China: early imperial history 221 BC-AD 1279

For the earlier history of China, see China: prehistoric and ancient history to 221 BC.

The period 221 BC to AD 1279 saw the establishment of a unified China, initially under the harsh regime of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), and then under the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). Division of the empire occurred during the so-called Six Dynasties or Three Kingdoms period (220-581); the term Three Kingdoms is sometimes applied only to the period 220-280 when the Wei, Shu, and Wu struggled for supremacy. The disunity ended with the advent of the Sui dynasty (581-618). The mighty Tang dynasty (618-907) expanded the empire westwards to eastern Persia and the Caspian Sea and northwards to the Korean border. The Song dynasty (960-1279) was more noted for its cultural and technological achievements, and was pushed south by the Liao and Jin dynasties. However, from 1203 both the Jin and the Song were pushed aside by the onslaught of the Mongols.

Other landmarks of the period include the beginning of the Great Wall and China's canal system under the Qin, the establishment of the Confucian system of government under the Han, and the rise of Taoist and Buddhist philosophy and theories.

The Qin dynasty 221-206 BC The period of the Warring states (c. 475-221 BC) had already seen a tendency towards centralization, before the Qin dynasty brought unification to China. Schools of thought such as Confucianism argued for paternalistic styles of government, likening a ruler to a father. However, the philosophy adopted by the rulers of the western state of Qin was that of Legalism. Its strict centralization and ruthless severity in government enhanced Qin's military power, and contributed to Qin's final victory over the other states. By 221 BC the whole of China was unified under the first Qin emperor, Shi Huangdi.

During the Qin dynasty's period of rule, a number of ambitious projects were begun. Effective government machinery for the entire empire was set up by Shi Huangdi's premier, Li Si (Li Ssu). Opponents of the Qin were expelled from China, including the Confucian scholars who were forced to stop their work. Their books and writings, which challenged the ideas and powers of the Qin, were heavily censored.

The Qin emperors also began major building projects, including the Great Wall of China and a canal system. In order to pay for these vast projects, taxes were increased, placing great burdens on the peasant population. Peasants also found themselves forced to labour on the canals, and to work on the frontiers of China as soldiers or labourers. Their harsh treatment, including severe punishments for refusal to labour, led to uprisings against the Qin. Peasants in the countryside formed armed groups, and were soon joined by forced labourers who had escaped. In addition to these rebellions, the cost of the building projects bankrupted the government and caused the Qin dynasty to collapse.

The Han dynasty 206 BC-AD 220 Out of this chaos Liu Bang came forward as founder of the mighty Han dynasty. Liu Bang amassed an army of followers and steadily defeated his enemies. In 206 BC, with all the Qin leaders dead, Liu Bang declared himself emperor and took the title Gao Zu. The Han built upon the foundations laid by the Qin. The empire was extended to the south and west and the power of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) empire to the north, against which the Chinese had warred for centuries, was slowly destroyed in a series of successful wars.

Under the Han the Confucian system of philosophy regained the prominent position it had enjoyed before being attacked by the Qin. The classic books of Confucianism were pieced together and the Confucian ethic was accepted by the scholar-administrators of the empire. The idea of the ‘career open to talent’ was created by the introduction of an examination system for entry into the civil service. The exams were intended to ensure that the Han emperors were served by the most able and talented officials, but it was many centuries before the ladder of opportunity reached down to the peasant class. The fact that the main Chinese ethnic group called themselves Han, and continue to do so today, attests to the power and influence of that dynasty.

The Three Kingdoms and the Sui dynasty The growth of power in the provinces at the expense of the centre again led to the fall of the ruling house in AD 220. There followed the so-called Six Dynasties or Three Kingdoms period, when the empire was divided into three parts. There was a short-lived reunion under the Western Jin (Chin), between 265 and 316, but it was not until the advent of the Sui in 581 that China was finally reunited as one country again.

Traditional Confucianism, the system of philosophy that had dominated Chinese thought under the Han, became unpopular during this unsettled period. In its place, the less rigid ideas of Taoism and Buddhism became more influential. Buddhism, introduced into China in the 1st century AD, was in fact the established religion of some of the ‘barbarian’ dynasties that ruled over northern China from the early 4th century to 581.

Yang Jian reunited north and south in 581, but his Sui dynasty was short-lived. The Grand Canal linking the Huang He and the Chang Jiang (River Yangtze) was finally completed (having been begun by the Qin). However, expensive foreign wars, particularly in Korea, again led to the breakdown of order, much as the taxes and forced labour of the Qin dynasty had done. This gave Li Yuan, a government official, the chance to found the Tang dynasty in 618.

The Tang dynasty 618-907 The 300 years that followed, to the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, were years of great expansion and progress. At first the power of the Turkic peoples to the west was so great that the Tang were forced to pay large sums of money to avoid invasion and war. Eventually, however, the Tang grew strong enough to launch an attack. The size of the Chinese empire was greatly expanded to the west at the expense of the Turkic peoples, reaching as far as eastern Persia (Iran) and the Caspian Sea.

From every part of Asia ambassadors and representatives were received at the Chinese court. Later the Chinese frontier was also extended on the north to the borders of Korea after defeating the Mongolian Quidan (Khidan) people of the region.

During this period poetry flourished greatly and poets were honoured as never before. It was also in this period that the able Empress Wu Zhao, the only female sovereign in Chinese history, ruled for 16 prosperous years (690-705). The Tang created a much stronger centralized government than had ever existed before, along with a very wealthy empire. Trade flourished, partly because the Tang gained control of important routes such as the valuable Silk Road through Asia.

The Song dynasty 960-1279 At the end of the 8th century the Tang dynasty began to decline. After a period (907-60) of five minor dynasties, the Song dynasty (or Sung) was established in 960. The period of the Song dynasty was far greater in cultural and technological achievement than the Tang, but less successful in war against China's enemies and neighbours. This was, above all, a period of great literary activity: book-making, printing, and the creation of libraries were actively carried on throughout the country. Trade and industry flourished in the great cities along the Chang Jiang and on the coasts.

The chief enemies of the empire during this period were the cavalry-based Qidan (Khidan) people in the north, who established the Liao dynasty in northeast China and Manchuria. The first three emperors of the Song dynasty, Taizu (T'ai-tsu), Taizong (T'ai-tsung), and Zhen Zong (Chen-tsung), carried on a war against the Qidan with gradually declining success. Eventually the Chinese were forced to ask for the help of the nomadic Juchen (Jurchen) people to remove the Qidan from the Liaodong peninsula in northeast China. This the Juchen did, but they then refused to leave the country that they had occupied. They attacked the Chinese, and ultimately established their own Jin dynasty to rule over the whole of northern China, leaving only the southern half to the Song.

The Mongols Meanwhile the power of the Mongols in eastern Asia was increasing, and it was the northern Jin kingdom, created by the Juchen, that was attacked first. The Mongol leader Genghis Khan began the attack on the Jin in 1213. In collaboration with the Song of southern China the Mongols destroyed the Jin empire in 1234. Later, under Genghis's grandson Kublai Khan the Mongols turned against the Song and finally defeated them in 1279.

For subsequent events, see China: late imperial history 1279-1900, China: history 1900-49, China, and Taiwan.