10,000–8,000bce
Beginnings of settled agriculture in the north China plain
5000–1500bce
Neolithic settlements grow in sophistication of agriculture, of pottery, and of jade tools
ca. 1500–1045 bce
Shang kings dominate north China plain, develop stratifi ed feudal-type society with
writing and sophisticated bronze culture
1045 bce
Zhou people conquer Shang settlements, develop idea of Mandate of Heaven
1045–771bce
Western Zhou dynasty continues Shang bronze and artistic culture, king rules through
feudal-type division of outlying territories
770–256bce
Spring and Autumn period (after the Spring and Autumn Annals); gradual decline of
Zhou court as vassals in outlying territories become increasingly independent
481–221bce
Warring States period (after Intrigues of the Warring States); independent kingdoms
compete in attempt to conquer and absorb competing states
221–206bce
Qin dynasty; Qin Empire, under Qin Shi Huangdi, defeats and unifi es all the Warring
States into a central bureaucratic empire
206 bce–220ce
Han dynasty; Han Empire maintains Qin imperial institutions while moderating harsh
Qin laws and promoting Confucianism as a state ideology
220–589
North-South Division; nomadic peoples (with Chinese collaborators) dominate north
China; series of weak Chinese regimes in south China; Buddhism grows dramatically in
both south and north
581–618
Sui dynasty; Sui Empire unifi es north and south militarily and politically in 589 and
builds Grand Canal from central to north China
618–907
Tang dynasty; great age of Buddhism and of poetry; Tang Empire maintains strong
central state and becomes cosmopolitan center of world trade
755–763
An Lushan Rebellion weakens Tang politically and militarily