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Prehistoric and Early China
The ancestors of man- have been found in China, the most famous fossil remains of man in China are those found in 1967 at Choukoutien, south-west of Beijing , remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis the so-called "Peking Man".
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Prehistoric and
Early China
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Some
of the earliest fossil remains of ¡®ape man'
like creatures- the ancestors of man- have been found in
China . Remains of the Giant Ape were found in the Kwangsi
province in 1956, and the Lantian Ape- some 600,000 years
old- at Lantian in 1964. However, the most famous fossil
remains of man in China are those found in 1967 at Choukoutien,
south-west of Beijing , remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis
the so-called ¡®Peking Man'. Peking Man can be
dated to the Old Stone Age, some 50,000 years ago, and
utilised rough stone tools, lived in caves and had the
use of fire and rudimentary speech. |
Early
Chinese civilisation is lost in the mists of myth- such
as the legendary ¡®Xia Dynasty' and the first
reliable evidence of civilisation in China is that of the
Shang dynasty, in existence in north-eastern Hunan from
circa 1500-1000 BC. |
Shang
society was a feudal kingdom under a king-priest, with
walled cities, a symbolic script form of writing and use
of the chariot. The religion of the Shang was the Tao (¡®the
way'), whose principle ideas were those of an ordered universe
and ancestor worship. |
The
Western Zhou dynasty was in existence between 1000 and
770 BC. A feudal kingdom, the king's land was situated
in the middle of the kingdom surrounded by that of his
vassals. As a consequence the central power could not expand,
the vassals grew strong, finally summoning nomads into
the land and forcing the relocation of the capital to Loyang
and the formation of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256
BC). This period is characterised by a decline in power
of the kings and an increasing independence of the feudal
lords. Continual wars afflicted the country, and consequently
the peasants gained importance, becoming the determining
factor in the outcome of wars, and the state was sustain
ed largely through the activities of the merchants. |
Confucius
lived between 551 and 479 BC, and founded his famed ethical
code which stressed confidence in the intrinsic positive
nature of the human spirit. Between 403 and 221 BC China
dissolved into a series of separate states (the so-called ¡®Epoch
of the Warring States') administered by professional bureaucrats
and typified by the growing importance of cities as administrative
centres and the emergence of the middle classes. |
| Among the states competing
for supremacy, the Qin state finally gained ascendancy
and in 221 BC the Qin Dynasty united China for the
first time. Although the Qin dynasty lasted only until
206 BC, it established a unified centralised state
governed by officials and the standardisation of weights
and measures, coinage and script. The ¡®Great
Wall' (although at this time consisting largely of
earthen mounds) was built during this period. The Qin
centralisation was, however, opposed, conflicts ensued
and the Qin dynasty was superseded some fifteen years
after its establishment by the Western Han dynasty. |
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The centralised administration
system of the Qin was adopted by the Western Han, but
merged with the feudal traditions of the Zhou. A bureaucratic
state was established, functioning to collect taxes,
administer irrigation systems and direct the flow of
commerce and traffic. |
| The main military concern
of the Western Han was defence against the Huns. Under
Emperor Wu Ti (140-87 BC) victory was achieved against
the Huns and the empire extended and trade flourished
along the transcontinental ¡®silk road'. |
| Gradually internal conflict
between the feudal lords and economic pressures of
external wars led to a disintegration of the Western
Han dynasty and its final replacement under Kuang Wu
Ti by the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-250 AD). |
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The Eastern Han
saw a new blossoming of the Chinese Empire, with overseas
trade initiated from Canton , and Chinese silks reaching
as far as the Roman Empire . By the end of the first century
Chinese imperial power had been reestablished and Turkestan
conquered. Culturally, paper was invented circa 100 AD,
and Buddhism spread from India through the empire during
the first century. Late in the second century however,
internal struggles at the imperial court led to the popular
uprising (known as the rebellion of the ¡®yellow
turbans'), and the last Han emperor was forced to resign
in 220 AD. |
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