Dynasties and Periods of East Asia

Xia Dynasty Begins China

2200 BCE

This dynasty was located in China. They were the first to irrigate, build a strong army, and produce cast bronze.

Shang Dynasty Begins {China}

1766 BCE

This dynasty was mostly known for their advances in bronze and ceramics. They also introduced writing systems to China

Xia Dynasty Ends

1700 BCE

Dynasty ends from a killing

Shang Dynasty Ends {China}

1080 BCE

The Shang Dynasty was invaded and overthrown.

Zhou Dynasty Begins {China}

1045 BCE

This was one of China's long lasting dynasties. Some of their achievement were characteristics include bronze work, military technology, including horse-drawn chariots, writing, a calendar, and religion, which featured ancestor worship and oracle bones

Zhou Dynasty Ends {China}

221 BCE

This dynasty ended when the army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou and the last Zhou ruler, King Nan, was killed.

Qin Dynasty Begins {China}

221 BCE

During it's time it unified China and succeeded in building the Great Wall of China

Qin Dynasty Ends {China}

206 BCE

This dynasty ended when China plunged into civil war, exacerbated by floods and droughts. In 207 BCE, Qin Shi Huang's son was killed, and the dynasty collapsed entirely.

Han Dynasty Begins {China}

206 BCE

The Han Dynasty lasted about 400 years. Much of Chinese culture was established during the Han dynasty and it is sometimes called the Golden Age of Ancient China. It was an era of peace and prosperity and allowed China to expand to a major world power.

Silla Dynasty Begins {Korea}

57 BCE

Three Kingdoms period from the 1st century BCE to 7th century CE. The Silla were in constant rivalry with their neighbours the Baekje

Goguryeo Dynasty Begins {Korea}

37 BCE

At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most of the Korean peninsula, large parts of Manchuria and parts of the Russian Far East and eastern Mongolia. Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Baekje Dynasty Begins {Korea}

18 BCE

Was one of the Three Kingdoms which ruled over ancient Korea from the 1st century BCE to the 7th century CE. The Baekje kingdom was noted for its high culture, many aspects of which it exported to its ally Japan.

Han Dynasty Ends {China}

221

The Han dynasty formally ended in 220 when Cao Cao's son and heir, Cao Pi, pressured Emperor Xian into abdicating in his favour.

Sui Dynasty Begins {China}

581

Sui dynasty also had a stable economy, which was militaristic, and they were legalists. The Sui made the Grand Canal, which was one of their biggest accomplishments. They had slaves dig a canal so they could trade easier, and get around better and more efficiently.

Tang Dynasty Begins {China}

618

Experienced a time of peace and prosperity that made it one of the most powerful nations in the world. This time period is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Ancient China.

Sui Dynasty Ends {China}

618

Due to the many losses caused by the failed military campaigns against Goguryeo. It was after these defeats and losses that the country was left in ruins and rebels soon took control of the government. Emperor Yang was assassinated in 618.

Baekje Dynasty Ends {Korea}

660

In 660 its defeat by the allied forces of Silla and the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907) brought an end to its rule.

Goguryeo Dynasty Ends {Korea}

668

In 661 CE a Tang army besieged Pyongyang which was weakened by an internal power struggle for the throne. The Tangs were forced to withdraw, but when they attacked again in 667 CE, the city, although this time holding out for a year, finally fell.

Balhae Dynasty Begins {Korea}

698

Important regional power which interacted both peacefully and otherwise with its neighbours the Unified Silla Kingdom of Korea and Tang China. The latter was a strong cultural influence, and Japan, too, was a staunch ally.

Nara and Heian Period Begins{Japan}

710

During the Nara Period the government officially supported Buddhism and a succession of large temples were built at important parts of the capital to protect the emperor and

Tang Dynasty Ends {China}

907

the Tang dynasty was ended when Zhu Wen, now a military governor, deposed the last emperor of Tang, Emperor Ai of Tang, and took the throne for himself. ... Zhu Wen was known posthumously as Emperor Taizu of Later Liang.

Goryeo Dynasty Begins {Korea}

918

Confucianism became the official philosophy of the dynasty. To meet the standards demanded by their patrons, Goryeo artisans created exquisite celadons, elegant Buddhist paintings, and superb inlaid metal crafts as well as inlaid lacquer ware.

Balhae Dynasty Ends {Korea}

926

After the fall of Balhae and its last king in 926, the autonomous satellite state of Dongdan was founded by its new Khitan rulers Goryeo once proposed a joint-invasion of the Khitan empire to China in retribution of Balhae's fall.

Silla Dynasty Ends {Korea}

935

The last Silla king, Gyeongsun, surrendered in 935 CE and left Wang Kon to unify the country once again but under a new name, the Goryeo Dynasty, which would rule Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. This content was made possible with generous support from the British Korean Society.

Song Dynasty Begins {China}

960

With a prosperous economy and radiant culture, this period was considered as another period of 'golden age' after the glorious Tang Dynasty (618 - 907).

Kamakura Period Begins {Japan}

1192

In Japanese history, the period from 1192 to 1333 during which the basis of feudalism was firmly established. It was named for the city where Minamoto Yoritomo set up the headquarters of his military government, commonly known as the Kamakura shogunate.

Nara and Heian Period Ends {Japan}

1192

The era came to an end when the Emperor Kanmu decided to move the capital shortly after the death of the Empress Kōken, in an attempt to remove the court from the intrigues and power plays of the Buddhist establishment at Nara.

Song Dynasty Ends {China}

1279

Jin army captured the Northern Song capital of Kaifeng , ending the Northern Song Dynasty. B. After the Southern Song Dynasty joined the Mongolian Kingdom to overthrow the Jin Dynasty they found themselves in turmoil with them

Mongol Dynasty Begins {China}

1279

Mongols were a nomadic people from the steppes of Central Asia. Known as fierce horsemen and warriors, the Mongol clans were united in 1279 by the powerful chief Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan. ... However, Genghis Khan was not only a skilled conqueror, but also a great ruler.

Kamakura Period Ends {Japan}

1333

It ended in 1221 when Kamakura defeated the Imperial army in Kyoto giving them control over all of Japan. The emperor and the court in Kyoto lost almost all effective power at this time.

Muromachi Period Begins {Japan}

1338

Muromachi period, also called Ashikaga Period, in Japanese history, period of the Ashikaga Shogunate. It was named for a district in Kyōto, where the first Ashikaga shogun, Takauji, established his administrative headquarters.

Mongol Dynasty Ends {China}

1368

Kublai Khan, the Mongols disintegrate into competing entities and lose influence, in part due to the outbreak of the Black Death. In 1368, the Ming Dynasty overthrows the Yuan, the Mongols' ruling power, thus signifying the end of the empire.

Ming Dynasty Begins {China}

1368

Known for its trade expansion to the outside world that established cultural ties with the West, the Ming Dynasty is also remembered for its drama, literature and world-renowned porcelain.

Mongol Dynasty Ends {China}

1368

Kublai Khan, the Mongols disintegrate into competing entities and lose influence, in part due to the outbreak of the Black Death. In 1368, the Ming Dynasty overthrows the Yuan, the Mongols' ruling power, thus signifying the end of the empire.

Goryeo Dynasty End {Korea}

1392

Goryeo fell to General Yi Seong-gye, a son of Yi Ja-chun, who put to death the last three Goryeo kings, usurped the throne and established in 1392 the Joseon dynasty.

Joseon Dynasty Begins {Korea}

1392

Joseon was the last dynasty of Korea and its longest-ruling Confucian dynasty. During its reign, Joseon encouraged the entrenchment of Chinese Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society. After the end of invasions from Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace.

Muromachi Period Ends {Japan}

1573

The period ended with the warlord Oda Nobunaga seizing power in 1568 CE and his decision to exile the last Ashikaga shogun in 1573 CE

Azuchi-Momoyama Period Begins {Japan}

1573

Azuchi-Momoyama period, also called Momoyama Period, in Japanese history, age of political unification under the daimyo Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who finally brought all provinces under the control of the central government.

Azuchi-Momoyama Period Ends {Japan}

1603

Thereafter, Ishida Mitsunari accused Ieyasu of disloyalty to the Toyotomi name, precipitating a crisis that led to the Battle of Sekigahara.

Edo Period Begins {Japan}

1603

Economic development during the Edo period included urbanization, increased shipping of commodities, a significant expansion of domestic and, initially, foreign commerce, and a diffusion of trade and handicraft industries. The construction trades flourished, along with banking facilities and merchant associations.

Ming Dynasty Ends {China}

1644

Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt and then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.

Qing Dynasty Begins {China}

1644

It was an era noted for its initial prosperity and tumultuous final years, and for being only the second time that China was not ruled by the Han people

Edo Period Ends {Japan}

1868

In January 1868, they attempted a coup d'etat to overthrow the newly throned Shogun Tokugawa Keiki. After a short period of fighting, Emperor Meiji took supreme control of the country. During his reign from 1867 to 1912, Japan was completely transformed and it became a world power.

Meiji Period Begins {Japan}

1868

The Meiji period that followed the Restoration was an era of major political, economic, and social change in Japan. The reforms enacted during the Meiji emperor's rule brought about the modernization and Westernization of the country and paved the way for Japan to become a major international power.

Joseon Dynasty Ends {Korea}

1910

In 1910, the Joseon Dynasty fell, and Japan formally occupied the Korean Peninsula. According to the "Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910," the Emperor of Korea ceded all his authority to the Emperor of Japan.

Qing Dynasty Ends {China}

1911

After more than 2,000 years, though, Chinese imperial power under the last Chinese dynasty was about to collapse for good.

Taisho and Early Showa Period Begins {Japan}

1912

Is often considered a brief flowering of democracy in Japan before the country slid into militarism, ultra-nationalism and totalitarianism in the early Showa Period.

Meiji Period Ends {Japan}

1912

The emperor Meiji was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo which became the new capital; his imperial power was restored. ... The boundaries between the social classes of Tokugawa Japan were gradually broken down.

Taisho and Early Showa Period Ends {Japan}

1945

That was the time when Emperor Hirohito, son of Emperor Taisho, held power. During this period, Japan changed significantly. The early years were marked by financial crisis and the rise of nationalism, which ended with Japan's defeat in World War II.