The history of China reaches back over 5,000 years. In that time,
China has created a culture rich in philosophy and the arts. China has
seen the invention of amazing products and technologies such as silk,
paper, gunpowder, and movable-type printing.
Over the millennia, China has fought hundreds of wars. It has
conquered its neighbors, and been conquered by them in turn. Early
Chinese explorers sailed all the way to Africa; today, China's space
program continues this tradition of exploration.
This snapshot of the People's Republic of China today includes a necessarily brief scan of China's ancient heritage.
The People's Republic of China is a socialist republic ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of China.
Power in the People's Republic is divided between the National
People's Congress (NPC), the President, and the State Council.
The NPC is the single legislative body, whose members are selected by
the Communist Party. The State Council, headed by the Premier, is the
administrative branch. The People's Liberation Army also wields
considerable political power.
The current President of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party is
. The Premier is Wen Jiabao.
The official language of the
PRC is Mandarin, a tonal language in the Sino-tibetan family. Within
China, however, only about 53 per cent of the population can communicate
in Standard Mandarin.
Other important languages in China include Wu, with 77 million
speakers; Min, with 60 million; Cantonese, 56 million speakers; Jin, 45
million speakers; Xiang, 36 million;
Hakka, 34 million; Gan, 29 million;
Uyghur, 7.4 million; Tibetan, 5.3 million; Hui, 3.2 million; and Ping, with 2 million speakers.
Dozens of minority languages also exist in the PRC, including Kazakh, Miao, Sui, Korean, Lisu, Mongolian, Qiang, and Yi.
Population:
China has the largest population of any country on Earth, with more than 1.3 billion people.
The government has long been concerned about population growth, and introduced the "
One-Child Policy"
in 1979. Under this policy, families are limited to just one child.
Couples who get pregnant for a second time may face forced abortions or
sterilization.
There are exceptions to the policy for ethnic minorities. Rural
families also may have a second child if the first is a girl, or has
disabilities. In practice, many urban families also "buy" permission to
have a second baby, particularly if they have a daughter.
Religion:
Under
the communist system, religion has been officially discouraged in
China. Actual suppression has varied from one religion to another, and
from year to year.
Many Chinese are nominally Buddhist and/or
Taoist,
but don't practice regularly. People who self-identify as Buddhist
total about 50 per cent, overlapping with the 30 per cent who are
Taoist. Fourteen percent are atheists, four percent Christians, 1.5 per
cent Moslems, and tiny percentages are Hindu, Bon, or Falun Gong
adherents.
Most Chinese Buddhists follow
Mahayana or Pure Land Buddhism, with smaller populations of Theravada and
Tibetan Buddhists.
Geography:
China's area is 9.5 to 9.8 million square kilometers; the discrepancy is due to border disputes with
India. In either case, its size is second only to Russia in Asia, and is either third or fourth in the world.
China borders 14 countries:
Afghanistan,
Bhutan,
Burma, India,
Kazakhstan,
North Korea,
Kyrgyzstan,
Laos,
Mongolia,
Nepal,
Pakistan, Russia,
Tajikistan, and
Vietnam.
From the world's tallest mountain to the coast, and the Taklamakan
desert to the jungles of Guilin, China includes diverse landforms.
The highest point is Mt. Everest (Chomolungma) at 8,850 meters. The lowest is Turpan Pendi, at -154 meters.
Climate:
As a result of its large area and various landforms, China includes climate zones from subarctic to tropical.
China's northern province of Heilongjiang has average winter
temperatures below freezing, with record lows of -30 degrees Celsius.
Xinjiang,
in the west, can reach nearly 50 degrees. Southern Hainan Island has a
tropical monsoon climate. Average temperatures there range only from
about 16 degrees Celsius in January to 29 in August.
Hainan receives about 200 centimeters (79 inches) of rain annually.
The western Taklamakan Desert receives only about 10 centimeters (4
inches) of rain and snow per year.
Economy:
Over
the past 25 years, China has had the fastest-growing major economy in
the world, with annual growth of more than 10 per cent.
Nominally a socialist republic, since the 1970s the PRC has remade its economy into a capitalist powerhouse.
Industry and agriculture are the largest sectors, producing more than
60 per cent of China's GDP, and employing over 70 per cent of the work
force. China exports $1.2 billion U.S. in consumer electronics, office
machinery, and apparel, as well as some agricultural produce each year.
Per capita GDP is $2,000. The official poverty rate is 10 per cent.
China's currency is the yuan.
History of China:
Chinese
historical records reach back into the realm of legend, 5,000 years
ago. It is impossible to cover even the major events of this ancient
culture in a short space, but here are some highlights.
The first
non-mythical dynasty to rule China was the Xia (2200- 1700 B.C.),
founded by Emperor Yu. It was succeeded by the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046
B.C.), and then the Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). Historical records are
scanty for these ancient dynastic times.
In 221 B.C.,
Qin Shi Huang
assumed the throne, conquered neighboring city-states, and unified
China. He founded the Qin Dynasty, which lasted only until 206 B.C.
Today, he is best-known for his tomb complex in Xian, which houses the
incredible Army of
Terracotta Warriors.
Qin Shi Huang's inept heir was overthrown by the army of commoner Liu Bang in 207 B.C. Liu then founded the
Han Dynasty,
which lasted until 220 A.D. In the Han era, China expanded west as far
as India, opening trade along what would later become the Silk Road.
When
the Han Empire collapsed in 220 A.D., China was thrown into a period of
anarchy and turmoil. For the next four centuries, dozens of kingdoms
and fiefdoms competed for power. This era is called the "Three
Kingdoms," after the three most powerful of the rival realms (Wei, Shu,
and Wu), but that is a gross simplification.
By 589 A.D., the
Western branch of the Wei kings had accumulated enough wealth and power
to defeat their rivals, and unite China once more. The Sui Dynasty was
founded by Wei general Yang Jian, and ruled until 618 A.D. It built the
legal, governmental, and societal framework for the powerful Tang Empire
to follow.
The
Tang Dynasty
was founded by a general called Li Yuan, who had the Sui emperor
assassinated. The Tang ruled from 618 to 907 A.D., and Chinese art and
culture flourished. At the end of the Tang, China decended into chaos
again in the "5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms" period.
In 959, a palace guard named Zhao Kuangyin took power and defeated the other small kingdoms. He established the
Song Dynasty (960-1279), known for its intricate bureaucracy and
Confucian learning.
In 1271, the Mongolian Kublai Khan (grandson of
Genghis) established the
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The Mongols subjugated other ethnic groups including Han Chinese, and were overthrown by the Han Ming.
China flowered again under the Ming (1368-1644), creating great art and exploring as far as Africa.
The last Chinese dynasty, the Qing, ruled from 1644 to 1911, when it was overthrown by
Sun Yat-Sen,
touching off the Chinese Civil War. Although the war was interrupted
for a decade by the Japanese invasion and World War II, it picked up
again once Japan was defeated.
Mao Zedong
and the Communist Peoples Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War,
and China became the Peoples' Republic of China in 1949. Chiang Kai
Shek, leader of the losing Nationalist forces, fled to
Taiwan.
