Ancient China covers 11,000 years of history! Fortunately, it's divided into big blocks of time. Still, it can be frustrating sometimes because different people refer to the same blocks of time by different names. That's not very helpful. For example, someone might say "in Shang times" or "in Han times", or they might say "in the Bronze Age" or "in the Age of Division". They might say in the Chou Dynasty (when the Chou family ruled) or in the Zhou Dynasty (when the Zhou family ruled). But, the Chou and Zhou Dynasties were the same dynasty, only spelled differently. You can see why this might be confusing!   So, before we get into daily life, we need a cheat sheet of who's who in ancient China.     Cheat Sheet: Who's Who in Ancient China Time Period  Dynasty Quick Glimpse Early 10,000-1500 BCE Xia(Hsia)       Lungshan people, the great engineers Silk, potters wheel, baked brick houses, flood control, irrigation   Bronze Age 1500-600 BCE   Shang Chou(Zhou)                         Rich Nobles & Poor Farmers Oracle Bones (Shang) Mandate of Heaven (Chou) Ancestor Worship Chariots, bowmen, great royal hunts, bronze candlesticks, feudal lords, jade carvings, Chinese writing (pictographs), calligraphy   Classical Age 600 BCE- 200 CE Late Chou Ch'in(Qin) Han Building the Great Wall First Emperor (Qin) Confucius & Taoism (Chou) Silk Road (Han) Central government, public schools, mirrors, oil lamps, fancy shoes, fireplaces, window frames with colored glass, marble staircases Chinese New Year & Lantern Festival Chinese Zodiac   Age of Division 200-600 CE A bunch of dynasties    Hu the Tiger (who reminds me of Jaba the Hut in Star Wars!) Invention of gunpowder Tea! (Confucius probably never tasted tea, and it really didn't become popular until T'ang times, but this era is when it first started to be enjoyed.) Early Medieval Period 600-900 CE T'ang The Golden Age! Furniture, ceramics, spoons, amber, turquoise, gold, silver, goblets, teacups, sports, games, music, dancing, even a kind of football, and a neat form of air-conditioning. Fancy hats, silk robes, jade belts, Buddhism Tea was used as barter with areas in Mongolia for horses in an exchange called the "Tea and Horse" Policy.   CHINA   OTHER KEY TOPICS     Free Ancient China Presentations in PowerPoint format  Return to Ancient China Index