The Chinese Dynasty Song

Chinese history
is shrouded in mystery,
more myth than fact
if you go further back
than two millennia, BC …

Shang (~1600 to 1046 BC)

The first “real” dynasty of Bronze Age clang,
Inscribed on Oracle bones, they called it Shang

Zhou (1046 to 256 BC)

Zhou lasted longest, some eight hundred years,
Central power’s decline into Warring States and tears

Qin (221 to 206 BC)

Unified empire, script and currency,
Brief, but long-lasting imperial legacy

Han (206 BC to 220 AD)

Prosperity, Golden Age
Confucianism — all the rage

Three Kingdoms (220 to 280 AD)

Wei, Shu, Wu — a divided nation
Bloodshed, technologic innovation

Jin (266 to 420 AD)

A million square miles and more at its peak
Forced to retreat south by a barbarian streak

Sui (581 to 618 AD)

North-South reunited, nomad tribes demoted,
Grand Canal built, Buddhism imported

Tang (618 to 907 AD)

The dynasty that gave us powdered drinks?
Please forgive me – that joke stinks

Song (960 to 1279 AD)

Gunpowder invented, stood up a naval force,
Not enough to repel Yuan’s Mongolian hordes

Yuan (1279 to 1368 AD)

Nearly a century of non-Han rule
Paper money — commerce’s great tool

Ming (1368 to 1644 AD)

Trade, porcelain, Great Wall fortification
Natural disasters, Manchu invasion

Qing (1644 to 1911 AD)

Opium Wars, Dowager, Europeans at the door
Hail the Republic — the old Empire is no more

Published originally on Medium.com

© 2020 – Joe Varadi