
The dynasty was established by Qin Shi Huang Di as the first emperor. It was the first dynasty of China’s Imperial era. The Qin Dynasty was one of the shortest dynasties in China, lasting only 14 years. The dynasty was also the pioneer of the “Mandate of Heaven” that formed the justification of the ruler’s power. The Zhou Dynasty gave birth to Taoism and Confucianism and other new ideas including religion such as Moism. The Western Zhou Dynasty ruled China from a period of 275 years from 1047 BC to 771 BC and was replaced by the Eastern Zhou which ruled for 514 years until 256 BC. The Zhou Dynasty was one of the most important dynasties in the history of China. The dynasty was highly hierarchical with King Shang at the top. The Shang Dynasty is associated with the metallurgy of bronze and armory and jewelry techniques. The dynasty ruled the lower Yellow River from 1766 BC to 1047 BC. The historians have been able to confirm its existence through the numerous archaeological sites found by the Yellow River. Shang Dynasty is considered by modern historians as the first Chinese dynasty. Chinese Dynasties Shang Dynasty (1766 BC-1047 BC) The first dynasty was Xia (2100 BC-1766 BC) but it is considered semi-legendary. The central plain dynasties had their capital cities located within the Central Plain while the unified dynasties were responsible for uniting “China proper.” Conquest dynasties are Chinese dynasties that were founded by the non- Han Chinese.


There were three main types of dynasties: central plain dynasties, unified dynasties, and conquest dynasties. The history of China as a country is commonly divided is commonly divided into periods ruled by dynasties.
Dynasty definition series#
For centuries, China was ruled by a series of successive dynasties.
