Ancient China | Wikipedia audio article |
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This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China 00:03:01 1 Prehistory 00:03:09 1.1 Paleolithic (3.3 Ma ~ 12 ka) 00:04:07 1.2 Neolithic 00:06:02 1.3 Bronze Age 00:07:26 2 Ancient China 00:07:35 2.1 Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC) 00:08:34 2.2 Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) 00:10:38 2.3 Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) 00:12:07 2.4 Spring and Autumn period (722–476 BC) 00:14:14 2.5 Warring States period (476–221 BC) 00:15:45 3 Imperial China 00:16:22 3.1 Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) 00:19:43 3.2 Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220) 00:19:55 3.2.1 Western Han 00:22:56 3.2.2 Xin dynasty 00:23:46 3.2.3 Eastern Han 00:24:52 3.3 Three Kingdoms (AD 220–280) 00:25:57 3.4 Jin dynasty (AD 266–420) 00:27:08 3.5 Northern and Southern dynasties (AD 420–589) 00:28:33 3.6 Sui dynasty (581–618) 00:29:59 3.7 Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) 00:34:46 3.8 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907–960) 00:36:19 3.9 Song, Liao, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties (AD 960–1234) 00:42:11 3.10 Yuan dynasty (AD 1271–1368) 00:47:11 3.11 Ming dynasty (AD 1368–1644) 00:53:13 3.12 Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911) 00:59:47 4 Modern China 00:59:56 4.1 Republic of China (since 1912) 01:06:02 4.2 People's Republic of China (since 1949) Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago. Learning by listening is a great way to: - increases imagination and understanding - improves your listening skills - improves your own spoken accent - learn while on the move - reduce eye strain Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone. Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio: https://assistant.google.com/services/invoke/uid/0000001a130b3f91 Other Wikipedia audio articles at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wikipedia+tts Upload your own Wikipedia articles through: https://github.com/nodef/wikipedia-tts Speaking Rate: 0.9386504742492704 Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-D "I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Socrates SUMMARY ======= The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the king Wu Ding's reign, who was mentioned as the twenty-first Shang king by the same. Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (c. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, and Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia. The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang, and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became independent and warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949, resulting in two de facto states claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, and periods of war and failed statehood—the mos ... |