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The latestChinese Civil War (1927–1949) resulted from two different political powers today:
TheRepublic of China (ROC)(since 1911), commonly known asChina since 1 January, 1911 to 25 October, 1971. Now commonly known asTaiwan, Taiwan has control over the islands ofTaiwan,Penghu,Kinmen, and Matsu.
China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, having the oldest continuous civilization near theYellow River region.[18] There isarchaeological evidence found that is over 5,000 years old.[19] China also has one of the world's oldestwriting systems (and the oldest in use today). China has been the source of making many majorinventions.[19] Geographically, China’s longest river is theYangtze River, which runs through mega cities and is home to manyspecies. It is the world’s third longest river.
The first recorded use of the word "China" is dated to be 190.[i][20] It is derived fromchīnī, aPersian adjective meaning 'Chinese' which was popularized in Europe byMarco Polo.[20][21]
Before theQin Dynasty united China, there were many small feudal states, nominally loyal to the Zhou King, which typically fought each other for hundreds of years in battles for control of China. The majority of these states were ruled by relatives and clansmen of the Zhou royal house and carried the surname Ji (姬), and were tied by family bonds to the Zhou king, to whom they were ritually subordinate, as members of collateral or lesser lineages. A minority of these states, such as the Qin and Chu, were ruled by non-Zhou clansmen, and were awarded their fiefs on account of some merit. Over time, these feudal states attained to power and wealth, that exceeded that of their Zhou nominal overlord, whose direct authority became confined to a very small territory near present-dayZhengzhou. These states also began to acquire some distinctive characteristics and identities of their own during the long centuries of loose control by the Zhou. Eventually, the Zhou kings were eclipsed in power by two especially problematic vassals - the Qin and Chu, and the functional independence of the Qin later led to its gradual conquest of all other vassal states and the formal supplantation of the Zhou to form a heavily centralised Empire.
The long decline of the Zhou, incidentally the longest ruling dynastic house of China, is known as theWarring States Period. Despite the bloodiness and strife of the period, this was the time when many great philosophies emerged - includingConfucianism andDaoism as a response to disintegrating central authority of the Zhou kings and fluctuating power of the vassal states, and the general uncertainty of that era. Confucianism and Daoism have been the foundation of many social values seen in modern east Asian cultures today.
Other notable dynasties include the Han (from which is derived the ethnonym the Han Chinese, which is synonymous with the older self-referential term - the Huaxia) as well as dynasties such as the Tang, Song, and Ming, which were characterised by periods of affluence, wealth, population growth, and the proliferation of literature.
During the later years, China was often raided or invaded by northernnomadic people such as the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Jurchens and theMongols (the latter led byGenghis Khan andKublai Khan). One effect of regular nomadic invasion and the collapse of native dynasties was the massive migration of Han Chinese - especially the aristocratic elite and the literati, to sparsely populated frontier regions south of the Yangzi river such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian. Several notable waves of Han Chinese immigration to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian took place during the collapse of the Jin, the Tang, and the Song.
Some nomadic groups succeeded in conquering the whole territory of China, establishing dynasties such as theYuan (Mongol) andQing (Manchu). Each time, they also brought new elements into Chinese culture - for instance, military uniform, the qipao and the pigtail, the latter of which was deeply resented by the Han Chinese.
While China achieved many things in theFirst millennium and early2nd millennium, it became anisolationist country in the15th century C.E. This was because Spain found enormous silver in the new continent, which was the main currency (money) in China and Europe at the time, and China did not want to be bought by the foreigners.
By the time of theRenaissance, European powers started to take over other countries in Asia. While China was never actually taken over, manyEuropeancountries, such asBritain andFrance builtspheres of influence in China. Since China had cut itself off from the world over the previous fewcenturies, by theQing Dynasty, it had fallen behind other countries intechnology, and was helpless to stop this from happening. This had become clear when it lost theOpium Wars toBritain in the19th century.
Still influenced by Western sources, China faced internal strife.The Taiping Rebellion or Taiping War occurred in China from 1851 through 1864. TheTaiping Rebellion was led byHong Xiuquan fromGuangdong. Hong Xiuquan was influenced by Christian missionaries and declared himself the brother of Jesus. Hong made his mission to bring down the Qing Dynasty. Gaining influence on the southern Chinese population, the Taiping Rebellion attracted tens of thousands of supporters. The Taiping regime successfully created a state within the Qing Empire with the capital at Nanjing. Hong called his new state the Taiping Tianguo or "The Heavenly State of Great Peace". Local armies eventually suppressed the rebellion at the final battle of Nanjing.[23]
In 1911, the Republic of China was founded after theXinhai revolution led bySun Yat-sen, but its government was very weak.Warlords controlled many areas.Chiang Kai-shek led wars against them, and he became president and dictator.
In 1931, Japan invadedManchuria, a place in the northeastern part of China. On July 7, 1937, the Japanese attacked the rest of the country, starting what was called theSecond Sino-Japanese War.
On December 13 of that same year, The Japanese Army killed an estimated (guessed) 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese civilians (people) which is calledNanjing Massacre. The war later became part ofWorld War II. The war was fought for eight years and millions of Chinese people were killed.
However, theChinese Civil War later started between theKuomintang (Nationalists) of theRepublic of China (ROC) and the Communists of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Communists wanted to make China like the Soviet Union, whereas the other side wanted to keep China in its current state at the time. The Communists were led byMao Zedong,Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and others. The Communists eventually won the war by uniting all the people from different positions. The Nationalists (led by Chiang Kai-shek) fled to the island of Taiwan and set up their new capital city in Taipei. After the Chinese Civil War, the Communist leader Mao Zedong declared a new country, the People's Republic of China (PRC), in Beijing on October 1, 1949.
Under Mao the country stayed poor while Taiwan became richer. His attempt atindustrialization and collectivization with theGreat Leap Forward led to the deaths of many people fromfamine. TheCultural Revolution caused great social upheaval. After 1976, China underwentmarket economy reforms underDeng Xiaoping, and experienced rapid economic growth, which made the former progress made by Taiwan became overshadowed. China is now one of the largest economies in the world, relying mainly on exports and manufacturing.
In recent history, China has had problems with protests, blocking of information on theInternet, andcensorship of news. 1989 was notable for the controversialTiananmen Square protests. Since the 2008 Olympics, China has hosted many major international events, and the 2022 Winter Olympics were held in Beijing, China.
Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for China
China's landscape is vast and diverse. It ranges from theGobi andTaklamakan Deserts in the north to subtropical forests in the south. TheHimalaya,Karakoram,Pamir andTian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much ofSouth andCentral Asia. TheYangtze andYellow Rivers run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern coast. The Yangtze River is the third-longest river in the world while the Yellow River is the sixth-longest. China's coastline along thePacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers (9,000 mi) long. It is bounded by theBohai,Yellow,East China andSouth China seas. China connects through theKazakh border to theEurasian Steppe. The Eurasian Steppe has been an artery of communication between East and West since theNeolithic through the Steppe route. The Steppe Route is the ancestor of the terrestrialSilk Road(s).
The Great Hall of the People where the National People's Congress is heldThe Zhongnanhai, a headquarter of the Chinese government and Communist Party of China
China's constitution states that The People's Republic of China "is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants". It also states the state organs "apply the principle of democratic centralism." The PRC is one of the world's only socialist states openly being communist.
With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing military force in the world. The PLA is commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC).[24] China has the second-biggest military reserve force, only behind North Korea. The PLA consists of the Ground Force (PLAGF), the Navy (PLAN), the Air Force (PLAAF), and the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF). According to the Chinese government, China's military budget for 2017 was US$151,5 billion. China has the world's second-largest military budget.
Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from theWujing Zongyao of 1044 CE
China was once a world leader in science and technology up until the Ming dynasty. There are many Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions. For example, papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder are known as the Four Great Inventions. They became widespread across East Asia, the Middle East and later to Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers. By the 17th century, Europe and the Western world became better than China in science and technology.
The national census of 2010 recorded the population of the People's Republic of China to be about 1,370,536,875. About 16.60% of the population were 14 years old or younger, 70.14% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 13.26% were over 60 years old. The population growth rate for 2013 is estimated to be 0.46%.
China is the origin of Easternmartial arts, calledKung Fu or its first name Wushu. China is also the home of the well-respectedSpa Monastery andWudang Mountains. Martial art started more for the purpose ofsurvival, defense, andwarfare thanart. Over time someart forms have branched off, while others have retained their distinct Chinese flavor.
China has had renownedartists includingWong Fei Hung (Huang Fei Hung or Hwang Fei Hung) and many others.Art has also co-existed with a variety ofpaints including the more standard 18 colors. Legendary and controversial moves likeBig Mak are also praised and talked about within theculture.
China has many traditionalfestivals, such as Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-autumn Festival and so on. The most important isChinese New Year. People in China will have holidays to celebrate these festivals.
Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet of the State of Chu during theWarring States period. He persuaded his emperor not to accept Qin's diplomats' offers several times but his emperor did not listen to him. He was very sad and ended up jumping into the river to end his life. The people loved him so much that they did not want the fish to eat his corpse. They made and threw rice dumplings into the river. They hope the fish eat these dumplings instead of the poet's corpse. They also rowed dragon boats in the river to get rid of the fish. Such practices, eating rice dumplings and holding dragon boat races, become what Chinese do in this festival nowadays.
Held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month,Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for families. Now when the festival sets in, people would sit together to eat moon cakes, appreciate the bright full moon cakes, appreciate the bright full moon, celebrate the bumper harvest and enjoy the family love and happiness. To the Chinese people, the full moon symbolizes family reunion, as does the "moon cakes." Hence the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Family Reunion Festival.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Established in 1921, it rose to power in 1949 under the leadership of Mao Zedong after defeating the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) in the Chinese Civil War. The CCP operates under a one-party system, maintaining strict control over the government, military, economy, and media. It follows a socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics, blending Marxist-Leninist principles with economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping in the late 20th century. Under its leadership, China has grown into the world's second-largest economy while maintaining tight political control through censorship, surveillance, and a strong security apparatus. Today, the CCP continues to shape China's domestic and foreign policies, emphasizing national unity, economic development, and global influence
↑The area given is the official United Nations figure forthe mainland and excludesHong Kong,Macau andTaiwan.[6] It also excludes theTrans-Karakoram Tract (5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi)),Aksai Chin (37,244 km2 (14,380 sq mi)) and other territories in dispute with India. The total area of China is listed as 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) by theEncyclopædia Britannica.[7]
↑This figure was calculated using data from the CIA World Factbook.[8]
↑The Hong Kong Dollar is used inHong Kong and the Macanese pataca is used inMacau.
