Editing China (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of China}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of Chinese history}}

=== Prehistory ===
[[File:National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-43-38.jpg|thumb|10,000-year-old pottery, [[Xianren Cave]] culture (18000–7000 BCE)]]

[[Archaeological excavation|Archaeological evidence]] suggests that early [[Hominidae|hominids]] inhabited China 2.25 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ciochon |first1=Russell |last2=Larick |first2=Roy |date=1 January 2000 |title=Early Homo erectus Tools in China |url=https://archive.archaeology.org/0001/newsbriefs/china.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106111404/https://archive.archaeology.org/0001/newsbriefs/china.html |archive-date=6 January 2020 |access-date=30 November 2012 |website=[[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]]}}</ref> The hominid fossils of [[Peking Man]], a ''[[Homo erectus]]'' who [[Control of fire by early humans|used fire]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Peking Man World Heritage Site at Zhoukoudian |url=http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623160018/http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm |archive-date=23 June 2016 |access-date=6 March 2013 |publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 [[Before Present|years ago]].<ref name="autogenerated198">{{Cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=G. |last2=Gao |first2=X. |last3=Gao |first3=B. |last4=Granger |first4=De |date=March 2009 |title=Age of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus determined with (26)Al/(10)Be burial dating |journal=Nature |volume=458 |issue=7235 |pages=198–200 |doi=10.1038/nature07741 |pmid=19279636 |s2cid=19264385}}</ref> The fossilized teeth of ''Homo sapiens'' (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in [[Fuyan Cave]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=14 October 2015 |title=Fossil teeth place humans in Asia '20,000 years early' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34531861 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817113912/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34531861 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |access-date=14 October 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Chinese [[proto-writing]] existed in [[Jiahu]] around 6600 BCE,<ref name="earliest writing">{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=17 April 2003 |title='Earliest writing' found in China |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320140538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> at [[Damaidi]] around 6000 BCE,<ref>[[Qiu Xigui]] (2000) ''Chinese Writing'' English translation of {{lang|zh-Hant|文字學概論}} by Gilbert L. Mattos and [[Jerry Norman (sinologist)|Jerry Norman]] Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. {{ISBN|978-1-5572-9071-7}}</ref> [[Dadiwan culture|Dadiwan]] from 5800 to 5400 BCE, and [[Banpo]] dating from the 5th millennium BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the [[Jiahu symbols]] (7th millennium BCE) constituted the earliest Chinese writing system.<ref name="earliest writing" />

=== Early dynastic rule ===
{{Further|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors|Xia dynasty|Shang dynasty|Zhou dynasty|Spring and Autumn period|Warring States period}}
[[File:甲骨文发现地 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Yinxu]], the ruins of the capital of the late [[Shang dynasty]] (14th century BCE)]]

According to traditional [[Chinese historiography]], the [[Xia dynasty]] was established during the late 3rd millennium&nbsp;BCE, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era, the Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the [[Erlitou culture]] that existed during the early [[Bronze Age]]; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tanner |first=Harold M. |title=China: A History |year=2009 |publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0-8722-0915-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VIWC9wCX2c8C&pg=PA35 35–36]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bronze Age China |date=19 September 1999 |url=http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725062916/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |archive-date=25 July 2013 |access-date=11 July 2013 |publisher=National Gallery of Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |year=2007 |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA25 25]}}</ref> The [[Shang dynasty]] that traditionally succeeded the Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |title=The History of China |year=2011 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-6153-0181-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A1nwvKNPMWkC&pg=PA35 35]}}</ref> The Shang ruled much of the [[Yellow River]] valley until the 11th century&nbsp;BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dated {{circa|1300&nbsp;BCE}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Jeaneane D. |title=Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices |last2=Fowler |first2=Merv |year=2008 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-8451-9172-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rpJNfIAZltoC&pg=PA17 17]}}</ref> The [[oracle bone script]], attested from {{circa|1250&nbsp;BCE|lk=no}} but generally assumed to be considerably older,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boltz |first=William G. |author-link=William G. Boltz |date=February 1986 |title=Early Chinese Writing |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3  |page=436 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979980 |jstor=124705}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keightley |first=David N. |author-link=David Keightley |date=Autumn 1996 |title=Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China |journal=Representations |volume=56 |issue=Special Issue: The New Erudition |pages=68–95 |doi=10.2307/2928708 |jstor=2928708 |s2cid=145426302}}</ref> represents the oldest known form of [[written Chinese]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Zhengzhou |encyclopedia=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |last=Hollister |first=Pam |year=1996 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul E. |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA904 904] |isbn=978-1-8849-6404-6 |editor2-first=Robert M. |editor2-last=Salkin}}</ref> and is the direct ancestor of modern [[Chinese characters]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allan |first=Keith |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1995-8584-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BzfRFmlN2ZAC&pg=PA4 4]}}</ref>

The Shang were overthrown by the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]], who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries&nbsp;BCE, though the centralized authority of [[Son of Heaven]] was slowly eroded by ''[[fengjian]]'' lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year [[Spring and Autumn period]]. By the time of the [[Warring States period]] of the 5th–3rd centuries&nbsp;BCE, there were seven major powerful states left.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Warring States |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |access-date=28 March 2024 |date=15 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119202928/https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |archive-date=19 January 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Imperial China ===
{{further|Chinese Empire|History of China#Imperial China}}

==== Qin and Han ====
[[File:Han Expansion.png|The [[southward expansion of the Han dynasty]] during the 2nd century&nbsp;BCE|thumb|upright=1.1]]

The Warring States period ended in 221&nbsp;BCE after the [[Qin (state)|state of Qin]] conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of [[autocracy]]. [[King Zheng of Qin]] proclaimed himself the Emperor of the [[Qin dynasty]], becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|legalist]] reforms, notably the standardization of Chinese characters, [[Chinese units of measurement|measurements]], road widths, and [[history of Chinese currency|currency]]. His dynasty also [[Qin campaign against the Baiyue|conquered the Yue tribes]] in [[Guangxi]], [[Guangdong]], and [[Northern Vietnam]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sima |first=Qian |author-link=Sima Qian |title=Records of the Grand Historian |title-link=Shiji |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-231-08165-0 |location=Hong Kong |pages=11–12 |translator-last=Watson |translator-first=Burton |orig-date=c. 91 BCE |translator-link=Burton Watson}}</ref> The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death.<ref name="Bodde1986">{{Cite book |last=Bodde |first=Derk |author-link=Derk Bodde |title=The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – AD 220 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-521-24327-0 |editor-last=Twitchett |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |series=[[The Cambridge History of China]] |volume=1 |pages=20–102 |chapter=The State and Empire of Ch'in |editor-last2=Loewe |editor-first2=Loewe |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}}
</ref><ref name="Lewis2007">{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofimperia00broo |title=The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han |date=2007 |publisher=Belknap |isbn=978-0-6740-2477-9}}</ref>

Following [[Chu–Han Contention|widespread revolts]] during which the imperial library [[List of destroyed libraries#Human action|was burned]],{{efn|Owing to Qin Shi Huang's earlier policy involving the "[[burning of books and burying of scholars]]", the destruction of the confiscated copies at [[Xianyang]] was an event similar to the [[destruction of the Library of Alexandria|destructions]] of the [[Library of Alexandria]] in the west. Even those texts that did survive had to be painstakingly reconstructed from memory, luck, or forgery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cotterell |first=Arthur |title=The Imperial Capitals of China |year=2011 |publisher=Pimlico |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bZI764AEfcsC&pg=PA35 35–36]}}</ref> The [[Old Texts]] of the [[Five Classics]] were said to have been found hidden in a wall at the Kong residence in [[Qufu]]. [[Mei Ze]]'s "rediscovered" edition of the [[Book of Documents]] was [[Yan Ruoqu|only shown to be a forgery in the Qing dynasty]].}} the [[Han dynasty]] emerged to rule China between 206&nbsp;BCE and 220&nbsp;CE, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern [[Han Chinese]].<ref name="Bodde1986" /><ref name="Lewis2007" /> The Han [[History of the Han dynasty|expanded the empire's territory considerably]], with military campaigns reaching [[Han–Xiongnu War|Central Asia, Mongolia]], [[Han conquest of Gojoseon|Korea]], and [[Han campaigns against Dian|Yunnan]], and the [[Southward expansion of the Han dynasty|recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam]] from [[Nanyue]]. Han involvement in Central Asia and [[Sogdia]] helped establish the land route of the [[Silk Road]], replacing the earlier path over the [[Himalayas]] to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world.<ref name="Dahlman Aubert 2001">{{Cite report |title=China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century |last1=Dahlman |first1=Carl J. |last2=Aubert |first2=Jean-Eric |year=2001 |publisher=World Bank Publications |id={{ERIC|ED460052}} |series=WBI Development Studies |location=Herndon, VA}}</ref> Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of [[Confucianism]], Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Goucher |first1=Candice |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |volume=1: From Human Origins to 1500 CE |last2=Walton |first2=Linda |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1350-8822-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zdwpAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 108]}}</ref>

==== Three Kingdoms, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties ====
After the [[end of the Han dynasty]], a period of strife known as [[Three Kingdoms]] followed, at the end of which [[Cao Wei|Wei]] was swiftly overthrown by the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]]. The Jin fell to [[War of the Eight Princes|civil war]] upon the ascension of a [[Emperor Hui of Jin|developmentally disabled emperor]]; the [[Five Barbarians]] then [[Upheaval of the Five Barbarians|rebelled]] and ruled northern China as the [[Sixteen Kingdoms|Sixteen States]]. The [[Xianbei]] unified them as the [[Northern Wei]], whose [[Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei|Emperor Xiaowen]] reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and [[Northern dynasties|enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects]]. In the south, the general [[Emperor Wu of Liu Song|Liu Yu]] secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the [[Liu Song]]. The various successors of these states became known as the [[Northern and Southern dynasties]], with the two areas finally reunited by the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]] in 581.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==== Sui, Tang and Song ====
The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and [[imperial examination]] system, constructed the [[Grand Canal of China|Grand Canal]], and patronized [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]]. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a [[Goguryeo–Sui War|failed war]] in [[Goguryeo|northern Korea]] provoked widespread unrest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Ki-Baik |title=A new history of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-6746-1576-2 |page=47}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Graff |first=David Andrew |title=Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4152-3955-9 |page=13}}</ref>
Under the succeeding [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]], Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adshead |first=S. A. M. |title=T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780230005518 |page=54 |doi=10.1057/9780230005518_2}}</ref> The Tang dynasty retained control of the [[Western Regions]] and the Silk Road,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nishijima |first=Sadao |title=Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220 |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5212-4327-8 |editor-last=Twitchett |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |pages=545–607 |chapter=The Economic and Social History of Former Han |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243278.012 |editor-last2=Loewe |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}}</ref> which brought traders to as far as [[Mesopotamia]] and the [[Horn of Africa]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=John S. |url=https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john |title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture |date=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john/page/104 104–105] |url-access=registration}}</ref> and made the capital [[Chang'an]] a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the [[An Lushan rebellion]] in the 8th century.<ref>{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |date=2007 |publisher=City University of HK Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=71}}</ref> In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|separatist situation]] in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the [[Liao dynasty]]. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paludan |first=Ann |title=Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors |date=1998 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-5000-5090-2 |page=136}}</ref>

Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a [[Neo-Confucianism|revival of Confucianism]], in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Siu-Chi |title=Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-3132-6449-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sjzPPg8eK7sC&pg=PA3 3]}}</ref> and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as [[landscape art]] and [[porcelain]] were brought to new levels of complexity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) |date=October 2001 |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152800/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=27 November 2013 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]]. In 1127, [[Emperor Huizong of Song|Emperor Emeritus Huizong]], [[Emperor Qinzong of Song]] and the capital [[Kaifeng|Bianjing]] were captured during the [[Jin–Song wars]]. The remnants of the Song retreated to [[Northern and southern China|southern China]] and reestablished [[Southern Song Dynasty|the Song]] at [[Nanjing|Jiankang]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 |title=Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 |date=1962 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-0720-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 22] |oclc=1029050217}}</ref>

=== Yuan ===
[[File:Badaling China Great-Wall-of-China-01.jpg|China's first emperor, [[Qin Shi Huang]], is famed for having united the [[Warring States]]' walls to form the [[Great Wall of China]]. Most of the present structure dates to the [[Ming dynasty]].|thumb|upright=1.1]]
The [[Mongol conquest of China]] began in 1205 with the [[Mongol conquest of Western Xia|campaigns]] against [[Western Xia]] by [[Genghis Khan]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=May |first=Timothy |title=The Mongol Conquests in World History |date=2012 |publisher=Reaktion |isbn=978-1-8618-9971-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRIt9sZaTREC 1211]}}</ref> who also [[Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty|invaded Jin territories]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weatherford |first=Jack |title=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World |title-link=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World |date=2004 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-6098-0964-8 |page=95 |chapter=Tale of Three Rivers}}</ref> In 1271, the Mongol leader [[Kublai Khan]] established the [[Yuan dynasty]], which [[Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty|conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty]] in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ho |first=Ping-ti |author-link=He Bingdi |date=1970 |title=An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China |journal=Études Song |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=33–53}}</ref> A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang [[Red Turban Rebellions|overthrew the Yuan]] in 1368 and founded the [[Ming dynasty]] as the [[Hongwu Emperor]]. Under the Ming dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that admiral [[Zheng He]] led the [[Ming treasure voyages]] throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=25 July 2010 |title=Chinese archaeologists' African quest for sunken ship of Ming admiral |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/kenya-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227095720/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/kenya-china |archive-date=27 December 2016 |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

==== Ming ====
In the early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from [[Nanjing]] to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as [[Wang Yangming]] critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of [[individualism]] and equality of [[four occupations]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Wang Yangming (1472–1529) |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/wangyang/ |access-date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109100108/http://www.iep.utm.edu/wangyang/ |archive-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[scholar-official]] stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)]] and [[Later Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin]] incursions led to an exhausted treasury.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.docin.com/p-378667223.html |date=8 April 2012 |script-title=zh:论明末士人阶层与资本主义萌芽的关系 |access-date=2 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909195232/http://www.docin.com/p-378667223.html |archive-date=9 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of [[Late Ming peasant rebellions|peasant rebel]] forces led by [[Li Zicheng]]. The [[Chongzhen Emperor]] committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu [[Qing dynasty]], then allied with Ming dynasty general [[Wu Sangui]], overthrew Li's short-lived [[Shun dynasty]] and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Qing dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Qing-dynasty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309212209/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Qing-dynasty |archive-date=9 March 2018 |access-date=10 November 2022 |website=Britannica}}</ref>

==== Qing ====
[[File:Qing Empire circa 1820 EN.svg|The [[Qing conquest of the Ming]] and expansion of the empire|thumb|upright=1.1]]
The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. The [[Transition from Ming to Qing|Ming-Qing transition]] (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=John M. |title=A Short History of the World |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-1951-1504-X |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC 272]}}</ref> After the [[Southern Ming]] ended, the further conquest of the [[Dzungar Khanate]] added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=Joseph |title=The Cambridge History of China |date=1978 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-1390-5477-5 |editor-last=John K. Fairbank |editor-link=John King Fairbank |volume=10, Part 1 |page=37 |chapter=Ch'ing Inner Asia c. 1800 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521214476.003}}</ref> Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the [[Northern Song]] period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deng |first=Kent |url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64492/1/WP219.pdf |title=China's Population Expansion and Its Causes during the Qing Period, 1644–1911 |year=2015 |pages=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309224404/https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64492/1/WP219.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=28 August 2023}}</ref> By the [[High Qing era]] China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rowe |first=William |title=China's Last Empire – The Great Qing |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780674054554 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KN7Awmzx2PAC 123]}}</ref> On the other hand, the centralized autocracy was strengthened in part to suppress [[anti-Qing sentiment]] with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the ''[[Haijin]]'' during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the [[literary inquisition]], causing some social and technological stagnation.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2010 |publisher=九州出版社 |isbn=978-7-5108-0062-7 |pages=104–112 |script-title=zh:中国通史·明清史}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date=1996 |publisher=花城出版社 |isbn=978-7-5360-2320-8 |page=71 |script-title=zh:中华通史·第十卷}}</ref>

=== Fall of the Qing dynasty ===
{{Further|Century of humiliation|Opium Wars|First Sino-Japanese War|Boxer Rebellion}}
[[File:EightNations in1901.jpg|thumb|The [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] invaded China to defeat the anti-foreign [[Boxer Rebellion|Boxers]] and their Qing backers. The image shows a celebration ceremony inside the Chinese imperial palace, the [[Forbidden City]] after the signing of the [[Boxer Protocol]] in 1901.]]

In the mid-19th century, the [[Opium Wars]] with Britain and [[France]] forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow [[extraterritoriality]] for foreign nationals, and cede [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] to the British<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Embree |first1=Ainslie |author-link=Ainslie Embree |url=https://archive.org/details/asiainwesternwor00ains |title=Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching |last2=Gluck |first2=Carol |author-link2=Carol Gluck |date=1997 |publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]] |isbn=1-5632-4265-6 |page=597 |url-access=limited}}</ref> under the 1842 [[Treaty of Nanking]], the first of what have been termed the [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]]. The [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the [[Korean Peninsula]], as well as the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki|cession of Taiwan]] to [[Empire of Japan|Japan]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546176/Sino-Japanese-War |access-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920171344/https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Sino-Japanese-War-1894-1895 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Qing dynasty also began experiencing [[Timeline of late anti-Qing rebellions|internal unrest]] in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the [[White Lotus Rebellion]], the failed [[Taiping Rebellion]] that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)]] in the northwest. The initial success of the [[Self-Strengthening Movement]] of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s.<ref name="Lee2004">{{Cite book |last=Enhan (李恩涵) |first=Li |publisher=臺灣商務印書館 |year=2004 |isbn=978-9-5705-1891-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cA8OBkr-JmMC&pg=PA78 78] |script-title=zh:近代中國外交史事新研}}</ref>

In the 19th century, the great [[Chinese emigration|Chinese diaspora]] began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as the [[Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879]], in which between 9 and 13 million people died.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995 |title=Dimensions of need – People and populations at risk |url=http://www.fao.org/3/U8480E/U8480E05.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030150743/https://www.fao.org/3/U8480E/U8480E05.htm |archive-date=30 October 2023 |access-date=3 July 2013 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}</ref> The [[Guangxu Emperor]] drafted a [[Hundred Days' Reform|reform plan]] in 1898 to establish a modern [[constitutional monarchy]], but these plans were thwarted by the [[Empress Dowager Cixi]]. The ill-fated anti-foreign [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms known as the [[late Qing reforms]], the [[1911 Revolution|Xinhai Revolution]] of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]].<ref name="xb1">{{Cite book |last=Xiaobing |first=Li |title=A History of the Modern Chinese Army |date=2007 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2438-4 |pages=13, 26–27}}</ref> [[Puyi]], the last Emperor, [[Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor|abdicated in 1912]].<ref name="abdicate">{{Cite web |date=4 June 2013 |title=The abdication decree of Emperor Puyi (1912) |url=https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/abdication-emperor-puyi-1912/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410202346/https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/abdication-emperor-puyi-1912/ |archive-date=10 April 2023 |access-date=29 May 2021 |website=Chinese Revolution}}</ref>

=== Establishment of the Republic and World War II ===
{{Main|Republic of China (1912–1949)}}{{Further|1911 Revolution|Second Sino-Japanese War|Chinese Civil War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}
On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and [[Sun Yat-sen]] of the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) was proclaimed provisional president.<ref>Tamura, Eileen (1997) ''China: Understanding Its Past.'' Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press {{ISBN|0-8248-1923-3}} p.146</ref> In March 1912, the presidency was given to [[Yuan Shikai]], a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself [[Empire of China (1915–1916)|Emperor of China]]. In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own [[Beiyang Army]], he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the republic in 1916.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haw |first=Stephen |title=Beijing: A Concise History |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0-4153-9906-8 |page=143}}</ref> After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elleman |first=Bruce |title=Modern Chinese Warfare |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4152-1474-2 |page=149}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hutchings |first=Graham |title=Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change |date=2003 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-6740-1240-2 |page=459}}</ref> During this [[Warlord Era|period]], China [[China during World War I|participated in]] [[World War I]] and saw a far-reaching popular uprising (the [[May Fourth Movement]]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Panda |first=Ankit |date=5 May 2015 |title=The Legacy of China's May Fourth Movement |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/the-legacy-of-chinas-may-fourth-movement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222173851/https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/the-legacy-of-chinas-may-fourth-movement |archive-date=22 February 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]}}</ref>
[[File:1945 Mao and Chiang.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[Mao Zedong]] toasting together in 1945 following the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of World War II]]]]In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang under [[Chiang Kai-shek]] was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings known collectively as the [[Northern Expedition]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zarrow |first=Peter |title=China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949 |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4153-6447-7 |page=230}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leutner |first=M. |title=The Chinese Revolution in the 1920s: Between Triumph and Disaster |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-7007-1690-4 |page=129}}</ref> The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to [[Nanjing]] and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's [[Three Principles of the People]] program for transforming China into a modern democratic state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tien |first=Hung-Mao |title=Government and Politics in Kuomintang China, 1927–1937 |date=1972 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-0812-6 |volume=53 |pages=60–72}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |title=China and Democracy: Reconsidering the Prospects for a Democratic China |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4159-2694-7 |page=43}}</ref> The Kuomintang [[First United Front|briefly allied]] with the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) during the Northern Expedition, though the alliance broke down in 1927 after Chiang [[Shanghai massacre|violently suppressed]] the CCP and other leftists in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Apter |first1=David Ernest |title=Revolutionary Discourse in Mao's Republic |last2=Saich |first2=Tony |date=1994 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-6747-6780-2 |page=198}}</ref> The CCP declared [[Communist-controlled China (1927–1949)|areas of the country]] as the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]] (Jiangxi Soviet) in November 1931 in [[Ruijin]], [[Jiangxi]]. The Jiangxi Soviet was [[Encirclement campaigns|wiped out]] by the KMT armies in 1934, leading the CCP to initiate the [[Long March]] and relocate to [[Yan'an]] in [[Shaanxi]]. It would be the base of the communists before major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949.

In 1931, Japan [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded and occupied Manchuria]]. Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] (1937–1945), a [[Theater (warfare)|theater]] of [[World War II]]. The war forced an [[Second United Front|uneasy alliance]] between the Kuomintang and the CCP. Japanese forces committed numerous [[Japanese war crimes|war atrocities]] against the civilian population; as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nuclear Power: The End of the War Against Japan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128194317/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml |archive-date=28 November 2015 |access-date=14 July 2013 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> An estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese were [[Nanjing Massacre|massacred in Nanjing]] alone during the Japanese occupation.<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-8.html "Judgement: International Military Tribunal for the Far East"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804062413/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-8.html |date=4 August 2018}}. ''Chapter VIII: Conventional War Crimes (Atrocities).'' November 1948. Retrieved 4 February 2013.</ref> China, along with the UK, the United States, and the [[Soviet Union]], were recognized as the Allied "[[Four Policemen|Big Four]]" in the [[Declaration by United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Yearbook of the United Nations 1946–1947 |date=1947 |publisher=United Nations |page=3 |chapter=The Moscow Declaration on general security |oclc=243471225 |access-date=25 April 2015 |chapter-url=http://www.unmultimedia.org/searchers/yearbook/page.jsp?volume=1946-47&page=38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074504/http://www.unmultimedia.org/searchers/yearbook/page.jsp?volume=1946-47&page=38 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Declaration by United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1942-declaration-united-nations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525120058/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1942-declaration-united-nations |archive-date=25 May 2017 |access-date=20 June 2015 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> Along with the other three great powers, China was one of the four major [[Allies of World War II]], and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war.<ref>Hoopes, Townsend, and Douglas Brinkley ''FDR and the Creation of the U.N.'' (Yale University Press, 1997)</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewis |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesorig0000gadd |title=The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 |date=1972 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-2311-2239-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesorig0000gadd/page/24 24]–25 |url-access=registration}}</ref> After the [[surrender of Japan]] in 1945, Taiwan, along with the [[Penghu]], were [[Retrocession of Taiwan|handed over to Chinese control]]; however, the validity of this handover is controversial.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Tien |first=Hung-mao |title=Constitutional Reform and the Future of the Republic of China |date=1991 |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-8733-2880-7 |editor-last=Feldman |editor-first=Harvey |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xCxMn-2msr8C&pg=PA3 3] |chapter=The Constitutional Conundrum and the Need for Reform}}</ref>

=== People's Republic ===
{{Main|History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)}}
[[File:Mao Proclaiming New China.JPG|thumb|[[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|The founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China]] was held at 3:00 pm on 1 October 1949. The picture above shows [[Mao Zedong]]'s announcement of the founding of the People's Republic of China in [[Tiananmen Square]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=李丹青 |title=What's behind the founding ceremony of the PRC? |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201909/30/WS5d9d4f5aa310cf3e3556f681.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218080210/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201909/30/WS5d9d4f5aa310cf3e3556f681.html |archive-date=18 February 2023 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref>]]

China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the [[Kuomintang]] and the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communists]] led to the resumption of civil war. Constitutional rule was established in 1947, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the [[Constitution of the Republic of China|ROC constitution]] were never implemented in mainland China.<ref name=":1" /> Afterwards, the CCP took control of most of mainland China, and the [[Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan|ROC government retreated offshore to Taiwan]].

On 1 October 1949, [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Chairman]] [[Mao Zedong]] formally [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|proclaimed the People's Republic of China]] in [[Tiananmen Square]], [[Beijing]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Westcott |first1=Ben |last2=Lee |first2=Lily |date=30 September 2019 |title=They were born at the start of Communist China. 70 years later, their country is unrecognizable |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/asia/china-beijing-mao-october-1-70-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215045839/https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/asia/china-beijing-mao-october-1-70-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=15 December 2019 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> In 1950, the PRC [[Battle of Hainan Island|captured Hainan]] from the ROC<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 May 1950 |title=Red Capture of Hainan Island |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19500509&id=FUw_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3627,3301880 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810125935/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19500509&id=FUw_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3627,3301880 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |work=[[The Tuscaloosa News]]}}</ref> and [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China|annexed Tibet]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tibetans |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Tibet/tibet.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016102314/http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Tibet/tibet.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2013 |access-date=20 July 2013 |publisher=[[University of Southern California]]}}</ref> However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage [[Kuomintang Islamic insurgency|an insurgency in western China]] throughout the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garver |first=John W. |title=The Sino-American alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War strategy in Asia |date=1997 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-0025-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNCghCIbyVAC&pg=PA169 169]}}</ref> The [[Chinese Communist Party|CCP]] consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the [[Land Reform Movement]], which included the state-tolerated executions of between 1 and 2 million landlords by peasants and former tenants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Busky |first=Donald |title=Communism in History and Theory |date=2002 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-2759-7733-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6b0j1VINWgC 11]}}</ref> Though the PRC initially allied closely with the [[Soviet Union]], the relations between the two [[Communism|communist]] nations [[Sino-Soviet split|gradually deteriorated]], leading China to develop an independent industrial system and [[China and weapons of mass destruction|its own nuclear weapons]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Country Study: China |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/87600493 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612025703/https://www.loc.gov/item/87600493 |archive-date=12 June 2016 |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=loc.gov|series=Area handbook series |date=January 1988 }}</ref>

The Chinese population increased from 550 million in 1950 to 900 million in 1974.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Madelyn |title=Students and teachers of the new China: thirteen interviews |date=2008 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3288-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lJK-GRriJAoC 185]}}</ref> However, the [[Great Leap Forward]], an idealistic massive [[Industrialisation|industrialization]] project, resulted in [[Great Chinese Famine|an estimated 15 to 55 million deaths]] between 1959 and 1961, mostly from starvation.<ref name="nyt">{{Cite news |last=Mirsky |first=Jonathan |date=9 December 2012 |title=Unnatural Disaster |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20121207 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211072252/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/tombstone-the-great-chinese-famine-1958-1962-by-yang-jisheng.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20121207 |archive-date=11 December 2012 |access-date=7 December 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Leslie |title=Communism: A Very Short Introduction |date=2009 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1995-5154-5 |page=32 |quote=Most estimates of the number of Chinese dead are in the range of 15 to 30 million.}}</ref> In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1964: China's first atomic bomb explodes |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/228244.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322065350/http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/228244.htm |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=china.org.cn}}</ref> In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the [[Cultural Revolution]], sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval that lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758|replaced the ROC]] in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kao |first=Michael Y. M. |title=Taiwan in a Time of Transition |date=1988 |publisher=Paragon House |editor-last=Feldman |editor-first=Harvey |page=188 |chapter=Taiwan's and Beijing's Campaigns for Unification |editor-last2=Kao |editor-first2=Michael Y. M. |editor-last3=Kim |editor-first3=Ilpyong J.}}</ref>

=== Reforms and contemporary history ===
{{Main|History of the People's Republic of China (1976–1989)|History of the People's Republic of China (1989–2002)|History of the People's Republic of China (2002–present)}}
[[File:Události na náměstí Tian an men, Čína 1989, foto Jiří Tondl.jpg|thumb|The [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]] was ended by a military-led massacre.]]

After Mao's death, the [[Gang of Four]] were arrested by [[Hua Guofeng]] and held responsible for the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was rebuked, with millions rehabilitated. [[Deng Xiaoping]] took power in 1978, and instituted large-scale [[Boluan Fanzheng|political]] and [[Reform and Opening Up|economic reforms]], together with the "[[Eight Elders]]", most senior and influential members of the party. The government loosened its control and the [[People's commune|communes]] were gradually disbanded.<ref name="Hamrin-1995">{{Cite book |last1=Hamrin |first1=Carol Lee |title=Decision-making in Deng's China: Perspectives from Insiders |last2=Zhao |first2=Suisheng |date=15 January 1995 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-3694-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MySp8yumuJ4C&q=boluan+fanzheng&pg=PA32 32]}}</ref> [[Collective farming|Agricultural collectivization]] was dismantled and farmlands privatized. While foreign trade became a major focus, [[Special economic zones of China|special economic zones]] (SEZs) were created. Inefficient [[State-owned enterprises of China|state-owned enterprises]] (SOEs) were restructured and some closed. This marked China's transition away from planned economy.<ref name="Ref_e">{{Cite book |last1=Hart-Landsberg |first1=Martin |title=China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle |last2=Burkett |first2=Paul |date=March 2005 |publisher=Monthly Review Press |isbn=978-1-5836-7123-8}} ({{cite journal |title=Review |journal=[[Monthly Review]] |date=28 February 2001 |url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/chinaandsocialism.htm |access-date=30 October 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105220123/http://monthlyreview.org/chinaandsocialism.htm |url-status=live}})</ref> China adopted its current [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|constitution]] on 4 December 1982.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE ' S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1982) |url=https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/prc_constitution.pdf |publisher=[[Columbia College, Columbia University|Columbia College]]}}</ref>

In 1989, there were protests such [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|those in Tiananmen Square]], and then throughout the entire nation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harding |first=Harry |date=December 1990 |title=The Impact of Tiananmen on China's Foreign Policy |url=http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=73 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404193656/http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=73 |archive-date=4 April 2014 |access-date=28 November 2013 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Asian Research]]}}</ref> [[Jiang Zemin]] was elevated to become the CCP general secretary, becoming the paramount leader. Jiang continued economic reforms, closing many SOEs and trimming down "[[iron rice bowl]]" (life-tenure positions).<ref name="APs-2022">{{Cite news |date=30 November 2022 |title=Jiang Zemin, who guided China's economic rise, dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/china-beijing-hong-kong-obituaries-jiang-zemin-4ee4c5dcaf567e02efa3c5c7186af30a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403160544/https://apnews.com/article/china-beijing-hong-kong-obituaries-jiang-zemin-4ee4c5dcaf567e02efa3c5c7186af30a |archive-date=3 April 2023 |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=13 September 1997 |title=China Gets Down to Business at Party Congress |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-13-mn-31787-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018190108/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-13-mn-31787-story.html |archive-date=18 October 2022 |access-date=12 January 2020 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vogel |first=Ezra |author-link=Ezra Vogel |title=Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China |date=2011 |publisher=Belknap Press |isbn=978-0-6747-2586-7 |page=682}}</ref> China's economy grew sevenfold during this time.<ref name="APs-2022" /> [[British Hong Kong]] and [[Portuguese Macau]] returned to China in [[Handover of Hong Kong|1997]] and [[Handover of Macau|1999]], respectively, as [[Special administrative regions of China|special administrative regions]] under the principle of [[one country, two systems]]. The country joined the [[World Trade Organization]] in 2001.<ref name="APs-2022" />[[File:One-belt-one-road.svg|thumb|[[Belt and Road Initiative]] and related projects]]At the [[16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|16th CCP National Congress]] in 2002, [[Hu Jintao]] succeeded Jiang as the general secretary.<ref name="APs-2022" /> Under Hu, China maintained its high rate of economic growth, overtaking the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan to become the world's second-largest economy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orlik |first=Tom |date=16 November 2012 |title=Charting China's Economy: A Decade Under Hu Jintao |url=http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/11/16/charting-chinas-economy-10-years-under-hu-jintao |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221121820/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/11/16/charting-chinas-economy-10-years-under-hu-jintao |archive-date=21 December 2016 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref> However, the growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Shan |last2=Cox |first2=Amanda |last3=Burgess |first3=Joe |last4=Aigner |first4=Erin |date=26 August 2007 |title=China's Environmental Crisis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/08/26/world/asia/20070826_CHINA_GRAPHIC.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116170904/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/08/26/world/asia/20070826_CHINA_GRAPHIC.html |archive-date=16 January 2012 |access-date=16 May 2012 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Griffiths |first=Daniel |date=16 April 2004 |title=China worried over pace of growth |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4913622.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118160813/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4913622.stm |archive-date=18 November 2020 |access-date=16 April 2006 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and caused major social displacement.<ref name="Ref_k">[https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3166 ''China: Migrants, Students, Taiwan''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227094542/https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3166 |date=27 December 2016}} [[UC Davis]] Migration News January 2006</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cody |first=Edward |date=28 January 2006 |title=In Face of Rural Unrest, China Rolls Out Reforms |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701588.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014065549/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701588.html |archive-date=14 October 2017 |access-date=18 January 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> [[Xi Jinping]] succeeded Hu as paramount leader at the [[18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|18th CCP National Congress]] in 2012. Shortly after his ascension to power, Xi launched [[Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping|a vast anti-corruption crackdown]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 March 2018 |title=China's anti-corruption campaign expands with new agency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-43453769 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924060145/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-43453769 |archive-date=24 September 2019 |access-date=13 September 2019 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> that prosecuted more than 2 million officials by 2022.<ref name="Marquis-2022b">{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Marquis |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=15 November 2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-3002-6883-6 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k |jstor=j.ctv3006z6k |s2cid=253067190}}</ref> During [[China under Xi Jinping|his tenure]], Xi has consolidated power unseen since the initiation of economic and political reforms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wingfield-Hayes |first=Rupert |date=23 October 2022 |title=Xi Jinping's party is just getting started |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63225277 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317004249/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63225277 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |access-date=23 October 2022 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>