LEGEND OF URSOS

The legend of Ursos people in Antique Panay Island can be traced from Mai...  a chinese and vietnamese trading port in Mindoro


Centuries later Itay Iyong Villareal Ursos sailed to Butuan and he met Inay Juana Dumaplin , a devoted catholic srvant of the Spanish Encomienda in Kasapa and TalacogonThe two were in love The parents of Juana were devoted workers of the the Roman Catolic cHURCH agreed withe priests to sendJuana to the church  church of f Ubay Roman Catholic Church
   Itay Iyong .... then sailed yo Ubay amd he married Juana and settled at Pitogo Island  near Ubay Bohol They were blessed with thirteen children... This was the beginning of the ursos families in BoholThese chilfren later on migrared to Agusan and Davao and Cebu and in Tagbilaran and Panglao  Island
      

LEGEND OF ANCIENT CANTON

'' '.......British attempt to find trade routes to China was made in 1596, but the fleet under the command of Captain Benjamin Wood failed to reach its destination and was lost without trace. Some forty years later in 1637, a Captain Weddell successfully landed at Canton after forcing a passage through the Bogue (from Portuguese word bocca, a mouth), and opened trade negotiations with the locals on behalf of the East India Company. Nevertheless, his entry to China met fierce resistance from the Chinese officials and he was forced to leave the country without any commercial success. His ship was wrecked on his journey home




 Agricultural Practices and Products of Ancient China By Britney Moy Crops Some of the crops grown in Ancient China were rice, tea, peaches, millet, wheat, cabbage, soybeans, peas, and bamboo shoots. Animals Animals raised in Ancient China were Giant Pandas, cattle, yaks, deer, reindeer, elephants, chickens, tigers, sheep, cows, and camels. Landforms Some of the landforms in Ancient China were the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Himalayas, the Gobi Desert, and the Taklamakan Desert. Irrigation For Irrigation the chinese used canals and floods. Some of the most popular canals were the Six Canals, the Bai Canal

 During the Sung (960-1127 AD), Arab traders brought Philippine goods to southwestern China through the port of Canton. Chinese posts were established in coastal towns of the Philippines with the import of Chinese goods. The trade culminated when Chao Ju-Kua wrote of the barter trade between the Chinese and the natives of Mayi (Mindoro). The Chinese exchanged silk, porcelain, colored glass, beads and iron ware for hemp cloth, tortoise shells, pearls and yellow wax of the Filipinos. 









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LEGEND OF Zhongguo

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 ancient Chinese civilization

China is a vast country with a huge range of terrains and climates within it. As well as the country’s sheer size, geographical features such as mountain ranges, deserts and coastlands have all helped shape Chinese history. Above all, the great river systems of China, the Yellow River to the north and the Yangtze to the south, which have given Chinese civilization its distinctive character.

1766 BCE: traditional date for the founding of the first historic dynasty in China, the Shang dynasty

1122 BCE: Western Zhou dynasty founded after the overthrow of the last Shang king

771 BCE: Eastern Zhou dynasty period begins after the sack of the Western Zhou capital; the first phase is traditionally divided into two: the Spring and Autumn (771-481 BCE) and the Warring States (481-221 BCE) periods

551-479 BCE: Confucius, China’s preeminent philosopher, lives

221 BCE: The First Emperor, Qin Shih Huang, completes the conquest of all other Chinese states

202 BCE: The Han dynasty founded, after several years of chaos following the fall of the Qin

220 CE: the fall of the Han dynasty is a convenient marker for the end point of the ancient period of Chinese history.

Prior to the coming of cities and literacy (the hallmarks of Ancient Chinese civilization) major Stone Age farming cultures had grown up in China since the 7th millennium BCE. One was located in the Yellow River region, the other in the Yangtze region. In the Yangtze, an agriculture based on rice cultivation had developed, whilst in the north, the Yellow River region, millet was the main crop.

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 China’s ancient name is Cathay. China was taken from Chin dynasty.

 The former name of Thailand is Siam, named after a 19^th century king. Thailand means “land of the free”. It is the only Southeast Asian country to have never been colonized.

The former name of Sri Lanka is Ceylon. It was under European rule for about 450 years. In 1972 the name was change to Sri Lanka.

 The Philippines was named after Philip II of Spain. Two of its oldest names were Ma-I and Maniola.

   Jamaica’s name comes from the Arawak Indian word “Xaymaca” which means “land of springs”.

     Costa Rica which means “rich coast” is the world’s greenest country.

.  Gaul is the old name of France and Helle is the old name of Greece.

15. Yugoslavia means "Land of the South Slavs". It was originally Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created by joining Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. It became Yugoslavia in 1929. It subsequently split into its constituent states in the years 1992-2006.

Malaya merged with Singapore and the northern Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawak to become Malaysia in 1963.

 Bangladesh in South Asia is formerly known as East Pakistan from 1955 to 1971. It was also known as East Bengal.

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Pax Mongolica

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 during the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, coinciding with the rule of the Mongol Empire, which ruled over a large part of Eurasia and connected Europe with their Chinese dominion of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).^[2] Whereas the Byzantine Empire centered in Greece and Anatolia maintained rare incidences of correspondence with the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties of China, the Roman papacy sent several missionaries and embassies to the early Mongol Empire as well as to Khanbaliq (modern Beijing), the capital of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.

 Mainly located in places such as the Mongol capital of Karakorum, European missionaries and merchants traveled around the Mongol realm during a period of time referred to by historians as the "Pax Mongolica". The most famous European visitor to China during this period was Marco Polo, preceded, respectively, by his father and uncle Niccolò and Maffeo Polo. Perhaps the most important political consequence of this movement of peoples and intensified trade was the Franco-Mongol alliance, although the latter never fully materialized, at least not in a consistent manner.^[3] The establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368 and reestablishment of native Han Chinese rule led to the cessation of European merchants and Roman Catholic missionaries living in China. Direct contact with Europeans was not renewed until Portuguese explorers and Jesuit missionaries arrived on Ming China's southern shores at the beginning of the 16th century, during the Age of Exploration.

 The Venetian merchant Marco Polo, as well as his father and uncle Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, respectively, traveled to China during the period of Mongol rule. Marco Polo wrote an account of his travels there, as did the Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone, the merchant Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, and the author John Mandeville. In Khanbaliq, the Roman archdiocese was established by John of Montecorvino, who was later succeeded by Giovanni de Marignolli. Other Europeans such as André de Longjumeau managed to reach the eastern borderlands of China in their diplomatic travels to the Mongol royal court, while others such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Benedykt Polak, and William of Rubruck traveled instead to Mongolia. The Uyghur Nestorian Christian Rabban Bar Sauma was the first diplomat from China to reach the royal courts of Christendom in the West.

 
 Before the 13th century, instances of Europeans going to China or of Chinese going to Europe are virtually unknown,^[1] with a few exceptions. Euthydemus I, Hellenistic ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Central Asia during the 3rd century BC, led an expedition into the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China) in search of precious metals.^[10][11] Greek influence as far east as the Tarim Basin at this time also seems to be confirmed by the discovery of the Sampul tapestry, a woolen wall hanging with the painting of a blue-eyed soldier, possibly a Greek, and a prancing centaur, a common Hellenistic motif from Greek mythology.^[6][12][13] However, it is known that other Indo-European peoples such as the Yuezhi, Saka,^[14][15][16] and Tocharians^[16][17] inhabited the Tarim Basin before and after it was brought under Han Chinese influence during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC).^{[18][19][20][21]} Lucas Christopoulos presents an argument that the influence of Hellenistic art in China stretches back to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), before the establishment of the Silk Road.^[22] Christopoulos contends that Hellenistic influences in Chinese art were undoubtedly introduced by the period of the Three Kingdoms (220–265) and the sudden influx of Greco-Buddhist art from the Kushan Empire in Central Asia.^[23] Yet ancient ceramics from sites at Khotan bear clear influence from the Hellenistic Kingdom of Ptolemaic Egypt, with styles non-existent in Kushan art.^[24] This has led Christopoulos to assume the presence of peoples not only from the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom but also Greeks, Saka, and Indian people from the Indo-Greek Kingdom based at Taxila (Pakistan)

 Beginning in the age of Augustus (r. 27 BC – 14 AD), the ancient Romans, including authors such as Pliny the Elder, mentioned contacts with the Seres, who they identified as the producers of silk from distant East Asia and could have been the Chinese or even any number of middlemen of various ethnic backgrounds along the Silk Road of Central Asia and Northwest China.^[35] The Eastern-Han era Chinese general Ban Chao, Protector General of the Western Regions, explored Central Asia and in 97 AD dispatched his envoys Gan Ying to Daqin (i.e. the Roman Empire).^[36][37] Gan was dissuaded by Parthian authorities to venture further than the Persian Gulf, although he wrote a detailed report about the Roman Empire, its cities, postal network, and consular system of government, and presented this to the Han court.^[38][39] Subsequently, there were a series of Roman embassies in China lasting from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, as recorded in Chinese sources. In 166 AD the Book of Later Han records that Romans reached China from the maritime south and presented gifts to the court of Emperor Huan of Han (r. 146–168 AD), claiming they represented Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Andun 安敦) (r. 161–180 AD).^[40][41] Historian Rafe de Crespigny speculates that they were Roman merchants instead of official diplomats.


 Marco Polo accurately described geographical features of China such as the Grand Canal.^[63] His detailed and accurate descriptions of salt production confirm that he had actually been in China.^[64] Marco described salt wells and hills where salt could be mined, probably in Yunnan, and reported that in the mountains "these rascals ... have none of the Great Khan's paper money, but use salt instead ... They have salt which they boil and set in a mold ..."^[65] Polo also remarked how the Chinese burned paper effigies shaped as male and female servants, camels, horses, suits of clothing and armor while cremating the dead during funerary rites.

  Marco Polo noted that Christian churches had been built there.^[67] His claim is confirmed by a Chinese text of the 14th century explaining how a Sogdian named Mar-Sargis from Samarkand founded six Nestorian Christian churches there in addition to one in Hangzhou during the second half of the 13th century.^[67] Nestorian Christianity had existed in China earlier during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) when a Persian monk named Alopen (Chinese: Āluósī; 阿羅本; 阿羅斯) came to the capital Chang'an in 653 to proselytize, as described in a dual Chinese and Syriac language inscription from Chang'an (modern Xi'an) dated to the year 781.


 
 Text of the letter of Pope Innocent IV "to the ruler and people of the Tartars", brought to Güyüg Khan by John de Carpini, 1245

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 In Zaytun, the first harbour of China, there was a small Genoese colony, mentioned in 1326 by André de Pérouse. The most famous Italian resident of the city was Andolo de Savignone, who was sent to the West by the Khan in 1336 to obtain "100 horses and other treasures."^[76] Following Savignone's visit, an ambassador was dispatched to China with one superb horse, which was later the object of Chinese poems and paintings

The History of Yuan (chapter 134) records that a certain Ai-sie (transliteration of either Joshua or Joseph) from the country of Fu lin (i.e. the Byzantine Empire), initially in the service of Güyük Khan, was well-versed in Western languages and had expertise in the fields of medicine and astronomy that convinced Kublai Khan to offer him a position as the director of medical and astronomical boards. Kublai Khan eventually honored him with the title of Prince of Fu lin (Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). His biography in the History of Yuan lists his children by their Chinese names, which are similar to the Christian names Elias (Ye-li-ah), Luke (Lu-ko), and Antony (An-tun), with a daughter named A-na-si-sz








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legend of east india company

. The British East India Company established a monopoly on opium cultivation in the Indian province of Bengal, where they developed a method of growing opium poppies cheaply and abundantly. Other Western countries also joined in the trade, including the United States, which dealt in Turkish as well as Indian opium.

 Britain and other European countries undertook the opium trade because of their chronic trade imbalance with China. There was tremendous demand in Europe for Chinese tea, silks, and porcelain pottery, but there was correspondingly little demand in China for Europe’s manufactured goods and other trade items. Consequently, Europeans had to pay for Chinese products with gold or silver. The opium trade, which created a steady demand among Chinese addicts for opium imported by the West, solved this chronic trade imbalance







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ANCIENT CHINA LEGEND OF Cathay

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Originating at Xi’an (Sian), the 4,000-mile (6,400-km) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall of China to the northwest, bypassed the Takla Makan Desert, climbed the Pamirs (mountains), crossed Afghanistan, and went on to the Levant; from there the merchandise was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea. Few persons traveled the entire route, and goods were handled in a staggered progression by middlemen.

 (the Roman Empire) has more than four hundred smaller cities and towns. It extends several thousand li in all directions. The king has his capital (that is, the city of Rome) close to the mouth of a river (the Tiber). The outer walls of the city are made of stone

 The kingdom of Da Qin (Rome) is also called Lijian. It is west of Anxi (Parthia) and Tiaozhi (Characene and Susiana), and west of the Great Sea


 From the city of Angu (Gerrha), on the frontier of Anxi (Parthia), you take a boat and cut directly across to Haixi (‘West of the Sea’ = Egypt). With favourable winds it takes two months; if the winds are slow, perhaps a year; if there is no wind, perhaps three years.

 The country (that you reach) is west of the sea (haixi), which is why it is called Haixi (literally: ‘West of the Sea’ = Egypt). There is a river (the Nile) flowing out of the west of this country, and then there is another great sea (the Mediterranean). The city of (Wu) Chisan (Alexandria) is in Haixi (Egypt).

 
 Now, if you leave the city of Angu (Gerrha) by the overland route, you go north to Haibei (‘North of the Sea’ – the lands between Babylonia and Jordan), then west to Haixi (Egypt), then turn south to go through the city of Wuchisan (Alexandria). After crossing a river, which takes a day by boat, you circle around the coast (to the region of Apollonia, the port of Cyrene). (From there, i.e. the region of Apollonia) six days is generally enough to cross the (second) great sea (the Mediterranean) to reach that country (Da Qin = Rome)

 The economy in the Roman world displayed features of both underdevelopment and high achievement. Elements of the former, some historians have argued (notably M.I.Finley), are an over-dependence on agriculture, a slow diffusion of technology, the high level of local town consumption rather than regional trade, and a low level of investment in industry. However, there is also evidence that from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE there was a significant rise in the proportion of workers involved in the production and services industries and greater trade between regions in essential commodities and manufactured goods. In the later empire period, although trade in the east increased - stimulated by the founding of Constantinople - trade in the western empire declined.

 Trade involved foodstuffs (e.g. olives, fish, meat, cereals, salt, prepared foods such as fish sauce, olive oil, wine and beer), animal products (e.g. leather and hides), objects made from wood, glass, or metals, textiles, pottery, and materials for manufacturing and construction such as glass, marble, wood, wool, bricks, gold, silver, copper, and tin. Finally, there was, of course, also the substantial trade in slaves.

 

 After Alexander the Great conquered the Persians, he established the city of Alexandria Eschate in 339 BCE in the Fergana Valley of Neb (modern Tajikstan). Leaving behind his wounded veterans in the city, Alexander moved on. In time, these Macedonian warriors intermarried with the indigenous populace creating the Greco-Bactrian culture which flourished under the Seleucid Empire following Alexander’s death. Under the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I (260-195 BCE) the Greco-Bactrians had extended their holdings.  According to the Greek historian Strabo (63-24 CE) the Greeks “extended their empire as far as the Seres” (xi.ii.i). `Seres’ was the name by which the Greeks and Romans knew China, meaning `the land where silk came from’. It is thought, then, that the first contact between China and the west came around the year 200 BCE

 While many different kinds of merchandise traveled along the Silk Road, the name comes from the popularity of Chinese silk with the west, especially with Rome. The Silk Road routes stretched from China through India, Asia Minor, up throughout Mesopotamia, to Egypt, the African continent, Greece, Rome, and Britain. The northern Mesopotamian region (present day Iran) became China’s closest partner in trade, as part of the Parthian Empire, initiating important cultural exchanges.  Paper, which had been invented by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty, and gunpowder, also a Chinese invention, had a much greater impact on culture than did silk. The rich spices of the east, also, contributed more than the fashion which grew up from the silk industry. Even so, by the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE) trade between China and the west was firmly established and silk was the most sought after commodity in Egypt, Greece, and, especially, in Rome.


 Alexander (Greek: Alexandros) mentions that the main terminus for Roman traders was a Burmese city called Tamala on the north-west Malay Peninsula, where Indian merchants travelled overland across the Kra Isthmus to reach the Perimulic Gulf (the Gulf of Thailand).^[15] Alexandros claimed that it took twenty days to sail from Thailand to a port called "Zabia" (or Zaba) in southern Vietnam.[




At some point during the 1^st century BC, silk was introduced to the Roman Empire, where it was considered an exotic luxury and became extremely popular, with imperial edicts being issued to control prices. Its popularity continued throughout the Middle Ages, with detailed Byzantine regulations for the manufacture of silk clothes, illustrating its importance as a quintessentially royal fabric and an important source of revenue for the crown. Additionally, the needs of the Byzantine Church for silk garments and hangings were substantial. This luxury item was thus one of the early impetuses in the development of trading routes from Europe to the Far East.

 
  the silk trade was one of the earliest catalysts for the trade routes across Central Asia, it was only one of a wide range of products that was traded between east and west, and which included textiles, spices, grain, vegetables and fruit, animal hides, tools, wood work, metal work, religious objects, art work, precious stones and much more. Indeed, the Silk Roads became more popular and increasingly well-travelled over the course of the Middle Ages, and were still in use in the 19^th century, a testimony not only to their usefulness but also to their flexibility and adaptability to the changing demands of society. Nor did these trading paths follow only one trail – merchants had a wide choice of different routes crossing a variety of regions of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Far East, as well as the maritime routes, which transported goods from China and South East Asia through the Indian Ocean to Africa, India and the Near East.


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CHINA

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Empress Wu Zetian

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Wu Zetian was born on February 17, 624 in Lizhou, China. She grew up in a wealthy aristocratic family and her father was a high ranking minister in the government. Unlike many girls of her time, Wu was given a good education. She was taught to read, write, and to play music. Wu was an intelligent and ambitious girl who learned all she could about politics and how the government worked. 

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When Wu was fourteen she moved into the imperial palace to serve the Emperor Taizong. She continued her education at the palace until the emperor died in 649. As was the custom, when the emperor died she was sent to a convent to become a nun for the rest of her life. Wu had other plans, however. She became romantic with the new emperor, Emperor Gaozong, and soon found herself back at the imperial palace as consort (like a second wife) to the empero

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Becoming Empress Back at the palace, Wu began to gain influence over the emperor. She became one of his favorite wives. The emperor's main wife, Empress Wang, became jealous and the two women became bitter rivals. When Wu's daughter died, she hatched a plan against the Empress. She told the emperor that Empress Wang had killed her daughter out of jealousy. The emperor believed her and had Empress Wang arrested. He then promoted Wu to Empress

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n 683, Emperor Gaozong died and Wu's son became emperor. Wu became regent (like a temporary ruler) while her son was still young. Although she didn't yet have the title of emperor, she had all the power. In 690, Wu had her son step down as emperor. She then declared a new dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty, and officially took the title of emperor. She was the first and only woman to become emperor of China. Secret Police It was difficult for a woman to maintain power in Ancient China. Wu managed this by using secret police to spy on people. She developed a large system of spies who helped determine who was loyal and who wasn't. Wu rewarded those who were found loyal, but had her enemies put to death.

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Another reason that Wu was able to keep power was because she was a very good emperor. She made intelligent decisions that helped China to prosper. She surrounded herself with competent and talented people by promoting people based on their abilities rather than by their family history. During her reign, Empress Wu expanded the borders of China by conquering new lands in Korea and Central Asia. She also helped to improve the lives of the peasants by lowering taxes, building new public works, and improving farming techniques

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Empress Wu died in 705. Her son, Emperor Zhongzong, took over as emperor and reestablished the Tang Dynasty

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East Asia is home to long rivers, high plateaus, dry deserts, and rugged mountains. East Asia is similar to South Asia because rugged mountains and hazardous deserts create a deadly barrier to foreigners. For thousands of years, East Asian people were isolated from the rest of the world—this allowed them to develop their culture in a very unique way.  Mountains dominate East Asia’s western landscape. The Himalaya Mountains are the southern border between China and India. The Plateau of Tibet is on the Chinese side of the Himalaya Mountains. Like the Himalaya Mountains, the Plateau of Tibet was also formed by the slow crash of the Indian subcontinent into Asia. Another Mountain range in western China is the Tian Shan. The name Tian Shan means “heavenly mountains”.

The Shang Dynasty (1600 BCE-1046 BCE) was originally a clanliving along the Yellow River during the Xia Dynasty. A clan is group of very close families that are often viewed as one big family.  The Shang conquered Xia land and gained control of Chinese civilization. The Shang Dynasty lasted over 600 years and was led by 30 different emperors. The Shang were the oldest Chinese civilization to leave behind written records, called oracle bones—turtle shells, cattle shoulders or other bones on which were written important clues to Chinese history. Oracle bones were often used to determine what the gods/nature wanted. If the kingdom needed to know something such as 'will the king have a son' or 'should we go to war', it would be carved into bone or shell.  They would then heat the bone until it cracked.  The crack lines would reveal the wishes of the gods--this process of learning what the gods want is called divination.  During the Shang Dynasty people worshipped many gods.  Ancestor worship was very important since they believed their family members became god-like in the after life. Shang government invented new ways to make bronze crafts.  Thousands of bronze artifacts have been found including some that weigh nearly 2000 pounds.  Its important to understand that other smaller cultures existed in the same time as the Shang in different parts of China, but the Shang left written records and seem to be the most advanced.  Eventually, the Shang were defeated by the Zhou clan.


The Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE-256 BCE) lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history. The Zhou time period is divided into parts called the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou because there was a brief disruption in their control of the government.  The Zhou battled with invading armies from the north (Mongolians), so they built large mounds of dirt and rock as barriers that would slow down the enemy--this was not the Great Wall yet, but the idea came before the wall.  The crossbow was another invention of this time--it was extremely effective and feared by enemies.  During the Zhou, the use of iron was introduced to China, which begins the Iron Agein China. Iron tipped weapons were much stronger, and the iron plow helped to increase food production.


During the Zhou Dynasty Taoism (also spelled Daoism) and Confucianismdeveloped—the two most important Chinese philosophies. The great Chinese philosopher Confucius developed a way of life called Confucianism.  Confucianism says that all people can be taught and improved if they do the right things.  People should focus on doing the right thing for others, make family the most important,  and respect elders of society. Confucianism is still important today, but it did not become widely followed in China until the Han 

Dynasty.  The founder of Taoism was named Laozi. Taoism is all about following the "Tao", which means the "way" or "path". 






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From 221 BCE to 206 BCE the Qin Dynasty (pronounced "chin") gained control of civilized China.  The Qin didn’t last very long, but made an important impact on China’s future. The Qin expanded their territory and created China’s first empire. The brutal leader Qin Shi Huang declared himself the first true emperor of China. This dynasty designed standard currency (money), standard wheel axle size (to make roads all one size), and standard laws that applied to the entire empire. Standardize means to make the same.  The Qin also standardized the different systems of writing into one system called small seal script that much of China still uses today.  Qin Shi Huang enforced a philosophy called Legalism that focuses on people following laws and taking instructions from the government. However, many followers of Confucianism were more loyal to their family and other Confucian traditions. To silence their protests, the emperor banished or put to death many Confucian teachers and burned their Confucian books. At one point Qin Shi Huang killed 460 Confucian teachers by burying them alive!



The Han Dynasty began in 206 BCE and lasted 400 years until 220 CE and is considered to be one of the greatest periods in the entire history of China. LIke the Zhou Dynasty, the Han Dynasty is divided into Western Han and Eastern Han because of a short disruption when someone tried to replace the Han family--they were unsuccessful.  Han culture defines Chinese culture today.  In fact, most Chinese citizens today claim "Han" as their ethnic background.  The government made Confucianism the official belief system of the empire.  The empire grew greatly during this time, conquering land in modern Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and even into Central Asia. The empire had grown so much the emperor needed a larger government to rule it. He started a system of examinations (tests) to find qualified people to do civil (government) jobs such as tax collecting. This system called Imperial Examinations. In fact, most nations use a similar system to find qualified people in a fair way.



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Ancient China also boasts the longest lasting empire in history. It began with the Qin dynasty and the first emperor Qin who united all of China under one rule in 221 BC. Emperors would continue to rule over China for more than 2000 years

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The great enemy of the Chinese was the Mongols who lived to the north. They even built a wall thousands of miles long to try and keep the Mongols from invading. The Mongols did conquer China for a time, however, and established their own dynasty called the Yuan Dynasty.

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The Last Emperor of China, Puyi, became ruler when he was only 3 years old.

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The Chinese have used chopsticks to eat with for over 4,000 years

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silk was discovered in the emperor's garden in 2700 BC by Hsi-Ling-Shi, the wife of Emperor Huang-Ti.

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Chinese Word	Pronunciation	Meaning	Original Word	Pronunciation	Original Meaning
剎那	chànà	moment	क्षण	kṣaṇa	moment
蘋果	píngguǒ	apple	बिम्बा	bimbā	apple
涅槃	nièpán	nirvana	निर्वाण	nirvānā	nirvana
舍利子	shèlìzi	relic	शरीर	śarīra	body
曇花	tánhuā	epiphyllum	उदुम्बर	udumbara	cluster fig tree
須彌山	xūmíshān	Mt. Sumeru	सुमेरु	sumeru	Mt. Sumeru