The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) was the last imperial dynasty in China. Founded by the Manchus, it was the second non-Han Chinese dynasty. The Manchus were formerly known as Jurchen, residing in the northeastern part of the Ming territory outside the Great Wall. They emerged as the major threat to the late Ming Dynasty after Nurhaci united all Jurchen tribes and established an independent state. However, the Ming Dynastywould be overthrown by Li Zicheng's peasants rebellion, with Beijing captured in 1644 and the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen committing suicide. The Manchu allied with the Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui to seize Beijing, which was made the capital of the Qing dynasty, and then proceeded to subdue the remaining Ming's resistance in the south. The decades of Manchu conquest caused enormous loss of lives and the economic scale of China shrank drastically. Nevertheless, the Manchus adopted the Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government in their rule and were considered a Chinese dynasty.
There isn't actually any , DECLINE of its civilization , but the end of the imperial dynasties was concluded along with the Qing Dynasty . It ended around 1911 , the 20th Century .
Decline of civilization
Writing
This is the reason we find an abundant use of Chinese characters in their languages.
Great Wall of China
According to Wikipedia : The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC;[3] these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.[4] Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
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The history of the Great Wall is said to start from the Spring and Autumn Periods when seven powerful states appeared at the same time. In order to defend themselves, they all built walls and stationed troops on the borders. At that time, the total length of the wall had already reached 3,107 miles, belonging to different states.
In 221 BC, the Emperor Qin absorbed the other six states and set up the first unified kingdom in Chinese history. In order to strengthen his newly born authority and defend the Huns in the north, he ordered connecting the walls once built by the other states as well as adding some sections of his own. Thus was formed the long Qin's Great Wall which started from the east of today's Liaoning Province and ended at Lintao, Gansu Province.
In the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns became more powerful. The Han court started to build more walls on a larger scale in order to consolidate the frontier. In the west, the wall along the Hexi corridor, Yumenguan Pass, and Yangguan Pass was built. In the north, Yanmenguan Pass and Niangziguan Pass in Shanxi were set up. Many more sections of the wall extended to Yinshan Mountain and half of the ancient Silk Road was along the Han's wall.
The Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties all built their own sections but on a smaller scale than the walls in the Han Dynasty. The powerful Tang Dynasty saw peace between the northern tribes and central China most of the time, so few wall sections were built in this period.
UPDATE : i have found more pictures on the Great Wall .
Occupations
Most men in ancient times (in all societies) were primarily active in farming and fishing. As food production increased, people were able to branch out into other occupations.
In most societies, women have traditionally taken care of the home and children while men have worked on production. Women have often cultivated food crops; men became hunters and cultivated other crops.
Homebuilding was mostly done by men and neighbours would usually assist each other in the process .
Men were also called in for war .
China is known for its massive public works projects, such as the Great Wall(s) and the Grand Canal. Huge numbers of people (mostly men) were involved in building the Wall, and it is estimated that over 1,000,000 died during its construction .
I will touch on the Great Wall in another post , including some ancient painting depicting the wall .
Government
The Chinese record their own history as a succession of ruling dynasties that begins with the legendary Xia dynasty . It is the first Dynasty to be described in several ancient historical records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian . It lasted from 2100 - 1600 BC . Although there has been debates on whether or not this Dynasty ever existed , I strongly agree that it existed as there are archaeological evidences . There is a myth that it had ended after the Battle of Mingtiao around 1600 BC . This is an interesting find , time to move on !
Introduction
Hello I am a Historian who is very intrigued in the history of Ancient China , I will post my findings and things related on this blogger , please stay updated :)