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Dynasties in Chinese History

Chinese history is not as tidy as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they had been defeated. For example, the conventional date 1644 marks the year in which the Manchu qing dynasty armies occupied Beijing and brought Qing rule to China proper, succeeding the ming dynasty.

However, the qing dynasty itself was established in 1636 (or even 1616, albeit under a different name), while the last ming dynasty pretender was not deposed until 1662. This change of ruling houses was a messy and prolonged affair, and the Qing took almost twenty years to extend their control over the whole of China. It is therefore inaccurate to assume China changed suddenly and all at once in the year 1644.

In addition, China was divided for long periods of its history, with different regions being ruled by different groups. At times like these, there was not any single dynasty ruling a unified China. As a case in point, there is much dispute about times in and after the western zhou dynasty period.

Dynasties

Dynasty			Ruling House or Clan
Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors	三皇五帝	San Huang Wu Di	2500-2070 BC
Xia Dynasty	夏	Xia	2070–1600 BC
Shang Dynasty	商	Shang	1600–1029 BC
Western Zhou Dynasty	西周	Xi Zhou	1029–771 BC
Eastern Zhou Dynasty Spring and Autumn Period Warring States Period	東周 / 东周春秋戰國 / 战国	Dong Zhou Chunqiu Zhanguo	770–256 BC 722–476 BC 475–221 BC
Qin Dynasty	秦	Qin	221–206 BC
Western Han Dynasty	西漢 / 西汉	Xi Han	206 or 202 BC–9 AD, 23-25 AD
Xin Dynasty	新	Xin	9–23 AD
Eastern Han Dynasty	東漢 / 东汉	Dong Han	25–220
Three Kingdoms	三國 / 三国	San Guo	220–265 or 280
Western Jin Dynasty	西晉 / 西晋	Xi Jin	265–317
Eastern Jin Dynasty	東晉 / 东晋	Dong Jin	317–420
Southern and Northern Dynasties	南北朝	Nan Bei Chao	386 or 420–589
Sui Dynasty	隋	Sui	581–618
Tang Dynasty	唐	Tang	618–907
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms	五代十國 / 五代十国	Wu Dai Shi Guo	907–960
Northern Song Dynasty	北宋	Bei Song	960–1127
Southern Song Dynasty	南宋	Nan Song	1127–1279
Liao Dynasty	遼 / 辽	Liao	907 or 916–1125
Jin Dynasty	金	Jin	1115–1234
Western Xia	西夏	Xi Xia	1038–1227
Yuan Dynasty	元	Yuan	1271–1368
Ming Dynasty	明	Ming	1368–1644 or 1662
Qing Dynasty	清	Qing	1636 or 1644–1911