Table of Contents

ONE  THE ORIGINS OF CIVILISATION  3
1 Ancient Man in China 4
2 The Era of Clan Society 14

TWO  DAWN OF THE CHINESE NATION 27
1 The First Ancestor of China  28
2 Three Benevolent Rulers — Yao, Shun and Yu  38

THREE  EARLIEST DYNASTIES OF CHINA  49
1 Family Rule of the Xia Dynasty 50
2 Rise and Fall of the Shang Dynasty  60
3 The Flourishing Western Zhou Dynasty 70
4 Decline of the Western Zhou Dynasty 80

FOUR  ENIGMATIC CULTURE OF EARLY CHINA  91
1 Writing on Tortoise-Shells and Animal Bones 92
2 The Bronze Age 102

FIVE  FIVE OVERLORDS OF THE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD  115
1 Duke Huan of Qin and Duke Wen of Jin 116
2 Three Hegemonies Emerging One after Another  128
3 Struggles for Hegemony by the States of Wu and Yue 138

SIX  SEVEN POWERS OF THE WARRING STATES PERIOD   151
1 Seven Powers Locked in Rivalry 152
2 Reform Movements in the Seven States 164
3 Alliance and Unification 176

SEVEN  AN ERA OF GREAT CHANGES  189
1 Changes to Production 190
2 The Magnificent Dujiangyan Weirs 198
3 Rise of the City 208

EIGHT  CULTURAL PROSPERITY IN THE PRE-QIN PERIOD  219
1 Book of Songs and Elegies of the South 220
2 Bell and Drum Music 232
3 Advances in Technology 242

NINE  CONTENTION OF A HUNDRED SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT (I)   253
1 Confucius: Teacher of All Ages 254
2 Inheritance and Development of Confucianism 266
3 Taoism: Let Things Run Their Course 276

TEN  CONTENTION OF A HUNDRED SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT (II)   289
1 Mohist School: Earthly Ascetics 290
2 Legalism: Favoured by Rulers 300
3 Military Strategists: Masters on the Law of War  312
4 Clash of Views Among Various Schools of Thought 324

ELEVEN  THE GREAT QIN EMPIRE 337
1 Qin Shi Huang’s Unification of the Country 338
2 Centralisation System of the Qin Empire 350
3 Peasant Uprising at the End of the Qin Dynasty 360

TWELVE  WONDERS OF THE QIN DYNASTY  371
1 The Great Wall 372
2 Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum 382
3 Terracotta Warriors and Horses 390

THIRTEEN  THE GREAT HAN EMPIRE  403
1 Contention between the States of Chu and Han 404
2 Rehabilitation in the Early Han Dynasty 416
3 Reign of Emperors Wen and Jing 426

FOURTEEN  EMPEROR WU OF HAN  437
1 Political and Military Achievements 438
2 Ruling Strategy 448

FIFTEEN  DECLINE OF THE WESTERN HAN DYNASTY   459
1 Corrupt Ruling of mid-and late Western Han 460
2 A Short-lived Dynasty: The New Regime of Wang Mang 472

SIXTEEN  REJUVENATION OF THE HAN COURT  485
1 Founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty  486
2 Power Struggles between Families of Court Women and Court Eunuchs  496
3 Fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty  508

SEVENTEEN ETHNIC AND FOREIGN RELATIONS DURING THE HAN DYNASTY  521
1 Peace by Marriage beyond the Great Wall  522
2 Zhang Qian’s Journeys to Western Regions  534
3 The Silk Road  544

EIGHTEEN  SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE HAN DYNASTY  555
1 Invention of Paper  556
2 Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine  566
3 Earth Science and Mathematics  578

NINETEEN  THRIVING THOUGHTS OF THE HAN DYNASTY   591
1 Rise of Taoism  592
2 Buddhism’s Spread in China  604
3 Cultural Unification  616

TWENTY  CULTURE OF THE HAN DYNASTY  629
1 First Major Historical Works  630
2 Literature and Art  640

TWENTY-ONE THREE KINGDOMS  653
1 The Battle of Guandu  654
2 The Battle of Red Cliffs  666
3 Emergence of the Three Kingdoms  678

TWENTY-TWO  WESTERN AND EASTERN JIN  691
1 A Brief Unification During the Western Jin Dynasty  692
2 Disturbances by the Eight Princes  702
3 Rule of Eastern Jin for One Hundred Years  712

TWENTY-THREE  SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN DYNASTIES  725
1 Contention of the Sixteen Kingdoms  726
2 Rules of the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen Regimes  738

TWENTY-FOUR  NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY  751
1 Rapid Rise of the Northern Wei Dynasty  752
2 Reform by Emperor Xiaowen  764
3 Crumbling of the Northern Wei  776
4 A Massive Suppression of Buddhism  788

TWENTY- FIVE  CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE SIX DYNASTIES   799
1 Literature and Art  800
2 The Study of History and Geography  810
3 Natural Sciences  822

TWENTY- SIX  NEW EXPLORATIONS IN PHILOSOPHY  833
1 Dark Learning and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove  834
2 The Flourishing of Buddhism  844
3 The Development of Taoism  854

TWENTY- SEVEN  THE SUI DYNASTY   867
1 The Founding of the Sui Dynasty  868
2 The Rule of Emperor Wen  878
3 The Fall of the Sui Dynasty  888
4 The Grand Canal  898

TWENTY- EIGHT  THE TANG DYNASTY   911
1 The Founding of Tang  912
2 The Reign of Emperor Taizong  922
3 China’s Only Female Emperor Wu Zetian:  932

TWENTY- NINE GOLDEN ERA OF KAIYUAN   943
1 The Reign of Emperor Xuanzong  944
2 A Thriving Economy  956
3 Science and Technology  968

THIRTY  ETHNIC AND FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE TANG DYNASTY  981
1 Tang Ethnic Relations (I)  982
2 Tang Ethnic Relations (II)  994
3 Tang Foreign Relations  1008

THIRTY- ONE  TANG DYNASTY ART AND LITERATURE   1021
1 Poetry  1022
2 Tang Classical-language Tales  1036
3 Calligraphy and Painting in the Tang Dynasty  1048
4 Music and Dance and Mogao Grottoes   1062

THIRTY- TWO  DECLINE OF TANG   1075
1 The An-Shi Rebellion  1076
2 Rejuvenation Efforts by Tang Emperors 1089
3 Turbulent Reign and Decline  1099

THIRTY- THREE   AGE OF SEPARATION  1109
1 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms  1110
2 Rise of Khitan  1122

THIRTY- FOUR  The SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN SONG DYNASTIES    1133
1 The Founding of the Northern Song Dynasty  1140
2 Reform and Partisan Strife in the Mid to Late Northern Song  1154
3 The Collapse of the Southern Song Dynasty  1166

THIRTY-FIVE  COEXISING REGIMES (I)   1169
1 Confrontation between Song and Liao  1170
2 The Rise and Fall of the Western Xia Dynasty  1180

THIRTY-SIX  COEXISING RE GIMES (II)   1191
1 Rise of the Jin Empire  1192
2 Confrontation between Southern Song and Jin  1204

THIRTY- SEVEN  SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMY OF SONG  1217
1 A Thriving Economy in Southern China  1218
2 Commercial Prosperity  1228
3 A Colourful Social Life  1238

THIRTY-EIGHT  SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE OF TANG AND SONG   1249
1 Three Great Chinese Inventions  1250
2 Historical Studies  1260
3 Eight Prose Masters  1272

THIRTY-NINE FOUNDING OF YUAN  1285
1 Territorial Expansion of the Mongol Empire  1286
2 Unification War  1295
3 Governing System  1308

FORTY  YUAN DYNASTY CULTURE AND ECONOMY   1319
1 The Capital City of Dadu  1320
2 Multi-ethnic Integration  1331
3 Economy  1340

FORTY-ONE LITERATURE AND ART OF SONG AND YUAN   1353
1 Poetry  1354
2 Yuan Qu Drama  1364
3 Calligraphy and Painting  1374

FORTY-TWO  CENTRALISED MONARCHY OF THE MING DYNASTY   1389
1 Downfall of the Yuan Dynasty  1390
2 Strengthened Monarchy of the Ming Dynasty  1401
3 Ming Royal Court Internal Turmoil  1411

FORTY-THREE  MING DYNASTY ECONOMY AND ETHNIC RELATIONS  1423
1 Wise Rule of Founding Emperors  1424
2 Zheng He’s Voyages  1436
3 Relationship between China and Ethnic Groups  1444
4 Merchant Guilds and Banking  1454

FORTY-FOUR  MING DYNASTY COASTAL DEFENCE    1465
1 Japanese Pirates  1466
2 Early Colonial Aggression  1476

FORTY-FIVE  DECLINE OF THE MING DYNASTY   1487
1 The Tumu Crisis and Defence of Beijing  1488
2 Zhang Juzheng’s Reform  1499
3 Three Notorious Court Cases  1511
4 Eunuch Abuse of Power and the Donglin Movement  1522

FORTY-SIX  END OF THE MING DYNASTY   1535
1 Weakening Military Power  1536
2 Rebellion of the ‘Dashing King’  1548
3 The Doomed Southern Ming Court  1558

FORTY-SEVEN  CULTURE AND THOUGHT OF MING AND QING   1571
1 The Reestablishment of Beijing  1572
2 Science and Technology and the Introduction of Western Learning  1586
3 Neo-Confucianism  1598
4 A New Stage of Confucianism  1610

FORTY-EIGHT  LITERATURE AND ART IN THE MING DYNASTY   1621
1 Vernacular Fiction  1622
2 Marketplace Novels  1634
3 Ming Opera  1644
4 Painting and Calligraphy  1655

FORTY-NINE  RISE OF ETHNIC TRIBES   1667
1 The Valiant Jurchen  1668
2 Nurhaci: Khan of Heaven’s Mandate  1678
3 Hong Taiji Founds the Qing Empire  1690

FIFTY  THE FINAL STRUGGLE   1703
1 Anti-Qing Resistance  1704
2 Zheng Chenggong’s Recovery of Taiwan  1714

FIFTY-ONE  GREAT QING ACCOMPLISHMENTS (I)  1729
1 Suppression of the Three Feudatories by Emperor Kangxi   1730
2 Recovery of Taiwan  1740
3 Border Defence against Tsarist Russia  1750

FIFTY-TWO  GREAT QING ACCOMPLISHMENTS (II)  1761
1 Suppression of the Dzungar Rebellion and the Torghuts’ Integration  1762
2 Suppression of the Uyghur Rebellion and Wars Against Foreign Intruders  1770
3 Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama  1780

FIFTY-THREE  SUNSET OF CHINA FEUDAL SOCIETY  1793
1 Strengthening Monarchy of the Qing Dynasty  1794
2 Prosperity of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns  1802
3 Ruling Crisis of the Mid to Late Qing Dynasty  1812

FIFTY-FOUR  QING CULTURE  1823
1 Classical-Style Gardens  1824
2 Great Cultural Government Projects  1834
3 A Dream of Red Mansions  1844
4 The Rising Popularity of Novels  1854
5 Breakthroughs with Calligraphy and Painting  1864
6 Beijing Opera  1874

FIFTY-FIVE   OPIUM WAR (I)  1885
1 China and the West before the First Opium War  1886
2 The Destruction of Opium in Humen  1894
3 The First Opium War (1840–1842)  1904

FIFTY-SIX  OPIUM WAR (II)   1915
1 The Second Opium War (1856–1860)  1916
2 Empress Dowager Cixi’s Rise to Power  1926

FIFTY-SEVEN  TAIPING HEAVENLY KINGDOM   1937
1 Taiping Rebellion  1938
2 End of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom  1948

FIFTY-EIGHT  WAR IN THE LATE QING DYNASTY    1959
1 Zuo Zongtang’s Recovery of Xinjiang  1960
2 Sino-French War (1883–1885)  1970
3 Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)  2080
4 The Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Power Allied Forces’ Invasion of China  2090

FIFTY-NINE  AWAKENING AND REFORM   2001
1 Introducing Knowledge from the West  2002
2 The Self-strengthening Movement  2012
3 The Rise of National Capitalism  2022
4 Ideas of Reform  2032
5 The Hundred Days’ Reform  2042

SIXTY  DOWNFALL OF THE QING DYNASTY   2053
1 Final Throes of the Qing Dynasty  2054
2 The Conclusion of Qing  2064

Appendix 
List of Rulers of China 
List of Chinese Literary, Painting and Calligraphy Works