Ancient Chinese Dynasties

What is a Dynasty?

A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family. For example, every ruler from the Shang Dynasty was related to Cheng Tang, the first ruler of the Shang Dynasty. Usually, the throne would pass from the ruler to his son.

Dynasties ruled China for most of Chinese history, all the way from 2070 BCE to 1912 AD. During this time, there were 13 different dynasties.

Time Periods

Historical time periods of Ancient China are often named after the dynasty that ruled it. For example, if you said the Great Wall of China was extended during the Han Dynasty, that means it was extended during the time China was ruled by a member of the Han Dynasty.

Mandate of Heaven

The Mandate of Heaven was a philosophical idea about an emperor’s right to rule.

According to the Mandate of Heaven, there could only be one ruler and no one dynasty can rule forever. If a ruler was incompetent or corrupt, they would lose the Mandate of Heaven. This could cause floods, famine, and peasant uprisings. If a dynasty was overthrown by a rebel, it meant the rebel had the approval of heaven, to rule China.

This idea was introduced during the Zhou Dynasty to legitimize their rule after they overthrew the Shang Dynasty. According to the Zhou, they were only able to overthrow the Shang because the Shang emperor was corrupt.