Dynasties of China



For most of its history, China has been organized into various dynastic kingdoms or states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great, and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in AD 1912, China came to organize itself around the succession of monarchical dynasties. Besides those established by the dominant Han ethnic group or its spiritual Huaxia predecessors, dynasties throughout Chinese history were also founded by non-Han peoples.
Dividing Chinese history into dynastic epochs is a convenient and conventional method of periodization. Accordingly, a dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which a family reigned, as well as to describe events, trends, personalities, artistic compositions, and artifacts of that period. For example, porcelain made during the Ming dynasty may be referred to as "Ming porcelain".
The longest-reigning orthodox dynasty of China was the Zhou dynasty, ruling for a total length of about 790 years, albeit it is divided into the Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou in Chinese historiography. The largest orthodox Chinese dynasty in terms of territorial size was either the Yuan dynasty or the Qing dynasty, depending on the historical source.
The term "" was frequently employed as a self-reference by Chinese dynasties. As a form of respect and subordination, Chinese tributary states referred to these dynasties as "" or "".

Terminology

The Chinese character originally meant "morning" or "today". Subsequently, its scope was extended to refer to the regime of the incumbent ruler. Terms commonly used when discussing historical Chinese dynasties include:
*

History

Start of dynastic rule

As the founder of China's first orthodox dynasty, the Xia dynasty, Yu the Great is conventionally regarded as the inaugurator of dynastic rule in China. In the Chinese dynastic system, sovereign rulers theoretically possessed absolute power and private ownership of the realm, even though in practice their actual power was dependent on numerous factors. By tradition, the Chinese throne was inherited exclusively by members of the male line, but there were numerous cases whereby the consort kins came to possess de facto power at the expense of the monarchs. This concept, known as , was in contrast to the pre-Xia notion of whereby leadership succession was non-hereditary and based on the abdication system.
There may also be a predynastic period before a regime managed to overthrow the existing dynasty which led to the official establishment of the new dynasty. For example, the state of Zhou that existed during the Shang dynasty, before its conquest of the Shang which led to the establishment of the Zhou dynasty, is referred to as the Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou. Similarly, the state of Qin that existed during the Zhou dynasty before its wars of unification and the establishment of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC is also referred to as the Predynastic Qin or Proto-Qin.

Dynastic transition

The rise and fall of dynasties is a prominent feature of Chinese history. Some scholars have attempted to explain this phenomenon by attributing the success and failure of dynasties to the morality of the rulers, while others have focused on the tangible aspects of monarchical rule. This method of explanation has come to be known as the dynastic cycle.
Cases of dynastic transition in the history of China occurred primarily through two ways: military conquest and usurpation. The supersession of the Liao dynasty by the Jin dynasty was achieved following a series of successful military campaigns, as was the later unification of China proper under the Yuan dynasty; on the other hand, the transition from the Eastern Han to the Cao Wei, as well as from the Southern Qi to the Liang dynasty, were cases of usurpation. Oftentimes, usurpers would seek to portray their predecessors as having relinquished the throne willingly—akin to the abdication system of throne succession—as a means to legitimize their rule.
One might incorrectly infer from viewing historical timelines that transitions between dynasties occurred abruptly and roughly. Rather, new dynasties were often established before the complete overthrow of an existing regime. For example, AD 1644 is frequently cited as the year in which the Qing dynasty succeeded the Ming dynasty in possessing the Mandate of Heaven. However, the Qing dynasty was officially proclaimed in AD 1636 by the Emperor Taizong of Qing through renaming the Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin] established in AD 1616, while the Ming imperial family would rule the Southern Ming until AD 1662. The Ming loyalist Kingdom of Tungning based in Taiwan continued to oppose the Qing until AD 1683. Meanwhile, other factions also fought for control over China during the Ming–Qing transition, most notably the Shun and the Xi dynasties proclaimed by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong respectively. This change of ruling houses was a convoluted and prolonged affair, and the Qing took almost two decades to extend their rule over the entirety of China proper.
Similarly, during the earlier Sui to Tang|Sui–Tang transition], numerous regimes established by rebel forces vied for control and legitimacy as the power of the ruling Sui dynasty weakened. Autonomous regimes that existed during this period of upheaval included, but not limited to, Wei, Qin, Qi, Xu, Liang, Liang, Xia, Zheng, Chu, Chu, Wu, Yan, and Song. The Tang dynasty that superseded the Sui launched a decade-long military campaign to reunify China proper.
Frequently, remnants and descendants of previous dynasties were either purged or granted noble titles in accordance with the "two crownings, three respects" system. The latter served as a means for the reigning dynasty to claim legitimate succession from earlier dynasties. For example, the Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei was accorded the title "Prince of Zhongshan" by the Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi following the latter's deposition of the former. Similarly, Chai Yong, a nephew of the Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, was conferred the title "Duke of Chongyi" by the Emperor Renzong of Song; other descendants of the Later Zhou ruling house came to inherit the noble title thereafter.
According to Chinese historiographical tradition, each new dynasty would compose the history of the preceding dynasty, culminating in the Twenty-Four Histories. This tradition was maintained even after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in favor of the Republic of China. However, the attempt by the Republicans to draft the history of the Qing was disrupted by the Chinese Civil War, which resulted in the political division of China into the People's Republic of China on mainland China and the Republic of China on Taiwan.

End of dynastic rule

Dynastic rule in China collapsed in AD 1912 when the Republic of China superseded the Qing dynasty following the success of the Xinhai Revolution. While there were attempts after the Xinhai Revolution to reinstate dynastic rule in China, they were unsuccessful at consolidating their rule and gaining political legitimacy.
During the Xinhai Revolution, there were numerous proposals advocating for the replacement of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty by a new dynasty of Han ethnicity. Kong Lingyi, the Duke of Yansheng and a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius, was identified as a potential candidate for Chinese emperorship by Liang Qichao. Meanwhile, gentry in Anhui and Hebei supported a restoration of the Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuxun, the Marquis of Extended Grace. Both suggestions were ultimately rejected.
The Empire of China proclaimed by Yuan Shikai sparked the National Protection War, resulting in the premature collapse of the regime 101 days later. The Manchu Restoration was an unsuccessful attempt at reviving the Qing dynasty, lasting merely 11 days. Similarly, the Manchukuo, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan during World War II with limited diplomatic recognition, was not regarded as a legitimate regime. Thus, historians usually consider the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor on 12 February 1912 as the end of the Chinese dynastic system. Dynastic rule in China lasted almost four millennia.

Political legitimacy

China was politically divided during multiple periods in its history, with different regions ruled by different dynasties. These dynasties were separate states with their own courts and political institutions. Political division existed during the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Northern and Southern dynasties, and the Ten Kingdoms period|Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms] periods, among others.
Relations between Chinese dynasties during periods of division often revolved around political legitimacy, which was derived from the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Dynasties ruled by ethnic Han would proclaim rival dynasties founded by other ethnicities as illegitimate, usually justified based on the concept of Hua–Yi distinction. On the other hand, many dynasties of non-Han origin saw themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China and often sought to portray themselves as the true inheritor of Chinese culture and history. Traditionally, only regimes deemed as "legitimate" or "orthodox" are termed ; "illegitimate" or "unorthodox" regimes are referred to as , even if these regimes were dynastic in nature.
Such legitimacy disputes existed during the following periods:
Traditionally, periods of disunity often resulted in heated debates among officials and historians over which prior dynasties could and should be considered orthodox, given that it was politically imperative for a dynasty to present itself as being linked in an unbroken lineage of moral and political authority back to ancient times. However, the Northern Song statesman Ouyang Xiu propounded that such orthodoxy existed in a state of limbo during fragmented periods and was restored after political unification was achieved. From this perspective, the Song dynasty possessed legitimacy by virtue of its ability to end the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period despite not having succeeded the orthodoxy from the Later Zhou. Similarly, Ouyang considered the concept of orthodoxy to be in oblivion during the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Northern and Southern dynasties periods.
Traditionally, as most Chinese historiographical sources uphold the idea of unilineal dynastic succession, only one dynasty could be considered orthodox at any given time. Most historical sources consider the legitimate line of succession to be as follows:
These historical legitimacy disputes are similar to the modern competing claims of legitimacy by the People's Republic of China based in Beijing and the Republic of China based in Taipei. Both regimes formally adhere to the One-China principle and claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the whole of China.

Agnatic lineages

There were several groups of Chinese dynasties that were ruled by families with patrilineal relations, yet due to various reasons these regimes are considered to be separate dynasties and given distinct retroactive names for historiographical purpose. Such conditions as differences in their official dynastic title and fundamental changes having occurred to their rule would necessitate nomenclatural distinction in academia, despite these ruling clans having shared common ancestral origins.
Additionally, numerous other dynasties claimed descent from earlier dynasties as a calculated political move to obtain or enhance their legitimacy, even if such claims were unfounded.
The agnatic relations of the following groups of Chinese dynasties are typically recognized by historians:

Classification

Central Plain dynasties

The Central Plain is a vast area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. "Central Plain dynasties" refer to dynasties of China that had their capital cities situated within the Central Plain. This term could refer to dynasties of both Han and non-Han ethnic origins.

Unified dynasties

"Unified dynasties" refer to dynasties of China, regardless of their ethnic origin, that achieved the unification of China proper. "China proper" is a region generally regarded as the traditional heartland of the Han people, and is not equivalent to the term "China". Imperial dynasties that had attained the unification of China proper may be known as the "Chinese Empire" or the "Empire of China".
The concept of "great unity" or "grand unification" was first mentioned in the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals that was supposedly authored by the Qi scholar Gongyang Gao. Other prominent figures like Confucius and Mencius also elaborated on this concept in their respective works.
Historians typically consider the following dynasties to have unified China proper: the Qin dynasty, the Western Han, the Xin dynasty, the Eastern Han, the Western Jin, the Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty, the Wu Zhou, the Northern Song, the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty, and the Qing dynasty. The status of the Northern Song as a unified dynasty is disputed among historians as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were partially administered by the contemporaneous Liao dynasty while the Western Xia exercised partial control over Hetao; the Northern Song, in this sense, did not truly achieve the unification of China proper.

Infiltration dynasties and conquest dynasties

According to the historian and sinologist Karl August Wittfogel, dynasties of China founded by non-Han peoples that ruled parts or all of China proper could be classified into two types, depending on the means by which the ruling ethnic groups had entered China proper.
"Infiltration dynasties" or "dynasties of infiltration" refer to Chinese dynasties founded by non-Han ethnicities that tended towards accepting Han culture and assimilating into the Han-dominant society. For instance, the Han-Zhao and the Northern Wei, established by the Xiongnu and Xianbei ethnicities respectively, are considered infiltration dynasties of China.
"Conquest dynasties" or "dynasties of conquest" refer to dynasties of China established by non-Han peoples that tended towards resisting Han culture and preserving the identities of the ruling ethnicities. For example, the Liao dynasty and the Yuan dynasty, ruled by the Khitan and Mongol peoples respectively, are considered conquest dynasties of China.
These terms remain sources of controversy among scholars who believe that Chinese history should be analyzed and understood from a multiethnic and multicultural perspective.

Naming convention

Official nomenclature

It was customary for Chinese monarchs to adopt an official name for the realm, known as the , upon the establishment of a dynasty. During the rule of a dynasty, its functioned as the formal name of the state, both internally and for diplomatic purposes.
The formal name of Chinese dynasties was usually derived from one of the following sources:
  • The name of the ruling tribe or tribal confederation
  • * e.g., the Western Xia dynasty took its name from its ruling class, the Xia tribal confederation
  • The noble title held by the dynastic founder prior to the founding of the dynasty
  • * e.g., the Emperor Wu of Chen adopted the dynastic name "Chen" from his pre-imperial title "Prince of Chen" upon the establishment of the Chen dynasty
  • The name of a historical state that occupied the same geographical location as the new dynasty
  • * e.g., the Former Yan was officially named "Yan" based on the ancient State of Yan located in the same region
  • The name of a previous dynasty from which the new dynasty claimed descent or succession from, even if such familial link was questionable
  • * e.g., the Emperor Taizu of Later Zhou officially proclaimed the Later Zhou with the official title "Zhou" as he claimed ancestry from Guo Shu, a royal of the Zhou dynasty
  • A term with auspicious or other significant connotations
  • * e.g., the Yuan dynasty was officially the "Great Yuan", a name derived from a clause in the Classic of Changes, ""
There were instances whereby the official name was changed during the reign of a dynasty. For example, the dynasty known retroactively as Southern Han initially used the name "Yue", only to be renamed to "Han" subsequently.
The official title of several dynasties bore the character "". In Yongzhuang Xiaopin by the Ming historian Zhu Guozhen, it was claimed that the first dynasty to do so was the Yuan dynasty. However, several sources like the History of Liao and the History of Jin compiled by the Yuan historian Toqto'a revealed that the official dynastic name of some earlier dynasties such as the Liao and the Jin also contained the character "". It was also common for officials, subjects, or tributary states of a particular dynasty to include the term "" when referring to this dynasty as a form of respect, even if the official dynastic name did not include it. For instance, The Chronicles of Japan referred to the Tang dynasty as "" despite its dynastic name being simply "Tang".
While all dynasties of China sought to associate their respective realm with and various other names of China, none of these regimes officially used such names as their dynastic title. Although the Qing dynasty explicitly identified their state with and employed ""—and its Manchu equivalent "Dulimbai Gurun" —in official capacity in numerous international treaties beginning with the Treaty of Nerchinsk dated AD 1689, its dynastic name had remained the "Great Qing". "", which has become nearly synonymous with "China" in modern times, is a concept with geographical, political, and cultural connotations.
The adoption of, as well as the importance assigned to it, had promulgated within the Sinosphere. Notably, rulers of Vietnam and Korea also declared for their respective realm.

Retroactive nomenclature

In Chinese historiography, historians generally do not refer to dynasties directly by their official name. Instead, historiographical names, which were most commonly derived from their official name, are used. For instance, the Sui dynasty is known as such because its formal name was "Sui". Likewise, the Jin dynasty was officially the "Great Jin".
When more than one dynasty shared the same Chinese character(s) as their formal name, as was common in Chinese history, prefixes are retroactively applied to dynastic names by historians in order to distinguish between these similarly-named regimes. Frequently used prefixes include:
A dynasty could be referred to by more than one retroactive name in Chinese historiography, albeit some are more widely used than others. For instance, the Western Han is also known as the "Former Han", and the Yang Wu is also called the "Southern Wu".
Scholars usually make a historiographical distinction for dynasties whose rule were interrupted. For example, the Song dynasty is divided into the Northern Song and the Southern Song, with the Jingkang Incident as the dividing line; the original "Song" founded by the Emperor Taizu of Song was therefore differentiated from the "Song" restored under the Emperor Gaozong of Song. In such cases, the regime had collapsed, only to be re-established; a nomenclatural distinction between the original regime and the new regime is thus necessary for historiographical purpose. Major exceptions to this historiographical practice include the Western Qin, the Southern Liang, and the Tang dynasty; the first two were interrupted by the Later Qin, while the continuity of the latter was broken by the Wu Zhou.
In Chinese sources, the term "dynasty" is usually omitted when referencing dynasties that have prefixes in their historiographical names. Such a practice is sometimes adopted in English usage, even though the inclusion of the word "dynasty" is also widely seen in English scholarly writings. For example, the Northern Zhou is also sometimes referred to as the "Northern Zhou dynasty".
Often, scholars would refer to a specific Chinese dynasty by attaching the word "China" after the dynastic name. For instance, "Tang China" refers to the Chinese state under the rule of the Tang dynasty and the corresponding historical era.

Territorial extent

While the earliest orthodox Chinese dynasties were established along the Yellow River and the Yangtze in China proper, numerous Chinese dynasties later expanded beyond the region to encompass other territorial domains.
At various points in time, Chinese dynasties exercised control over China proper, Taiwan, Manchuria, Sakhalin, Mongolia, Vietnam, Tibet, Xinjiang, as well as parts of Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan, and Siberia.
Territorially, the largest orthodox Chinese dynasty was either the Yuan dynasty or the Qing dynasty, depending on the historical source. This discrepancy can be mainly attributed to the ambiguous northern border of the Yuan realm: whereas some sources describe the Yuan border as located to the immediate north of the northern shore of Lake Baikal, others posit that the Yuan dynasty reached as far north as the Arctic coast, with its western boundary with the Golden Horde in Siberia delimited by the Ob and the Irtysh. In contrast, the borders of the Qing dynasty were demarcated and reinforced through a series of international treaties, and thus were more well-defined.
Apart from exerting direct control over the Chinese realm, various dynasties of China also maintained hegemony over other states and tribes through the Chinese tributary system. The Chinese tributary system first emerged during the Western Han and lasted until the 19th century AD when the Sinocentric order broke down.
The modern territorial claims of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China are inherited from the lands once held by the Qing dynasty at the time of its collapse.

List of major Chinese dynasties

This list includes only the major dynasties of China that are typically found in simplified forms of Chinese historical timelines. This list is neither comprehensive nor representative of Chinese history as a whole.

Timelines

Timeline of major regimes


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from: -2500 till: -2070 color:PD text:"Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors "
from: -2070 till: -1600 color:DY text:"Xia "
from: -1600 till: -1046 color:DY text:"Shang "
from: -1046 till: -771 color:DY text:"W. Zhou "
from: -770 till: -256 color:DY text:"E. Zhou "
from: -221 till: -207 color:DY text:"Qin "
from: -202 till: 9 color:DY text:"W. Han "
from: 9 till: 23 color:DY text:"Xin "
from: 25 till: 220 color:DY text:"E. Han "
from: 220 till: 266 color:DY text:"Cao Wei "
from: 221 till: 263 color:DY text:"Shu Han "
from: 222 till: 280 color:DY text:"E. Wu "
from: 266 till: 316 color:DY text:"W. Jin "
from: 304 till: 329 color:DY text:"Han-Zhao "
from: 304 till: 347 color:DY text:"Cheng-Han "
from: 317 till: 420 color:DY text:"E. Jin "
from: 319 till: 351 color:DY text:"L. Zhao "
from: 320 till: 376 color:DY text:"F. Liang "
from: 337 till: 370 color:DY text:"F. Yan "
from: 351 till: 394 color:DY text:"F. Qin "
from: 384 till: 409 color:DY text:"L. Yan "
from: 384 till: 417 color:DY text:"L. Qin "
from: 385 till: 400 color:DY text:"W. Qin "
from: 386 till: 403 color:DY text:"L. Liang "
from: 386 till: 535 color:DY text:"N. Wei "
from: 397 till: 414 color:DY text:"S. Liang "
from: 397 till: 439 color:DY text:"N. Liang "
from: 398 till: 410 color:DY text:"S. Yan "
from: 400 till: 421 color:DY text:"W. Liang "
from: 407 till: 431 color:DY text:"Hu Xia "
from: 407 till: 436 color:DY text:"N. Yan "
from: 409 till: 431 color:DY text:"W. Qin "
from: 420 till: 479 color:DY text:"Liu Song "
from: 479 till: 502 color:DY text:"S. Qi "
from: 502 till: 557 color:DY text:"Liang "
from: 534 till: 550 color:DY text:"E. Wei "
from: 535 till: 557 color:DY text:"W. Wei "
from: 550 till: 577 color:DY text:"N. Qi "
from: 557 till: 581 color:DY text:"N. Zhou "
from: 557 till: 589 color:DY text:"Chen "
from: 581 till: 619 color:DY text:"Sui "
from: 618 till: 690 color:DY text:"Tang "
from: 690 till: 705 color:DY text:"Wu Zhou "
from: 705 till: 907 color:DY text:"Tang "
from: 907 till: 923 color:DY text:"L. Liang "
from: 907 till: 925 color:DY text:"F. Shu "
from: 907 till: 937 color:DY text:"Yang Wu "
from: 907 till: 951 color:DY text:"Ma Chu "
from: 907 till: 978 color:DY text:"Wuyue "
from: 909 till: 945 color:DY text:"Min "
from: 916 till: 1125 color:DY text:"Liao "
from: 917 till: 971 color:DY text:"S. Han "
from: 923 till: 937 color:DY text:"L. Tang "
from: 924 till: 963 color:DY text:"Jingnan "
from: 934 till: 965 color:DY text:"L. Shu "
from: 936 till: 947 color:DY text:"L. Jin "
from: 937 till: 976 color:DY text:"S. Tang "
from: 947 till: 951 color:DY text:"L. Han "
from: 951 till: 960 color:DY text:"L. Zhou "
from: 951 till: 979 color:DY text:"N. Han "
from: 960 till: 1127 color:DY text:"N. Song "
from: 1038 till: 1227 color:DY text:"W. Xia "
from: 1115 till: 1234 color:DY text:"Jin "
from: 1124 till: 1218 color:DY text:"W. Liao "
from: 1127 till: 1279 color:DY text:"S. Song "
from: 1271 till: 1368 color:DY text:"Yuan "
from: 1368 till: 1635 color:DY text:"N. Yuan "
from: 1368 till: 1644 color:DY text:"Ming "
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from: 1949 till: 2000 color:ND text:"History of the [People's Republic of China|PRC] "
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