70. Buddhism was spread from India to China along the Silk Road before and after the Yuan Dynasty, and had a profound impact on Chinese culture in later generations. Taoism emerged among Chinese people during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

71. When the Eastern Han Dynasty was about to fall, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan fought for the world. Since then, various large and small wars have continued. The famous ones include the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, and the Battle of Yiling. The final result was a tripartite situation, known in history as the Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD).

72. During the Three Kingdoms period, there were several famous figures who shine in history, such as: Zhuge Liang is the embodiment of wisdom, Cao Cao has great talent and strategy, and Guan Yu is a loyal hero. They were revered by later Chinese people.

73. Ge Hong, an alchemist in the Jin Dynasty (AD 265-420), learned about the properties of some minerals and summarized a lot of chemical knowledge in the process of smelting various minerals. The "Baopuzi" he wrote can be called an important work on primitive chemistry.

74. "Shui Jing" is a monograph on river science written by Sanqin of the Han Dynasty, but the description is too brief and has gaps. In the Northern Dynasty (AD 386-581), Li Daoyuan used this book as an outline, added detailed annotations, and named it "Shui Jing Zhu".

75. "Shui Jing Zhu" describes 1,252 waterways and rivers, including many historical events, characters, legends, myths, cultural relics, monuments and other historical sites and stories. The book has 300,000 words and is a comprehensive geography masterpiece.

Preface to Lanting (copy)

76. Wang Xizhi was an outstanding calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD). It is said that when he was young, he often wrote in the pond and washed his inkstones in the pond, which made the water black, hence the name "Mochi". There are many related scenic spots, including Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing, Zhejiang.

77. On the third day of March in 53 AD, Wang Xizhi and others drank and composed poems in Lanting. They collected more than 40 excellent works and compiled them into a volume. Wang Xizhi prefaced and wrote them, which is called "Lanting Preface" (pictured on the right) is a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy. The original work has unfortunately been lost.

78. The manufacturing process of porcelain is relatively complicated, so porcelain appeared later than pottery. Primitive celadon existed only from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. After a long development process, by the late Eastern Han Dynasty, China had been able to produce large quantities of celadon with a solid body, fine texture, and bright green color. During the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasties, the celadon produced by Yue kilns in the south was the most famous.

79. In the nearly 400 years since the State of Wu in the Three Kingdoms, six consecutive dynasties have established their capitals in Nanjing. Later generations called Nanjing the "Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties".

80. Liu Hui, a great mathematician in the Three Kingdoms era, first proposed the "Circle Cutting Technique" to calculate pi. He started with a regular polygon inscribed in a circle and obtained the approximate value of pi as 3.14159.

81. Zu Chongzhi, a mathematician from the Southern Dynasties, found that the seven-digit pi value after the decimal point is between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. This is more than 1,000 years before European mathematicians calculated pi with the same accuracy.

82. After four to five hundred years of war, the Sui Dynasty was established in 581 AD. In 589 AD, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian reunified China.

83. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was a wise king. He worked hard to govern and governed the country well. More than ten years later, the treasuries of various places were full, and there was no room for food and cloth. Therefore, the laws and regulations of the Sui Dynasty were later inherited by the Tang Dynasty, and some were used by later generations for a long time.

84. The Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system and later established the Jinshi Department. "Imperial examination" refers to those who took the imperial examination, and "jinshi" means promotion to official positions. The imperial examination system established by the Sui Dynasty lasted for more than 1,000 years and was not terminated until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

85. During the Sui Dynasty, the center of China's economy had begun to shift southward, and a large amount of food wealth was transported from the south to the whole country. For this reason, in 605 AD, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ordered the construction of the Grand Canal running through the north and south.

86. The Grand Canal is centered on Luoyang, extending to Yuhang (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province) in the south and Zhuojun (now Tongxian County, Beijing) in the north. It has a total length of more than 2,000 kilometers. Causeways have been built along the river and plantings have been carried out. The willow tree.

Statue of Li Shimin

87. The Zhaozhou Bridge (formerly known as Anji Bridge) built by Sui Dynasty craftsman Li Chun is the most famous stone arch bridge in Chinese history and the oldest existing stone arch bridge in the world. Ancient stone arch bridge. The bridge's single-hole arch span is 37.37 meters and is entirely made of stones.

88. In 618 AD, the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was established. In 626, Li Shimin succeeded to the throne as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (pictured left). Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty paid great attention to appeasing the people. He often quoted the ancient Xunzi's words: "The king is like a boat. The common people are like water. Water will carry the boat, and water will capsize the boat." To alert himself and warn the court officials.

89. Among the emperors in Chinese history, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was the best at listening to and accepting advice. He encouraged his ministers to speak out and give advice, and he was always willing to accept advice.

90. Wei Zheng was a famous official in the early Tang Dynasty. He often said, "If you listen at the same time, you will be enlightened, but if you believe only, you will be dark." He made more than 200 rational remonstrances to the emperor in his life.

91. After Wei Zheng died of illness, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was filled with regret. He said: "Using copper as a mirror, you can straighten your clothes; using ancient times as a mirror, you can know the rise and fall; using people as a mirror, you can understand gains and losses. Wei Zheng No, I am dead!"

Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty

92. Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty (pictured on the right), was the founder of China during the Kaiyuan period (713-741 AD). The most prosperous period in ancient history is known as the "Kaiyuan Heyday".

At that time, the capital of Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) had a population of one million, and there were tens of thousands of envoys, businessmen, and overseas students from various countries. Treasures from all over the world are gathered together, making it extremely prosperous and wealthy.

93. The Tang Dynasty established the Shipping Department in Guangzhou (its chief was called the Shipping Envoy) to manage overseas trade.

94. Since the Tang Dynasty, many merchants on the southeast coast have set sail to go to sea. They ride the northeast monsoon south to Southeast Asian countries to do business in September and October every year, and then "return to Tangshan" with the southeast monsoon in March and April of the next year. These "Tang people" who "lived in Tibet" and immigrated to Southeast Asia became the earliest overseas Chinese.

95. After the Tang Dynasty, many countries called the Chinese and overseas Chinese in the prosperous Tang Dynasty "Tang people", and the place where they lived became Chinatown.

96. There were many talented people in the Tang Dynasty, and there were even more people who were unyielding and sacrificed their lives for righteousness. Famous people such as Xuanzang walked alone to Tianzhu (India) to learn Buddhist scriptures. He walked through deserts, snow-capped mountains, mountains, and swamps, and narrowly escaped death. It lasted 19 years and covered 50,000 miles.

97. In the early years of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty, monk Jianzhen made five failed attempts to cross the East China Sea by boat. He escaped from death several times. After 12 years of hardships, although he was blind, his faith remained intact and he crossed the sea six times. Finally succeeded, lived in Japan, and became a great master.

In 1998, in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, Princess Wencheng married far away from Tibet and brought many craftsmen, skills, classics, and species with her, which played a positive role in the development of Tibet.

99. Wu Zetian was the only female emperor in Chinese history. She changed her country's name to "Zhou". Wu Zetian was rich in power, capable of employing people, and held power for more than 40 years. After her death, Tang Zhongzong was restored to power.

Tang Sancai Decorated Dragon Ear Vase

100. In the early years of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, he was politically clear and appointed virtuous ministers. Chang'an fell, and from then on the Tang Dynasty declined from prosperity to recovery.

101. Craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty used various minerals to bake three kinds of gorgeous colored pottery: blue, green and yellow, so they are called Tang Sancai (pictured left). Most of Tang Sancai works are figures or animal figurines, each with vivid and lifelike shapes, making them art treasures.

102. The painting style of the Tang Dynasty paid great attention to the changes of lines. Whether they were mortal objects, flying gods in the clouds, singing girls and dancing prostitutes bouncing the pipa, they all gave people the impression of "the sky wind is flying, the wall is full of The beauty of "the wind moves" and "the hair roots grow into flesh, and there is more than enough strength".

103. The most accomplished astronomer in the Tang Dynasty was Seng Yixing (original name Zhang Sui). Through observations, he confirmed that the sun's speed is uneven, sometimes faster and sometimes slower. The monks and his party also measured the length of the meridian on a large scale, which was the first time in the world.

104. There are "six ancient capitals" in ancient Chinese history. They are Xi'an in Shaanxi, Luoyang in Henan, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Beijing (the above four places were the capitals of several dynasties), Kaifeng in Henan and Zhejiang Hangzhou (the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty respectively).

105. During the Tang Dynasty, China was the most advanced country in the East. Japan sent more than ten batches of envoys to the Tang Dynasty to study in China, with the number sometimes reaching five to six hundred people. After these Japanese envoys returned to China, they actively spread China's social system and culture and promoted friendly relations and cultural exchanges between China and Japan.

106. In 907 AD, Zhu Wen, the military governor of the Tang Dynasty, deposed the Tang Dynasty emperor and established the Liang Dynasty, which was known as Houliang Dynasty in history. Over the next 50 years, the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Wu dynasties successively ruled the Yellow River Basin, collectively known as the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD). During the same period, 10 separatist regimes emerged in various parts of the south and Shanxi in the north, collectively known as the Ten Kingdoms. By 960 AD, the Song Dynasty was established, and the division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ended.

107. In 960 AD, General Zhao Kuangyin of the Later Zhou Dynasty launched a mutiny in Chenqiaoyi (now northeast of Kaifeng, Henan Province). His soldiers added yellow robes to him, supported him as emperor, and took the title of the country. It was called the "Song Dynasty", with its capital in Kaifeng, and was historically called the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD). Zhao Kuangyin is Song Taizu.

108. In order to consolidate his rule, Song Taizu adopted Prime Minister Zhao Pu's suggestions and strengthened centralization of power. He held a banquet and relieved Shi Shouxin and others from their military power. This is the famous "cup of wine to release military power" in history.

109. Wang Anshi was a famous writer and politician in the Northern Song Dynasty. After he was appointed prime minister by Song Shenzong, he implemented a reform to organize finance and military affairs, which was called the "Wang Anshi Reform". Later, due to the strong opposition of Sima Guang and others, the reform ended in less than ten years.

110. Bao Zheng, an official in the Northern Song Dynasty, was an honest and upright official. People regarded him as a model of upright officials and respectfully called him "Bao Gong", "Bao Qingtian" or "Bao Longtu". There are many touching stories about Bao Gong circulated among Chinese people, expressing people's admiration for him.

111. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Buddhism was prevalent in various places. During the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu ordered engraving and printing of the Tripitaka, which was the first large-scale printing of Buddhist scriptures in Chinese history.

112. Science and technology in ancient China were quite developed. Gunpowder, papermaking, printing and the compass were together called the four great inventions of ancient China.

113. Shen Kuo was a famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was very proficient in astronomy, calendar, music, medicine, mathematics, etc. He recorded his rich research results in his book "Mengxi Bi Tan".

In addition, he also recorded many inventions and creations of the working people at that time, such as Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing.

114. The invention and promotion of printing is known as the mother of world civilization. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing based on woodblock printing, which greatly improved printing efficiency. About 200 years later, this technology spread to other countries and promoted the development of world civilization.

115. The invention of gunpowder is closely related to the alchemy of ancient China. Because gunpowder has strong lethality, it was widely used in the military in the late Tang Dynasty. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, gunpowder technology underwent greater improvements. Later, the method of making gunpowder was spread to Arabia, and from Arabia to European countries.

116. China invented the compass very early on. During the Northern Song Dynasty, people created a compass suitable for navigation, which pushed the navigation industry into a new era. During this period, China's shipbuilding technology was also the most advanced in the world.

117. During the Northern Song Dynasty, gold, silver, copper, iron and other mineral deposits were mined in large quantities. Copper coins were the standard currency at that time and were minted in large quantities. Today they are used in vast areas ranging from Japan in the east to Europe and Africa in the west. There are unearthed.

118. The porcelain industry was very developed during the Song Dynasty. Song porcelain has a wide variety of varieties and beautiful patterns, and was exported overseas in large quantities. Jingdezhen in Jiangxi has become a famous porcelain capital in China.

119. During the Song Dynasty, the currencies circulating in the market were mainly copper coins, iron coins, gold and silver and other metal currencies. In order to facilitate portability, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, "Jiaozi" appeared in Sichuan, which was the earliest banknote in the world. The use of banknotes provided convenient conditions for commercial prosperity.

Sima Guangxiang

120. The Song Dynasty made outstanding achievements in acupuncture and forensic medicine. "The Collection of Cleansing Wrongs" is China's first systematic forensic medicine work, earlier than similar monographs in the West. for more than 300 years.

121. Sima Guang (pictured on the right) is a famous historian in the Northern Song Dynasty. He spent 19 years compiling "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", a famous chronicle general history, which narrates the history from the Warring States Period to the A history of more than 1,300 years in the Five Dynasties.

122. At the end of the Song Dynasty, a group of people led by Song Jiang revolted in the Liangshan area of ??Shandong Province. Later, "Water Margin", one of the four classic Chinese classics, was created based on this background.

123. During the Song Dynasty, there were also political regimes established by other ethnic groups in China, such as the Liao established by the Khitan people, the Jin established by the Jurchen people, and the Xixia established by the Dangxiang people. In 1127, the Jin Dynasty's army broke through Kaifeng and captured the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and his son. Huizong's other son Zhao Gou proclaimed himself emperor. Fleeing to the south, he established political power in Hangzhou, which became the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD) in history.

124. Yue Fei was a famous anti-Jin general in the Southern Song Dynasty. He led his army north to regain the Song Dynasty territory occupied by the Jin army, but was killed by Qin Hui and others on "unfounded" charges. Yue Fei is buried beside the West Lake in Hangzhou. In order to commemorate him, later generations placed kneeling statues of Qin Hui and others cast in pig iron in front of his tomb to express their strong hatred for the treacherous ministers.

In 125 and 1271, after Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, he launched a massive attack on the Southern Song Dynasty. Wen Tianxiang, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, organized military and civilian resistance but was captured after failure. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty used various methods to persuade him to surrender, but he would rather die than surrender. He wrote poems such as "Song of Righteousness" and "Crossing the Lingding Ocean", which showed his indomitable national integrity. The two sentences in "Crossing the Lingding Ocean", "Since ancient times, no one has died, but his loyalty will shine through history", which has become a famous saying through the ages.

Statue of Kublai Khan

126. The Mongols are an ancient ethnic group in northern China. At the end of the 12th century, Temujin unified all Mongolian tribes after more than ten years of war. In 1206, he was elected as the Great Khan of Mongolia and was respectfully called "Genghis Khan", which means "Strong Monarch".

127. Kublai Khan (pictured left) is the grandson of Genghis Khan. In 1271, he established the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and was called the Yuan Shizu. During and after the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty launched a large-scale territorial expansion war, reaching the Danube River Basin in Europe in the west, which had a significant impact on the development of world history.

128. In Chinese history, the territory of the Yuan Dynasty was larger than that of any previous dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty implemented a provincial system and effectively ruled the country. Dadu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was a world-famous commercial center. Dadu is now Beijing in China.

129. In the middle and late Yuan Dynasty, cotton was widely planted across the country, and the cotton textile industry was developed. Cotton became the main clothing material for people in Jiangnan, which was a major event in the economic life of ancient China. Huang Daopo of the Yuan Dynasty promoted the advanced cotton spinning technology of the Li people and made great contributions to the development of the cotton textile industry.

130. During the Yuan Dynasty, there were frequent exchanges between China and foreign countries. The famous Italian traveler Marco Polo wrote the book "Marco Polo's Travels", which vividly described the prosperity of Dadu, Hangzhou and other cities, which inspired Europeans to pay attention to China. yearn for.

131. During the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Persians and Arabs who believed in Islam moved into China. They lived together with the Han, Mongolian, Uyghur and other ethnic groups for a long time, integrated with each other, and began to form a new ethnic group, the Hui.

132. The Yuan Dynasty had trade relations with many countries and regions. Quanzhou in Fujian Province was the largest port in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, it was tied with Alexandria in Egypt as the largest port in the world.

There are many Erythrina trees growing in Quanzhou, so it is world-famous as Erythronium City.

133. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang led a peasant uprising, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty regime, and established the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). Zhu Yuanzhang was the Ming Taizu. The capital was Nanjing in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing.

A model of the treasure ship of Zheng He’s voyages to the West

In the nearly 30 years between 134 and 1405 to 1433, the fleets led by Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, reaching more than 30 countries in Asia and Africa. and region. Model of the treasure ship of Zheng He's voyages to the West (pictured on the right)

In 135 and 1417, the King of Sulu (today's Philippines) led more than 300 people to visit China. He died of illness in Shandong on the way back home. Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty sent a grand ceremony for him funeral. After the Ming Dynasty, China repaired the Sulu King's Tomb many times to express China's condolences to this ambassador of friendship to the Philippines.

136. During the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirate traders often harassed the southeastern coast of China. They colluded with local tyrants and profiteers of the Ming Dynasty, looted property everywhere, killed people, and caused great harm to China's coastal areas. These bandits are called "Japanese pirates". General Qi Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty organized an army to severely defeat the Japanese pirates. In 1565, Qi Jiguang teamed up with Yu Dayou to eliminate all the Japanese pirates who had been rampant for more than a hundred years.

137. In the late Ming Dynasty, Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others gave lectures at Donglin Academy in Wuxi, Jiangsu. They often discussed government affairs and criticized those in power in the academy. These people were called the "Donglin Party" . At that time, the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian was under a dangerous and brutal dictatorship. The Donglin Party members were not afraid of persecution and accused Wei Zhongxian and others of being "eunuchs" and fought unrelentingly against them.

Inside page of Yongle Dadian

138. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that the imperial examination system should be used to select officials. The government stipulates that only questions within the scope of the Four Books and Five Classics are allowed in the imperial examination. Candidates are not allowed to have personal opinions. The style of writing must be divided into eight parts rigidly, called "eight-part essay".

139. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty selected 3,000 people including Xie Jin to compile the "Yongle Dadian" (pictured left), with a total of 110,095 volumes and seven to eight thousand kinds of books of various types. The largest such book in China. The book has been copied into two parts: the main part and the second part. The original was later burned, and the copies were burned and looted twice when the British-French Allied Forces invaded Beijing in 1860 and the Eight-Nation Allied Forces in 1900. Currently, only more than 300 copies exist.