The Chinese Dynasties

A dynasty is a ruling family that passes control of the government from one generation to the next. In China when one of the rulers was weak they replaced his dynasty with another.

The Xia dynasty ruled from 2200 to 1766 BC. One of the leaders that came from that dynasty was named Yu the Great, who organized his people to build irrigation systems for their crops.

The Shang dynasty ruled from 1766 to 1040 BC. The Shang dynasty invented a language system in addition to a lunar calendar consisting of twelve months of 30 days each.

The Zhou dynasty ruled from 1040 to 256 BC. This dynasty was made up of nomads. They took down the Shang dynasty only to be overthrown by all the local warlords.

The Age of Warring States took place from 481 to 221 BC. This war happened when all of the different parts of China fought each other for supremacy and leadership but the Zhou still kept their throne.

The Ming dynasty ruled from 1368 to 1644 AD. Their most remarkable accomplishment was the building of the Great Wall of China. It was built for defensive purposes, border control, trading, and immigration control.