer bones, on shells and tortoise shells and perhaps even on wood. And the Shang
people used them to predict the future about the weather, crop, flood.
6.

The falls of dynasty

Zhou King was a tyrannical, cruel king, who only indulged in beauty (Daji) and did not
pay any attention to the civilian, therefore caused mistrust of the vassals. After that, Zhou
clan - Ji Fa took the opportunity to gather vassals to overthrow Shang and the Shang
collapsed.

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III.

Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC – 256 BC)
Period

Zhou Dynasty

Capital

Fenghao (1046–771 BC)
Wangcheng (771–510 BC; 314–256 BC)
Chengzhou (510–314 BC)


Government

Monarchy

Number of Monarchs

38

Establish

1046 BC

Collapse

256 BC

The Zhou dynasty (Chinese: ) was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang dynasty
and preceded the Qin dynasty. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in
Chinese history (790 years). The military control of China by the royal house, surnamed
Ji, lasted initially from 1046 until 771 BC for a period known as the Western Zhou and
the political sphere of influence it created continued well into Eastern Zhou for another
500 years.
1. Western Zhou
After King Wu's early death left a young and inexperienced heir, the Duke of Zhou
assisted his nephew, King Cheng, in consolidating royal power. To maintain Zhou
authority over its greatly expanded territory and prevent other revolts, he set up the
fengjian system. Furthermore, he countered Zhou's crisis of legitimacy by expounding the
doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven.

 Mandate of Heaven:

According to the theorem of the Mandate of Heaven, the king had obtained power
on the grounds of the "virtue" of the dynastic founders King Wen and Wu, who
again were granted the right to rule by Heaven. The ancestral cult of the Zhou
ensured the continuance of the founding king's lives, which means that the later
kings King Cheng, Kang, and so on, were just agents on behalf of King Wen and
Wu.

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 Fēngjiàn system and bureaucracy:
When Zhou Dynasty was established, the conquered land was divided into
hereditary fiefs (, zhūhóu) that eventually became powerful in their own right.
There were five peerage ranks below the royal ranks: gōng 

"duke", hóu 

"marquis", bó  "count", zǐ  "viscount", and nán  "baron". At times, a vigorous
duke would take power from his nobles and centralize the state.

Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between
the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. Peripheral
territories developed local power and prestige on par with that of the Zhou. When King
You demoted and exiled his Jiang queen in favor of the beautiful commoner Bao Si, the
disgraced queen's father the Marquis of Shen joined with Zeng and the Quanrong

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barbarians to sack Hao in 771 BC. With King You dead, a conclave of nobles met at Shen

and declared the Marquis's grandson King Ping. The capital was moved eastward to
Wangcheng, marking the end of the "Western Zhou" and the beginning of the "Eastern
Zhou" dynasty.
2. Eastern Zhou
a. Overview
The Eastern Zhou was characterized by an accelerating collapse of royal authority,
although the king's ritual importance allowed over five more centuries of rule. The
Confucian chronicle of the early years of this process led to its title of the "Spring and
Autumn" period. In 403 BC, the Zhou court recognized Han, Zhao, and Wei as fully
independent states. Duke Hui of Wei, in 344 BC, was the first to claim the royal title of
king for himself. Others followed, marking a turning point, as rulers did not want to be
vassals of the Zhou court, instead proclaiming themselves fully independent kingdoms.
The last Zhou king is Nan, who was killed when Qin captured the capital Wangcheng in
256 BC. Qin's unification of China concluded in 221 BC with Qin Shihuang's annexation
of Qi.
b. Contribution
 Philosophy
The Eastern Zhou, however, is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy:
The Nine Schools of Thought which came to dominate the others were Confucianism,
Legalism, Taoism, Mohism, the utopian communalist Agriculturalism, two strains of
Diplomatists, the sophistic Logicians, Sun-Tzu's Militarists, and the Naturalists. Although
only the first three of these went on to receive imperial patronage in later dynasties,
doctrines from each influenced the others and Chinese society in sometimes unusual
ways.
 Agriculture
Agriculture in the Zhou dynasty was very intensive and, in many cases, directed by the
government. All farming lands were owned by nobles, who then gave their land to
their serfs, a situation similar to European feudalism

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China's first projects of hydraulic engineering were initiated during the Zhou dynasty,
ultimately as a means to aid agricultural irrigation. The chancellor of Wei, Sunshu Ao,
who served King Zhuang of Chu, dammed a river to create an enormous
irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province
Moreover, the Zhou Dynasty is well known as the "Iron Age" in China. With the coming
of the iron, work was able to be done much faster and much better because of the stronger
properties of iron compared to wood or iron tools. The other aspect of the new tools is
that they can be used for militaristic purposes. While iron tools were handy for farming
work, swords and iron armor were much more preferred. It gave the Zhou military a
much-needed improvement in their military force and strength.
3. End of the Zhou dynasty
During spring and autumn period, the Zhou royal authority over the various feudal states
eroded, as more and more dukes and marquesses obtained de facto regional autonomy,
defying the king's court in Luoyi, and waging wars among themselves. The gradual
Partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, marked the end of the Spring and
Autumn period, and the beginning of the Warring States period
The Zhou Dynasty came to an end during the Warring States period in 256 BCE, when the
army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou and the last Zhou ruler, King
Nan, was killed. The real power of Zhou was so small, that the end of the dynasty was
hardly noted. The Zhou state was thus absorbed by the state of Qin. The supremacy of the
states of Qin, Qi, and Chu was so great that it seemed for a time that China would be
divided into three, one section for each state. However, chaos and war prevailed, and the
battles continued until eventually the state of Qin conquered the other states and unified
China once more in 221 BCE, the beginning of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE).

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B. Imperial Times
I.

Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC)
Period
Capital
Government
Number of Monarchs
Establish
Collapse

Qin Dynasty
Xianyang
Absolute Monarchy
2
221 BC
206 BC

The Qin Dynasty established the first Chinese empire, was briefly in duration (221-206
B.C.), but the Qin Dynasty had a lasting cultural impact on the dynasties that followed.
The Qin region was located in modern-day Shaanxi province, north of the Zhou Dynasty
territory. The Qin acting as a barrier between it and the less civilized states above it. Qin
itself had been considered a backwards, barbarian state by the ruling Zhou Dynasty. The
ruling class of Qin nonetheless believed themselves to be legitimate heirs to the Zhou
states, and through the centuries they strengthened their diplomatic and political standing
through a variety of means, including marriage.
1. Ying Zheng – Qin Shi Huang
Ying Zheng is considered the first emperor of China. The son of King Zhuangxiang of
Qin and a concubine, Ying Zheng took the throne at the age of 13. As the ruler of Qin,
Ying Zheng took the name Qin Shi Huang Di (“first emperor of Qin”). Qin Shi Huang

began a militarily-driven expansionist policy. In 229 B.C., the Qin seized Zhao territory
and continued until they seized all five Zhou states to create a unified Chinese empire in
221 B.C.
2. Political Institution
Early in the Qin Empire, the practice of Legalism reached its peak in Chinese
history. This idea of state policy was devised by Shang Yang who came to Qin as a
foreign advisor. During his time as minister, Shang Yang radically renovated the policies
of government but, in fact, he simply revived a practice which was already present for
years: a form of government with a focus on greater efficiency and less adherence
to tradition in which strict adherence to the letter of the law was made paramount.

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Emperor Shi Huangdi approved of Shang Yang's policies and implemented them across
his realm.
This form of government consisted of a collectivization program and the decimation of
aristocratic power. Farmers were freed from serfdom and Shi Huangdi reduced the power
of the aristocracy. The people throughout the empire were now supposed to bear
collective responsibility for each other. If a person did not behave according to the
rules, then others were required to report him. If they did not do this, they were quartered
or beheaded.
Fear and control were the key features of this political system. In addition, one's personal
importance to the empire was also a key element. If you, as a person, meant nothing to the
state, you actually meant nothing objectively; your life was meaningless. Those who
contributed the most to the state were highly rewarded while those whose lives were
considered of no consequence were sent to work as slaves on Shi Huangdi's building
projects such as the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canal, and the roads which increased
ease of trade and travel.
3. Government and Military

The Qin government was highly bureaucratic, and was administered by a hierarchy of
officials, all serving the First Emperor. The Qin put into practice the teachings of Han
Feizi, allowing the First Emperor to control all of his territories, including those recently
conquered. All aspects of life were standardized, from measurements and language to
more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles.
The Qin had a large, efficient army and capable generals. They utilized the newest
developments in weaponry and transportation as well, which many of their enemies
lacked. These latter developments allowed greater mobility over several different terrain
types which were most common in many regions of China. Thus, in both ideology and
practice, the Qin were militarily superior.
The Qin also used improved methods of transportation and tactics. The state of Zhao had
first replaced chariots with cavalry in 307 BC, but the change was swiftly adopted by the
other states because cavalry had greater mobility over the terrain of China.
4. Education

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Another result of the Legalism of Shi Huangdi was that scholarship was strongly
suppressed and literacy denied to the majority of the populace. Shi Huangdi believed that
uneducated people were easier to control and so the people should remain stupid so that
they would never think to doubt who was in charge of the empire
5. Great Wall of China
The Qin empire is known for its engineering marvels, including a complex system of over
4,000 miles of road and one superhighway, the Straight Road, which ran for about 500
miles along the Ziwu Mountain range and is the pathway on which materials for the Great
Wall of China were transported. Overseen by the Qin road builder Meng Tian, 300,000
workers were brought to work on the construction of the Great Wall, and on the serviced
roads required to transport supplies.
6. End of the Qin Dynasty

Qin Shi Huang died in 210 B.C. while touring eastern China, the cause of his death is still
unknown. After Qin Shi Huang died, two courtiers conspired to bring the emperor's
second son to the throne instead of the eldest. Due to the weakness of the successor and
the overwhelming oppression and exploitation of the Qin Shi Huang Dynasty, many
uprisings broke out, leading to the end of the Qin Dynasty, opening the Han Dynasty.

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II.

Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
Period
Capital
Government
Number of Monarchs
Establish
Collapse

Han Dynasty
Chang'an (206 BC–9 AD, 190–195 AD)
Luoyang (23–190 AD, 196 AD)
Xuchang (196–220 AD)
Monarchy
4
206 BC
220 AD

The Han Dynasty ruled China from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D. and was the second imperial
dynasty of China. With only minor interruptions, it lasted a span of over four centuries

and was considered a golden age in Chinese history especially in arts, politics and
technology. All subsequent Chinese dynasties looked back to the Han period as an
inspiring model of a united empire and self-perpetuating government.
1. Liu Bang – Emperor Gaozu
Following a mass revolt in the Qin Empire in 210 B.C. and brief control by warlord Xiang
Yu, Liu Bang seized the title of emperor of the Han Dynasty in 202 B.C. He established
the Han capital of Chang’an along the Wei River in one of the few surviving palaces of
the Qin Dynasty and took the name Emperor Gaozu. He immediately recognized a
number of kingdoms in Ancient China but systematically replaced many of the kings with
members of his own Liu family before his death in 195 B.C. The idea was to prevent
rebellions, but the Liu family kings often tested the stamina of the empire in favor of their
own ambitions.
2. Social Class
In the hierarchical social order, the emperor was at the apex of Han society and
government. However, the emperor was often a minor, ruled over by a regent such as the
empress dowager or one of her male relatives. Ranked immediately below the emperor
were the kings who were of the same Liu family clan. The rest of society, including
nobles lower than kings and all commoners excluding slaves belonged to one of twenty
ranks.
3. Local government

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In the Han dynasty, excluding kingdoms and marquessates, was divided, in descending
order of size, into political units of provinces (zhou), commanderies (jun),
and counties (xian). A county was divided into several districts, the latter composed of a
group of hamlets, each containing about a hundred families.
4. Economy
The widespread circulation of coin cash allowed successful merchants to invest money in

land, empowering the very social class the government attempted to suppress through
heavy commercial and property taxes. Emperor Wu even enacted laws which banned
registered merchants from owning land, yet powerful merchants were able to avoid
registration and own large tracts of land.
The Han government enacted reforms in order to keep small landowner-cultivators out of
debt and on their own farms. These reforms included reducing taxes, temporary
remissions of taxes, granting loans and providing landless peasants temporary lodging and
work in agriculture colonies until they could recover from their debts.
Silk Road: The opening of the Silk Road was probably the major economic achievement
of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu took the initiative to set out on diplomatic missions to
various rulers in Central Asia. This led to the exploration of trade routes that linked Xi’an
to the Levant coast on the Mediterranean and opened up new roads for merchants. This
increased the trade and economic prosperity of the empire and also led to a constant
cultural exchange between several cultures.
5. Education
The early Western Han court simultaneously accepted the philosophical teachings
of Legalism, Huang-Lao Daoism, and Confucianism in making state decisions and
shaping government policy.
6. Wu Emperor of the Han Dynasty (156- 87 BC)
Emperor Wu of Han, born as Liu Che, was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty. He
ruled the empire from 141 to 87 BC. Emperor Wu inherited the Han empire when he was
15. He was famous for many far-reaching accomplishments.

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He set up Confucian academies throughout the country and made Confucianism the state
philosophy.
Between 130 and 100 BC, trade with Western countries brought wealth to the rulers and
merchants. Emperor Wu's court sent envoys to the West, and a large-scale trade developed

on the Silk Road routes involving large caravans that traveled between Chang'an, which
was the capital of the empire, and the Western countries. In this way, the Han's knowledge
of the outside world, philosophy and religion, and technology increased. Technicians
made advances in refining iron and made steel weapons and tools during and after his
reign. So, by the creation of wealth, territory expansion, and strength, the Han empire
initially prospered a lot.
The previous emperors of the Han Dynasty were hard-pressed by the Xiongnu's threat
from the north. During Emperor Wu's reign, between 130 and 110 BC, the Han ruling
court and the army started winning major battles. They conquered Xiongnu territory and
greatly expanded the empire's territory in the north and west. At the same time, Han
armies also defeated armies and navies to the south, and the empire expanded into what
are now northern Vietnam, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong. In this way, by about 100
BC, the size of the Han empire was more than double what it was at the beginning.
7. End of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty’s predilection for court intrigue eventually got the best of it. In 189
A.D., a minor war in the palace broke out between the Empress Dowager’s family and the
eunuch allies of the young emperor. As the situation deteriorated, the military marched in
to take control in a conflict that would last until 220 A.D., when the last Han emperor was
dethroned, and the dynasty finished.

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III.

Three Kingdoms (220 AD –280 AD)
1. General History

The Three Kingdoms (220–280 AD) was the tripartite division of China among the states
of Wei, Shu, and Wu. It started with the end of the Han dynasty and was followed by

the Jin dynasty.
Period
Kingdom
Capital
Governmen
t
Number of
Monarchs
Establish
Collapse

Cao Wei
Xuchang; Luoyang

Three Kingdoms
Shu Han
Chengdu

Eastern Wu
Jianye; Wuchang

Monarchy

Monarchy

Monarchy

5

2


4

220 A.D.

221 A.D.

222 A.D.

265 A.D.

263 A.D.

280 A.D.

Academically, the period of the Three Kingdoms can be divided into 3 main parts.
- The earlier, "unofficial" part of the period, from 184 to 220, was marked by chaotic
infighting between warlords in various parts of China.
- The middle part of the period, from 220 to 263, was marked by a more militarily stable
arrangement between three rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu.
- The later part of the era was marked by the conquest of Shu by Wei (263), the
usurpation of Wei by the Jin dynasty (266), and the conquest of Wu by the Jin (280).
Although relatively short, the Three Kingdoms period is one of the bloodiest in Chinese
history.
2. Founding of Three Kingdoms
The first blow came from a peasant uprising known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The
government quickly put down the rebellion, however, after that, there was infighting
among the eunuchs and the consort family within the government. Dong Zhuo made use
of this opportunity to seize and control the emperor for himself. He delivered the death
blow to the Han dynasty by burning down the capital, Luo Yang and forcing the emperor

to shift to Chang An. Han dynasty had lost all political and military power from then on.
After Dong Zhuo was killed by his adopted son, Lu Bu, China was left with a huge power
gap, and entered into a chaotic period of civil war. Cao Cao began building his own

20


strength by subjugating nearby remnants of the Yellow Turban into his own forces, then
he launched a cruel invasion to Tao Qian – the province to the east, after that he was in
control of the Han government by convincing the Emperor to move in with him, and
finally he won over Yuan Shao to unite the North. In the South, Sun Ce took the territory
of Liu Kang and then went off to capture territories in the east for himself before taking
over Yuan Shu territory and got assassinated, his brother Sun Quan took over him. Liu
Bei, after being forced to flee south, fight for Liu Biao in the southwest against Cao Cao,
however, Liu Bao then died, and his son immediately surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Bei,
therefore, fled southward, tried to maintain control of the south-west province. Cao Cao
wanted to attack both Liu Bei and Sun Quan to unite China, but Liu and Sun then formed
an alliance and defeat Cao in the Battle of Red Cliffs. After that, the three kingdoms were
simultaneously existing.
3. Three Kingdoms’ Contribution
Field

Wei
Wu
- Cao Cao made many - Sun Quan started a currency
reforms to discard old poli- of large coins manufactured
cies of previous dynasties.
by copper and prohibited
private minting to cope with
- Wei developed the nine- inflation problems.

Governmen rank system for civil service
t & Policies nomination, in which the - However, this policy was
official way to enter were terminated in 246 dues to
through sponsorship, recom- ineffectiveness.
mendation,
and
examination.

Shu
- Zhuge Liang set up strict
social order and tried to
govern the kingdom by law.

Economy & - The Tun Tian System
Culture
(farming done by soldiers)
was carried out and greatly
promoted the national productivity.

- Shu began many irrigation
and road-building projects.
Many of them still exist
until
now,
such
as:
the Zipingpu
Dam near
Chengdu Sichuan. These
works helped improve the

economy of south-western
China and can be seen as
the beginning of eco-nomic
activity in Sichuan.

- The development of
shipbuilding, salt, and metal
industries was greatly
increased.

- Wu reestablish their trading
- Square-pallet chain pumps relationships with Shu. Shu's
were used for irrigation of cotton was a great influx for
gardens in Luoyang.
Wu.
- Cao Cao and his four sons
were influential poets, especially Cao Zhi and Cao Pi.
+ Cao Pi wrote the
earliest work of literary

- Eastern Wu did foreign
trade with nearby countries
such as Vietnam and
Cambodia, India and the
Middle East.

- Shu formed a friendly relationship with ethnic minorities in southwestern areas.

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Military

National
strength

criticism, the Essay on
Literature.
+ Cao Zhi revived the
Jian'an style of lyric poetry.
Ma Jun (Wei mechanical
engineer) invented:
- The south-pointing chariot
- A non-magnetic directional
compass operated by
differential gears.

Ranked 1st

(No out-standing
contribution)

- Zhuge Liang invented
the wooden ox (suggested to
be an early form of the
wheelbarrow)
- Zhuge Liang also
improved on the repeating
crossbow.


Ranked 2nd

Ranked 3rd

4. The end of Three kingdoms
Fall of Wei: From the late 230s, the power of the Sima clan, one of the greatest
landowning families of the Han dynasty, was bolstered by Sima Yi's military victories.
After Sima Zhao (Sima Yi's son) died, his title as Duke of Jìn was inherited by his son
Sima Yan. In 266, Sima Yan seized the throne after forcing Cao Huan's abdication,
effectively overthrowing the Wei dynasty and establishing the successor Jin dynasty.
Fall of Shu: After Zhuge Liang's death, Shu politics became increasingly controlled by
the eunuch faction, and corruption rose. In 263, armies led by the Wei generals attacked
Shu and conquered its capital Chengdu without much struggle. In the same year, Liu Shan
surrendered to Deng Ai outside Chengdu, marking the end of Shu.
Fall of Wu: Following Sun Quan's death, the state of Wu went into a steady decline. In
264, Sun Hao on the throne. In the beginning of Sun Hao's reign, the emperor reduced
taxes, gave relief to the poor, and granted freedom to a large number of palace maids.
However, Sun Hao gradually became crueler and more superstitious and started indulging
in wine and women instead of finding ways to revive his declining state. In 279, Jin forces
attacked Wu from six directions. Sun Hao attempted to resist by sending armies to fight
the Jin invaders, but the Wu forces suffered several consecutive defeats. Seeing that Wu
was doomed to fall, Sun Hao surrendered to the Jin dynasty, marking the end of Wu and
the end of the Three Kingdoms period.

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IV.

Jin Dynasty (266 AD – 420 AD)

1. General History

The Jin Empire was a Chinese dynasty traditionally dated from 266 to 420 AD, founded
by Sima Yan. It followed the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD), which ended with
the conquest of Eastern Wu by Jin, culminating in the reunification of China.
Period
Capital
Government
Number of Monarchs
Establish
Collapse

Jin Dynasty
Luoyang; Chang’an (Western Jin)
Jiankang (Eastern Jin)
Monarchy
15
266 A.D.
420 A.D.

There are two main divisions in the history of the dynasty:
- The Western Jin (266–316) was established as a successor state to Cao Wei after
Sima Yan usurped the throne and had its capital at Luoyang and later Chang'an; Western
Jin reunited China in 280 but fairly shortly thereafter fell into a succession crisis, the War
of the Eight Princes and suffered from the invasions instigated by the "Five Barbarians
(Wu Hu)". The rebels and invaders began to establish new self-proclaimed states along
the Yellow River valley in 304, inaugurating the "Sixteen Kingdoms" era. These states
immediately began fighting each other and with the Jin Empire, leading to the second
division of the dynasty.
- The Eastern Jin (317–420), started when Sima Rui moved the capital to Jiankang

(modern Nanjing). The Eastern Jin dynasty was eventually overthrown by Liu Yu and
replaced with the Liu Song in 420.
2. Jin Dynasty Contribution
In fact, Jin is considered to be the dynasty that get the least recognition in China history.
It is also one of the few dynasties where the social productivity actually decreased. This
is because:
Although Jin dynasty managed to reunite China, the emperor themselves did not have any
out-standing contribution. The most capable of Jin was Emperor Wu (Sima Yan) but
turned out the king was quite morally depraved since he had more than 10,000
concubines, or even as many as 60,000 in his palace. He also indulged the extravagant

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lifestyle of his officials: one of the most famous phenomena of Jin dynasty is the wealth
showing off competition between nobles. They used to feed small pigs with human milk
and cooked them, just to show off. And the emperor Wu did actually enjoy it and even
financed his brother-in-law to compete others.
Regarding to Political Institutions, under Sima Yan reign, the power was distributed only
to nobles. Actually, a good advancement under Wei kingdom's rule is that people are more
judged by talents instead of origins. However, this is abandoned by Jin emperors.
Therefore, lots of important positions are occupied by incapable nobles. And all across the
country, there were corruption, many scandals, etc. The social wealth fell into the hands
of noble families and wasted, while civilians died in starvation.
However, except for the failure of the government, in this era, there are still considerable
talents coming from the community such as Wang Xi Zhi (Vuong Hi Chi) who is the pride
of the whole Eastern Jin calligraphy or Chen Shou (Tran Tho) - the author of the famous
historical Records of the Three Kingdoms.
Regarding Handicrafts, the Jin dynasty is well known for the quality of its greenish
celadon porcelain wares. Jar designs often incorporated animals, as well as Buddhist

figures.
As for Religion, Taoism was popular in the Jin dynasty. But disunity, disintegration, and
chaos under the Jin era also made Buddhism popular. The Jin dynasty marked a critical
era for Mahayana in China. Dharmarakṣa’s translation of the Lotus Sutra was the most
important one before Kumārajīva’s translation in the 5th century. And while Taoism
advanced chemistry and medicine in China, the contribution of Mahayana was
concentrated in philosophy and literature.
3. The collapse of Jin Dynasty
After the victory against Former Qin, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, however, didn't last long.
The ruling clan was toppled from power. The last Jin Dynasty emperor was Emperor
Gong (386–421). He then abdicated to Liu Yu in 420. So, Liu Yu became the first emperor
of the Liu Song Southern Dynasty in the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period (420–
589).
V.

Northern and Southern Dynasty
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Period

Northern and southern dynasty
Liu Song
(420-479)
Southern Qi
(479-502)

Northern Wei
(386-535)
Kingdom

Western Wei
(535–557)
Northern Zhou
(557–581)
Number of
Monarchs
Establish
Collapse

Eastern Wei
(534–550)
Northern Qi
(550–577)

Liang
(502-557)
Chen
(557–589)

Western Liang
(555–587)

60 (31 in Northern and 29 in Southern)
386 AD
589 AD

1. Northern dynasties
a. Rise of Northern Wei (386–535) and the Sinicization movement
North Wei Dynasty was established by Tuoba Gui in 386, who became Emperor
Daowu later. Tuoba Si (Tuoba Gui's eldest son) ascended the throne as Emperor

Mingyuan in 387. He conquered Henan of the Liu Song Dynasty (420-479) and died soon
afterwards, and he was succeeded by his son, Tuoba Tao (later Emperor Taiwu). He
ordered attacks on the Liu Song and the North Liang Dynasty repeatedly, and even
proscribed Buddhism after suppressing the Gai Wu (Buddhist follower) Rebellion.
After Emperor Taiwu's death, the Empress Dou held court from behind a screen,
and she set up Tuoba Yuanhong as Emperor Xiaowen. Emperor Xiaowen moved the
capital from Pingcheng to Luoyang to learn the Han culture, and even ordered Xianbei
nobles to move into Luoyang. He carried out a series of social reforms aimed at enabling
the Xiaobei nobles to conform to the Han cultural standards.
After the Sinicization movement, the economic and military strength was greatly
improved. Emperor Xiaowen also launched a series of wars against the Southern Qi
Dynasty but ended up with failure. Tuoba Yuanxiu succeeded to the throne as Emperor
Xiaowu of the North Wei Dynasty in 532, and the North Wei Dynasty was split into the
East Wei and the West Wei.
b. Split into Eastern Wei (534-550) and Western Wei (535-557)

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