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Ancient Chinese Empire

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Chinese Empire
The history of Chinese empire traces back to thousands of years. Some of the ancient dynasties of China include Shang dynasty, Western Zhou dynasty and Eastern Zhou dynasty. The Shang dynasty emerged in 1766 BC and disappeared when the Western Zhou dynasty defeated the last king of the Shang dynasty in 1122 BC (Pines, p. 12). The Eastern Zhou dynasty emerged in 771 BC, which underwent two traditional phases known as ‘Warring States’ and ‘Spring and Autumn’. Ancient China had a well-developed agricultural and irrigation system and was home to several plant and animal species. The most important of all is the period of Confucianism in which Confucius transformed the Chinese by formulating the ethics of public and family interactions (Pines, p. 17). He also set educational standards in the ancient Chinese empire by focusing on the six art forms of archery, computation, calligraphy, music, ritual and chariot-driving (Pines, p. 27). Confucianism became the most important influential philosophy during the reign of Han, Song and Tang dynasties.
Chinese calligraphy and literature became the most renowned written language across the world. The rich tradition of the country is visible in its dramatic visual arts. Chinese drama, including music became a significant literary form and was mostly a derivation from the philosophical works of Confucius, which continues even today (Pines, p. 185). Ancient Chinese produced novels and poetry at a very early period. Chinese opera has become one of the prominent cultural and artistic mediums of the country. The Han dynasty, followed by six other significant dynasties, including the Sui dynasty took great efforts to preserve ancient Chinese literature, literary and cultural forms. Furthermore, the Sung, Mongol, Ming and Manchu dynasties, which lasted from 960 to 1911 promoted various forms of literary and visual arts,

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