Chinese History 2

The History of the Chinese Cultural Civilisation and the Dynasties.
Chinese tradition says that the Hjsa (or Xia), 2200 -1750 BC, was the first regular dynasty. But verifiable evidence was only established for the second one, the Shang, 1766-1066 BC, when writing was invented and the earliest cities developed. Thousands of animal bones with oracle inscriptions from this era were found around the Shang capital Yin which was located at the Yellow river. The following Zhou Dynasty, 1066-221 BC, comprising a number of seperated states, saw the flowering of literature, art and philosophy and the birth of Confucianism and Daoism.
Confucianism Qufu in Shandong Province is the birthplace of the great sage Kung-fu Dse (in latin translation Confucius) 551-479 BC whose impact on Chinese Culture was essential but was fully recognized only long after his death. He suffered very much from the more and more chaotic political and social situation under the weak Zhou kings. He contrasted this with a code of conduct, which was in essence obedience, respect and selflessness, but above all the need to work for the common good. His teaching was recorded and Confucian ethics were later adopted by the Chinese rulers. Confucianism was born as an essential school of thought, pragmatic and socially oriented and it acquired the status of a Chinese religion.	Confucius, 551-497BC
The weakened regime of the Zhou kings was less and less able to keep the seperated states and their thirst for conquest under control. Among them there was one leader who called himself Qin Shi Huangdi. He had the vision and ruthlessness to unite the seperated and diverging states under a strong centralized regime. Read the next page about the first Chinese Emperor and the Qin dynasty.
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