People's Republic of China
Capital : Beijing
Largest city : Shanghai
Official languages : Mandarin
Demonym : Chinese
Government Socialist Republic
- President Hu Jintao
- Premier Wen Jiabao
Population
- 2007 estimate 1,321,851,888³ (1st)
- 2000 census 1,242,612,226
Currency : Yuan (CNY)
H i s t o r y
Ancient China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization.
Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently,
the others being Mesopotamia, Indus Valley Civilization, Maya Civilization,
Ancient Greece (Minoan Civilization), and Ancient Egypt.
P r e h i s t o r y
Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest humans in China date
to 2.24 million to 250,000 years ago. A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-
day Beijing) has fossils dated at somewhere between 300,000 to 550,000
years.
The earliest evidence of a fully modern human in China comes from
Liujiang County, Guangxi, where a cranium has been found and dated to
approximately 67,000 years ago. Although much controversy persists over
the dating of the Liujiang remains, a partial skeleton from Minatogawa in
Okinawa, Japan has been dated to 18,250 ± 650 to 16,600 ± 300 years ago,
so modern humans must have reached China before that time.
D y n a s t i c r u l e
Chinese tradition names the first dynasty Xia, but it was considered
mythical until scientific excavations found early bronze-age sites at Erlitou
in Henan Province. Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites, bronze
implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient historical texts,
but it is impossible to verify that these remains are of the Xia without
written records from the period.
The second dynasty, the loosely feudal Shang, definitely settled along
the Yellow River in eastern China from the 18th to the 12th century BCE.
They were invaded from the west by the Zhou, who ruled from the 12th to
the 5th century BCE. The centralized authority of the Zhou was slowly
eroded by warlords. Many strong, independent states continually waged war
with each other in the Spring and Autumn period, only occasionally deferring
to the Zhou king.
The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin Dynasty in 221
BCE, when the office of the Emperor was set up and the Chinese language
was forcibly standardized. This state did not last long, as its legalist policies
soon led to widespread rebellion.
The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that would
last to the present day. The Han Dynasty expanded China's territory
considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and
Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia.
After Han's collapse, another period of disunion followed, including the
highly chivalric period of the Three Kingdoms. Independent Chinese states of
this period also opened diplomatic relations with Japan, introducing the
Chinese writing system there. In 580 CE, China was reunited under the Sui.
However, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived after a failure in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614) weakened it.
The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last dynasty in China.
In the 19th century the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive posture towards
European imperialism, even though it engaged in imperialistic expansion into
Central Asia itself. At this time China awoke to the significance of the rest
of the world, in particular the West. As China opened up to foreign trade
and missionary activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto
Qing China. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control.
One result was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. It
was led by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by a misinterpretation
of Christianity. Hong believed himself to be the son of God and the younger
brother of Jesus. Although the Qing forces were eventually victorious, the
civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least twenty
million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War),
with some estimates up to two-hundred million. In addition, more costly
rebellions in terms of human lives and economics followed the Taiping
Rebellion such as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–1867), Nien Rebellion
(1851–1868), Muslim Rebellion (1862–1877), Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873)
and the Miao Rebellion (1854–1873). These rebellions resulted in an
estimated loss of several million lives for each rebellion and in disastrous
results for the economy and the countryside. The flow of British opium led
to more decline.
While China was torn by continuous war, Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly
modernizing its military with its sights on Korea and Manchuria. Maneuvered
by Japan, Korea declared independence from Qing China's suzerainty in
1894, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted in China's
humiliating cession of both Korea and Taiwan to Japan. Following these
series of defeats, a reform plan for Qing China to become a modern Meiji-
style constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Emperor Guangxu in 1898,
but was opposed and stopped by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed
Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. Further destruction
followed the ill-fated 1900 Boxer Rebellion against westerners in Beijing. By
the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform
and revolution were heard across the country. The 38 year old Emperor
Guangxu died under house arrest on November 14, 1908, suspiciously just a
day before Cixi. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's
handpicked heir, his two year old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong
Emperor, the last Chinese emperor. Guangxu's consort, who became the
Empress Dowager Longyu, signed the abdication decree as regent in 1912,
ending two thousand years of imperial rule in China. She died, childless, in
1913.
R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a (1912–1949)
On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the
end of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT or
Nationalist Party), was proclaimed provisional president of the republic.
However, the presidency was latter given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing
general, who had ensured the defection of the entire Beiyang Army from the
Qing Empire to the revolution. In 1915, Yuan proclaim himself Emperor of
China, but was forced to abdicate, and return the state to a republic, when
he realized it was an unpopular move, not only with the population, but also
his own Beiyang Army and its commanders.
After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented, with
an internationally recognized, but virtually powerless, national government
seated in Peking (modern day Beijing). Warlords in various regions exercised
actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the
Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under
its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanking (modern day Nanjing)
and implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political
development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a
modern, democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party
rule by the Kuomintang.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945 (part of World War II) forced an
uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists as well as
causing around 10 million Chinese civilian deaths. With the surrender of
Japan in 1945, China emerged victorious but financially drained. The
continued distrust between the Nationalists and the Communists led to the
resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was
established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the
ROC constitution were never implemented on the mainland.
G e o g r a p h y a n d c l i m a t e
China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.
In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River. Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers; they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing Earth's highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.
The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.
The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters.
Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China. Dust has blown to southern China and Taiwan, and has even reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.
D e m o g r a p h y
Hundreds of ethnic groups have existed in China throughout its history.
The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. This group is diverse
in itself and can be divided into smaller ethnic groups that
share some traits.
Over the last three millennia
many previously distinct ethnic groups in China have been Sinicized into a Han identity, |
 | which over time dramatically expanded the size of the Han population. However, these assimilations were usually incomplete and vestiges of indigenous language and culture often are still retained in different regions of China. Because of this, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions, though still identifying as Han. Several ethnicities have also dramatically shaped Han culture, e.g. the Manchurian clothing called the qipao became the new "Chinese" fashion after the 17th century, replacing earlier Han styles of clothing such as the Hanfu. The modern term Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) is now used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions.
L a n g u a g e s
Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family,
spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major dialects within the
Chinese language itself. The most spoken dialects are Mandarin (spoken by
over 70% of the population), Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Min,
Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic
minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic),
Hmong and Korean.
Classical Chinese was the written standard used for thousands of years in China before the 20th century and allowed for written communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages and dialects in China.Vernacular Chinese or baihua is the written standard based on the Mandarin
dialect first popularized in Ming dynasty novels and was adopted(with significant modifications) during the early 20th century as the national vernacular.Classical Chinese is still part of the high school curriculum and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese. |
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R e l i g i o n
The "official" orthodox faith system held by most dynasties of China until the overthrow of the last dynasty is a panentheism system, centering on the worship of "Heaven" as an omnipotent force[citation needed]. This faith system pre-dated the development of Confucianism and Taoism or the introduction of Buddhism and Christianity. It has features of a monotheism in that Heaven is seen as an omnipotent entity, endowed with personality but no corporeal form. "Heaven" as a supernatural force was variously referred to as Shangdi (literally "Emperor Above"). Worship of Heaven includes the erection of shrines, the last and greatest being the Altar of Heaven in Beijing, and the offering of prayers. Manifestation of the powers of Heaven include weather and natural disasters. Although it gradually diminished in popular belief after the advent of Taoism and Buddhism, among others, some of its concepts remained in use throughout the pre-modern period and have been incorporated in later religions of China.
Taoism is an indigenous religion of China and is traditionally traced to the composition of Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching (The Book of Tao and Its Virtues) or to seminal works by Zhang Daoling. The philosophy of Taoism is centered on "the way"; an understanding of which can be likened to recognizing the true nature of the universe. Taoism in its unorganized form is also considered a folk religion of China. More secular derivatives of Taoist ideas include Feng Shui, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and acupuncture.
Buddhism was introduced from South and Central Asia during the Han dynasty and became very popular among Chinese of all walks of life, embraced particularly by commoners, and sponsored by emperors in certain dynasties. Mahayana (大乘, Dacheng) is the predominant form of Buddhism practiced in China, where it was largely Sinicized and later exported to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Some subsets of Mahayana popular in China include Pure Land (Amidism) and Zen. Buddhism is the largest organized faith in China and the country has the most Buddhist adherents in the world, followed by Japan. Many Chinese, however, identify themselves as both Taoist and Buddhist at the same time.
Ancestor worship is a major religious theme shared among all Chinese religions. Traditional Chinese culture, Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism all value filial piety as a top virtue, and the act is a continued display of piety and respect towards departed ancestors. The Chinese generally offer prayers and food for the ancestors, light incense and candles, and burn offerings of Joss paper. These activities are typically conducted at the site of ancestral graves or tombs, at an ancestral temple, or at a household shrine.
Islam, Judaism and Christianity first arrived in China after the 7th century CE during the Tang Dynasty. Islam was later spread by merchants and craftsmen as trade routes improved along the Silk Road, while Christianity began to make significant inroads in China after the 16th century through Jesuit and later protestant missionaries. Islam arrived in China during the 8th century, only a few years after the Prophet Muhammad's death. The Emperor of China took Islam highly, and the first mosque in China, the Huaisheng Mosque was built in Canton, Guangzhou in 630 AD. In the first half of the 20th century, many Jews arrived in Shanghai and Hong Kong during those cities' periods of economic expansion and also sought refuge from the Holocaust in Europe. Shanghai was particularly notable for its volume of Jewish refugees, as it was the only port in the world then to accept them without an entry visa.
C u l t u r e
Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial
China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for
entry into the imperial bureaucracy.
China's traditional values were derived
from various versions of Confucianism.A number of more authoritarian
strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism. There was
often conflict between the philosophies,e.g.
the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucians believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of
Confucianism. |
 | Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.
In recent years, a number of New Confucians (not to be confused with
Neo-Confucianism) have advocated that democratic ideals and human
rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".
With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the
mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization
gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally
rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the
strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. In essence, the history of 20th
century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social,
political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of
the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.
A r t s , s c h o l a r s h i p , a n d l i t e r a t u r e
Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout
Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still
extant, from Oracle bones to Qing edicts. This literary emphasis affected
the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e.g. the view that
calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. Manuscripts of the
Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were
handwritten by ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialized, and
works by famous artists became prized possessions.
Chinese literature has a long past; the earliest classic work in Chinese,
the I Ching or "Book of Changes" dates to around 1000 BCE. A flourishing of
philosophy during the Warring States Period produced such noteworthy
works as Confucius's Analects and Laozi's Tao Te Ching. (See also the
Chinese classics.) Dynastic histories were often written, beginning with Sima
Qian's seminal Records of the Historian written from 109 BCE to 91 BCE. The
Tang Dynasty witnessed a poetic flowering, while the Four Great Classical
Novels of Chinese literature were written during the Ming and Qing
Dynasties.
Printmaking in the form of movable type was developed during the Song
Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to
comment on the classics in both printed and handwritten form. Royalty
frequently participated in these discussions as well. The Song Dynasty was
also a period of great scientific literature, such as Su Song's Xin Yixiang
Fayao and Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays. There were also enormous works
of historiography and large encyclopedias, such as Sima Guang's Zizhi
Tongjian of 1084 CE or the Four Great Books of Song fully compiled and
edited by the 11th century.
For centuries, economic and social advancement in China could be
provided by high performance on the imperial examinations. This led to a
meritocracy, although it was available only to males who could afford test
preparation. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and
demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the
highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a
highly esteemed socio-economic position.
Chinese philosophers, writers and poets were highly respected and played
key roles in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. Some
classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the
lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.
The Chinese invented numerous musical instruments, such as the zheng
(zither with movable bridges), qin (bridgeless zither), sheng (free reed
mouth organ), and xiao (vertical flute) and adopted and developed others
such the erhu (alto fiddle or bowed lute) and pipa (pear-shaped plucked
lute), many of which have later spread throughout East Asia and Southeast
Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
S p o r t s a n d r e c r e a t i o n
Many historians believe that football (soccer) originated in China, where a
form of the sport may have appeared around 1000 CE. Other popular sports
include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, and more recently, golf.
Basketball is now popular among young people in crowded urban centers.
There are also many traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs
during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling
and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are
part of traditional festivals.
China has become a sports power, especially in Asia. It has finished first
in medal counts in each of the Asian Games since 1982, and in the top four
in medal counts in each of the Summer Olympic Games since 1992.[26] The
2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad,
will be held in Beijing. Currently, China is heavily preparing for the games.
Physical fitness is highly regarded. It is common for the elderly to practice
Tai Chi Chuan and qigong in parks.
Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi
(Chinese chess) are also common and have organized formal competitions.
S c i e n c e a n d t e c h n o l o g y
Among the scientific accomplishments of ancient China were paper (not
papyrus) and papermaking, woodblock printing and movable type printing,
the early lodestone and magnetic compass, gunpowder, toilet paper, early seismological detectors, matches, dry docks, pound locks, sliding calipers,
the double-action piston pump, blast furnace and cast iron, the iron plough,
the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the escapement mechanism for clocks, the
differential gear for the South Pointing Chariot, the hydraulic-powered
armillary sphere, the hydraulic-powered trip hammer, the mechanical chain
drive, the mechanical belt drive, the raised-relief map, the propeller, the
crossbow, the cannon, the rocket, the multistage rocket, etc. |
 | Chinese astronomers were among the first to record observations of a
supernova. The work of the astronomer Shen Kuo (1031–1095) alone was
most impressive, as he theorized that the sun and moon were spherical,
corrected the position of the polestar with his improved sighting tube,
discovered the concept of true north, wrote of planetary motions such as
retrogradation, and compared the orbital paths of the planets to points on
the shape of a rotating willow leaf. With evidence for them, he also
postulated geological theories for the processes of land formation in
geomorphology and climate change in paleoclimatology. Yet there were
many other astronomers than Shen Kuo, such as Gan De, Shi Shen, Zhang
Heng, Yi Xing, Zhang Sixun, Su Song, etc. Chinese mathematics evolved
independently of Greek mathematics and is therefore of great interest in the
history of mathematics. The Chinese were also keen on documenting all of
their technological achievements, such as in the Tiangong Kaiwu
encyclopedia written by Song Yingxing (1587–1666).
China's science and technology fell behind that of Europe by the 17th
century. Political, social and cultural reasons have been given for this,
although recent historians focus more on economic causes, such as the high
level equilibrium trap. Since the PRC's market reforms China has become
better connected to the global economy and is placing greater emphasis on
science and technology.
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