Empire of China
The Chinese Empire was founded in 221 BC. Founded by Emperor Qin Shihuangdi . He formed it from several kingdoms which he had gradually conquered. In its long history, the empire split up into numerous partial states several times and was reunified three times: in 280 by the Jin dynasty , in 589 by the Sui dynasty and in 1279 by the Mongolian Yuan dynasty .
The empire existed (with interruptions) for 2132 years until the proclamation of the Chinese republic by Sun Yat-sen on January 1, 1912; the last emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi abdicated on February 12, 1912. Yuan Shikai , the first President of the Republic of China, made himself "Emperor of China" in 1915. This “Kaiserreich”, which was abolished in 1916, and later restoration attempts are of little historical significance.
The partly mythical rulers of the early days (see Chinese mythology ) have gone down in history and are sometimes referred to as “ primordial emperors ”, especially in Western representations ( Chinese partly as huang ,皇, partly as di ,帝). 1 In the narrower historical sense, they were not emperors ( huangdi ,皇帝). The rulers of the pre-imperial Zhou dynasty are considered kings ( wang ,王).
Traditional chronology of the ruling dynasties
There have been different dynasties in Chinese history . The partly mythological "dynasties" before the emergence of China as a unitary state - i.e. before the establishment of the Chinese Empire - were:
| dynasty | 中文 | Pinyin | Period of time | Ruler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The three exalted ones and the five great emperors | 三皇 五帝 | Sān Huáng Wǔ Dì | ? -2184 BC Chr. | Ruler list |
| Xia Dynasty | 夏朝 | Xìa Cháo | approx. 2200–1800 BC Chr. | Ruler list |
| Shang dynasty | 商朝 | Shang Chao | approx. 1500–1100 BC Chr. | Ruler list |
| Zhou Dynasty | 周朝 | Zhou Cháo | 1122 / 1045-770 BC BC Western Zhou dynasty | Ruler list |
| 770-256 BC Chr. Eastern Zhou Dynasty | Ruler list | |||
| Time of spring and autumn annals | 春秋 时代 | Chūnqiū Shídài | 722-481 BC Chr. | - |
| Warring States Period | 戰國 時代 | Zhànguó Shídài | 475-221 BC Chr. | - |
The dynasties of the Chinese Empire that began in 221 BC BC was founded by the ruler of the then Kingdom of Qin (秦國) and for the first time united the whole empire, were:
| dynasty | 中文 | Pinyin | Period of time | Ruler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qin Dynasty | 秦朝 | Qin Cháo | 221-207 BC Chr. | Ruler list |
| Han dynasty | 漢朝 | Hàn Cháo | 206 BC BC – 9 AD (First Reign) | Ruler list |
| 23 AD – 220 AD (Second Reign) | ||||
| Xin Dynasty | 新 朝 | Xin Cháo | 9-23 ( Interregnum ) | Ruler list |
| Three Kingdoms Era | 三國 | Sān Guo | 220-280 | List of rulers 2 |
| Jin Dynasty | 晉朝 | Jìn Cháo | 265-420 | Ruler list |
| Sixteen realms | 十六 國 | Shíliù Guó | 304-439 | List of rulers 3 |
| Southern and Northern Dynasties | 南北朝 | Nán Běi Cháo | 420-581 | List of rulers 4 |
| Sui dynasty | 隋朝 | Suí Cháo | 581-618 | Ruler list |
| Tang Dynasty | 唐朝 | Táng Cháo | 618-907 | Ruler list |
| Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms | 五代 十 國 | Wǔdài Shíguó | 907-979 | Ruler list |
| Liao Dynasty | 遼朝 | Liáo Cháo | 916-1125 | Ruler list |
| Song Dynasty | 宋朝 | Sing Cháo | 960-1279 | Ruler list |
| Jin Dynasty | 金朝 | Jīn Cháo | 1125-1234 | Ruler list |
| Western Xia Dynasty | 西夏 | Xī Xià | 1038-1227 | Ruler list |
| Yuan Dynasty | 元朝 | Yuán Cháo | 1279-1368 | Ruler list |
| Ming Dynasty | 明朝 | Míng Cháo | 1368-1644 | Ruler list |
| Qing Dynasty | 清朝 | Qīng Cháo | 1644-1912 | Ruler list |
Restoration attempts
In the first half of the 20th century there were several attempts to restore the monarchy in China:
- 1915–1916, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor of the Hongxian dynasty .
- In July 1917, the last Manchu emperor, Puyi, was re -appointed emperor for two weeks during the fighting between the northern militarists of the Beijing Army .
- In 1921, the " white " Russian generals Grigori Michailowitsch Semjonow and Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, who fled to Mongolia and Manchuria, tried to reestablish both the Russian and Chinese monarchies.
- In 1928, the warlord Zhang Zuolin is said to have prepared his own coronation (as noted in Puyi's autobiography), but fell victim to a Japanese attack.
- 1934-1945 Puyi was nominally emperor ("by the grace of Japan") of the Japanese occupied and dependent, but formally independent Manchukuo .
literature
- Timothy Brook (Ed.): History of Imperial China. 6 vols.Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.)
- Mark Lewis: The Early Chinese Empires. 2007.
- Mark Lewis: China between Empires. The Northern and Southern Dynasties. 2009.
- Mark Lewis: China's Cosmopolitan Empire. The Tang Dynasty. 2009.
- Dieter Kuhn: The Age of Confucian Rule. The Song Transformation of China. 2009.
- Timothy Brook: The Troubled Empire. China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. 2010.
- William T. Rowe: China's Last Empire. The Great Qing. 2012.
- Jacques Gernet : The Chinese World. The history of China from the beginning to the present day . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1988, ISBN 3-518-38005-2 .
- Rainer Hoffmann, Qiuhua Hu: China. Its history from the beginning to the end of the imperial era . Freiburg 2007.
- Herbert Franke , Rolf Wedding slip : The Chinese Empire (= Fischer World History . Volume 19). Fischer paperback, Frankfurt am Main 1968.
- Charles Hucker: Official Titles in Imperial China. Stanford 1985.
- Frederick W. Mote: Imperial China 900–1800. HUP, Cambridge (Mass.) 1999 (several NDe).
- Remarks
- Wei (魏, Wèi )
- Shu-Han ( 蜀汉, Shǔ Hàn )
- Eastern Wu, also Sun Wu (东吴, Dōng Wú , also孙吴, Sūn Wú )
- Han-Zhao (汉 赵, Hàn Zhào )
- Cheng-Han (成 汉, Chéng Hàn )
- Later Zhao (后 赵, Hòu Zhào )
- Former Liang (前 凉, Qián Liáng )
- Former Yan (前 燕, Qián Yàn )
- Former Qin (前秦, Qián Qín )
- Later Qin (后秦, Hòu Qín )
- Later Yan (后燕, Hòu Yàn )
- Western Qin (西秦, Xī Qín )
- Later Liang (后 凉, Hòu Liáng )
- Southern Liang (南 凉, Nán Liáng )
- Southern Yan (南燕, Nán Yàn )
- Western Liang (西凉, Xī Liáng )
- Northern Liang (北 凉, Běi Liáng )
- Xia (夏, Xià )
- Northern Yan (北 燕, Běi Yàn )
- Earlier song - (前 宋, Qián Sòng )
- Southern Qi - (南 齐, Nán Qí )
- Liang - (梁, Liáng )
- Chen Dynasty (陈, Chén )
... and northern dynasties:
- Northern (北魏, Běi Wèi )
- Eastern (东魏, Dōng Wèi )
- Western Wei - (西魏, Xī Wèi )
- Northern Qi - (北齐, Běi Qí )
- Northern Zhou Dynasty (北周, Běi Zhōu )
See also
- Chinese urban development
- Names of Chinese emperors
- President of the Republic of China (heads of state after 1912)
- List of Presidents of the People's Republic of China (heads of state from 1949)
Web links
Coordinates: 32 ° N , 115 ° E