Shang Dynasty

1600 BCE - 1029 BCE

First real dynasty of ancient China. This like many other ancient civilizations was based around a
river basin. This time the river was the Hwang Ho River Valley also know as the Yellow River. Also
like many of there civilizations created a trade based civilization. The Shang controlled at its height
large parts of north China. It did this by having a very large and technologically advanced military.
This included chariots and walls. Although it had controlled a large amount of territory the Shang
was relatively isolated. It had some contact with Mesopotamia but, had mostly limited contact with
outside powers. They made leaps in pottery and silk as well. The Shang also had a much greater
focus on family then other civilizations at this time. It developed a patriarchal system were the oldest
male led the household. they believed that the gods controlled all aspects of life and that ancestors
could communicate with them. This gave ancestors an even more important role.

Western Zhou Dynasty

1029 BCE - 771 BCE

Wu Wang ousted the Shang Dynasty and started his own called the Zhou. The Dynasty is the
longest Dynasty in Chinese history if you include both the Western and Eastern Zhou. The Zhou
started the important idea called the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate Heaven was basically that
the heaven would grant the Zhou the power to rule as long as leaders led wisely and justly. The
Zhou also developed the feudal system in China similar that of Middle Age Europe. The emperor
wold rule over the whole land but, since the Zhou controlled to much land for one emperor to control
the emperor nobles were given small parts of the kingdom to control. Basically resources went up
and protection went down. This system worked for about 200 years but, slowly the nobles built up
enough power and resources to become there own kingdoms. Some these kingdoms were so
complex that bureaurcracies developed. Eventually barbarians pushed the Zhou out of the Wei River
valley and we switch to the Eastern Zhou.

Eastern Zhou Dynasty

771 BCE - 256 BCE

The Eastern Zhou is best know for its development of Confucian ideals and for the development of
many of the Chinese philosophies. The Eastern Zhou did not technically end until Qin forces took its
capital but the warring states period is also during this time. This is because the Zhou was broken up
into many different kingdoms by this point and they were warring.

Warring States Period

475 BCE - 221 BCE

Pretty much like it sounds.

The Qin Dynasty

221 BCE - 209 BCE

The first dynasty of imperial China. This dynasty is named after it's founder Qin Shi Huang who
united the kingdoms that had split apart during and after the end of the Zhou. This dynasty was short
and like many the preceding Dynasty was based on agriculture and trade. It also had a strong army
under one emperor. One the biggest characteristics of this dynasty was that it believed in Legalism
or that humans were naturally because of this many new systems were put in place including
standardized laws, weights and system of writing. They aslo introduced civil services exams for the
military. It also started the construction of The Great Wall of China. The Dynasty fell after the death
of the emperor.

Han Dynasty
200 BCE - 220 CE

This dynasty was founded by Lu Bang. The emperors of this dynasty replaced legalism with
confucianism. Although caused many changes including promotion based on merit not birth the Han
did keep the 3 braches of government started by the Qin. The Han expanded the civil service exams
to all government positions. This was made possible by the invention of the printing press and better
paper. This dynasty also had two historic emperors. One being Han Wudi who expanded the Han to
the South China Sea and modern day Vietnam. Wu Ti was another one who protect the Han from
barbarians who may have been the Huns and expanded China to central Asia. Agricultural
developments in this dynasty also causedd an increase in people. The Han dynasty eventually fell
like many other Chinese dynasty with outside pressures and the internal government becoming
corrupt.

Xin Dynasty
9 CE - 23 CE
This was founded by Wang Mang who took the throne from Liu family. Who claimed leadership by
saying that the mandate of heaven had lost favor with the Liu. Some historians consider this short
dynasty to break the Han into two period

Western and Eastern Han. Wang Mang although a good military general create bad policies and
reforms that led to decline and the dynasty never outlasted him. The Han came back but, was
considerably weaker.

3 Kingdom Period
220 CE - 280 CE

The Wei, Shu, and Wu ruled China independent. This time in history is relatively unimportant as far
as developments go.

Sui Dynasty
581 CE - 618 CE

Although this Dynasty is short lived it did united northern and southern China for the first time in 300
years. This dynasty created the equal field program inorder to close the gap between the poor. This
also prevented nobles from owning too much land and creating independent kingdoms.

Tang Dynasty
618 CE - 907 CE

The Tang expanded China a great deal in parts of Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, and Korea. The Tang
emperors legitimized their control by using the Buddhist ideals that the kings spiritual agents that
bring subjects into the buddhist realm and buddhist monasteries were important allies of the early
Tang. The Tang got to big and internal rebellions caused the Tang to collapse and smaller kingdom
developed.

Liao
916 CE - 1121 CE

This rose after Tang fell the Liao developed in Northern China. It quickly gained territory with its
strong and tech savy army. This helped them make the Song a tribute state. Meaning that the Song
gave the Liao cash and silk in return for peace.

Song Dynasty
960 CE - 1127 CE

The Dynasty created many tech advances. The includes improvements the compass, weaponry
developments, and figured out how to use gunpowder in war. The civil service exams also reached
their maturity during this period. Large crowded cities also developed. Although many tech advances
were created during this period the status of women declined during this dynasty and fot binding
became widely practiced. The Song was a tribute state to Liao unti they asked the Jurchens in the
northeast to help them over thrown the Liao. The Jurchens and Song were sucessful but, the
Jurchens turned on the Song and pushed them out of Northern China and Central China. This
created the Southern Song.

Jin Dynasty
1127 CE - 1234 CE

They were the ancestors of the Manchus who became the Qing. They had a strong military.

Southern Song Dynasty

1127 CE - 1279 CE

This dynasty continued the Song. It was eventually overturned by the Mongols. They made great
advances in ship building technologies and developed China's first permanent navy in 1132 CE.
They were also able to hold off the Jin even though they out numbered them.

Yuan Dynasty
1217 CE - 1368 CE

This dynasty was established by Kublai Khan and was under Mongol control. It conquered Southern
Song under the rule of the mandate of heaven. It was basically when China was ruled by the
Mongols. The dynasty ended with the Red Turban Revolt of the people.

Ming Dynasty
1368 CE - 1644 CE

Built a strong central government based on traditional Confucian principles. It reinstated the civil
service exams and reinvigorated chinese culture. They built big fleets and Zheng He led expeditions
and reached the California coast. In order to control cultural diffusion the Chinese government
stopped the voyages. Ming switched to using silver money instead of paper to stop counter fit.
Unfortunately the discover of silver in Americans caused inflation and China was unable to cheap
European powers at bay. Famine, revolts, and other internal problems left the Ming vulnerable and
Qing warriors from Manchuria ousted the Ming emperor.

Qing Dynasty
1644 CE - 1911 CE

The Qing weren't ethnically Chinese and wanted to stay ethnically surperior. Since only 3% of the
state was Manchurian they had to use ethnically Chinese people to run the government. They
expanded the civil service exams and the new systems made it more equal between poor and noble
to get jobs. They had many Confucian scholar emperors. China expanded into Mongol, Tibet, and
central asia. Vietnam, Berma, and Nepal became vassal states of China. The government tried to
control trade with European merchants and were not very successful. They tried to keep trade to just
Canton but after the Opium Wars a wealthily merchant class developed on China's coast. the Qing
eventually fell after a revolution much like France, United States, and Mexico. With the fail of the
Qing Imperial China also fell.

Classic Civilizations
Greeks
800 BCE - 323 BCE
Persian Empire
529 BCE - 330 BCE
The Persian establised a huge empire. It spanded from beyong the Nile River around the
Mediterranean though present day Turkey and parts of Greece and then eastward through
present day Afghanistan. The empire was built apon the work of 3 kings. These kings were
Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius 1. Crypus captured the kingdom ogf Lydia which brought all of
Anatolia under his control he later look Mesopotamia as well. Cambyses conquered Egypt and
sent scout to both Nubia and Libya. Darius 1 was able to bring the Medes into decline and
make Persia more dominate in the fertile crescent. Darius 1 also divided the empire into 20
provinces who all payed truibute to government. Due to the empire being so large the
persains built a system of extremly long roads called the Great Royal Road. Persia also had a
very distint religion called Zorastrianism which shows the exssitence of a dualistic universe in
which the god of good, Auramazda, who was locked in an epic struggle against the god of
evil, Angra Mainyu. This relgion had an impact on both Judaism and Christianity. They came
in contact with many civilizations but, were eventually defeated by Alexander the Great.

Romans
509 BCE - 479 CE
Mayans
300 BCE - 800 CE
historical period 1: units 1 and 2 (1200 to 1450)
● 750-1258 — Abbasid Caliphate
● 960-1279 — Song Dynasty
○ Filial piety, Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism.
○ Grand Canal expanded.
○ Heavy use of champa rice, which was resistant to drought.
■ This was a lot of work to irrigate, so there was a heavy
reliance on farmers.
○ Lots of steel and porcelain exports.
■ Artisans made porcelain.
○ Used paper money.
● 1095-1492 — Crusades
○ Series of “holy wars” where Christians tried to take back Muslim
land.
● 1206-1526 — Delhi Sultanate
○ Mostly Turkish people who had converted to Islam (outside of the
caliphate).
○ Some blending of Hindu and Islamic traditions.
● 1206-1277 — Genghis Khan rules
● 1215 — Magna Carta signed
○ Guaranteed citizens right to a fair trial.
● 1258 — Mongols sack Baghdad, which was the end of the Abbasid
Caliphate
● 1271-1285 — Failed Mongol invasion of Japan
● 1271-1295 — Marco Polo’s travels
● 1279 — Peak of Mongol rule and Pax Mongolica on the Silk Roads
● 1279-1368 — Yuan Dynasty in China (Mongol rule)
○ Practiced religious tolerance.
○ Traditional Chinese arts and literature grew.
● 1299-1923 — Ottoman Empire
○ Highly bureaucratic form of government.
○ Used the devshirme system that took Christian boys at a young age
and trained them to serve the state in positions such as Janissaries.
○ Though it was officially Islamic, the Ottoman Empire ruled over
millets (or communities that were not Islamic) who had to pay the
jizyah tax to practice their own religion.
○ Used firearms.
● ~1300-1600 — Italian Renaissance
● 1324 — Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage
● 1325 — Tenochitlan founded
● 1325-1354 — Ibn Battuta’s travels
● 1346 — Black Death breaks out in China
● 1347-1388 — Black Death in Europe
● 1351-1368 — Red Turban Rebellion in China
● 1368-1644 — Ming Dynasty
○ Built Forbidden City.
○ Revived civil service exam.
● 1405-1433 — Zheng He’s voyages
● 1428-1521 — Aztec Empire
○ Built chinampas– “floating gardens” or islands for agriculture over
their swampy land.
○ Human sacrifice.
○ Advanced economy, trade, and governmental systems.
 ○ Gender parallelism.
● 1438-1533 — Inca Empire
○ Used quipus (knotted cords) in place of writing.
○ Extensive road system.
○ Terrace farming.
○ Used mita system as labor system– everyone had to work
periodically for the state in some form (later taken by Spanish).
○ Gender parallelism.
● 1440 — Swahili city-states flourish
● 1440 — Printing press invented
● 1400s — Caravel invented
● 1441 — Start of Atlantic slave trade

historical period 2: units 3 and 4 (1450 to 1750)

● 1453 — Ottoman conquest of Constantinople
● 1450s-1480s — Russia overthrows Mongol rule in Moscow
● 1464-1591 — Songhai Empire
● 1469 — Sikhism begins
● 1491 — Reconquista of Spain
● 1492 — Columbus sails to the “New World”/Spain begins to colonize the
Americas/Columbian Exchange begins
○ Spanish Empire used the hacienda and ​encomienda​ system, as well
as a caste system based on race.
○ Columbian Exchange
■ “New World” trades corn, potatoes, tobacco, and rubber.
■ “Old World” trades livestock, smallpox, influenza, and coffee
(the “Old World” side of this exchange will lead to the death of
 millions of Native Americans who are not immune to these
diseases).
● 1497 — Portugal starts colonizing the Americas
● 1498 — Vasco da Gama reaches India
● 1501-1722 — Safavid Empire
○ Largest Sh’ia empire at the time– at odds with the Sunni Ottoman
Empire.
● 1534 — First enslaved peoples come to the Americas
● 1509-1542 — Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I) rules the Kongo Empire
● 1517 — Protestant Reformation begins with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses
● 1519-1521 — Magellan sails around the world (and dies in the Philippines)
● 1526-1748 — Mughal Empire
○ 2 most notable rulers: Akbar and Aurangzeb.
■ Akbar practiced religious tolerance, inviting people of different
religions to debate with him and removing the jizyah tax. He
also supported the arts.
■ Aurangzeb, on the other hand, persecuted Hindus and Sikhs
and contributed to the empire’s decline.
○ Taj Mahal built during this time.
● 1534 — France begins to colonize the Americas
● 1543 — Copernicus shares ideas about a heliocentric universe
● 1545 — Discovery of silver at Potosi mine
● 1550-1700 — Scientific Revolution
● 1552 — Russian Empire begins
● 1556-1605 — Akbar the Great rules the Mughal Empire
● 1571 — Founding of Manila and beginning of global trade
● 1595 — Fluyt invented
 ● 1600 — British East India Company founded
● 1600-1826 — Tokugawa shogunate
● 1602 — Dutch East India Company founded
● 1607 — Britain begins colonizing the Americas with Jamestown
● 1623-1641 — Tokugawa Iemitsu rules Japan and establishes Japanese
isolationism
● 1632 — Taj Mahal built
● 1643-1715 — Louis XIV rules France; absolute monarchy in France
● 1652 — Dutch Boers colonize South Africa
● 1687 — Newton’s ​Principia​ published
● 1688-1911/12 — Qing (Manchu) Empire
○ Foreigners (the Manchu) rule China.
○ New elite blend their ideas with old Han traditions.
○ Enforce a single hairstyle and dress.
○ Largest of the Chinese empires.
● 1689-1725 — Peter the Great rules and westernizes Russia
● 1689 — Glorious Revolution in England
● 1698 — Early steam engine invented
● 1715-1789 — The Enlightenmen​t

historical period 3: units 5 and 6 (1750 to 1900)

● 1756-1763 — 7 Years’ War
● 1757 — Battle of Plassey begins English colonization in India
● 1760-1789 — First Industrial Revolution
● 1765-1783 — American Revolution
○ Declaration of Independence​ would inspire others for many years.
● 1776​ — Wealth of Nations​ by Adam Smith published
● 1789-1795 — French Revolution
○ Incredibly gruesome.
● 1791-1804 — Haitian Revolution
○ Complete upheaval of social structure.
● 1792 —​ Vindication of the Rights of Woman​ by Mary Wollstonecraft
published
○ Beginning of feminism.
● 1793 — Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
● 1799-1815 — Napoleonic reign in France
● 1806-1826 — Latin American Revolutions
○ Many led by Simon Bolivar.
● 1815 — Congress of Vienna
● 1839-1860 — Opium Wars
○ Establishes immense European influence over China.
● 1839-1876 — Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire
● 1845-1849 — Irish Potato Famine
○ Cause of much Irish immigration west.
● 1848 — Communist Manifesto published
● 1848 — Seneca Falls Convention
● 1850-1864 — Taiping Rebellion
● 1854 — Commodore Perry opens Japan
● 1857 — Sepoy Rebellion in India
● 1859 — Suez Canal built by Britain in Egypt
● 1861 — Russian serfs emancipated
● 1863 — Emancipation Proclamation in U.S.
● 1865-1909 — King Leopold rules the Congo; commits human rights crimes
to get rubber
● 1868 — Meiji Restoration in Japan
● 1870-1914 — Second Industrial Revolution
● 1871 — Germany unified under Otto von Bismarck
● 1885 — Berlin Conference
○ Beginning of European “scramble for Africa”.
● 1890s — European spheres of influence in China
● 1896 — Battle of Adowa (Ethiopians defeat Italians)
● 1898 — Spanish-American War
○ U.S. acquires Guam, Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
● 1899 — Boer War
● 1899-1902 — United Fruit Company established
● 1899-1901 — Boxer Rebellion