Chinese Culture and Society

China, is one of the earliest civilizations in the world, it has a recorded history of about 3, 600 years. China's development has passed through stages of primitive society, slave society and feudal society. During China's long period of development the industrious, courageous and innovative Chinese people collectively created a great civilization which has made many great contributions to both the ancient and modern world. The Chinese civilization was ruled by various dynasties in which several emperors would rule. Within the dynasties there were several emperors all of which played a significant role in the development in the Chinese civilization. Today china is one of the leading countries in economics, but still holds true to its culture and ways of society. Chinese culture and society was directly influenced by dynasties and emperors over time.

The Chinese were ruled by various dynasties, since ca. 2,000 BCE. A dynasty is a time period that is ruled by a specific family.

English: Detail of a painted figure of a cavalryma...

First emperor of China Qin Shi Huang, from zh wiki...

Detail on the backside of a Chinese Western Han Dy...

The Qin dynasty was short but vigorous. During the Qin dynasty, centralization was achieved by ruthless methods and standardization of codes and procedures, thought patterns and scholarship, and the forms of coinage and writing. During this time Confucian ideals of government were, out of favour. "The kings of the time banished or put to death many opposing Confucian scholars and removed and burned their books, in order to stop the criticism of the imperial rule." [Echoes From the Past] In order to fend off barbarian intrusion, the Qin joined walls of various waring states to make a 5,000km long wall, which would be known as the Great Wall of China. During the Han dynasty the rulers changed some of the harsh views of the previous Qin dynasty. "Confucian ideals were adopted as the creed of the Han empire and Confusion scholars gained...