Two Timelines of Important Events
in Chinese and World History
Organized by the Chinese Dynasties

The first version below lists the dynasties .
Click here for an in-depth chart of both historical Chinese events
and what was happening at the same time in the Western world.
Click here for a timeline of the specific Chinese Art in the
Gow Family Collection at The Naples Museum of Art.
China the Beautiful
Chinese Dynasties
Time Line with Details
Events Outside of China at the Same Time as Certain Dynasties
DATES
DYNASTIES
EVENTS IN CHINESE HISTORY
EVENTS IN WORLD HISTORY
1600 BC Shang Dynasty
1600 - 1027 BC 		   
800 BC Zhou Dynasty
1027 - 256 BC 		  Age of Hebrew prophets ca
875 - 520 BC
700 BC Spring and Autum Period 770 - 475 BC   First Olympic Games 776 BC, Founding of Rome 753 BC
600 BC   Lao-Tze
604 - 531 BC 		 
500 BC   Confucius (Kung-Fu Tze) 551 - 479 BC; Feudalism begins to decline Buddha
565 - 483 BC, Persian Empire 538 - 333 BC
400 BC Warring State Period
475 - 221 BC 		Construction of Han Gou Canal 486 BC City of Chi Built on the site of modern Beijing,
Marquis Yi of Zeng 475 - 433 BC 		Socrates
470 - 483 BC, Parthenon built 447 - 432 BC, End of Athenian Empire 404 BC
300 BC   Reign of King Cuo of Zhongshan
320 - 308 BC, Book of I Ching		 Alexander the Great conquers Egypt and western Asia
336 - 323 BC
200 BC Qin Dynasty
221 - 207 BC,
Han Dynasty
206 BC - 220 AD,
Western (Former) Han
206 BC - AD 9,
Eastern (Later) Han
AD 25 - 220		 Reign of Emperor Qinshihuang
246 - 210 BC,
China Unified
221 BC,
Great Wall begun 215 BC 		Hannibal crosses the Alps
218 BC
100 BC   Silk Road opened 139 BC, Confucianism made official state ideology
ca 100 BC,
Book of Ritual
ca 100 BC 		Venus de Milo sculpted
140 BC, Assassination of Julius Caesar
44 BC,
Reign of Cleopatra
47 - 30 BC, Augustus first Roman emperor 27 BC -AD 14
AD 1 Xin AD 9 - 25   Crucifixion of Jesus AD 33
AD 100   Invention of paper ca 100,
Taoism becomes popular,
Buddhism enters China from India
ca 150,
Chinese conquer Mongolia 121, Eunuchs gain power under Emperor Lang Ti 167 - 189 		 
AD 200 Three Kingdoms 220-280,
Jin Dynasty 265 - 420		 Compass developed 271, Great Wall completed 214, Competing dynasties vie for control of China 220 - 589 Sassinian Empire of Persia 226
AD 300 Northern Dynasties
386 - 581 --
Northern Wei 386 - 534, Eastern Wei 534 - 550, Western Wei 535 - 556, Northern Qi 550 - 577, Northern Zhou 557 - 581 		  Constantinople becomes capital of Roman Empire 330
AD 400 Southern Dynsasties
420 - 589 --
Song 420 -479,
Qi 479 - 502,
Lian 502 - 557,
Chen 557 - 589		   Fall of Roman Empire 476
AD 500 Sui Dynasty 581 - 618 Sui Dynasty reunited empire 589 Golden age of Mayan civilization in America; in Arabia, Mohammed lives
570 - 632
AD 600 Tang Dynasty 618 - 906 Tea first cultivated 600; porcelain developed, Construction of Grand Canal under Empeoro Yang Di 605 - 618, Reign of Empress Wu 690 - 705, Christianity introduced to China, Reign of Empress Wu Zetian 690 -705 Kingdom of Ghana established ca 600, Rise of Arab Empire 635 - 715
AD 700   Lady Yang Guifei 700 - 755,
Great age of poetry during Tang: Li Po (705-762), Tu Fu (712-770), Rebellion led by General An Lushan 755		  
AD 800   City of Chi renamed Yuchow under Tang Dynasty Charlemagne crowned first Holy Roman Emperor 800
AD 900 Five Dynasties 907 - 960 -- Later Lian 907 - 923, Later Tang 923 - 936, Later Jin 936 - 947,
Later Han 947 - 950, Later Zhou 951 - 960; Liao Dynasty 907 - 1125; Northern Song Dynasty 960 - 1127 		Dissolution of empire following fall of Tang 907, Song Dynasty reunites China 960; northern areas remain under foreign control, Liao dynasty rules Yuchow; rename capital Nanking Inca Empire expands 990
AD 1000   Death of Princess Chenguo 1018 Chinese invent gunpowder 1000, Norman conquest of England 1066, First Crusade begins 1096
AD 1100 Jin Dynasty 1125 - 1234, Southern Song Dynasty 1127 - 1279 Great age of figure and landscape painting during Southern Song, Nanking renamed Chung-tu (Central Capital) under Jin Dynasty 1153, Imperial palaces built at Chung-tu at site of Forbidden City 1179  
AD 1200 Yuan Dynasty (Mongol) 1271 - 1368 Genghis Khan founds Mongol Empire 1206, Genghis Khan captures Chung-tu 1215,
Kublai Khan moves Mongol capital to Chung-tu; construction begun on new site, renamed Ta-tu 1264, all of China brought under Yuan (Mongol) rule 1277-1279 		Magna Carta 1215, The Inquisition begins 1233, Marco Polo's journey to China 1271 - 1292, Spectacles invented 1290
AD 1300 Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644 Hungwu reign 1368- 1398, Jianwen reign 1398- 1402, Yongle reign 1403- 1424, Hongxi reign 1425, Xuande reign 1426-1435, Zhengtong reign 1436-1449,
Jingtai reign 1450 - 1456, Tianshun reign 1457-1464,
Chenghua reign 1465-1487,
Hongzhi reign 1488- 1505, Zhengde reign 1506-1521, Jiajing reign 1522 - 1566, Longqing reign 1567-1572,
Wanli reign 1572 - 1620, Tiachang reign 1620, Tianqi reign 1620 - 1627, Chongzhen reign 1628-1644 		   
AD 1400   Ta-tu renamed Peking under Ming Dynasty 1404, Construction of Forbidden City begun 1406, Ming capital moved to Peking, establishment of Forbidden City as new northern capital 1421 Joan of Arc
1412 - 1431,
Wars of the Roses 1455 - 1485, Columbus discovers the New World 1492
AD 1500   Reign of Nurhaci, unifier of Manchu tribes 1584 - 1626 Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa 1503, Protestant Reformation inaugurated by Martin Luther 1517
AD 1600 Qing Dynasty 1644 - 1911 -Shunzhi reign 1644-1661, Kangxi reign 1662 - 1722, Yongzheng reign 1723-1735,
Qianlong reign 1735-1795,
Jiaqing reign 1796 - 1820, Daoguang reign 1821-1850,
Xianfeng reign 1851-1861,
Tongzhi reign 1862 - 1874, Guangxu reign 1875-1908, Xuantong reign 1908-1911 		Xiaojing posthumously made Empress and interred at Dingling 1620,
Nurhaci begins construction of Shenyang Palace 1625,
Manchus conquer Peking and establish Qing Dynasty 1644 		 
AD 1700   Lord Macartney leads first British Embassy to China 1763 Reign of Catherine the Great 1762-1796,
United States Declaration of Independence 1776,
French Revolution 1789
AD 1800   Britain defeats China in Opium War 1842 English defeat Napoleon at Waterloo 1815, Reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901,
Marx writes Communist Manifesto 1848
AD 1900   Boxer Rebellion; allied armies occupy Peking; court flees 1900, Two-year-old Puyi named emperor 1908,
Chinese Revolution: fall of Chinese Emperors: Dr Sun Yat-sen proclaims Chinese Republic 1911; People's Republic of China 1949 		 
AD 1997    
HTML editor Susan West,
Florida State University