Category: Chinese customs

Geographical Location: The ruins of Guge Kingdom are located on a mountain in Zhabran Village, which is 18 km west of the county town of Zhada.

  Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing (960 – 1911)

The Five Dynasties following the Tang is one of the most chaotic and partite periods in Chinese history and such situation terminated in 960 AD when Zhao Kuangyin founded the Northern Song Dynasty (capital: Kaifeng, a city of Henan Province today), which was ultimately overthrew by the northern minority power Jin. Similar to the situation of the two Han dynasties, the offspring of Northern Song Dynasty rebuilt the dynasty in Lin’an (known as Hangzhou today) after the falling down of Northern Song Dynasty and the new Song authority was called Southern Song Dynasty. Advantaged economy and culture were introduced from North China to South China with moving of the capital city, which greatly promoted the growing of the South; Chinese astronomy, science, technology and movable-type printing (invent by Bi Sheng) of the two Song dynasties ranked among the top in the world at that time. Whereas, the Southern Song Dynasty encountered the same destiny as its previous authority did and was overturned in 1279 by Mongol Khanate, a rising northern minority power.

Mongol Khanate was set up by Genghis Khan in 1206. The empire did not change its name until Kublai, the grandson of Genghis Khan, entered into the Central Plains (heartland of ancient China) and founded the Yuan Dynasty in Dadu (known as Beijing today) in 1271. After that, the many divisive powers that existed simultaneously for hundreds of years were conquered and China came into grand unification once again. It is during the Song and Yuan dynasties that the Great Four Inventions propagated to the world in succession.

The Ming Dynasty was established by Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Mingtaizu) in Yingtianfu (known as Nanjing today) in 1368. After the enthronement of Zhu Di (Emperor Mingchengzu), palaces, city walls and moat were constructed in Beijing on a large scale, and the capital was officially moved from Yingtianfu to Beijing in 1421. During the reign of Zhu Di, Zheng He (a eunuch of the dynasty as well as a famous navigator in Chinese history) was sent to voyage to the Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, Maldive Islands, Somalia and Kenya for seven times, which set a record of maximum in voyage scale and voyage distance before the Columbus era in the world.

  Tang (618 – 907) After the unified two Han dynasty, China underwent the warring and scattered Three Kingdom Period, Western Jin Dynasty, Eastern Jin Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty successively for about 400 years. In 618 AD, Li Yuan (Emperor Tanggaozu) established the Tang Dynasty, which is commonly seen as the most puissant and flourishing dynasty in Chinese history. His son Li Shimin (Emperor Tangtaizong), who led the country to the summit of Chinese feudalism, adopted series of enlightened policies and further developed agriculture, handicraft industry, commerce, weaving, tintage, ceramics, metal smelting, shipbuilding and many other technologies at that time. In 760s, Tang Dynasty had ruled the Tarim Basin, Junggar Basin, regions along the Ili River and even made influence in many cities of Central Asia. Meanwhile, communications in economy and culture with Japan, Korean, India, Persia, Arab and other countries and regions made China known to more and more countries in the world.

  Han (206 BC – 220 AD)

The powerful Qin Dynasty was pulled down due to its tyrannical rule and Liu Bang (Emperor Hangaozu) founded the Western Han Dynasty in 206 BC. The Western Han Dynasty was also one of the strongest dynasties that had developed much in regime, agriculture, handicraft industry, commerce and many other fields, with a population of some 50 millions. It is during the reign of Liu Che (Emperor Hanwudi) that the dynasty achieved its peak, with Confucius becoming the national belief and its control area stretching from the Central Plains (heartland of ancient China) to the Western Regions (known as Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and Central Asia today). This great emperor had also sent Zhang Qian (a famous ambassador) to the Western Region, opening the way connecting Chang’an (known as Xi’an today), Xinjiang, Central Asia and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, which is now worldwide known as “Silk Road”. With the accessing of the Silk Road, various Chinese silk fabrics were transported to the West and contact between the West and China became more frequent. In the 1st century, Buddhism was introduced into China.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the country sank into wars again because of the sharp social contradictions between farmers and the ruling class. In 25 AD, Liu Xiu (Emperor Hanguangwudi), who is the descendants of the royal family of Western Han dynasty, founded a new Han dynasty, choosing Luoyang (known as Luoyang City of Henan Province today) as the capital. Luoyang is geographically located east to Chang’an (known as Xi’an today), the capital of the previous Western Han Dynasty. For this reason the dynasty Liu Xiu set up was called Eastern Han Dynasty. In 105 AD, Cai Lun, an official of the dynasty, invented the papermaking technology, which is listed as one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China together with compass (invented during Warring States Period), gunpowder (invented during Sui and Tang dynasties) and typography (invented during Northern Song Dynasty).