The list of world famous travelers of all times and peoples opens with the name of the largest merchant from ancient Venice - Marco Polo. The well-known era of the Great Geographical Discoveries takes its origins from his research. Marco Polo was the very first European of the late 13th century to hike to the East, where he spent long time and collected an incredible amount of new and interesting information for Europe. He pioneered important trade routes. The renowned explorer spent many years at the Khan's courtyard in Mongolia and China, visited Japan, Southeast Asia and Persia. The result of his wanderings was the popular "Book of Wonders of the World". Despite the skepticism that appeared after the publication of the manuscript, Marco's research is a valuable source of geography and ethnography in many countries of the Middle Ages.
History reference
The largest European traveler before the era of the Great Discoveries, Marco Polo was born in 1254. There are two versions regarding the place of his birth: some scientists believe that he was born in the large commercial city of Venice. Croatian historians claim that the birthplace was the island of Korčula (Dalmatian Islands). The father of the world famous merchant - Nicolo and his uncle - Matfeo were Italian merchants and for many years traded with the states of the East. They mastered the lands from the Black Sea to the Volga. Medieval trading influenced the future discoveries of the young explorer, because to trade in goods he had to travel to different continents. Nikolo, after traveling to the lands of modern Uzbekistan and Mongolia with the aim of concluding a diplomatic union, told his son about the huge and little-known lands inhabiting the planet, which are rich in useful goods. These amazing stories from childhood inspired the young writer to the greatest feats.
1271 to 1292 the sailor at the age of 17 made his first voyage to China, the basis of which was a commercial orientation. The life of foreign merchants was extremely successful: Kublai Khan instructed the clever Marco to conduct diplomatic work. After, he made his henchman the governor of the Chinese city, where he spent 3 years. Thanks to the instructions of the Mongol Khan, the foreigner Marco Polo managed to travel around the entire "Celestial Empire" and get acquainted with its history and culture. He was amazed at the history of the Great Wall of china, stories about the creation of chopsticks, the origins of the tea tradition and Chinese porcelain. He lived in the land of silk for about 16 years.
In 1292 Marco returned to Italy. During the Venetian War, Polo was captured by the Genoese. In prison, a lucky chance brings him together with the writer of novels about the world of kings - Rustichan. The traveler decides to tell about his adventures in Asia, what impressions he got. In 1298, the world-famous "Book" was born, which became the very first source of knowledge of Europeans about states in Asia. It describes a new amazing and exotic locality: Sumatra, Ceylon, Madagascar, Malaysia, etc., India and many other lands, unknown civilizations and untold treasures. The travels of the Italian merchant excited the imagination of his readers. The notes summarized all the activities of Marco Polo and his unprecedented knowledge gained during the campaigns. The manuscript had a significant impact on the navigators, cartographers and writers of the Middle Ages.
In 1324, the famous explorer was ransomed from prison, he returned to his native Italy and played a wedding with a rich and noble girl, they had 3 daughters. Polo spent the rest of his life in abundance in a luxurious mansion.
In 1888, a butterfly named Marco Polo Jaundice was named after the popular explorer.
Conclusion
The renowned navigator from Venice had a truly busy life, in which he traveled many trade routes. The result of his greatest experience and accumulated knowledge was reflected in the essay "The Book of Wonders of the World", in which he described the events that happened to him during his fascinating travels. This creation is an invaluable work for the history of all Mankind, which has repeatedly helped people after many centuries. His work has been used as a reference with drawn maps and as an extraordinarily entertaining adventure story. It was in demand for 800 years, was reprinted and translated into different languages, and was considered a historical value. All subsequent Great discoveries were made thanks to this valuable manuscript. Even the famous Spanish navigator who discovered America, Christopher Columbus, used Marco's creation as an authoritative reference for finding India.
All the time when Ancient Greece and Rome, then in Christian Europe and among Muslims, as well as in Scandinavia, people got to know the Earth as their habitat and tried to study it, there was another center of geographical knowledge. It's about China. In general, the European and Chinese worlds remained isolated, only gradually discovering each other. But there are several surprisingly similar concepts and methods of study, which, it would seem, presuppose the presence of contacts, albeit not direct and outlined only by a dotted line.
For those immersed in the study of history western world, it is important to keep in mind that starting from about the II century. BC e. and up to the XV century. the Chinese people had the highest level of knowledge among other peoples of the Earth (Needham, 1963: 117). Chinese mathematicians began to use zero and created a decimal system of calculus, which was much more convenient than the sixties, which existed in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Arabs borrowed the decimal number from the Hindus around 800, but it is believed that it penetrated into India from China.
Chinese philosophers differed from ancient Greek ones mainly in that they attached primary importance to the natural world. According to their teaching, individuals were not personalized by nature, since they were considered part of it. They denied the divine power prescribing laws and creating the universe for man according to a predetermined plan. In China, it was not believed that after death, life continues in the booths of heaven or in the circles of hell; the dead are absorbed by the all-pervading universe, of which all individuals are an inseparable part. Confucianism taught a way of life in which friction between members of society was minimized, but remained relatively indifferent to the development of scientific knowledge.
To illustrate this point, Joseph Needham gives the following parable:
“During his trip to the east, Confucius met two teenagers arguing among themselves, and asked them about the reason for their dispute. One of them said: "I think the rising sun is closer to us than noon." Another answered: "And I think that the rising and setting sun is farther from us, and the noon sun is closer." The first continued: “The rising sun is as big as the top of a chariot, and the midday sun is no bigger than a plate. And what looks big should be closer to us, the same as smaller - farther from us. " But the second retorted: "The setting sun is cold, and the midday sun is hot, and what is hotter should be closer to us." Confucius was unable to resolve their dispute. Then both boys laughed at him and said with contempt: "And why only people consider you such a scientist?" (Needham, Ling, 1959: 225-226)
The huge difference in the orientation of the culture of the ancient Greeks and the Chinese will immediately become clear if we try to imagine what Socrates could answer to the disputants in this situation. But this does not mean at all that the Chinese were not interested in what was outside their usual world. The work done by the Chinese in the field of geographical knowledge looks very impressive, although it is more characterized by the achievements of the observational plan and practical applications than the development of theory.
Works in the field of geography
In China, these works were associated with the creation of methods that made it possible to make accurate measurements and observations with their subsequent use in various useful inventions. For example, systematic observations of the state of the weather have been carried out since the 13th century. BC e. The content of the oldest fragments of geographical descriptions provides an overview of the natural resources and supplies of the nine provinces into which the territory of China was divided in the 5th century. BC e. They describe the soils, products produced and waterways of each of the provinces (Needham, Ling, 1955: 500). In the II century. BC e. chinese engineers have already made accurate measurements of the amount of silt carried by the rivers. In 2 A.D. e. the world's first population census was carried out in China. China's technical inventions include papermaking, book printing, the use of rain and snow gauges to measure rainfall, and a compass for navigation.
The Chinese have made significant progress in understanding natural processes. Around the 4th century. BC e. they revealed the meaning of the water cycle. At almost the same time that Plato was thinking about the consequences of deforestation in Attica, the Chinese philosopher E-Tzu, who lived two centuries later than Confucius, pointed out that a forest once cut down on the mountain slopes could no longer recover there, if not grazing of cattle and small ruminants will cease (Glacken, 1956: 70).
The Chinese knew a lot about the destructive activity of water streams flowing down from the mountains, and about the formation of river floodplains. At the same time when Avicenna expressed his thoughts on the erosion (denudation) of mountains, the Chinese scientist Cheng-Hao came to the same conclusion (1070). Here is what he wrote about a sharply defined ridge with sharp peaks and steep slopes:
“Considering the reasons for the appearance of these forms, I think that (over the centuries) the mountain streams, falling down, washed away all the sand and all the earth, exposing the rocks ... If you look up, standing at the bottom of the gorge, the cliff wall seems vertical, but when you are on one of the peaks, the other peaks are on the same level with the one on which you are standing. This is true for all levels of peaks up to the highest.
Now the Great River (i.e. Yellow, Yellow River) ... (and some others) is dirty and overflowing with sediments. In the west of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, rivers flow in narrow gorges hundreds of feet deep. It is clear that silt and fine sand, year after year, were carried by these rivers to the east, and thus the substances that made up the whole continent could be dispersed. These conclusions must be absolutely correct ”(Needham, Ling, 1959: 603-604).
According to Needham, the geographic works of Chinese authors are divided into eight groups: (1) works devoted to the study of people, which we could attribute to human geography; (2) descriptions of areas in China; (3) other countries; (4) travel stories; (5) books on the rivers of China; (6) descriptions of the coasts of China, especially those that are important for shipping; (7) local history works, including a description of areas subordinate to and governed by fortified cities, famous mountain ranges, or specific cities and palaces; (8) geographical encyclopedias. Much attention was also paid to the origin of geographical names and their change (Needham, Ling, 1959: 508).
Chinese geographic research and opening
The geographical discoveries of Chinese travelers are often overlooked by European authors studying the history of geography. Either the emperor's ambassadors, or missionaries and merchants went on long journeys outside China.
The earliest evidence of Chinese travel is a book written probably between the 5th and 3rd centuries. BC e. She was found in the tomb of a man who ruled around 245 BC. e. the territory that occupied part of the Wei He Valley. The books found in this burial were written on strips of white silk glued to bamboo cuttings; due to poor preservation, they were rewritten at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. They are known as the Travels of Emperor Mu, who reigned in the years 1001-945. BC e. Emperor Mu, they say, wanted to go around the whole world and leave traces from the wheels of his chariot in every country. The story of his wanderings, like Homer's Odyssey, is full of amazing adventures and certainly embellished by the writers, but contains such details that could hardly have been a figment of fantasy. The emperor visited the forested mountains, saw snow, and hunted a lot. On the way back, he crossed a vast desert, so dry that he had to drink horse blood. There is no doubt that in very ancient times, Chinese travelers retired considerable distances from the Wei He Valley - the center of a developed culture (Mirsky, 1964: 3–10). The discovery of Mediterranean civilizations is attributed to the geographer Zhang Qian and dates back to 128 BC. e. (Sykes, 1961: 21; Needham, 1963; Mirsky, 1964: 13-25; Thomson, 1965: 177-178). His book describes the path through the interior regions of Asia to Bukhara, which then led to Persia and the Mediterranean coast. Merchant caravans constantly traveled along this path, and, apparently, trade relations with Western countries were established long before the "official" opening of the West. The Chinese brought in peaches, almonds, raisins, apricots, silk and, of course, silkworms, while they themselves bought alfalfa, wheat and grapevines.
In general, there were many Chinese travelers whose achievements were worthy of being captured in the history of geographical discoveries. Yet among the most famous of these was the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (Sykes, 1961: 24-30). In the VII century. n. e. he found the strength to cross on his way to India the highest windswept Tibetan plateau and the highest mountains in the world. After several years of study at centers of Buddhism, he returned to China with a large collection of Buddhist relics and manuscripts, which he had brought with him on pack animals. He is considered the Chinese discoverer of India (Mirsky, 1964). In the same century, another Buddhist monk, I Ching, reached India by sea, making an eight-month stopover in Sumatra in 671. Returning to China, he brought with him more than 10,000 scrolls of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, which he intended to translate into Chinese (Sykes , 1961: 30). Several centuries later, in 1220, another Chinese traveler (Chang Chun) crossed the deserts of Central Asia, overcoming the endless hardships and difficulties of the path, and finally in Samarkand met with the leader of the Mongols, Genghis Khan. In 1287-1288. Nestorian Christian monk Rabban Bar Sauma made a pilgrimage from China to Rome. Learning that the pope had died, and the new one had not yet been elected, he went through Genoa to Paris and Bordeaux to see the kings of France and England. Imagine the amazement of the 13th century French, who found themselves in the role of being "discovered" by a Christian from China. In 1288 he returned to Rome, and, having received the blessing of the new pope, set off on the return journey to Beijing. This happened just a few decades before the Polo brothers traveled to China. In 1296, another Chinese traveler, Zhou Takuan, visited Cambodia and described in detail the customs of this country.
The Chinese also explored the seas. Not a single written evidence has survived that they went out into the open The Pacific, although the Chinese expeditions have visited Japan and Taiwan. In the XIII century. Chinese merchants sailed on their junks to Java and the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and even to India. Marco Polo met them in the Persian Gulf at the port of Hormuz. But the main research was carried out by the Chinese naval commander Zheng He between 1405 and 1433. He led seven expeditions, each with a fleet of ships. Thanks to them, regular sea trade routes were opened between Java, Sumatra, Malaya, Ceylon and the western coast of India. He also visited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, sailed along the eastern coast of Africa, located south of the equator; in an easterly direction, he sailed to the island of Taiwan. On board the ships of his last expedition (1431-1433), ambassadors from more than ten countries arrived in China. It is possible that one of the ships was sent by him to the northern coast of Australia (Hsieh, 1988).
Cartography
The Chinese were adept at makers of geographic maps. Zhang Heng, who lived in the II century. n. BC, probably the first in China to use a degree grid, but its maps have not survived. There are, however, references to him, where it is said that he "cast a network [of coordinates] over the heavens and the earth and thus numbered them" (Needham, Ling, 1959: 538).
The "father of Chinese cartography" was Bei Xiu, who was appointed by the Chinese emperor as minister of public works in 267 AD. e. He created a map of part of China on eighteen silk scrolls. To compile the basis of the map, he surveyed the area by measuring several baselines and determining points distant from these lines using a cross-sighting method, that is, in the same way as the Egyptians did long before him. When drawing rivers, coastlines, mountain ranges, and cities and other features on the map, he used a rectangular grid of perpendicular lines drawn in the south-north and east-west directions as a basis. Was this scientist, or Zhang Heng, or anyone else who lived much earlier than them, borrowed the idea of using triangulation to locate objects and a network of intersecting lines for cartographic images from the Greeks, or perhaps through them from the Egyptians? This is quite likely, although it has not been precisely established. There is nothing impossible in the fact that many of these methods were invented much earlier than anywhere else, namely in China, and then penetrated to the West, just as happened with the decimal system.
Two magnificent copies of Chinese maps were carved in stone in 1137; the information placed on them, in all likelihood, was obtained before 1100 (Needham, Ling, 1959: 547-549). One of them - "Map of China and the countries of the barbarians" - includes the territory from the Great Wall of China, which runs north of Beijing, to Hainan Island in the south, as well as the mountains of Central Asia in the west. Another, titled "The Great Yu Route Map," shows roughly the same area, with an even more accurate depiction of major rivers and coastlines from Bohai Bay to the northern shores of the Shandong Peninsula and Hainan Island. None of these maps show the island of Taiwan. Both of them, like other Chinese maps, are oriented to the north.
Bibliography
- James P. All Possible Worlds / P. James, J. Martin / Ed. and with after. A. G. Isachenko. - Moscow: Progress, 1988 .-- 672 p.
History of china for 5000 years it has worried society as one of the longest and most mysterious state chronicles, which reflects the beauty of Chinese culture and morality! As in most other great civilizations of the world, the development of China can be traced in its culture, in the transition from small primitive tribes to the present day.
Throughout its long history, China has been the forge of many outstanding people who have made an undeniable contribution to the development of their country and enriched its history.
Among them are emperors (Qin Shi Huang - the Qing dynasty, Hanudi - the Han dynasty and Li Shimin - the Tang dynasty), philosophers (Confucius, Lao Tzu), poets (Qu Yuan), astronomers and mathematicians (Zu Chun Zhi), writers and statesmen figures, besides them, there were also thousands of heroes in Chinese history who are remembered and honored by modern society.
They are like the shining stars that live in the heart of the Chinese people. Their great contribution to the development of history and culture has made China more attractive and interesting to study. Chinese society has progressed and in its development has overcome five main stages - primitive, slave, feudal, semi-feudal and semi-colonial, socialist society.
The ups and downs throughout history have followed China and reflected in its culture and the minds of its people. Since the founding of the PRC - October 1, 1949,China has become a socialist country, and today, 5000 years later, it continues to develop in the 21st century.
Ancient China and the slave society (1.7 million - 476 BC)
"Peking Man"
- the earliest burial that was discovered by archaeologists in the city of Yuanmou in the Yunnan province, its age was approximately equal to 1.7 million years. Later, remains were found in the Zhoukoudian cave near Beijing, whose age was about 600-800 thousand years, he could walk vertically, make and use simple tools and knew how to make fire. 
Today the term "Peking Man" is applied to all the remains of "Homo erectus" found in China. The finds by archaeologists of agricultural tools indicate that 6,000 - 7,000 years ago people were engaged in the cultivation of rice and millet, and were engaged in the cultivation of land.
The oldest dynasty in China known today is the Xia dynasty.
Its isolation took place approximately in 2070 BC. and lasted until 1600 BC. It occupied the lands of the western part of the modern Henan province and the southern part of the modern Shanxi province.
Its influence extended to the Northern and Southern regions of the Yellow River. During this period of slave society, two more dynasties appeared - the Shang dynasty (1600 - 1027 BC) and the Western Zhou (1046 - 770 BC). Later followed the period of Spring and Autumn (771 - 481 BC) and the period of the Warring States (475 - 221 BC) - periods characterized by a decrease in the influence and power of the ruling house, as well as the struggle for power between regional powers. ...
This is the period of transition from a slave-owning society to a feudal one. During this historical period, the technology of smelting bronze was established in China, and iron tools came into general use already during the reign of the Shang dynasty - 3000 years ago. White and colored glazed ceramics were produced, silk production was significantly developed, and jacquard technologies appeared.
During the Spring and Autumn period, production technologies occupied a dominant position in the state. Also during the period of the Warring States there was a sharp surge in intellectual activity, the world recognized many philosophers - Lao Tzu, Confucius, Meng Tzu, Mo Tzu and the famous military scientist Sang Wu - the author of the book "The Art of War".
Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC) and his Empire
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, put an end to the rivalry among independent principalities during the Warring States Period, which lasted more than 250 years, and laid the foundation for a single, multinational feudal state of China - the Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BC). 
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
After the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) came. Jin Dynasty (265-420), Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), and Sui Dynasty (581-618). They were followed by the Tang Dynasty, the emergence of which was promoted by Li Yuan in 618. 
His son, Li Shimin (626-649) was an adherent of liberal politics, thanks to which the feudal society of China reached its highest peak in agriculture, crafts and trade, the technology of textiles and dyeing, ceramics and porcelain flourished.
Shipbuilding has developed, land and sea transportation has improved. Until 660, the influence of China spread to the territory of the Tarim and Dzungar basins, and extended to many states in Central Asia. During this time, economic and cultural relations were established with many countries, including Japan, Korea, India, Persia and Arabia.
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
After the Tang Dynasty, Chinese history entered a period of continuous war known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. In 960, Zhao was the ruling dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, the capital of the state moved to the South, therefore, the name of the dynasty was historically formed - Southern Song, this gave a powerful impetus to economic and cultural development.
China during the Song Dynasty was the world leader in science, astronomy, engineering and printing technology. Bi Shen invented new technology print, which was the largest breakthrough in the history of printing.
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Khanate. In 1271, Khubilai, the grandson of Genghis Khan, seized the central Plains and founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and made Dadu (now Beijing) the capital of his empire. He formed a unified state, influencing Xinjiang, Tibet and Yunnan.
Interesting! This period was marked by four great inventions - paper production, compass, gunpowder and printing, later they were introduced to foreign countries, which made an invaluable contribution to the history of world civilization.
Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
In 1368, Zhu Yuan Zhang, also known as Tai Zu, founded the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Nanjing. When his son and successor Zhu Di (1360-1424) ascended the throne in 1402, he created and expanded the existing palaces, temples, walls and ditches in Beijing on a large scale, and in 1421 Beijing became the official capital of the empire.
Civilization is one of the oldest in the world, written sources cover periods of thousands of years. Traditionally, three periods in the history of China are distinguished: pre-imperial (up to 221 BC), imperial and new (from 1911).
Prehistoric period
The Peking Man Riddle
In the first half of the XX century. not far from Beijing, fossil remains of an ancient man close to Pithecanthropus were found. He was called "Sinanthropus" ( Sinanthropus pekinensis- Peking Chinese man). The age of the "Peking man" dates back to 770 thousand years. The find does not fit well with the monocentric theory of the origin of man generally accepted in anthropology, according to which, the emergence of man took place in a single area (usually Africa is considered the cradle of man) and all people on Earth settled from this single center.
Chinese anthropologists defend the independent origin of the Asian (Mongoloid) race, considering Sinanthropus to be the ancestors of the Chinese. Despite numerous controversies and skepticism (which is fueled by the disappearance of finds during the Second World War), the site of the discovery of Sinanthropus, Zhoukoudian, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Of the extinct hominids that lived before Sinanthropus in China, they call the Yuanmou man (1.7 million years ago) and the Lantian man (800 thousand years ago).
Stone Age cultures
The most ancient archaeological cultures, considered the ancestors of the ethnic Chinese (Han), are known collectively as Majiao, Yangshao, and Qujialing, and belong to the Middle Neolithic (V-II millennium BC). The most developed crafts were the manufacture of tools from stone and bone and pottery. Chumiza was the main agricultural crop. The main pets were dogs and pigs.
Later, during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. on the basis of the Yangshao culture, under the influence of migrants, a more developed Lunshan culture was formed. These ancient Chinese already knew Potter's wheel, received new types of grain crops (wheat, barley) and livestock (goats, sheep, cows).
Pre-imperial states of China
Three sovereigns and five emperors
Chinese mythology connects ancient history China with three rulers and five emperors, and their list of names, in contrast to the number, may differ.
The first rulers are essentially mythological cultural heroes who create the basis of Chinese culture. The ruler Fu-si is credited with the development of the I-Ching system (Book or Canon of Changes), the ruler of Shen-nong is the creator of agriculture (in particular, the inventor of the plow), calendar and medicine. Huang Di (Yellow Emperor) is the ancestor of the Chinese people and the creator of Taoism.
Huang-di, Zhuan-xu, Ku, Yao and Shun can be named as the five emperors.
Shang-Yin
At the end of the XIV century. BC e. in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the Shang dynasty was formed, which is often considered the first state formation in China. Regardless of priority, Shang-Yin is the first state to achieve significant influence and control over many neighboring peoples through organization: they had a professional army with bronze weapons and war chariots.
Zhou
The Zhou peoples lived to the east of the Shang State. In the course of a series of military campaigns and diplomatic actions, Zhou found themselves in a subordinate position. But in the XI century. BC e. Zhou ruler Wu conquered the Shang state.
The Zhou era lasted from the 11th to the 3rd century. BC e. At this time, independent allotments were formed from hereditary allotments. state formations, constantly competing with each other, but it was Zhou who became the cauldron in which the Chinese ethnos was formed. The last historical period of the Zhou era, already in the Iron Age, is called the "Warring States Period". Then there were seven kingdoms: Wei, Zhao, Han, Qin, Qi, Yan and Chu.
Chinese empire
In the Period of the Fighting Kingdoms, the westernmost kingdom, Qin, gradually took over. By 221 BC. e. the legendary Qin Shihuang united all kingdoms under his rule, creating a unified China and founding the first imperial Qin dynasty.
Qin Shihuang-di is carrying out reforms, the general meaning of which is clear from the slogan "all chariots with a standard gauge, all words with a standard spelling." A unified network of roads of the empire was created, a unified hieroglyphic spelling, a unified system of measures and weights, and a monetary system were introduced. Xianyang became the united capital of the empire (not far from modern Xian).
All border defensive walls between the conquered kingdoms were demolished, only the northern sections separating China from the northern nomads were strengthened and united into a single Great Wall of China. 
Almost immediately after the death of Qin Shihuang, the Qin empire ceased to exist. In the beginning of the time of troubles, in a period of deep socio-economic crisis, China experienced numerous wars between the Qin military leaders and the troops of the former independent kingdoms.
The second Chinese empire was headed by a native of the Chu kingdom - Liu Bang. The empire he founded was named Han. During the Han period, Confucianism became the official ideology of China, and the territory of the empire expanded significantly. From 65 BC e. Buddhism penetrates from India to China along the Silk Road.
The last emperor of the Han dynasty was deposed in 220 and a period of three kingdoms began in China: three rulers at once claimed the imperial title and the state was divided into three parts. In 280, China was reunited under the rule of the warlord Sima Yan, who founded the Jin Dynasty.
The Jin period (265-420) was marked by numerous invasions of the Huns and other northern steppe peoples. In North China, the so-called "sixteen barbarian states" arose, founded by representatives of non-Chinese.
The period between 420 and 589 called the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. China is divided in two.
By the end of the VI century. the descendants of the nomads are almost completely assimilated with the Chinese. At the same time, ethnic Chinese are actively moving to the southern regions, transferring the center of Chinese culture to the south.
In 581, the northern Chinese commander Zhou Yang Jian unites the entire North China under his rule, proclaims a new Sui dynasty, and then a re-united China. In 618, as a result of a coup, the Sui dynasty was changed to the Tang dynasty. The Tang Empire gains great power, expands its territory, restores the Silk Road and develops maritime trade. The Tang era is traditionally considered the peak of China's power, when it was ahead of the rest of the modern countries of the world in development.
The Tang Empire was shaken by internal uprisings and calamities and external military defeats, gradually the centralization of power faded away, the military leaders on the periphery of the state received more and more power. After one of the coups, the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960) began.
The fragmentation of China was restored by the Song dynasty (960-1279), which faced the invasion of the steppe peoples. Despite the forced territorial concessions, the Song period is considered an era of economic and cultural flourishing of China: artisans reach heights in the manufacture of products from porcelain, silk, varnishes, wood, ivory, etc. grain crops, cotton sowing is increasing.
Mongol Empire
At the beginning of the XIII century. Mongols invade China. The great Genghis Khan creates a most dangerous enemy at the side of China - a powerful alliance of tribes with an organized and efficient army. Having conquered the peoples of Southern Siberia, Central Asia, Russia, by 1234 the Mongols completed the defeat of the Jin Chzhurchen state of the North China.
It was possible to completely conquer China only after the European campaigns of the Mongols. This was done by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Khubilai. Kublai Khan accepts the title of Emperor Yuan (1271) and in 1279 destroys the Song dynasty, completely annexing China to Mongolia. Khubilai became the first non-Chinese (non-Han) emperor of China. Nominally the ruler of the entire huge Mongol empire, Khubilai essentially limited his interests to China, in fact, the rest of the Mongol uluses received significant independence.
Kublai Khan moved the capital of the Mongol Empire from Karakorum (present-day Kharkhorin in Mongolia) to the city of Khanbalik in northern China (present-day Beijing). Kublai's rule was characterized by the centralization of power, the widespread use of traditional Chinese institutions while discriminating against the ethnic Chinese (Han) themselves.
Khubilai patronized Buddhism and persecuted Taoists. In many ways, the spread of Buddhist teachings in East Asia is the result of Khubilai's reign.
About Kublai Khan, the Europeans got their ideas from the descriptions of the Italian traveler Marco Polo, who served for some time as an official with Kublai Khan and was sympathetic to both the emperor and the methods of his government.
Khubilai carried out expansionist military campaigns, subjugating Burma, Korea, and part of Vietnam, but the attempt to invade Japan ended in failure and the defeat in Vietnam was especially sensitive, which stopped the advance of the Mongols in Southeast Asia.
Min
The reign of Khubilai's successors from time to time was complicated by crises and rebellions, one of the anti-Mongol uprisings in 1368 brought the former peasant and Buddhist monk Zhu Yuanzhang, first to the leader, and after the destruction of the capital of Khanbalik by the rebels, to the emperor. The Ming ("Shining") Empire was proclaimed. China became an independent state again.
Zhu Yuanzhang pursued reforms in an effort to rebuild the country's economy and consolidate personal power. After the execution of the first minister, the emperor received full executive power, relying on a specially created secret police, conducting regular "cleansing" among officials and the population.
A large Chinese fleet under the command of Zheng He from 1405 to 1433. made several sea expeditions to Southeast Asia, India and the east coast of Africa.
In the Ming era, Europeans penetrated into China - the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch. In 1557 Portugal rented Macau (Macau) from China, establishing its colony. Christian Jesuit missionaries appear in China.
Qing
By the end of the XVI century. China's northern neighbors, the Manchus, stop paying tribute and increase military pressure on the northern borders. The Aisin Gyoro clan in 1616 founded the Jing ("Golden") dynasty, which afterwards will receive the name Qing ("Pure"). On June 6, 1644, the Manchus seize the Chinese capital, declaring the young Aisingero Fulin emperor of all China. The complete conquest of China was completed only in 1683 with the capture of Taiwan.
The Manchu dynasty in the Qing empire ruled until 1911, pursuing a policy of isolating China from the outside world. In the middle of the 18th century. trade with Europeans was eliminated, with the exception of one port in Canton (Guangzhou). The island of Macau continued to remain under Portuguese control.
Expansion was successfully carried out in the north and northeast: the Dzungar Khanate and East Turkestan were included in the Qing empire. In the southeast, the campaigns against Burma and Vietnam ended in defeat for the Qing.
The commercial interests of Europeans in China (silk, porcelain, tea, etc.) and China's reluctance to buy European goods led to the massive import of opium by the British into China. Opium smoking became a real disaster for China and led to a series of so-called "Opium Wars" in the middle of the 19th century. and the defeat of the Qing empire in them. Britain received a huge contribution, the island of Hong Kong and the right to trade in Chinese ports.
The already mentioned Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan had their interests in China. Different ways: by the military, and diplomatic, and blackmail, and bribery, the world powers sought concessions from China.
Emperor Zaitian tried to carry out radical renovation reforms in China, but on September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi removed the emperor from power and canceled the reforms.
In May 1900, the Yihatuan Rebellion (the Boxer Rebellion) broke out in China against foreign influence in the empire. Cixi, who supported the rebels, declared war on Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Japan, USA and Russia. The great powers agreed on joint actions against the rebels. Beijing was occupied by a detachment under the command of the Russian General Linevich. As a result of the uprising, China became even more dependent on foreign states... Russia, in particular, gained control over territories in Manchuria and Korea (lost during the Russo-Japanese War).
Republic of China
In 1911, the Wuchang uprising began in China, which resulted in Xinhai Revolution... The Manchu dynasty was overthrown, the creation of the Chinese Republic was proclaimed. On February 12, 1912, Emperor Pu Yi abdicated the throne. General Yuan Shikai, the prime minister and commander-in-chief, declared the President of China, came to power.
Mongolia and Tibet separated from China.
Soon after the revolution in China, the Kuomintang Party (Chinese People's Party) was founded, which began to conduct armed struggle, on the one hand, with militarist groups on the ground, and on the other, with communist movements. Chiang Kai-shek, elected chairman of the Kuomintang, undertook the so-called Northern Expedition, as a result of which he gained control over almost the entire territory of China.
In the fall of 1931, Japan invaded China. In Manchuria, the puppet state of Manchukuo was proclaimed, which was headed by the Emperor of the Manchu Empire Qing. On July 7, 1937, Japan declared war on China; Chinese historians count from this date the beginning of World War II. The Japanese aimed to completely seize the territory of China. The Chinese were hindered by internal contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
People's Republic of China
After Japan's defeat in World War II, China continued Civil War, as a result of which the armed forces of the CPC under the leadership of Mao Zedong, with the support of the Soviet Union, liberated the entire mainland China from the Kuomintang by the end of 1949.
Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island of Taiwan, which still officially calls itself the Republic of China.
The PRC carried out a series of reforms in all areas with varying success, gradually moving away from a rigidly planned socialist economy, opening up the borders, but maintaining the CCP's monopoly on governance.
By the XXI century. China, largely due to the cheapness of labor, has turned into a global factory; it was here that the production of most goods from Europe, the USA and Japan was transferred.
Thanks to its positive trade balance, China has accumulated significant financial resources and has enormous political, economic and military potential.
