前尘 Past
？ – 2070 BCE 三皇五帝 Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
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Fuxi, one of the Three Sovereigns and the progenitor of the Huaxia people, stands as the venerable guardian of the realm. He is both the righteous deity who blesses the land and its people, and the earliest creator god chronicled in the annals of our sacred texts. It is said that Fuxi was the very first sovereign in the annals of humankind. With careful observation of the world around him, he inscribed his insights through symbols of profound geometry—thus were born the Eight Trigrams, the dawn of written language, and the end of the age when mortals merely recorded events by knotting cords. He wove nets from knotted ropes to ensnare birds and catch prey, teaching humanity the art of hunting and fishing. He crafted the se, plucked its strings, and gave life to melody. Fuxi, whose totem was the dragon, united the scattered tribes of his people, weaving them into a single fold; and so the dragon became the emblem of the Chinese nation, a mark of its unique spirit, a symbol of the enduring unity and multifaceted glory of Chinese civilisation.
c.3077 – 2070 BCE 尧舜禹 Yao, Shun, Yu (Legendary Sage Kings)
2070 – 1600 BCE 夏朝 Xia Dynasty
1600 – 1046 BCE 商朝 Shang Dynasty
1046 – 771 BCE 西周 Western Zhou
770 – 476 BCE 春秋 Spring and Autumn Period
475 – 221 BCE 战国 Warring States Period
221 – 207 BCE 秦朝 Qin Dynasty
202 BCE – 8 西汉 Western Han
9 – 23 新朝 Xin Dynasty (Wang Mang)
25 – 220 东汉 Eastern Han
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When Liu Yan issued his edict to muster volunteers, the proclamation reached Zhuo County (modern-day Zhuozhou, Hebei), and there it drew forth a hero of uncommon bearing. This man was no scholar; gentle of disposition, sparing of words, his moods seldom betrayed upon his countenance. Yet within him burned great ambition, and he delighted in forging bonds with heroes from across the land. He stood seven feet five inches tall, ears descending to his shoulders, hands reaching past his knees; his eyes could behold his own ears, his face shining like polished jade, lips red as if anointed with vermilion. Descended from Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and a great-grandson of Emperor Jing of Han, he bore the family name Liu, given name Bei, courtesy name Xuande.
Long ago, Liu Sheng’s son, Liu Zhen, had been enfeoffed as Marquis of Zhuolu in the reign of Emperor Wu, but forfeit his title due to failing in tribute; thus this branch of the family lingered in Zhuo County. Xuande’s grandfather, Liu Xiong, and father, Liu Hong, were men of modest means; Hong, once recommended for filial and incorruptible service, had briefly served as an official but died young. Orphaned in youth, Xuande devoted himself to his mother with utmost filial piety. Poor in means, he earned his living by trading sandals and weaving mats. Their home stood in Lou Sang Village, to the southeast of which rose a grand mulberry tree, towering fifty feet high, broad as a carriage canopy. Seers would say, “This house shall give rise to a man of eminence.”
As a child, Xuande played beneath this tree with other village boys, declaring, “I shall be emperor one day, and ride beneath this canopy.” His uncle, Liu Yuan, marveling at such words, declared, “This boy is no common mortal!” Seeing the family’s poverty, he often aided them. At fifteen, his mother sent him to study under masters, among them Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi, and he formed friendships with Gongsun Zan and other worthies. By the time Liu Yan posted the call to arms, Xuande was twenty-eight.
Upon reading the proclamation, he sighed with a heavy heart. At that moment, a booming voice rang out: “A man of worth sighs, yet does not rise to serve the realm? Why?” Turning, Xuande beheld a figure eight feet tall, with leopard-like eyes, a swallow-shaped jaw, tiger-like whiskers, a voice like rolling thunder, and presence like a galloping steed. Curious at such appearance, Xuande asked his name. “I am Zhang Fei, courtesy name Yide,” came the reply. “My family has long dwelled in Zhuo, we hold land and taverns, selling wine and pork, yet I delight in befriending heroes across the world. Seeing you sigh at the proclamation, I approached to inquire.” Xuande answered, “I am Liu Bei of the imperial lineage. Now, hearing of the Yellow Turban revolt, I long to quell the rebels and bring peace to the people, but my strength falls short, hence my sigh.”
Fei responded, “I possess some means; let us raise local warriors together and undertake this great task.” Overjoyed, Xuande joined him at a village tavern. As they drank, a towering man appeared, pushing a cart to the doorway, then entering and seating himself. He called for wine, declaring, “Fill the cup swiftly, I must hasten to enlist!” Xuande observed him: nine feet tall, a beard two feet long; face like ripened dates, lips bright as vermilion; eyes like red phoenixes, brows like silkworms at rest; a commanding and awe-inspiring visage. Xuande invited him to join, and learned his name: “I am Guan Yu, styled Changsheng, later known as Yunchang, of Jie County in Hedong. Once, the local tyrants oppressed my kin, whom I slew, and thus fled to the wandering world for five or six years. Hearing of this muster to destroy the rebels, I came to enlist.” Xuande revealed his own purpose, and Yunchang rejoiced. Together, the three went to Zhang Fei’s estate to discuss the great enterprise.
Fei led them to a peach grove behind his home, the blossoms in full bloom. “Tomorrow,” he said, “we shall offer sacrifice to Heaven and Earth here, and there bind ourselves as sworn brothers. United in heart and purpose, we shall pursue our great cause.” Xuande and Yunchang answered in unison, “So it shall be.”
The following day, within the peach grove, offerings were laid: black oxen and white horses, incense burned, the three knelt and swore their oath: “Though Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei bear different names, united as brothers, we shall share our hearts, rescue the oppressed, and serve the realm. We seek not to be born on the same day, but may we die on the same day. Heaven above, Earth below, witness our hearts; betray righteousness or forget loyalty, and let heaven and men strike us down!” With the oath completed, Liu Bei was made eldest brother, Guan Yu second, and Zhang Fei the youngest.
220 – 280 三国（魏蜀吴）Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu)
265 – 316 西晋 Western Jin
317 – 420 东晋 Eastern Jin
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In the era of Taiyuan of the Eastern Jin, there lived a fisherman in Wuling Commandery, who made his livelihood upon the waters. As he drifted along the stream, he paid no heed to the distance he had traversed. Suddenly, he came upon a grove of peach trees, growing thick along both banks for hundreds of paces. No other trees dared mingle among them; the blossoms were tender and fair, petals drifting gently to the ground. The fisherman marveled at the sight, and pressed onward, seeking the forest’s end.
At the far end of the grove, the source of the stream appeared, and there arose a small mountain. Upon the mountain’s face, a tiny cave glimmered with faint light. He moored his boat and entered the cave. At first, the passage was narrow, admitting only a single man. Yet after several dozen steps, the cavern opened into a vast and luminous space. A wide and level land stretched before him, dotted with orderly houses, fertile fields, and sparkling ponds; mulberry trees and bamboo groves swayed gently in the breeze. Winding paths crisscrossed the fields, and the cries of roosters and barking of dogs echoed throughout.
Men and women labored in the fields, dressed in ways indistinguishable from folk beyond the grove. Children and elders alike lived in contentment and harmony, joyful in their simple pleasures. The villagers, astonished at the fisherman’s arrival, inquired of his origins. He recounted in detail the world beyond their hidden vale. Some among them invited him to their homes, offering wine, slaughtering chickens, preparing meals to honor him. Word spread through the village of this stranger, and all came to learn of him.
The villagers explained that their ancestors, fleeing the wars of Qin, had led their families and neighbors to this secluded place. They had resolved never to leave, severing all ties with the outside world. When they asked which era the fisherman hailed from, they had no knowledge of the Han dynasty, and could not imagine the times of Wei or Jin. The fisherman told them of the world beyond, and upon hearing, they sighed with wonder and regret.
Each villager welcomed him in turn, offering food and drink. The fisherman stayed for several days before taking his leave. “This place,” they warned, “must remain hidden from the world beyond.” He returned to his boat and retraced his path, marking the way as he went. Upon reaching the county seat, he reported the tale to the magistrate, who immediately dispatched men to follow the signs. Yet they became lost, and the way to the Peach Blossom Spring was never found again.
A noble recluse of Nanyang, Liu Ziji, hearing the tale, longed to seek the hidden realm. Yet he never set out, and soon passed away from illness. Henceforth, no man ever sought the path to the Peach Blossom Spring again.
420 – 589 南北朝 Southern and Northern Dynasties
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Once, upon a distant mountain, there stood a temple, and within it dwelt a lone young monk. Each day he drew water, chanted sutras, and struck the wooden fish, refilling the vessels before the Bodhisattva. By night he guarded the temple from thieving mice, and his life flowed in peaceful contentment.
Soon, a tall monk arrived. Upon entering, he drank half a vat of water. The young monk bade him draw water, and at first the tall monk complied. Yet seeing the young monk leisurely tending the temple, he thought it unfair to toil alone, and insisted that they fetch water together. Only one bucket could be carried at a time, and it must rest at the center of the pole, else they felt uneasy. At last, there was water enough to drink—but their relationship had stiffened, constrained by rules and pride.
Then came a stout monk. He thirsted, yet the vat was empty. The young monk and the tall monk told him to fetch water himself. He did so, drawing a bucket and drinking it all alone. From that day forth, none fetched water. Each chanted his own sutras, struck his own wooden fish, and at last even the vessel before the Bodhisattva was drained by quarrel and selfishness. Flowers withered, plants dried, and by night the mice came boldly to steal. No one cared.
Chaos soon took hold: the mice overturned a candleholder, and a fire broke out. Only then did the three monks act together, fighting the blaze with unified effort. When the flames were quenched, their hearts were awakened. From that day onward, the three monks labored in concert, and water flowed freely once more.
581 – 618 隋朝 Sui Dynasty
618 – 907 唐朝 Tang Dynasty
907 – 979 五代十国 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
960 – 1279 宋朝 Song Dynasty
1271 – 1368 元朝 Yuan Dynasty
1368 – 1644 明朝 Ming Dynasty
1644 – 1912 清朝 Qing Dynasty
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After the Industrial Revolution, Britain’s rising capitalist class was eager to sell its manufactured goods in China. They hoped that trade would open the vast Chinese market. Yet in the 1820s and 1830s, China still enjoyed a strong advantage in trade with Britain, exporting tea, silk, and porcelain while receiving silver in return. Every year Britain lost two to three million taels of silver in this trade.
Determined to reverse this imbalance, British merchants and officials first attempted diplomatic negotiations with the Qing government. When these efforts failed, they turned to another strategy: the large-scale smuggling of opium into China.
The opium trade generated enormous profits for British merchants, the British administration in India, the East India Company, and private traders. At the same time, it gradually destroyed China’s long-standing trade advantage. For more than two centuries China had enjoyed a surplus in foreign trade, but the influx of opium reversed the situation. Each year, around six million taels of silver flowed out of China to pay for the drug.
This massive outflow of silver caused a severe monetary crisis inside the country. Silver became increasingly scarce and valuable, while copper currency lost value. Government finances deteriorated, and the imperial treasury grew dangerously depleted.
Even more damaging was the social impact. Opium addiction spread widely across the population, weakening both the physical health and the morale of the people. The drug also undermined productivity and economic life, contributing to the decline of commerce and industry in parts of China’s southeastern coastal regions.
In 1839, the Qing court appointed Lin Zexu as imperial commissioner in Guangzhou to suppress the opium trade. From June 3 to June 25 of that year, at the Humen shore near Guangzhou, more than 20,000 chests of opium—about 2.37 million pounds—were confiscated and publicly destroyed.
The British government used this action as a pretext for war. In 1840, it dispatched an expeditionary force to China, beginning what would later be known as the First Opium War.
By 1842, Qing defenses had collapsed under British military pressure. In August of that year, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, the first of what later became known as the “unequal treaties.”
Under the terms of the treaty, China agreed to pay Britain an indemnity of 21 million silver dollars, cede Hong Kong, open five treaty ports—Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai—to foreign trade, and establish a fixed tariff system.
The treaty marked a turning point in modern Chinese history, signaling the beginning of a period of profound political and economic upheaval.
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After Vietnam signed the Treaty of Huế with France and effectively submitted to French control, China became the last major obstacle to France’s complete domination of Vietnam. Determined to remove this obstacle, France moved quickly to sever all relations between Vietnam and China and forced the Vietnamese government to withdraw anti-French forces, including the Black Flag Army. This created a situation of direct confrontation between France and China.
At first, France attempted to achieve its goals through diplomacy. On September 15, 1882, the French government presented a proposal to the Qing government for resolving the Vietnam issue. The plan suggested establishing a narrow neutral zone along the border so that Chinese troops would withdraw from Vietnam. In return, China would recognize France’s colonial rule over the entire country. France also demanded that the Qing government open Manhao in Yunnanas a commercial port, effectively creating a gateway for French access to southwestern China.
The Qing government rejected the proposal, and negotiations produced no results.
At this moment, the French invasion of Vietnam posed a serious strategic threat to China. Within the Qing ruling elite, opinions were deeply divided. A faction advocating resistance to France—represented by figures such as Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Jize, and Zhang Zhidong—urged the court to adopt a firm policy and support Vietnam militarily. However, Li Hongzhang, who controlled much of the Qing government’s diplomatic and military authority, strongly favored compromise and peace.
The Qing court hesitated and failed to adopt a clear policy. Militarily, it sent troops across the border to assist Vietnam, yet repeatedly ordered Chinese forces not to launch offensive attacks against the French. Diplomatically, it protested France’s invasion of Vietnam while simultaneously seeking compromise through negotiations or mediation by third parties.
These contradictory policies greatly facilitated France’s preparations for war.
On October 25, 1882, Amédée Courbet, commander of the French naval squadron in the Gulf of Tonkin, was appointed commander-in-chief of French forces in northern Vietnam. By early December, the French decided to launch an offensive against Chinese defensive positions in the Red River Delta.
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After 1894, following China’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Western powers launched a new wave of imperial expansion aimed at carving China into spheres of influence. As the national crisis deepened, resistance against foreign imperialism grew among the Chinese people. At the same time, the heavy burden of war indemnities placed enormous pressure on the population. Economic hardship and growing resentment eventually helped ignite the Boxer Uprising.
Facing both internal unrest and external aggression, the Qing government found itself increasingly powerless. The imperialist powers began to consider the possibility of dividing China outright. In the spring of 1900, an international coalition known as the Eight-Nation Alliance launched a military expedition into China, claiming that its purpose was to suppress the Boxer movement.
On June 10, 1900, British Vice Admiral Edward Seymour led a force of more than 2,000 troops from Tianjin toward Beijing. Along the way, they were repeatedly attacked by Boxer fighters. Major clashes occurred near Langfang, including the Battle of Dongdaqiao on June 11 and fierce fighting at Langfang Railway Station on June 18. These engagements inflicted nearly 300 casualties on the allied forces and temporarily halted their advance.
After capturing the Dagu Forts on June 17, the alliance forces secured control of Tianjin on July 14. On August 4, the coalition launched a renewed advance toward Beijing from two directions. At Beicang, they encountered resistance from Qing troops and Boxer fighters and reportedly used poison gas shells—known as “Lie-di guns.” Despite suffering around 635 casualties, the allied forces eventually seized the position.
On August 14, American troops breached the walls of Beijing by bombarding the Dongbian Gate, becoming the first to enter the outer city. On the same day, British forces captured the Guangqu Gate and the Temple of Heaven.
On August 17, German Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee was appointed supreme commander of the allied expedition. He advocated a strategy of “using Chinese to govern Chinese,” relying on local collaboration to maintain foreign control.
During this period, Russian forces occupied large areas of Northeast China (Manchuria) and forced the Qing authorities to sign the Mukden Agreement, securing access to the region’s mineral resources.
Finally, on September 7, 1901, the Qing government signed the Boxer Protocol with eleven foreign powers. The treaty required China to pay an indemnity of 450 million taels of silver, allowed foreign troops to be permanently stationed along the Beijing–Tianjin corridor, and imposed a series of additional political concessions.
With this agreement, China’s sovereignty was further eroded, and the country entered what historians often describe as a semi-colonial, semi-feudal state under the influence of multiple foreign powers.
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After China’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, the world’s major powers rushed to seize privileges and concessions in China. Within a short time, a situation emerged in which the country seemed on the verge of being divided among foreign empires.
Between the end of the Sino-Japanese War and 1911, the Qing dynasty constructed 4,936 kilometers of railway, nearly 40 percent of all railways built in modern China. Most of this development took place during the late Qing reform period known as the New Policies. However, the vast majority of these railways—about 4,029 kilometers, or roughly 81 percent of the total—were financed by foreign capital.
In return for these loans, the Qing government was forced to grant foreign companies extensive control over the railways, including management authority, personnel decisions, auditing rights, and procurement of materials. As a result, China’s economic sovereignty suffered serious losses.
In the summer of 1911, protests known as the Railway Protection Movement broke out in several provinces, including Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, and Sichuan. The movement was particularly intense in Sichuan. On September 25, Rong County declared independence, becoming the first local regime in China to break away from Qing authority. This event pushed the Railway Protection Movement to its peak.
On the evening of October 10, 1911, revolutionary soldiers of the Eighth Engineering Battalion of the New Army, led by Xiong Bingkun, fired the first shots of the Wuchang Uprising. Revolutionary forces in Hanyang and Hankouquickly followed. They captured Hanyang on the night of October 11 and took Hankou on October 12.
After securing control of the three cities of Wuhan, the revolutionaries established the Hubei Military Government. Li Yuanhong was elected military governor, and the new regime proclaimed the founding of the Republic of China.
The victory of the Wuchang Uprising triggered a rapid chain reaction across the country. Within just two months, fifteen provinces, including Hunan and Guangdong, declared their independence from the Qing government.
Finally, on February 12, 1912, the Qing emperor issued an edict of abdication, bringing an end to more than two thousand years of imperial rule in China.
The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the centuries-old system of absolute monarchy and established a republican form of government. It spread the ideals of democracy and republicanism, greatly promoting intellectual liberation among the Chinese people and accelerating profound social and political transformations across the country.
1912 皇朝至此完 End of Imperial China
