- Alternate meanings:
People's Republic of China,
Republic of China,
China (pottery)[?]
China or
Zhongguo (中國) is an ancient
cultural and geographic entity in
continental
East Asia with some offshore
islands which is currently divided
between the
People's Republic of China
(governing
Mainland China,
Hong Kong, and
Macau) and the
Republic of China (governing
Taiwan and several outlying
Fujianese islands).
The term "China" can narrowly mean
China proper, or, more usually and
inclusively, China proper and
Manchuria,
Mongolia,
Tibet, and
Xinjiang. In the western news media,
"China" is commonly used synonymously
with the People's Republic of China or
mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used
to refer to the Republic of China.
The historical
capitals of China were mostly in the
eastern part, and the four most commonly
designated capitals are
Nanjing,
Beijing,
Xi'an, and
Luoyang. Official languages once
included
Chinese,
Mongol, and
Manchu.
The
English
word China and
prefix Sino- come from the
Chinese word 秦 (pinyin
qín) of
Qin Dynasty. It passed through many
languages along the
Silk Road before it finally reached
Europe. (See also:
China in world languages)
Main articles:
History of China,
History of People's Republic of China,
Chinese Civil War,
Republic of China
China was one of the earliest centers
of human civilization, and became a
large united country with an advanced
culture at a very early stage, outpacing
the rest of the world in areas like
art and
science.
China consisted of several hundred
small kingdoms since around
1000 BC. All of which were unified
under one
emperor since the
Qin Dynasty in
221 BC. 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 technologically.
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.
In the early 20th century, the
institution of the
Emperor of China disappeared, and
China entered a period of disunion
started by the
Chinese Civil War. There are now two
nations which lay formal claim to the
title of "China": the
People's Republic of China (also
called "Mainland
China") and the pre-revolution
government of the
Republic of China which administers
Taiwan and several small islands.
See also:
Timeline of Chinese history,
Culture of China
After the
Qin Empire unification, China
experienced about 13 more dynasties,
many of which includes extensive system
of kingdoms, principalities, dukedoms,
earldoms, and marquisates. However,
ultimately, the
emperor had the centralized
authority. The emperor also consulted
civil and martial ministers, especially
the
prime minister. Sometimes political
power, however, fell into the hands of
the officials,
eunuchs, or relatives.
Political relations with dependencies
(tributary kingdoms) were maintained by
international marriages, military aids,
and gifts. (see section "Geography,
Political" below for examples).
Originally in the
Zhou Dynasty, China was the region
around the
Yellow River. The territory since
then had been expanding from the West
outward in all directions, and was
largest during the
Tang,
Yuan, and
Qing Dynasties. During the strongest
periods in Yuan, the Chinese Empire
includes most parts of southern
Russia in and
Central Asia.
Some areas did not fully join the
empire, and instead became tributary
kingdoms or khanates. Dependencies to
China at various times included:
The
Qing Empire reduced the territorial
value of
Great Wall as a barrier of
China proper. In 1683, Taiwan became
a part of the Qing Empire, originally as
a
prefecture, then two.
Top-level political divisions of
China have altered as the administration
changed. Top leverls inclduded
circuits and
provinces. Below that, there have
been
prefectures,
subprefectures,
departments,
commandries,
districts, and
townships. Recent divisions include
counties and
cities.
Main article:
Geography of China
China contains a large variety in
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, the
Huang He (of central-east), the
Amur (of northeast), etc), sometimes
to south (Xi
Jiang[?],
Mekong River,
Brahmaputra, etc). All rivers empty
into the
Pacific.
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
Himalaya, containing highest point
Mount Everest. The southwest also
has high plateaus feature among the more
arid landscape of
deserts 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.
Southern China lie within the
tropics. The northern zone (in which
lies
Beijing), by contrast, has a climate
with winters of
Arctic severity. The central zone
(in which
Shanghai is situated) has a
generally
temperate 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.
Main article:
Ethnic groups in Chinese history
Over a hundred ethnic groups have
existed in China. Many of them were
assimilated into neighbouring
ethnicities. Some, like the
Hun, have left China and their
current whereabout is unknown. Several
previously distinct ethnic groups have
Sinicized into the
Han, making its population
increasing dramatically. The Han,
however, had been speaking several
virtually unintelligible languages. (See
Chinese languages)
The earliest religion are:
Taoism, native of China; and
Buddhism, native of
India, have been very popular among
Chinese of all walks of life, admired by
commoners, and sponsored by the
royalties.
Main article:
Culture of China
Philosophy that have had extremely
consequential impact on the Chinese
culture, literary or illiterate, stems
from
Confucianism,
Taoism, and
Buddhism (in order of appearance).
Chinese literature have the longest
continuous history and had been more
numerous than other cultures' for
centuries because of the Chinese
invention of
printmaking. Prior to that,
manuscripts of the Classics and
religious texts (mainly
Confucian,
Taoist, and
Buddhist) were manually written by
ink brushes[?] and distributed. To
comment on these works, printed or
written, scholars formed numerous
academies, many of which were sponsored
by the empire, and some royalties
constantly participated in the
discussions.
Chinese philosophers, writers, and
poets have been mostly highly respected,
and considered to be those 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).
The Chinese created numerous
musical instruments, such as
zheng[?],
xiao[?], that
erhu[?], that have spread around
East and
Southeast Asia, especially to its
dependencies.
Sheng became the mother of several
Western
free-reed instruments.
The
Chinese characters have had many
variants and styles throughout the
history of China, and was simplified in
mid-20th
century in
PRC.
Bonsai is a millennia-old art that
spread to
Japan and
Korea.
In addition to the above mentioned
cultural inventions, technological
inventions from China include:
Other areas of science are:
-
The Chinese Empire (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/CHEMPIRE.HTM):
Washington State University
-
China News (http://HavenWorks.com/world/china)
-
1911 EB "China" (http://50.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CH/CHINA.htm):
Details before the Separation of PRC
and ROC.
_(small).jpg.html)
.png){kind=link}