Timeline of Chinese history
This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in China and its dynasties. To read about the background to these events, see History of China. See also the list of Chinese monarchs, Chinese emperors family tree, dynasties of China and years in China.
Divisions of Chinese history and their corresponding dynasties
For most of its history, China was organized into various dynastic states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great c. 2070 BC, and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in AD 1912, Chinese historiography came to organize itself around the succession of monarchical dynasties. Besides those established by the dominant Han ethnic group or its spiritual Huaxia predecessors, dynasties throughout Chinese history were also founded by non-Han peoples.
A depiction of Yu, the initiator of dynastic rule in China, by the Southern Song court painter Ma Lin.
A photograph of the Xuantong Emperor, widely considered to be the last legitimate monarch of China, taken in AD 1922.
Image: Han Guangwu Di
Image: Liu Bei Tang