Brief History of China
Prehistory  Mythical Era  Ancient Era  Imperial Era  Modern Era
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Introduction
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Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River Valley in the Neolithic era A history of 4700 years since Yellow Emperor during the period of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors; the written history of China begins with Shang Dynasty 3600 years ago when turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing were carbon dated in 1500BC

Prehistory
Peking Man

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Paleolithic
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China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than 1 million years ago The archaeological site of Xihoudu site in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded of use of fire by Homo erectus 1.27 million years ago The excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation The most specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1965

Prehistory (cont.)
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Neolithic
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Stone Tools The Neolithic age traced back to 10,000 BC Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is carbon-dated to about 7,000 BC Population was increased due to agriculture, the ability to store and redistribute crops and to support specialist craftsmen and administrators In late Neolithic times, the Yellow River valley began to establish itself as a culture center, and the first villages were founded Early history of China is complicated by the lack of a written language during this period At Damaidi site in Ningxia, 3172 cliff carvings dating to 6000-5000 BC have been discovered “featuring 8453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing”; these pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese

Mythical Era
Nuwa (goddness)
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Yellow Emperor

The Three Sovereigns
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Sometimes known as the Three August Ones, were said to be god-kings or