Timeline of Chinese history

The following is a timeline of the history of China:

For a summary table of the dynasties in Chinese history and their dates, check here.

Contents

1 Ancient China

Ancient China

Date	Ruling entity	King	Events	Other people/events
2500 BC	Sanhuangwudi		This period is part of the Chinese mythology
-2205	Sanhuangwudi		This period is part of the Chinese mythology
-2205	Xia Dynasty
-1806	Xia Dynasty
-1523	Shang Dynasty		First records of Chinese characters
-1027	Shang Dynasty
-1122	Zhou Dynasty	King Wu of Zhou
-781		You
-771		You	End of Western Zhou
-770		Ping	Beginning of Eastern Zhou
-722			Spring and Autumn Period
-720
-619		Xiang
-632				Battle of Chengpu
-651
-551				Lao Zi
-551				Confucius
-481
-479
-403			Warring States Period
-314		Nan
-260				Battle of Changping
-256

Imperial China

Date	Ruling entity	Emperor	Events	Other people/events
-255	Qin Dynasty		Warring States Period
-246		Qin Shi Huang
-221				Start of construction of the Great Wall
-221			Unification of China
-210			Burial of the Terracotta Army
-209		Qin Er Shi
-207		Qin Er Shi
-207		Ziying
-206			Chu-Han contention
-205				Battle of Jingxing
-202
-202	Han Dynasty (Western Han)	Han Gao Zu
-195		Han Gao Zu
6		Ruzi
9		Ruzi
9	Xin Dynasty	Wang Mang
23	Xin Dynasty	Wang Mang
23	Han Dynasty (Eastern Han)	Gengshi
25
88		He
105			Cai Lun invents paper
106
106		Shang
168		Ling
184			Yellow Turban Rebellion
189
		King of Hongnong
		Xian
191			Battle of Jieqiao
200			Battle of Guandu
208			Battle of Changban	Battle of Red Cliffs
220
220	Three Kingdoms
222		Cao Pi (Wei) Liu Bei (Shu) Sun Quan (Wu)	Battle of Yiling
225			Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
230			Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
234			Battle of Wuzhang Plain
250			Introduction of Buddhism in China
252
265
265	Jin Dynasty	Wu
274		Wu
290		Hui
291			War of the Eight Princes
306			War of the Eight Princes
307
372		Xiaowu
383			Battle of Fei River
396
419		Gong
420		Gong
420	Southern and Northern Dynasties
475			Bodhidharma arrives in China
589
581	Sui Dynasty
618	Sui Dynasty
618	Tang Dynasty
627		Li Shi Min
635			First Christian missionaries arrive in China: Nestorian monks from Asia Minor and Persia, building Daqin Pagoda.
649
650			The Records of the Tang Dynasty describes a landmark visit to China by Saad ibn Abi Waqqas (ra), one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad, in 650 C.E. This event is considered to be the birth of Islam in China.
684		Wu Ze Tian
705		Wu Ze Tian
712		Xuanzong
751			Battle of Talas
756			An Lushan Rebellion
763			An Lushan Rebellion
845			Mass persecution of Buddhism
907
907	Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
960	Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
960	Song Dynasty
1127			End of Northern Song / Beginning of Southern Song Sacking of Kaifeng by the Jurchens, capturing a pair of father-son emperors.
1214			Battle of Beijing
1255				Voyages of Marco Polo
1260		Kublai Khan
1271	Yuan Dynasty
1273			Battle of Xiangyang
1279			Battle of Yamen
1289			Franciscan friars begin mission work in China
1294
1295
1368
1368	Ming Dynasty	Hongwu
1398		Hongwu
1399		Jianwen
1402		Jianwen
1403		Yongle
1405				Voyages of Zheng He
1406			Construction of the Forbidden City begins
1424
1424		Hongxi
1425		Hongxi
1426		Xuande
1433
1435
1449			Battle of Tumu Fortress
1506		Zhengde
1516			First Portuguese settlement in Macau
1521
1522		Jiajing
1556			Earthquake in Shaanxi and Gansu. 850,000 casualties
1566
1573		Wanli
1582			Jesuits begin mission work in China
1616			Nurhaci founds the Qing Dynasty in Manchuria
1619			Battle of Sarhu
1620
		Taichang
		Tianqi
1627		Tianqi	First Manchu expedition to Korea
1627		Chongzhen	First Manchu expedition to Korea
1637			Second Manchu expedition to Korea
1644
1644	Qing Dynasty	Shunzhi
1661		Shunzhi
1662		Kangxi
1674			Revolt of the Three Feudatories
1680				First Portuguese governor in Macau
1683
1689			Treaty of Nerchinsk
1711			The British East India Company establishes a trading post in Guangzhou
1722
1723		Yongzheng
1735		Yongzheng
1735		Qianlong
1755			Ten Great Campaigns
1790			Ten Great Campaigns
1793			Lord Macartney, first British envoy to Beijing
1796
1796		Jiaqing
1814			First recorded Chinese convert to Western Christianity (the Nestorian form was long-established in China)
1820
1821		Daoguang
1839			First Opium War
1842			First Opium War	Treaty of Nanjing
1850
1851		Xianfeng	Taiping Rebellion
1854			Taiping Rebellion
1856			Second Opium War
1858				Treaty of Aigun Treaties of Tianjin
1860				Beijing Convention
1861
1862		Tongzhi
1874		Tongzhi
1875		Guangxu
1876			Chefoo Convention
1884			Franco-Chinese War
1885			Franco-Chinese War	Battle of Foochow
1894			First Sino-Japanese War	Battle of Yalu River
1895			First Sino-Japanese War	Treaty of Shimonoseki
1898			Hundred Days' Reform	Coup by Empress Dowager Cixi
1900			Boxer Rebellion
1901			Treaty of 1901
1908
1908		Pu-yi
1911		Pu-yi	Xinhai Revolution	Wuchang Uprising

Modern China

Date	Ruling entity	Head of State	Events	Other people/events
1912	Republic of China	Sun Yat Sen	Xinhai Revolution
1913		Sun Yat Sen
1913		Yuan Shikai
1915		Yuan Shikai	Japan's Twenty-One Demands
1919			May Fourth Movement
1921			Foundation of the Communist Party of China
1926			Northern Expedition
1927				Kuomintang-Communist split
1927				Nanchang Uprising
1928		Chiang Kai-Shek		Jinan Incident
1931		Chiang Kai-Shek	Chinese Soviet Republic	Mukden Incident
1931		Lin Sen
1932				Japan declares Manchukuo in Manchuria, independent from China
1934
1934			Long March
1935			Long March
1936			Xian incident	Japan establishes the Mengjiang
1937			Second Sino-Japanese War	Marco Polo Bridge Incident
				Battle of Pingxingguan
				Battle of Nanjing
1938				Battle of Tai'erzhuang
1939				Battle of Changsha (1939)
1940				Hundred Regiments Offensive
1941				Battle of Changsha (1941)
1942				Battle of Changsha (1942)
1943
1943		Chiang Kai-Shek
1944				Battle of Changsha (1944)
1945				The nationalist government is one of the founding members of the UN
1947			February 28 Incident
1949			Kuomintang retreats to Taiwan
1971			The PRC replaces the ROC as a permanent member of the UN Security Council
1975
1975		Yen Chia-jin
1978		Yen Chia-jin
1978		Chiang Ching-Kuo
1979			Taiwan Relations Act passed by the United States Congress
1988
1988		Lee Teng-hui
1996			Third Taiwan Strait Crisis	ROC Presidential Election 1996
2000			ROC Presidential Election 2000
2000		Chen Shui-bian	Chen Shui-bian's Four Noes and One Without
2002			Accession to World Trade Organization
2003			SARS outbreak
2004			ROC Presidential Election 2004

Date	Ruling entity	Head of State	Events	Other people/events
1949	People's Republic of China	Mao Zedong	Founding of the People's Republic of China
1950			Battle of Chosin Reservoir	Korean War
1951			Occupation of Tibet
1953
1956			Hundred Flowers campaign
1957			Hundred Flowers campaign
1958			Great Leap Forward
1959				Three Years of Natural Disasters
1960
1960			Sino-Soviet split
1961
1962			Sino-Indian War
1964			State Council decrees it is acceptable to abbreviate most characters listed in the Plan for Character Simplification	The PRC detonates its first atomic bomb
1966			Cultural Revolution	The Little Red Book
1969			Cultural Revolution	Opening of the first line of the Beijing Subway: 17 stations
1970			First satellite launch, using Long March rocket
1971			The PRC replaces the ROC as a permanent member of the UN Security Council	Henry Kissinger secretly visits Beijing
1972			Richard Nixon visits China. Shanghai Communiqué
1974			Discovery of the Terracotta Army
1976			Four Modernizations	Tiananmen incident following the death of Zhou Enlai
1976		Hua Guofeng of Deng Xiaoping Period
1977			Beijing Spring
1978			Start of Chinese economic reforms	Democracy Wall Movement
1979			One-child policy	Democracy Wall Movement
			USA and PRC establish full diplomatic relations	Visit of Deng Xiaoping to Washington, D.C.
			Border-war with Vietnam	Deng Xiaoping's Four cardinal principles
1980			First Special Economic Zones	Trial of the Gang of Four
1981
1981		Hu Yaobang of Deng Xiaoping Period
1984			Margaret Thatcher in China, signs Sino-British Joint Declaration, to handover of Hong Kong to the PRC in 1997
1987
1987		Zhao Ziyang of Deng Xiaoping Period
1989		Zhao Ziyang of Deng Xiaoping Period	Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
1989		Jiang Zemin of Deng Xiaoping Period	Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
1991			First McDonald's restaurant in Beijing
1996			Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
1997			Hong Kong handover, becomes a Special Administrative Region	Death of Deng Xiaoping
1999			Macau handover
2000			The PRC passes Japan as the country with which the USA has the largest trade deficit
2001			Accession to World Trade Organization	Beijing elected to hold the 2008 Summer Olympics
2002			16th Party Congress
2003		Hu Jintao	SARS outbreak	Shenzhou 5, PRC's first manned space mission
2004		Hu Jintao		Jiang Zemin retires from his post as Chairman of the Central Military Commission