History

Old times (from the remote antiquity to 1840)

China is one of the countries with older civilization; its history owns written sources of almost 4,000 years.

The Homo yuanmounensis, fossil of man monkey shortage in Yuanmou, province of Yunnan, dates from 1.700.000 years and is the known more primitive homínido one within the Chinese territory. The Homo pekinensis, that lived in the region of Zhoukoudian, Peking, does about four hundred and five hundred thousand years, was able to walk raised, to make and to use simple instruments, knew to use the fire and owned the basic characteristics of the man. During the long period of the primitive society, towards the 21st century a.n.e., appeared the first dynasty in Chinese history, the Xia, with which it entered the esclavista society. The dynasties Shang (century XVI-XI a.n.e approx) and Zhou of the West passed (century XI-770 a.n.e approx), that developed the esclavismo. They followed the Period of Spring and Fall and the Period of the Combatant Kingdoms (770-221 a.n.e.). These two periods are considered like a stage of transition of the esclavista society to the feudal one.

China is one of the countries of the world with older economic development. Or it does five or six thousand years, the town that lived in the river basin of the Huanghe river had main agriculture as occupation and raised cattle. During the Shang dynasty, more ago than 3,000 years, the technique was known to fuse the bronze, they used iron instruments, and they produced utensils of white and enameled pottery. The production of soothes and his tejeduría also enough was developed and had been born the oldest technique from loom soothes with reasons in altorelieve. In the Period of Spring and Fall (770-476 a.n.e.), it appeared the technique for the production of steel. During the Period of the Combatant Kingdoms (475-221 a.n.e.), Li Bing and its son directed the construction of the hydraulic work of Dujiangyan, in neighborhoods of the present city of Chengdu, province of Sichuan, fixing rationally the relations between the irrigated land, the deviation of the floods and the sand evacuation. The same work can be considered a success shining of hydraulic sciences and the technology of the antiquity and continues playing a role nowadays important. During the Period of Spring and Fall and the one of the Combatant Kingdoms there was a great academic prosperity, without precedents, in the ideological land. The representative personalities of each doctrinal school expressed their criteria freely publishing works to discuss the policy and to analyze the society, and of that way it appeared the situation of “that one hundred schools of the thought competed”. Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencio and Sun Wu were representing of that period.

In year 221 a.n.e. Qin Shi Huang put term to the possessions of feudos by the dignitaries who had reigned in the previous Period of the Combatant Kingdoms and founded the Qin dynasty. The first feudal, pluriétnico State was this one unified and with being able centralized. Qin Shi Huang unified the letters, the unit of measurement and the currency, established the system of prefectures and districts, also constructed famous to the Great Wall and the palace, the tomb and the temporary residence, for itself in Xianyang and Lishan. Their constructions on the ground were destroyed in the war, but the objects in the subsoil were kept for always. The “terra-cotta soldiers and horses”, important archaeological finding of the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang, know themselves like the eighth wonder of the world; the huge and urgent scene especially impresses the Chinese and foreign tourists. In the last years of the Qin dynasty, Liu Bang, of simple origin and Xiang Yu, general aristocrat, demolished together the domination of Qin and after some years, Liu Bang surpassed to Xiang Yu and created the powerful dynasty Are in 206 year a.n.e.

During the dynasty They have, agriculture, the crafts and the commerce they underwent an enormous development. In the reign of Wudi emperor (140-87 a.n.e.), the dynasty Has knew their more prosperous and powerful period, it defeated to the hunos and it sent to Zhang Qian to the west abriendo the way that left from Chang´an (today Xi´an, province of Shaanxi) for the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, happening through Xinjiang and Central Asia. This way, known as “Route of Soothes”, made possible the continuous transport of the beautiful ones you soothe of China towards the West. In year 33 a.n.e., princess Wang Zhaojun married with the head of the hunos Huhanxie. Thus, the pluriétnico country was unified more and more. The dynasty Has lasted 426 years altogether, and year 220, history entered the time of the Three Kingdoms (220-265) Wei, Shu and Wu, that is to say.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan were famous political personages. Cao Cao, founder of the Wei kingdom, applied the policy to look for and to be useful widely to the talents, to quarter troops and to plow fertile earth in order to defend the border zones. Zhuge Liang was prime minister of the Shu kingdom, its noble quality of “not scrimping efforts to fulfill his to have” stimulated to its successors like symbol of the wisdom of the antiquity of China. The creator of the kingdom Wu, Sun Quan, defeated to Cao Cao in Chibi along with Liu EIB. Soon he defeated to this last one in Yiling. He appointed civil servants agricultural and he put in practice the policy to work the Earth, impelling the exploration of lands to the south of the Changjiang. The facts of these three people are detailed in the called novel Chronic of the three kingdoms.

After the period of the Three Kingdoms, after the Jin dynasty (265-420), the dynasties of the South and North (420-589) and the Sui dynasty (581-618), Li Yuan established the Tang (618-907) in year 618. His son Li Shimin (626-649 in the throne), that is Taizong emperor, was one of the emperors with majors successes of Chinese history. He applied a series of measures that are known like “Policy of Zhenguan” fomenting the prosperity of the feudal period. The Tang had very developed agriculture, the crafts and the commerce. The textiles, the printings, the ceramic, the iron and steel industry and astillería saw new technical progresses. The communications by water and earth registered great development and ample economic and cultural contacts with the Arab Japan, Korea, India, Persia and countries settled down. After the Tang dynasty, it was the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten States (907-960). In year 960, the general of Later Zhou Zhao Kuangyin gave a coup d'etat, raised the throne and founded the Song dynasty (960-1279). In 1206, Gengis Khan unified the mongolas tribes and established kanato mongol. His Kublai grandson entered the south and founded the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), chose Dadu (today Peking) like his capital. During the dynasties Song and Yuan, the industry and the inner commerce as as much outer also were very developed. Numerous retailers and foreign travellers came to China. Venetian Marco Polo made an extensive trip by this earth. The story of its trip describes of vivid way and makes specific the prosperity and the power of the country, as well as its industrial and commercial blossoming. The manufacture of the paper, the press, the compass and the powder, during the dynasties Song and Yuan registered new development and were transmitted to other places, having done significant contributions to the world-wide civilization.

In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang created in Nanjing the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). After his death, his son Zhu Di raised the throne and began to construct in Peking, in great scale, palaces and temples. In 1421, he transferred the capital to Peking officially. In the Ming dynasty, the agricultural production and the crafts obtained remarkable development and in the last years of Ming they appeared buds of Capitalism. At the same time, the friendly contacts between Asian and African China and other countries were made frequent more and more.

Modern age (1840-1919)

The War of the Opium, in 1840, constituted a turn-in point for Chinese history. At the beginning of century XIX, England introduced in great amount the opium in China, which meant to the country the drainage of the silver, the abrupt rise of the metal and the financial difficulties to him. In 1839, the Qing court commanded to Lin Zexu to Guangzhou to realize a strict prohibition of the opium. With the purpose of to protect the opium commerce, England untied, in 1840, an invading war to China. Although the military and patriotic civilians of the country, headed by Lin Zexu, resisted the invasion heroically, the Qing court, corrupt and incapable, time and time again looked for the reconciliation with the aggressors and ended up signing with the Government of England the “Treaty of Nanjing”, which humiliated to the nation and made lose the state sovereignty. From that moment, China walked step by step to the semi colonial and semifeudal society.

Revolution of new democracy (1919-1949)

Under the impact of the Revolution of October of Russia, in 1919 it exploded the Movement of the 4 of May, antifeudal anti-imperialist and. In that movement, the Chinese proletariado one began to raise the political scene of the country. The Movement of the 4 of May constituted a turn of the democratic revolution of the old type to the revolution of new democracy. The movement made possible the propagation of the marxism-leninismo in China and its combination with the practice of the Chinese revolution, prepared the ideology and the pictures for the foundation of the Communist Party of China. In 1921, in representation of the communist groups of the diverse places, Mao Zedong, Dong Biwu, Chen Tanqiu, There are Shuheng, Wang Jinmei, Deng Enming, Li Da and others, they celebrated in Shanghai the I National Congress, consequently was born the Communist Party from China.

In 1924, Sun Yat-sen, precursor of the democratic revolution and creative of the Guomindang of China, began to cooperate actively with the Communist Party of China, organizing to the masses working and farmer in the Expedition to the North. After the death of Sun Yat-sen, the rightist group of the Guomindang, with Jiang Jieshi like representative, gave a contrarrevolucionario coup d'etat in 1927 massacreing to the members of the Communist Party and to the revolutionary masses. Shortly after the government of the Guomindang was based on Nanjing. That caused the failure of the great revolution. From that moment, the Communist Party of China directed to the Chinese town in the fight against the domination of the Guomindang, in the Agrarian Revolutionary War, that is to say, the “Civil War of Ten Years”.

In 1937 July, Japan unleashed the predatory war against China. The guomindanistas troops carried out a series of campaigns in the frontal battlefield and gave to duros blows to the Japanese army. The Eighth Army and New the Fourth Army directed by the Communist Party abrieron fronts in the enemy's rear area and in very hard conditions, they fought against the majority of the Japanese troops and almost all the army puppet; that played a role decisive of the victory of the antiJapanese war.

Chronological table of Chinese history

People's Republic of China

From the 21 to the 30 of September of 1949 the I was celebrated Plenary Session of Political the Consultative Conference of the Chinese Town. In her they participated representing in the diverse parties, groups and social and democratic circles without in favor connection. In that occasion the Common Program was elaborated that it performed the function of provisional Constitution, was born the Governmental Council Popular Power station from the People's Republic of China, with Mao Zedong like President, and Zhou Enlai was named Prime minister of the Governmental Administrative Council and minister of Outer Relations. 1º of October of 1949 300,000 inhabitants of Peking in the Tian´anmen place met to celebrate the proclamation of the Republic. Mao Zedong declared with solemnity from the presidential tribune of Tian´anmen the foundation of the People's Republic of China.

The first years of the Popular Republic were a stage of reestablishment of the national economy. At the same time as it developed the production, China dedicated concerted efforts to the gradual establishment of the public property on production means. From 1953 to 1956, it carried out the socialist transformation, it anticipated the fulfillment of the First Quinquennial Plan for the Development of the National Economy (1953-1957), constructed a group of nonexisting in and the past essential basic industries for state industrialization, including the manufacture of airplanes and automobiles, heavy machinery and of precision, equipment of electrical generation, iron and steel industry and facilities for mines, as well as steel of high category, nonferrous metal smelting, etc.

From 1957 to 1966, before the “cultural revolution”, it was a stage in which the socialist construction in great scale was begun. Comparing 1966 with 1956, the industrial fixed assets of all the country, to original prices, increased in four times and the national rent, to cotejables prices, was increased in a 58 percent. It grew in several, and in tens of times the volume of main industrial products and a series of new industrial branches even settled down. The basic construction of agriculture and its technological transformation unfolded on a large scale, the possession of tractors for agricultural use and the application of chemical fertilizers grew in more than seven times. The accomplishment of the Program of Scientific Development was anticipated and Technological for Twelve Years (1956-1967) and many scientific and technological branches were developed quickly just created. In these ten years, the Communist Party and the Government of China had serious faults in the direction principles, putting in serious difficulties the national economy in certain years.

The “cultural revolution”, that passed between May of 1966 and October of 1976, was initiated and directed by Mao Zedong, President of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The contrarrevolucionarias power groups of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing took advantage the errors committed by Mao Zedong in the last years of their life and to its backs they realized great amount of activities detrimental for the State and the town, taking them to undergo the most serious slips and losses known from 1949. Although Mao Zedong committed serious errors during the “cultural revolution”, seeing their life altogether, their feats and merits are much more great that its faults.

In October of 1976, with the support of the great popular masses, the Communist Party of China, made pieces the contrarrevolucionaria power group of Jiang Qing. China entered a new stage of development of its history. In 1977 July, being based on the energetic demands of the town of all the country, Deng Xiaoping was restituted in all the positions inside and outside the Communist Party, of which it had been dismissed during the “cultural revolution”. With the call of III the Plenary Session of XI the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the end of 1978, reality became the great turn with meaning of long reach, never seen after the birth of the New China. In 1979, China began to apply the policy of reform of opening formulated by Deng Xiaoping, to correct, in all the line and conscientiously, the errors of “leftist” tendency of the “cultural revolution” and the previous times, to transfer the center of gravity of the work towards the modernization, energetically to readjust the proportions of the national economy, and to reform the structures of the economy and the policy, being able to gradually define a way for the socialist modernization with Chinese peculiarities. With the reform and the opening, the appearance of the country underwent deep changes. This last period is the best one from the foundation of the People's Republic of China, and also the one of more concrete benefits for the town.