-
In the late 1100's, a powerful khan named Temujin rose from a peasant to khan. This khan soon took over his rivals and brought together the Mongolian tribes. He soon took the name Genghis Khan, which means Universal Ruler.
-
In the 1200's, the Mongol's started to attack the northern border of China. Their ruler, Genghis Khan, had a dream to conquer the world.
-
In 1206, Genghis Khan became the Universal Ruler of the nomadic people, the Mongols. Before, the Mongols were divided and ruled by separate khans. Born Temujin, Genghis Khan grew up a peasant. He gained power through his military expertise and supreme battle tactics. Soon he ruled his own tribe, and started to take over more and more tribes until he ruled all of Mongolia.
-
In 1207, the Mongols started their attack on Asia. These attacks started on China and the Turks, but once they conquered there they started heading west. He used siege warfare and gunpowder, along with improved battle tactics to take them over.
-
In 1227, Genghis Khan dies and his empire is handed down to his sons. The empire was split into regions and ruled by a Khan, and one Great Khan ruled the entire empire.
-
In 1235, Kublai Khan started his conquest of China. This would be the first and last time that China would ever be ruled by foreign power.
-
In 1236, the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, took over a large part of Russia, Poland, Hungary, and eastern Europe with the Golden Horde. They were about to attack Western Europe, but turned back due to the death of the Great Khan. Europe was going through the Black Plague at this time and it spread through Eurasia.
-
In 1260, Kublai Khan became the Great Khan of the Mongol empire. He ruled from 1260 to 1294, and finished conquering all of China.
-
In 1279, the last Song ruler was defeated in battle by the Mongols. This win for the Mongols gave them South China, completing their domination of all of China. This death also ended the Song dynasty, which lasted for about 300 years, and started the Yuan dynasty.
-
In 1294, Kublai Khan dies. He was the first foreign ruler of Chine, and ruled it peacefully. Though he did not trust the CHinese, he did allow them to take places of local power because of the lack of Mongols.
-
In the 1300's, more and more Chinese factions started to rebel against the Mongol rule. This was because some still supported the Song dynasty, some didn't like foreign rule, and some didn't like the taxes enforced upon them. After multiple defeats by the Japanese, being destroyed by kamikazes (divine wind, suicide bombers nowadays).
-
In 1368, a rebel army led by Hongwu defeated the Mongols. The Mongols escaped, but lost control of China. This ended foreign rule in China, and started the Ming dynasty.
-
In 1398, Hongwu died. His reign marked the beginning of the Ming dynasty, and the regaining of Chinese rule.
-
Zhu Yuanzhang, better known as Hongwu, died in 1398. He was the first ruler of the Ming dynasty, and he was the leader of the army that defeated foreign rule in China.
-
Throughout the 1400's, the Forbidden City was built. This was a large palace, made for the Ming Emperor and Empress to reside in. It did not allow many people to visit or enter until new rule took over China.
-
In 1402, Yonglo took rule of the Ming dynasty. He is the son of Hongwu, the first ruler of the Ming dynasty.
-
In 1405-1433, Emperor Yonglo sent out voyages, led by Zheng He, throughout the Indian Ocean. He sailed throughout these parts on junks, which are a type of ship.
-
Yonglo died on 1424. He was the second ruler of the Ming dynasty, and he sent out voyages throughout the Indian Ocean.
-
In 1433, after the reign of Yonglo, the new emperor stopped sending out voyages because of the cost. They paid for these travels by excess taxes, which led to more and more revolts.
-
In the 1500's, the emperor placed heavy laws on trade and allowance of foreign people into China. They did this to try and isolate China from the rest of the world, and to try and keep away European travelers and Christian Missionaries.
-
In the late 1500's, trade from America came to China. This brought corn and sweet potatoes to China, which soon became a huge hit.
-
In the late 1500's, the Ming dynasty soon start to decline. Several weak rulers and corruption eroded the government, and the failure of crops brought famine and hardship. They also were being repeatedly attacked from their borders, so they rebuilt the Great Wall of China. Nowadays, most of the wall is still the same as built in the Ming age.
-
In 11585, an Italian priest, Matteo Ricci, came to China to spread European ideas in the court. He gained entry through learning Chinese language and customs.
-
In the 1600's, famine and hardship was brought on Ming China because of the lack of crops.
-
In the 1644, Manchu swept Beijing, took the capital, and destroyed the Ming dynasty. He also started the Qing dynasty. These people wore a queue haircut, which is a shaved head except for one long braid starting in the center of your head straight back.
-
After the conquer of Beijing, the Qing dynasty began. It ruled from 1644-1911, and was the last dynasty of China.
-
From 1661-1772, Kangxi ruled China. He reduced taxes on peasants and expanded the Qing empire into parts of Central Asia.He let many Jesuit priests enter his court and teach him about European ways.
-
In the 1700's, Qing writer Lao Zhen wrote what might be the greatest Chinese novel ever invented, Dream of the Red Chamber. The book discusses the decline of an upper class Chinese family.
-
Grandson of Kangxi, Qianlong ruled from 1736-1796. He helped get the empire to its greatest size, and helped boost the economy. This helped population boom, gaining more than three million by 1750.
-
In 1793, British official Lord George Macartney discusses trade with Emperor Qianlong. The Chinese thought that British goods were inferior to their own, and away Macarthy because of his refusal to kowtow (getting on knees and touching forhead to ground nine times).
