Chinese civilization/ ചൈനീസ് സംസ്കാരം
The History
of China encompasses the time
period from prehistory to the present day. Yellow River is said to be the cradle
of Chinese civilization, although cultures originated at various regional
centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Records of
written history can be found as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1700–1046 BC), although ancient historical texts such
as the Records of the
Grand Historian (ca.
100 BC) and Bamboo Annals assert the existence of a Xia dynasty before the Shang. Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy further developed during the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BC).
The Zhou dynasty began to bow to external and internal
pressures in the 8th century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart into
smaller states, beginning in the Spring and Autumn
period and
reaching full expression in the Warring States period. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history (the most recent of which was the Chinese Civil War).
In between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism,
Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras, including the
present, control has stretched as far as Xinjiang and/or Tibet.
This practice began with the Qin dynasty: in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang united the various warring kingdoms and created the first
Chinese empire. Successive dynasties in Chinese
history developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the Emperor of China to directly control vast territories. China's last dynasty
was Qing,
which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of
China in
1949.
The conventional view of Chinese history is that of
alternating periods of political unity and disunity, with China occasionally
being dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were in turn assimilated into
the Han Chinese population. Cultural and political influences from other
parts of Asia and the Western world, carried by successive waves of immigration, expansion,
foreign contact, and cultural assimilation are part of the modern culture of China.
