- This article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).
China 
listen?. (Traditional Chinese: 中國, Simplified Chinese: 中国, Hanyu
Pinyin: Zhōngguó, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a geographic and cultural
entity chiefly in continental East
Asia with some outer territories in Central Asia and offshore islands in the Pacific Ocean that since
1949 has been divided de facto between
the People's Republic of China (governing
mainland China and numerous other islands, Hong Kong since 1997, Macao
since 1999) and the Republic of
China (governing Taiwan and several outlying islands of Fukien).
China is the world's oldest continuous civilization, with a history characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications
amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent dynastic
change. Power was generally concentrated in the hands of the emperor,
but sometimes shifted to powerful officials, regional warlords, imperial relatives, and eunuchs. The country's territorial extent varied according to its shifting fortunes. For many centuries, most
notably from the 7th through the 14th centuries, China stood as the world's most advanced civilization and as East Asia's dominant cultural
influence. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the country was too weak to repel European colonialism and Japanese invasion, while at the same time suffering
internal conflicts which led to its continuing division. A Communist victory in the Chinese Civil
War established the People's Republic of China in the mainland while the Nationalists held out in Taiwan.
The country's population of over 1.3 billion people makes up a fifth of the
world's population and is overwhelmingly of the Han Chinese ethnicity. Their
language, Chinese, is divided into many spoken variations. These spoken languages are used today in
modern society and in many parts of Europe and America.
Terminology
- Main article: Name of China
in various languages
"Zhongguo"
The Chinese call their country Zhongguo, which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom" or "Central Country". The term
has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, however, and clearly has cultural and political connotations. During
the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to
describe the relatively culturally advanced states of the Yellow River
valley, to the exclusion of states such as Chu and Qin. Later it came to include areas farther south, including the Yangzi River and Pearl River
systems. By the Tang Dynasty it even included "barbarian" regimes such as
the Xianbei and Xiongnu.
During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive
meanings:
- The area around the capital or imperial domain. The Book of
Poetry explicitly gives this definition.
- Territories under the direct authority of central authorities. The Historical Records states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Three are with the Man and Yi
barbarians. Five are in Zhongguo."
- The area now called the North China Plain. The Sanguo Zhi records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the area of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we
should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term is synonymous with Xia (夏) and Hua
(華).
During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a
result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. This was doubly so after the loss of the Yellow River valley,
the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (夷), meaning "barbarian". The southern
dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虏), meaning "criminal" or
"prisoner". In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. It was used in this manner from the tenth century
onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. The term Zhongguo came to be
related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin.
The Republic of China and later People's Republic of China have used Zhongguo to mean all the territories and peoples
within their political control. Thus it is asserted that all 56 recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren
(中國人), or Zhongguo people. Their histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo.
"China"
The English word "China"
and prefix "Sino-" probably came from "Qin" (pronounced halfway between "Chin" and "Tsin"). Others believe that China may have been derived
from the Chinese word for tea (cha) or silk (Chinese si, Latin
seres).
In any circumstance, the word China passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe. The Western "China", transliterated to Shina (支那) has also been used by Japanese since the nineteenth century, and has since evolved into a derogatory term.
The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, more usually and
inclusively, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang; the boundaries between these regions do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. In many contexts, "China" is
commonly used to refer to the People's Republic of China or mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used to refer to the Republic of
China. Sometimes informally, especially in the English and Chinese business world, "the Greater China region" (大中華地區) refers to China.
Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, more akin to
the classical usage of Zhongguo, or to the meaning of the "Han ethnic
group", who make up the bulk of Mainland China.
History
Main articles: History of China, History of People's Republic of
China, History of the Republic of
China
China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. It became a large united country with an advanced culture at a
very early stage, outpacing most of the world in areas such as art and science.
Since around 1000 BC China consisted of many small kingdoms. All of them were
unified under one emperor in 221 BC by the Qin state, ushering in the Qin Dynasty. Over the course of centuries, China underwent periods of unity and
disunity, order and disorder.
In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, while simultaneously falling behind Europe in that respect. This set the stage for the 19th
century, in which China adopted a defensive posture against European imperialism while simultaneously extending control into Central Asia.
However the primary cause of the decline of the Chinese empire was not European interference as the ethnocentric Western
historians would lead many to believe. On the contrary it was a series of internal upheavals. Most prominent of these was the
Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. The civil war was started by a fanatical Christian who believed
himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious the civil war was the bloodiest in human history -
costing at least twenty million lives (more than the First World
War). Prior to this conflict a number of Islamic Rebellions, especially in Central Asia, had occurred. Later a second major
rebellion took place, although this latter uprising was considerably smaller than the cataclysmic Taiping Civil War. This second
conflict was the Boxer Rebellion which aimed to repel Westerners.
Although secretly supporting the rebels the Empress, Ci Xi, aided foreign forces in
suppressing the uprising.
In 1912, after a prolonged period of decline, the institution of the Emperor of China disappeared and the Republic of China was established. The following three decades were a period of disunion —
the Warlord Era, the Sino-Japanese
War, and the Chinese Civil War. The latter ended in 1949 with
the Communist Party of China in control of mainland China. The CPC established a communist state—the People's Republic of China—that laid claim to be the successor state of the
Republic of China. Meanwhile, the ROC government of the Kuomintang fled to
Taiwan, where it continued to be recognized as the legitimate government of all China by the Western bloc and the United
Nations until the 1970s, when most nations and the UN switched recognition to the
PRC.
See also:
Politics
Main article: Politics of Imperial China, Politics of the People's Republic of China, Politics of the Republic of China
Before unification by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, China had no central government, nor an emperor. Instead, it was divided into a patchwork of regional
states, each ruled by a king (王), duke (公), marquis (侯), or earl (伯). Although there was a central
king who held nominal power, and powerful hegemons sometimes held considerable influence, each state was ruled as an independent
political entity.
This ended with the Qin Dynasty unification, during which the office of the emperor was set up, and a system of bureaucratic
administration established. After the Qin, China experienced about 13 more dynasties, many of which continued the extensive
system of kingdoms, dukedoms, earldoms, and marquisates. However the emperor had ultimate and supreme authority. The emperor also consulted civil and martial ministers,
especially the prime minister. Political power sometimes fell into the
hands of powerful officials, eunuchs, or imperial relatives.
Political relations with dependencies (tributary kingdoms) were maintained by international marriages, military aids, and
gifts. (see section "Geography, Political" below for examples).
The historical capitals of China were mostly in the east. The
four most commonly designated capitals are Nanjing, Beijing, Chang'an (today Xi'an), and Luoyang. Chinese was the official language, though periods of Mongol and Manchu conquest saw the arrival of
Mongol and Manchu as alternate official languages.
On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China (ROC) was established, signaling the end of the Manchu-dominated Qing Empire.
Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), was proclaimed
provisional president of the republic. However, Yuan Shikai, a former Qing
general who had defected to the revolutionary cause, soon forced Sun to step aside and took the presidency for himself. Before
long, Yuan attempted to have himself proclaimed emperor of a new dynasty, but he was quickly deposed.
After Yuan's downfall, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally-recognized, but virtually powerless, national
government seated in Beijing. Warlords in various regions exercised actual control over their respective territories.
In the late 1920s, the KMT, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to
reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanjing and implementing "political tutelage", an
intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic
state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the KMT. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because
of the ongoing Chinese Civil War between the KMT and the
Communist Party of China (CPC), many provisions of the 1947 ROC constitution were never put into actual practice on the
mainland.
By early 1950, the CPC had defeated the KMT on the mainland, and the ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan. Due to
the communist threat, implementation of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the territories still under ROC control
(i.e., Taiwan province and some offshore islands of Fujian province) was further delayed until the 1990s. Today, the political
scene in the ROC is vibrant, with active participation by all sectors of society. But rather than the usual conservative-liberal
policy distinctions that are the hallmarks of most democracies around the world, the main cleavage in ROC politics is the
unification (with the mainland) vs. independence issue.
Meanwhile, Mao Zedong, the leader of the communists, proclaimed the People's
Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949 in Beijing. From the beginning, the PRC has been a dictatorial one-party state under
the Communist Party. However, post-1978 reforms have led to the relaxation, in varying degrees, of party control over many areas
of society.
See also:
Territory
During the Zhou Dynasty, China was originally the region around the
Yellow River. Since then, the territory expanded outward in all directions,
and was largest during the Tang, Yuan, and Qing dynasties. The Qing Dynasty included
parts of modern Russian Far East and Central Asia (west of Xinjiang).
Along with provincial administrators, some foreign monarchs sent envoys to offer gifts to the Emperor of China and the Emperor
returned compliments to them. The Chinese ostensibly saw that barbarians attached themselves to the virtue of the Emperor, while
the foreign governments sometimes had different perspectives. Since the end of the 19th century, China has tried to interpret
this relationship as suzerainty-dependency based on Western international law.
The Qing Empire reduced the territorial value of the Great Wall of China as a barrier of China proper. In 1683 after the surrender of the Kingdom of Tungning established by Koxinga, Taiwan became a part of the Qing Empire, originally as one prefecture, then two. Taiwan was subsequently ceded to Japan after the
first Sino-Japanese War in 1895. At the end of the
second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Japan
relinquished the sovereignty of the island in San
Francisco Peace Treaty. Since then, the sovereignty of Taiwan has been under dispute between the PRC, ROC and Taiwan independence supporters.
Top-level political divisions of China have altered as the administration changed. Top levels included circuits and provinces. Below that, there have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties. Recent divisions also include prefecture-level cities, county-level cities, towns and townships.
China has historically been thought of as being composed of five regions: China proper, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. These regions used to correspond closely to ethnic and administrative reality, but today
they no longer do, and contemporary Chinese rarely (if ever) think of China as composed of these regions; instead they think in
terms of provinces. The regions are separated by borders that are vague at best. China proper is generally thought to be bounded
by the Great Wall and the edge of the Tibetan plateau; Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are found to the north of the Great Wall of China, and the boundary between them can either be
taken as the present border between Inner Mongolia and the northeast Chinese provinces, or the more historic border of the World War II-era puppet state
of Manchukuo; Xinjiang's borders
correspond to today's administrative Xinjiang; and historic Tibet is conceived as occupying all of the Tibetan
Plateau. China is also traditionally thought of as comprising North China
(北方) and South China (南方), the geographic
boundary between which north and south is largely generalized as Huai River (淮河) and Qinling Mountains
(秦岭).
See also:
Geography
Main article: Geography of China
China has many very different landscapes, with mostly plateaux and mountains in the west, and lower lands on the east. As a
result, principal rivers flow from west to east (Chang Jiang (Yangtze), the
Huang He (central-east), the Amur
(northeast), etc), sometimes toward the south (Pearl
River, Mekong River, Brahmaputra, etc). All rivers empty into the Pacific.
Most of China's arable lands lie along the two major rivers, the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) and the Huang He, and each are the
centers around which are founded China's major, ancient civilizations.
In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are found extensive and densely populated alluvial plains; the
shore of the South China Sea is more mountainous and southern China
is dominated by hill country and lower mountain ranges.
To the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of
moderate elevation, with the Himalayas, containing the highest point Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus among more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan
and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. Due to a prolonged drought and perhaps poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China.
During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from
Burma, Laos and Vietnam.
The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (within which lies Beijing) has a climate with winters of Arctic
severity. The central zone (within which Shanghai is situated) has a generally
temperate climate. The southern zone (within which lies Guangzhou) has a generally subtropical climate.
The Palaeozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the
Carboniferous system, are marine,
while the Mesozoic and Tertiary
deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial
origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the
Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas,
there are basaltic plateaux.
Demographics
Main articles: ethnic groups in
Chinese history, nationalities of China
Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of numbers, however, the predominant ethnic group in China is the
Han. Throughout history, many ethnic groups have been assimilated into
neighbouring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. Several previously distinct ethnic groups have been Sinicized into the Han, causing its
population to increase dramatically. The Han, however, continue to speak several mutually unintelligible languages (see Chinese languages). The government of the People's Republic of China recognizes a total of
56 ethnic groups.
China's overall population, the largest in the world, is 1.3 billion. With the global human population currently estimated at
just over 6 billion, China is home to approximately 21% or one-fifth of the human species.
Culture and religion
Main articles: Culture of China, Religion in China
Philosophies that have had a significant impact on both literary and popular
Chinese culture stem from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism (in order of appearance). Marxism has become very influential since the 20th century.
China has many diverse religious traditions. Some of the religions or belief
systems associated with China include ancestor worship, Buddhism, Chinese folk
religion, Confucianism, Islam,
and Taoism.
Chinese literature has a long and prolific continuous
history, in part because of the development of printmaking during the
Song dynasty. Before that, manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts
(mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were manually written by ink
brush and distributed. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on these works in both printed
and written form. Members of royalty frequently participated in these discussions. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents
are still extant.
For centuries, opportunity for social advancement in China could be provided by high performance on the imperial examinations. These tests required applicants to write
essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite
scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed position.
Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets have been, for the most part, highly respected, and played a key role in preserving
and promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of lives of the
common people. (See List of Chinese authors, and
List of Chinese language poets).
Chinese culture valued generosity and charity. This is seen in many works over the centuries, but never so strikingly as
during the 1987 Russian livestock shortage,
during which China sent over disaster relief in an amount equalling roughly $50 million US.
The Chinese have created numerous musical instruments, such
as the zheng, xiao, and erhu, that have spread throughout East and Southeast Asia, and especially to its
dependencies. The sheng is the basis for several Western
free-reed instruments.
Chinese characters have had many variants and styles
throughout the Chinese history, and were "simplified" in the mid-20th century on
mainland China. Calligraphy is a major art-form in China, on a par with
painting and music.
Bonsai is a millennia-old art that spread to Japan and Korea.
See also:
Science and technology
Main article: Science and
technology in China
In addition to the above mentioned cultural inventions, technological inventions from China include:
Other areas of science:
Miscellaneous topics
External links
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