History
It is near impossible to summarize the 5000 years of Chinese history. Below is a link to a very informative image that shows the territorial reach of each of the dynasties. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Territories_of_Dynasties_in_China.gif
Instead of attempting to recap or summarize Chinese history, we include here the major dynasties and important elements of each.
Qin
221 BCE - 206 BCE
ruled by Qinshihuangdi, the first emperor to unify China;
Standardized weights and measures
Standardized money
Standardized the written language
Built roads and canals
Built much of the Great Wall
Han
202 BCE - 220 CE
Adoption of Confucianism
Trade along the Silk Route
Government appointments by through examinations (merit)
Lent its name to the Chinese people
Buddhism comes to China
Tang
618 - 907
Considered the peak of Chinese civilization
Tea
Open to the outside world
Poetry flourished
Song
960 - 1279
Widespread cultivation of tea and cotton;
gunpowder first used militarily;
golden age of Chinese painting.
Yuan
Ming
1368 - 1644
Required tribute from neighboring countries
Naval exploration as far as Africa (though short-lived)
Porcelain, architecture, the novel and drama flourish (helped by the expansion of wood-block printing).
Qing
1644 - 1912
Manchus ruled (non Han)
Increased foreign trade
Foreign powers divided up China
Opium War, Hong Kong ceded to the British
Republic of China
1912 - 1949
Led by Sun Yat Sen (still widely revered) and Chiang Kaishek
Invaded by Japan in the North
Civil war against the communists
People's Republic of China 1949 -
Established by the 1949 revolution, when the communists finally prevailed over the nationalists, who fled to Taiwan.
More to Explore
Timeline of Chinese Dynasties: https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/china_timeline.htm