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history of China: Media
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Learn more about the impact of World War II on China's history.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Images
Adapted from A. Herrmann, An Historical Atlas of China (1966); Aldine Publishing Company
Painted Pottery funerary urn, Neolithic Banshan phase, c. 3000 bce,...
Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (MFEA), Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm
Black pottery stem cup, Neolithic Longshan culture, c. late 3rd millennium
Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Bronze jia, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce);...
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (Nelson Fund)
Ceremonial ivory goblet inlaid with turquoise, c. 12th century bce,...
Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Oracle bone inscriptions from the village of Xiaotun, Henan province, China; Shang...
By permission of the Syndics of the Cambridge University Library
Ceremonial bronze jian, Dong (Eastern) Zhou dynasty (770–256 bce);...
Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Wood bowl decorated in red and black lacquer with stylized birds and animals, from...
Courtesy of the Seattle Art Museum, Washington
Portion of the army of terra-cotta soldiers and horses found in the tomb of the Qin...
© iemily/Fotolia
Funerary banner from the tomb of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), Mawangdui, Hunan province,...
Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Horse and Swallow, bronze sculpture from the tomb of General Chang, Leitai,...
Robert Harding Picture Library
The Han dynasty expanded the boundaries of China and further extended the Great Wall...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Scenes from the tomb of the Wu family in Shandong province, China, stone rubbing,...
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, gift of Horace H.F. Jayne
E. Reischauer and J. Fairbank, East Asia:The Great Tradition, copyright © 1958 and 1960 by Edwin o. Reischauer and John K. Fairbank, published by Houghton Mifflin Company
Statues of disciples of the Buddha, Longmen Caves, Luoyang, Henan province, China.
© BigGabig—iStock/Getty Images
Ceramic tomb figure decorated in characteristic colored glazes, Tang dynasty (618–907);...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Taizong, detail of a portrait; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)
Minghuang's Journey to Shu, ink and color on silk hanging scroll, attributed...
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Guanyin and attendant bodhisattvas, detail of a painted mural, early 8th century,...
Chen Zhi'an/ChinaStock Photo Library
Main hall of Nanchan Temple, Mount Wutai, Shanxi province, China, 782 ce...
Christopher Liu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Mirror back, cloisonné enamel on silver, Chinese, Tang dynasty, 9th century; in the...
Courtesy of the Shôsô-In Treasure House
China during the period of the Hou (Later) Liang dynasty (907–923).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
China during the period of the Hou (Later) Tang dynasty (923–936/937).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
China during the period of the Hou (Later) Jin and Hou Han dynasties (936–946/947...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
China during the period of the Hou (Later) Zhou dynasty (951–960).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Taizu, founder of the Song dynasty, detail of a portrait; in the National Palace...
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)
Zhenshu (“regular style”) calligraphy, written by the emperor Huizong (reigned 1100–1125/26),...
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
Spring Fragrance, Clearing After Rain, ink and slight color on silk album...
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Zhu Xi, ink on paper by an unknown artist; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)
Longquan celadon wine jar and cover with light bluish green glaze, Song dynasty,...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A Mongol encampment, detail from the Cai Wenji scroll, a Chinese hand scroll of the...
Courtesy of Asia Society Galleries, New York
The Yuan (Mongol) Empire (c. 1300), showing the extent reached under Kublai Khan.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Timber pagoda of the Fogong Temple, 1056, Song dynasty; at Yingxian, Shanxi province,...
Christopher Liu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Example of xingshu by Zhao Mengfu, Yuan dynasty; in the National Palace...
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Nine Horses, detail of a hand scroll by Ren Renfa, ink and colors on silk,...
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; purchase Nelson Trust (72-8)
The Hongwu emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 14th century;...
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)
Poet on a Mountain Top, ink on paper or ink and light color on paper, album...
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; purchase Nelson Trust (46–51/2)
Panel from an imperial Chinese silk dragon robe embroidered in silk and gold thread,...
Lee Boltin
Imperial Chinese throne of the Qianlong emperor (reigned 1735–96), red lacquer carved...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photograph, A.C. Cooper Ltd.
Chinese scholar's study, Beijing, Qing dynasty, late 18th or early 19th century.
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, given by Wright S. Ludington (in memory of his father)
The clipper ship Le-Rye-Moon, built for the opium trade, 19th-century wood...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Portrait of Cixi, empress dowager of China; oil on canvas by Herbert Vos, 1905–06;...
Harvard Art Museums
Map of Hong Kong c. 1900 from the 10th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan).
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-5972)
Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) and his wife, Song Qingling (Soong Ch'ing-ling), en route...
Bettmann/Corbis
Peng Dehuai, painting at the Historic Park of Geoje, POW Camp, in South Korea.
Kang Byeong Kee
Chiang Kai-shek meeting with his staff during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong, 1945.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-126856)
Lin Biao holding a copy of the “Little Red Book,” Quotations from Chairman Mao,...
Eastfoto
Red Guards and Chinese revolutionary youth on march to Beijing, 1966.
Eastfoto
One of the principal architects of modern China, Zhou Enlai was instrumental in both...
Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group/Shutterstock.com
Demonstrators in Hong Kong protesting the detention of dissident Liu Xiaobo, December...
Pedesbiz
Fireworks display in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on October 1, 2009, during the observance...
Feng Li/Getty Images
Demonstrators holding up blank pieces of paper to avoid censorship as they protest...
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Fireworks marking the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
Ricky Chung—AFP/Getty Images
Chinese line the streets of K'un-ming as the first supply convoy reaches the city...
U.S. Army photograph
