History of China

History of China. Prehistoric humans inhabited China as early as 600,000 years ago. The most notable prehistoric human remains are those of Peking Man, which date back some 300,000 years ago. The ancestors of the present-day Chinese appeared about 20,000 years ago. By about 2000 B.C. they had developed two separate cultures, one along the Huang He and the other on the coastal plain.

According to legend, the Hsia dynasty (about 1994 B.C.-1523 B.C.) was China's earliest ruling family. Recorded history begins with the Shang people, whose dynasty (1700's B.C.- about 1122 B.C.) ruled a state centered in the Huang He valley. (Chinese history is commonly discussed in terms of dynasties. A dynasty may be named after a people or a kingdom as well as after a ruling family.) The most important city during the Shang dynasty was Anyang.

The Shang were conquered by the Chou, a people who came from the northwest. During the Chou dynasty (1028 B.C.-222 B.C.), China was dotted with walled cities surrounded by peasant farms, which were under the protection of feudal lords. Some lords controlled powerful states and gave only nominal allegiance to the Chou king. Transport canals and an extensive irrigation system were built. The region of the Yangtze River came under Chinese domination as the population began settling farther south.

The latter half of the Chou period produced the classical age of Chinese philosophy. Among the great philosophers and scholars of that period were Confucius, Lao-tzu, and Mencius. Followers of Confucius and Mencius made their teachings the basis for a religious movement, Confucianism. Similarly, the teachings of Lao-tzu became the basis for Taoism.

By the end of the fifth century B.C., the Chou king had lost control over the feudal lords, and for two centuries afterward China was divided into warring states. Finally, in 221 B.C., the Chin principality conquered all of China, founding the Chin, or Qin, dynasty and the first Chinese empire.