China (An Honorable Retelling)

Republic of China 中華民國 China Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  卿雲歌 "Song to the Auspicious Cloud" Flag anthem: 中華民國國旗歌 "National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China"
Capital		Nanjing
Largest city		Beijing
Official languages		Mandarin
Religion		Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese Folk religion, Irreligion
Demonym		Chinese
Government		Federal presidential constitutional republic
-	President	Chiang Hsiao-yen
Legislature		Legislative Yuan
Establishment
-	First pre-imperial dynasty	c. 2070 BCE
-	First imperial dynasty	221 BCE
-	Song dynasty	960–1901
-	Hongxian dynasty	1901-1912
-	Republic of China founded	1 January 1912
-	Fascism established	15 May 1952
-	Current constitution	4 March 1995
Population
-	estimate	1,381,670,000
GDP (nominal)		2022 estimate
-	Total	3.41 trillion
Drives on the		right

China (Chinese: 中國; Zhongguo), officially the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國), is a country in East Asia. Bordering Tibet and Cumania to the west, Russia, Kirghizia, and Buryatia to the north, Korea to the east, and sharing a maritime border with Japan, China's strategic geographic location has given the country many advantages.

With a recorded history dating back several millennia, China is the world's most populous country and has remained a dominant power in East Asia.

History

Prehistory and pre-imperial China

The first species of humans to inhabit what is now China were the archaic humans known as homo erectus, who arrived in China roughly 1.8 million years ago. It is believed that modern homo sapiens began appearing in China roughly 120,000 years ago. The introduction of agriculture to China and the start of what is now known as the Neolithic period is generally agreed upon by historians to have started roughly 10,000 years ago based on archaeological surveys. Groups such as the Majiayao culture of northern China (c. 3,300 BC) were also believed to have possessed bronze tools. Various prominent bronze age sites were also found in the Yangzi Valley dating back to the 6th century BC.

Xia and Shang dynasties (2070-1046 BCE)

The earliest recorded Chinese dynasty was the Xia dynasty dating back to c. 2070 BCE and recounted in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. Western historians often regard the Xia dynasty as being mythical and legendary rather than an actual existing dynasty. In contrast, many Chinese scholars and government officials consider the Xia dynasty to have actually existed at the Bronze Age site of Erlitou. Due to a lack of records found at the archaeological site, there is not enough evidence to confirm if the Xia dynasty ever existed. Regardless of whether the Xia dynasty existed or not, the complexity of the society found in Erlitou was once that had elites capable managing a society with iron casting and advanced architecture.

The earliest confirmed Chinese dynasty was the Shang dynasty, with archaeological records and texts attesting to its existence. The Shang dynasty is believed to have spanned roughly 550 years and was ruled over by at least 26 monarchs, with historical record showing that the capital of the dynasty moved a total of 6 times. During the later years of the Shang dynasty, it was also synonymously referred to as the Yin dynasty. It remains inconclusive on how large the Shang dynasty was but is believed to have been one of various cultures present within China proper. The Zhou defeated the Shang and usurped them as the ruling dynasty in China.

Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE)

Confucius, a prominent Chinese philosopher during the Spring and Autumn period

The Zhou dynasty is the second longest-lasting Chinese dynasty and arguably the most influential on the development of China. The Zhou's history is often split into two sections: the Spring and Autumn period (722–476 BC) and the Warring States period (476–221 BC). During the Spring and Autumn period, central power declined, and the Zhou Empire was fragmented among hundreds of tiny states which often competed against one another for regional hegemony. Despite this lack of central power, many of these small states continued to pledge loyalty to the Zhou while others declared independence. It was also during the Spring and Autumn period in which the Hundred Schools of Thought began blossoming, resulting in the formation of classical Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.

By the 5th century BCE, the tiny, fragmented states that encompassed the Zhou had begun to consolidate into larger polities, resulting in military confrontations and battles which are now known as the Warring States period. While the Zhou king continued to exist, he remained a figurehead and the real political power in China was held by the warring states. Eventually, the warring state of Qin emerged as the dominant power in the region. In 221 BC, the Qin established hegemony over China and its leader, Qin Shi Huang, facilitated the transition of the Qin from a state to the first Chinese empire. Whatever remained of the Zhou monarchy was deposed and the Qin dynasty emerged as the first true imperial Chinese dynasty.

Imperial China (221 BCE-960)

Early imperial China

The Qin dynasty effectively consolidated China into an empire rather than a collection of tributary states as had existed under the Zhou. To further legitimize his rule, Qin leader Yin Zheng proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi (始皇帝; "First August Emperor"). This title, derived from Chinese mythology, would become the standard for subsequent Chinese emperors. Also, unlike the decentralized Zhou which came before him, Qin Shi Huang transformed the Qin state into a highly organized bureaucratic monarchy, setting the stage for future imperial Chinese dynasties. Subdivisions such as commanderies and counties were also created under the Qin dynasty, allowing for the state to further consolidate its rule in local polities. Legalism also acted as the guiding philosophy of the Qin dynasty which saw opposing political philosophies persecuted. Despite state support of Legalism, it is believed that Confucianism eventually supplanted Legalism in non-political affairs. Following Qin Shi Huang's death, the Qin dynasty rapidly crumbled and was subsequently succeeded by the Han dynasty in 207 BCE.

The Han dynasty at its peak

Scholars in both China and the West often hold up the Han dynasty as the most influential imperial Chinese dynasty, with the Han Chinese deriving their name from the dynasty. The establishment of the Han dynasty by Emperor Gaozu of Han in 202 BCE would coincide with a Chinese golden age and a prolonged period of stability and innovation within China. The Han dynasty unified all of China proper, enshrined Confucianism as state doctrine, and oversaw rapid artistic and scientific innovation. As Confucianism was institutionalized, the Han dynasty also saw the establishment of Imperial Universities with the goal to advance philosophical study. Once again, China had entered a golden age as the Western Han dynasty which saw rapid territorial and economic expansion of the Han Empire. Following the passing of Emperor Wu, the Western Han declined and was eventually usurped by the short-lived Xin dynasty. Following the Xin's overthrow by an enraged peasant mob in 23 CE, Emperor Guangwu reinstated the Han Empire in what is now referred to as the Eastern Han period.

By the 2nd century, the Han Empire began to decline as the expenses of land acquisition began to outweigh its benefits. Following the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han Empire fractured, and China descended into another warlord period. The Three Kingdoms period lasted from 220–280 CE and ended with the unification of China under the Jin dynasty. Despite the Jin's dominance, northern China still remained fractured between sixteen kingdoms while the Jin eventually split into a northern and southern dynasty by 420 CE. The formation of the short-lived Sui dynasty in 581 is considered to be the start of mid-Imperial China.

Mid-imperial China (581-960)

The Sui dynasty in the year 609

Despite being short-lived, the Sui dynasty existed during a pivotal time in Chinese history. Following the defeat of the Southern Chen, Emperor Wen had succeeded in reunifying China after centuries of division and political fragmentation. The Sui pioneered and innovated many crucial institutions used by later imperial dynasties, including the "Three Departments and Six Ministries" government system, imperial examinations for commoners seeking public office, and the equal-field land distribution system. The Sui dynasty was also famous for intensifying and expanding construction efforts along the Great Wall of China. Despite these successes, the Sui dynasty was ultimately brought down in 618 when Emperor Yang was assassinated and rebels took control of the government.

Wu Zetian, empress of China (690-705)

After the fall of the Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty was proclaimed and ushered in yet another golden age for China. The Tang dynasty flourished under its many early leaders, and this strong leadership only continued under Empress Wu Zetian, the only official empress regnant in the history of China. The arts also flourished during the Tang era, with famous Chinese poets such as Li Bai publishing their works during this period. Despite this prosperity, it would come to an end during the An Lushan rebellion which devastated China's population and agriculture. This marked the transition from the prosperous early Tang period into the stagnant late Tang period. The central government continued to face rebellions and open disobedience to their rule, forcing the Tang to rely more heavily on Turkic warlords to maintain control over certain regions. This, in turn, weakened the central Tang military and steepened their reliance on warlords to maintain legitimacy in the fringes of their empire. Eventually, the Tang fractured even further which lead to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period beginning in 907.

Song dynasty (960-1912)

Early Song dynasty and conflicts with neighboring states

A map of the Song dynasty and the Liao dynasty to its north

The Song Dynasty is the longest-lasting Chinese dynasty and often regarded as the strongest and most impactful Chinese dynasty as a result. The dynasty begun in 960 when it was founded by Emperor Taizu in the city of Kaifeng and soon reunified most of China proper by 979. Despite claiming domain over most of China proper, the Song did have to deal with immediate rivals including the ethnically Khitan Liao dynasty, and the Western Xia dynasty. The Song dynasty attempted to militarily engage these Sinicized nomadic empires to their north, but all of these efforts ended in failure. In 1004, the Liao cavalry launched a counteroffensive which conquered Northern China, reached Kaifeng, and forced the Song dynasty into a tributary status as agreed upon by the Chanyuan Treaty. Despite this tributary status being imposed on China, the selling of Chinese gold to the Liao helped to further strengthen the Song's economy. This cross-border trade also furthered the Sinicization of the Liao, leading to the decline of their nomadic lifestyle and thus their empire's military advantage. This ultimately led to the Jin dynasty overthrowing the Liao dynasty and launching an invasion into the Song, resulting in the Jin taking over much of China proper while the Song were reduced to just controlling South China (the Southern Song).

Despite an early Jin advantage, their nomadic lifestyle made their long-term campaign against the Southern Song unsustainable. As the Jin became increasingly Sinicized just as their Liao predecessors had, they also faced similar issues as the Jin elite abandoned their nomadic lifestyle which further hindered their southern migrations and war efforts against the Song. From the 1270s onwards, Song general Zhang Shijie led a series of successful a series of successful campaigns against the stagnant Jin in northern China, capturing the Jin capital of Caizhou in 1284 and effectively destroying the dynasty. By 1300, the last remnants of the Jin dynasty fell, and the Song had reunified China proper under their jurisdiction. With the Jin dealt with and China reunified, the Song dynasty would go through what scholars have described as a renaissance and golden age that would see Emperor Lǎozong radically transform the Song dynasty.

Song Renaissance and outward expansion (1300-1600)

A map detailing the territorial expansion of the Song dynasty (1250s-1600s)

Emperor Lǎozong, having grown up under the constant threat of the Jin and other non-Han warlords, pursued a policy of "outward expansion" which sought to conquer neighboring warlords and non-Han polities before they could garner enough strength to conquer China proper. This outwardly expansionist policy distinguished Lǎozong previous Song emperors, and the lands north of the Gobi Desert, the Korean states, and Formosa had all either been directly annexed into China or forced into a tributary status. By the time of Lǎozong's death in 1355, the Song's empire stretched from the border of modern-day Tibet to the island of Sakhalin. More lands and tributaries under Song rule also meant more revenue sources for the Song government to tax, leading to the expansion of the Song economy and government wealth.

Chinese fleet docked in Meiguo (c. 1470)

Lǎozong's successor and eldest son, Emperor Cíàizong, continued his legacy and would intensify the outward expansion campaigns and oversaw further expansion into modern-day Zakytaishchyna. The subsequent Song rulers continued the policy of "outward expansion" and saw the once-rowdy Khitan Plateau fall under the direct control of the Song dynasty. With its threats to the north neutralized and the Song's borders and economy expanding rapidly, the Song renaissance continued well into the 15th century. The ascension of Gaozong to the position of Emperor marked a turning point in the Song dynasty's history. During the reign of Gaozong, Zheng He began his voyages westward to make contact with the polities of the Indian Ocean and east Africa to expand China's trading network. At the same time, explorer Hong Bao was sent eastward deep into the Pacific Ocean to search for islands that China could trade with. Hong Bao would make contact with the Tuʻi Tonga Empire, the Hawaiian Islands, and eventually made landfall in southern Columbia on 15 June 1417, resulting in China reaching the New World 96 years after the initial Malian voyage. Soon, the Chinese name for the Columbian continent became Meiguo (美国) meaning "beautiful country."

With new trade routes discovered, China soon established tributaries over the Hawaiian polities and the Boluka Kingdom in Meiguo. Chinese settlers, primarily merchants, scholar-officials, and peasants, also began migrating to Meiguo and Hawaii with the goal of amassing fortune for themselves. While the Fengjian system remained phased out in the mainland Song dynasty, it was revived in the colonies of Hawaii and Meiguo in order to determine land ownership within these distant lands. As a result, the fiefs of the feudal lords ended up displacing the Hawaiian chiefs and their Ahupuaʻa land sysyem. By the 1500s, the power balance in the colonies had shifted towards the ethnically Han majority rather than the indigenous people who ruled there prior. Emperor Dazong (1471 - 1510) is credited for the rapid Sinicization of the colonies and for transforming the colonies from mere trading outposts into full-fledged territories of the Song Empire.

While Dazong was accredited for being a stabilizing force in China, his successor, Kepazong had the opposite effect. Fighting within the House of Zhao and a poor crop season led Emperor Kepazong's brother, Zhao Lu, to lead a rebellion against him under the guise that he had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Over a period of 2 years, over 1 million Chinese combatants and civilians would be killed in Zhao Lu's rebellion, culminating in Zhao Lu's death in 1522 and Emperor Kepazong's assassination in 1524. Despite internal turmoil in China proper during this period, the Song would continue to militarily succeed overseas. The most decisive victory for the Chinese in the New World would come during the Sino-Cordoban War. Song colonial general Sun Jiang would chase Cordoban-Mexican forces out of Meiguo and successfully pushed them back as far as the Valley of Mexico. Chinese forces made it as far as the outskirts of Tenochtitlan before the Cordobans were forced to agree to a peace treaty with the Song. The treaty established borders between Meiguo and the Cordoban Mexica while allowing for the continued flow of commerce between both nations. It was during the 1500s that the Song Dynasty had reached the peak of its power, controlling territory in the New World, Pacific Ocean, and East Asia. However, going into the 1600s, the Song dynasty would face a series of external threats that would break their centuries-long hegemony over the Pacific Ocean.

Challenges to the Song (1600-1800)

Rise of Japan and the end of the Song colonial empire

The Korean peninsula (pictured) was one of many theatres of the Sino-Japanese War of 1607

Ever since the Japanese conquest of Song-aligned Korea in 1597, tensions between the Japanese and China had continued to rise throughout the first decade in the 1600s. Japan had begun to develop its own pacific colonies consisting of port cities in Java, Naomh Lazarus, Adak Island, and Western Columbia which began to act as a counterweight to Chinese naval hegemony on the continent. The introduction of Christianity to Japan also resulted in the arrival of western-style caravel ships which were able to out-maneuver the large Chinese battleships which previously dominated the Pacific. These factors ultimately culminated in Japanese caravels open firing on Song-dynasty ships docked in Buzan on 12 February 1607, starting the Sino-Japanese War of 1607.

Chinese ships off the coast of Hawaii (c. 1607)

Due to the advanced caravel ship technology acquired by the Japanese, the Japanese were able to make early breakthroughs in the war including the ambushing of a Chinese naval fleet in southern Korea which effectively paralyzed Chinese naval activities in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. By April of 1607, the Japanese had neutralized Chinese forces operating on the Korean peninsula and solidified their control over Keijō and Heijou. With the Japanese successfully boxing in the eastern Chinese navy into the Yellow Sea, they were able to successfully capture Huonululu and the Hawaiian Islands in the process on 18 November 1607. Despite these Japanese victories early in the war, the Song dynasty launched an all-out assault on the Japanese colony of Kosuto in early 1608, despite some early victories, including the destruction of the original Japanese settlement of Raijin Noji, reinforcements from New Edo and help from the Japanese indigenous allies such as the Shoshoni, the Japanese eventually forced the Chinese out of northern Kosuto and devastated the remaining Chinese fleets still present in Kosuto's waters. Despite these losses, the Chinese successfully repelled a Japanese invasion in Meiguo which forced the end of the war on 17 March 1609.

Despite only lasting less than 2 years, the Sino-Japanese War of 1607 would see the Song dynasty lose most of its colonial empire and put the once-dominant Pacific empire on the defense. With the Japanese on the rise in the pacific and the European powers grabbing more land in southern Columbia, Emperor Weidazong began investing heavily into the fortification of Meiguo and the modernization of the Chinese navy to help reinforce the Song's pacific trade routes. While Japan and China would resume maritime trade by 1610, the shadow cast by the initial war would continue for decades and define Sino-Japanese relations well into the early 18th century.

Great Plague of Jingshi (1633-1650)

Another challenge that would face China during the 17th century was the Great Plague of Jingshi which would ravage much of China proper. The Jingshi Plague had started in the rural Shanxi province, but soon made its way to Beijing by the 1640s. Reaching Beijing and other important port cities in China, the plague would devastate China and result in over 5 million deaths in China proper alone. The plague devastated the Song dynasty's ranks, fueling skepticism towards the government, with some believing that the Song had lost the mandate of heaven. However, the Great Plague also proved to be beneficial to the ruling Song dynasty as it disproportionately impacted Beijing and the areas of northern China which were controlled by the then-insurgent Qing dynasty. Historians attribute the devastation of the Manchu populations by the Great Plague as being the decisive factor that led to the Song's ultimate victory over the Qing dynasty in the mid-1600s. Despite this, the Great Plague's impact on the Chinese economy would continue to be felt well into the 1700s as demographic problems plagued rural areas in the empire.

Qing dynasty and later challenges to Song authority (1636-1840)

The most serious challenge to the Song dynasty's rule in China proper would come in the 17th century following the consolidation of the Manchu tribes of northern China under the leadership of the Aisin-Gioro clan. After successive Jurchen/Manchu victories in northern China, a "Qing dynasty" would be proclaimed in 1644 when Beijing fell to Manchu rule. While vicious fighting between the Song and Qing would continue throughout the 17th century, the Song dynasty ultimately prevailed for two reasons. The first reason was that the Great Plague of Jingshi primarily impacted northern China and thus disproportionately killed Qing dynasty forces. The second reason pertained to the Tsardom of Russia's expansion into East Asia. With diminished manpower and fighting a two-front war against the Song and Russia, the Qing dynasty's forces would collapse and the last Qing Emperor, Shengzu, being killed by Song forces in 1670, ending the Qing dynasty in the process. With China once again unified under the Song, the primary challenger to Song authority during this time was external powers such as Russia and Japan.

A map detailing the border clashes between Russia and the Song Empire in Zakytaishchyna (c. 1600s - 1704)

Russia and the Song empire fought several border skirmishes on the Song's northern border, caused primarily by Russia's expansion into the Siberia and Alaska. While no official war was fought between the Song and Russia, border skirmishes would intensify in the late 1600s between the Song Imperial Army and Russian Cossacks in the region now known as Zakytaishchyna. The border skirmishes would officially end in 1704 following the signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk. The treaty formally established the border between Russia and China as running along the Argun River and the Amur basin. This border has held up into the present day and would serve as the catalyst of both Russia's continued expansion into the pacific and Alaska and China's consolidation of Manchuria in an attempt to counter the Japanese presence on the Korean peninsula.

During the First Great War, China remained neutral despite both neighboring Russia and Japan fighting in the conflict. Instead, Emperor Congmingzong pursued a policy of isolationism while purging the imperial bureaucracy of perceived corruption and power-hungry court members who sought to challenge him for the throne. This period marked a period of self-isolation for China, with China gradually withdrawing from its Pacific trade routes while the Silk Road was disrupted by collapse of the Bavand Empire in Central and South Asia. However, this period of isolation would be disrupted by the expanded presence of the Western European colonial powers in East Asia going into the 19th century.

Conflicts with Europe and imperial decline (1838-1900)

The Porcelain Wars and unequal treaties (1838-1900)

Following their victory in the Second Great War, the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte would have a monopoly on European commerce. As a result, the French Empire entered a period of rapid colonial expansion in order to reinforce these trade routes, including the expansion of the French East India Company on the Indian subcontinent and the establishment of a protectorate in Burma in 1836. Gradual French encroachment into South and East Asia was largely driven by the demand for goods produced by the Chinese such as porcelain, silk, and tea. As a result, China would experience an influx of French merchants and missionaries into key port cities such as Nanjing from the 1800s onwards. By the 1830s, France and its satellite states had begun to pump Chinese markets with excessive silver, devaluating the resource and harming the Chinese economy in the process. Emperor Qingchuzong, fearing the collapse of the Chinese economy and a French takeover of the Chinese economy, would outlaw French exports from entering China and banned porcelain from being exported to the European powers. This would prompt the French navy to enter Guangzhou and devastate the Chinese fleet in the city, starting the First Porcelain War.

Song soldiers clash with the French army north of Guangzhou (c. 1839)

The First Porcelain War would see China's navy absolutely devastated, with 95% of the entire Chinese navy destroyed in just two years of fighting. French troops would occupy key Chinese port cities including Guangzhou, Hainan, Hong Kong Bay, and Shanghai, killing and capturing thousands of Chinese soldiers in the process. Qingchuzong capitulated and Song diplomats met with the French to sign the Treaty of Nanjing on 12 June 1840. This would be the first of several unequal treaties that would see the aforementioned port cities ceded to France as overseas territories, the forced abdication of Emperor Qingchuzong, and France gaining unrestricted access to Chinese markets and luxury goods. This was the start of what many Chinese historians call the "century of humiliation" which would see Chinese Hegemony in East Asia shattered as European powers moved into the region. The Second Porcelain War would see France conquer Korea and Chinese influence even further diminished in the Yellow Sea.

By the 1850s, the Song grew increasingly unpopular among the Chinese people because the state was perceived as being largely propped up by French, Dutch, Russian, and Scottish business interests. While the government remained unpopular in the rural parts of the Song empire, the status quo continued unopposed for a time in the coastal and urban areas of China where European commercial influence was most prevalent. However, crop failures in 1858 would prompt uprisings among farmers and peasants in the Chinese countryside. This would culminate in Ling Cheng’s rebellion, a massive farmer's uprising led by Ling Cheng, a charismatic Manicheaist preacher who sought to overthrow the Song dynasty and proclaim himself Emperor. After six years of brutal combat, the Song dynasty would be aided by Japanese, French, and Russian reinforcements which resulted in the killing of Ling Chen in Xinyang in 1864. Despite the survival of the Song dynasty, the reputation of the Song as a "puppet dynasty" subservient to European interests would persist among Chinese reformists.

Internal decline and attempted reforms (1870-1900)

During the latter half of the 19th century, Song imperial decline had become so prevalent that even the staunchest conservatives within the Imperial court were considering the implementation of reforms. The 1856 Bharati Revolution and the Meiji Restoration in Japan were both heralded as successful reformation movements in neighboring Asian empires, so many early Song reforms attempted to mirror these reformations. However, attempts at reforms were often sidelined by court corruption, poor enforcement mechanisms from the Song government, and continued European interference in Song internal affairs. The last serious at attempts came from Emperor Shangxinzong in 1876 in an ambitious attempt to transform the Song Empire into a constitutional parliamentary monarchy, but a combination of conservative backlash and internal corruption prevented these "ten-year reforms" from materializing. Following Shangxinzong's death in in 1896, his son Duanzong would kill any attempts at reforms and would instead seek to expel the Europeans from China by force.

Boxer rebellion and the abolition of the Song dynasty (1900-1901)

While resentment towards European missionaries and merchants had been growing among the Chinese people for decades, it was an intense drought in the Yellow River during 1898 which led to many Chinese people placing the blame on the westerners within China. It was also in 1898 when the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, more commonly known as the Boxer movement, made themselves known. An explicitly anti-foreign and nationalistic group, the Boxers sought to violently expel and kill any foreigners within China in order to restore the power of the Song dynasty and the emperor.

A photo from the Boxer rebellion

A boiling point would come on 12 February 1900 when an army of Boxers would begin an insurrection in the Chinese countryside, destroying western-owned property and railroads as they began a long march towards the Chinese capital in Nanjing. On 5 July 1900, the Boxers had surrounded the legation in Nanjing and had successfully blockaded the diplomats and missionaries within its quarters. Rather than offering diplomatic protection to the entrapped diplomats, Emperor Duanzong ordered the imperial army to stand down, allowing for the Boxers to break into the legation and slaughter every diplomat and missionary present in the complex. There were no survivors.

This action was unanimously denounced by the western powers, resulting in a coalition of French, Scottish, Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, and Russian forces retaliating weeks later. After months of intense fighting in coastal cities, French and Scottish forces occupied the city of Nanjing on 6 May 1901, but Emperor Duanzong remained undetected. At the same time, many imperial forces had defected to the western invading coalition to avoid retribution. The most prominent of these generals was Yuan Shikai who had proclaimed himself Emperor of China during the chaos unfolding in Nanjing. Duanzong would be killed by a Scottish colonel while attempting to flee Nanjing in June 1901, effectively ending the Song dynasty and its millennium-long reign in China. Due to his loyalty to the western powers, Yuan Shikai was recognized as the Emperor of China by the international community, taking on the name of the Hongxian Emperor (洪憲) and starting the short-lived Hongxian dynasty.

Hongxian dynasty (1900-1912)

The Hongxian Emperor

Despite international recognition from most western powers, the Hongxian dynasty lacked internal legitimacy among the Chinese people and didn't hold any substantial territory outside of Nanjing. As a result, most of China was under the de facto control of warlords and other factions vying for control over the former Song empire. One of these groups was the Tongmenghui, the predecessors to the modern Kuomintang. Founded in Dutch Jansland in 1905 by an exiled Sun Yat-sen, the Tongmenghui was the merger of a bunch of several underground resistance groups and operated primarily through mobilizing the Chinese diaspora and Chinese citizens through the publication of newspapers such as the China Revival which sought to build popular support for a republican revolution to overthrow the Hongxian dynasty.

Prior to the 1912 revolution, there were several attempts by both republicans and rival warlords to overthrow the Hongxian Emperor. From December 1906 to April 1908, there were five attempted Tongmenghui uprisings that were suppressed by the Hongxian dynasty. However, the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire had kept the Hongxian dynasty afloat through foreign intervention. But by 1912, internal instability in both Japan and Russia led to a gradual withdrawal of foreign troops from China. By October 1912, Guangzhou province was occupied by Tongmenghui revolutionaries and any loyalists to the Hongxian Emperor had defected, starting the revolution. The revolution would be won relatively quickly due to prominent warlords defecting against the emperor and seizing the opportunity to overthrow the government. Less than four months after the uprising in Guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen and his army would successfully march into Nanjing and proclaim the provisional government of the Republic of China on 6 January 1913.

Republic of China (1912-present)

Sun Yat-sen era, Three Principles of the People, and conflicts with warlords (1912-1925)

Sun Yat-sen, first President of the Republic of China

The early years of the Republic of China were shaped by Sun Yat-sen, an influential Chinese political leader who spent much of his time during the later Song dynasty exiled overseas in Henryland and Jansland. Sun's education abroad and his conversion to Christianity heavily influenced his ideology known as the Three Principles of the People. These three principles were: 1. Mínzú/nationalism, 2. Mínquán/Governance Rights, and 3. Mínshēng/Welfare Rights/Georgism. While Sun Yat-sen sought to establish an ambitious anti-imperialist platform to modernize China and reinforce traditional Chinese social values, these efforts at implementation were sidelined by the ongoing conflict with the warlords in northern China. China not being unified and the republic struggling for international recognition would ultimately overshadow any attempts at internal government reforms.

Flag used by the Beijing Confederation, the primary rival government to Sun Yat-sen's Republic of China

By the 1920s, most of China would end up under the control of Kuomintang with the exception of warlords up north. Northern China was controlled by a loose confederation of warlords and former Song government personnel known as the Beijing Confederacy which was recognized by the French, Henrylandic, Irish, Dutch, Polish, and other capitalist governments. However, the emphasis on land reform made Sun Yat-Sen popular in both the Georgist United States and in the newly proclaimed Socialist Germany, leading to recognition of the Republic by many socialist and Georgist states. The armed struggle between the Beijing Confederacy and the Republic of China for international recognition became retroactively known as the Chinese Civil War.

Emblem used by Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (1912-1928)

By early 1925, the Kuomintang armed forces were closing in on Beijing as the forces of the Confederation continued to crumble. At the same time, Sun had fallen ill as his gallbladder cancer intensified. Despite his monumental influence in shaping the early republic, Sun Yat-sen would not live to see the unification of China under his political party. This unification would be pursued by his successors before eventually being achieved by Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek, Fourth Great War, and early Cold War (1925-1952)

Chiang Kai-shek, President of China (1928 - 1952)

After a string of unremarkable short-term presidents, Chiang Kai-shek would become President of the Republic of China in 1928. By this point, the Beijing Confederation had completely collapsed, and Chiang Kai-shek had absorbed northern China into the Republic and its government. Despite this, the threat of warlords persisted in the western portion of the country.

From 1928 until 1935, Chiang Kai-shek continued to engage in conflict against warlords in western China while continuing to gradually consolidate more power around himself at the expense of other rivals in the Kuomintang. The Republic of China's shift towards authoritarianism under Chiang would also coincide with a series of victories against warlords in Shaanxi, the largest warlord faction in Shaanxi was the Communist Party of China which had organized itself into the Socialist Republic of Shaanxi led by Mao Zedong and exiled Bolsheviks who had fled Russia. From 1932 until 1935, Chiang and his army would be engaged in a year's long campaign against the Communists in Shaanxi which resulted in both sides sustaining heavy casualties. The Russian expeditionary forces present in Altishahr prevented the Communists from retreating, resulting in a war of attrition.

After a long conflict, Kuomintang forces would eventually breach the communist party’s capital in Xi'an, slaughtering Mao Zedong and most communist party personnel in the process. This decisive victory also represented the abandonment of many left wing policies initially championed by the Kuomintang, transforming the party into a strictly right-wing, anti-communist party. This resulted in Germany cutting off support for the republic and the gradual realignment of Chiang’s China with countries such as France, the Grand Confederation of Columbia, England, and Italy while still not being officially fascist. As a result, Chinese military equipment and political advisors were educated in fascist countries while Chiang still maintained a policy of neutrality, wanting to keep China as separate from western affairs as possible.

Despite getting along with several fascist states, the emergence of Savitri Devi’s Hindu-Fascist movement in neighboring Bharat would push Chiang away from the fascistic “Alliance of Free and Democratic Nations” in the lead up to the Fourth Great War. While China initially stayed neutral, the Bharati invasion of Thailand would spill over into the Yunnan province, bringing the Chinese into the Fourth Great War on the side of the allied powers and against the AFDN.

During the initial phases of the Sino-Bharati front of the war, Bharat caught the ill-prepared Chinese military off guard and managed to push deep into the provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, capturing the city of Kunming on 16 June 1941. Due to Devi’s “zero tolerance policy” towards non-Hindus in the Bharati Empire, many Chinese cities and villages that fell to the Bharati army experienced war crimes and atrocities at the hands of their occupier. These atrocities would later prove to be a rally cry for the Chinese and bolster nationalist anti-imperialist sentiment.

By late December 1941, the Bharati offensive on the Chinese mainland had stagnated due to the reorganization of the Chinese army in Chengdu and a decisive Chinese victory against the invading Bharati army at the Battle of Pearl River. As a result, the Bharati army was forced south of the Pearl River and didn’t make any substantive gains on mainland China outside of a success amphibious invasion of Formosa and Zhanjiang in 1943. Entrenched in the mountains, the Chinese were not able to force the Bharatis out of their national boundaries but the Bharatis were unable to advance any further into China.

This impasse would last for another year before Chinese spymaster and general Dai Li would successfully orchestrate the assassination of Bharati general K. B. Hedgewar on 5 June 1945, paralyzing the Bharati army command in the country. This assassination, coupled with the overthrow and disappearance of Savitri Devi in Bharat, would allow for the Chinese to engage in an all-out counteroffensive that would result in the killing and capture of over 100,000 Bharati soldiers and the Chinese pushing the unorganized Bharati army all the way back to Hanoi in Indochina. The Fourth Great War would officially end in Asia in 1946 which China victorious and Dai Li hailed as a national hero and elevated from his position as Director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to the vice Presidency, making him the second post powerful man in China. Being a major power on the winning side, China was also given a permanent seat on the League to Enfroce Peace Security Council.

Despite fighting against the fascist bloc in the Fourth Great War, Chiang Kai-shek founded and enabled a fascistic faction of the Kuomintang known as the Blue Shirts Society to emerge. While Chiang had initially founded the group and encouraged more authoritarian elements in the Chinese state to fight leftist dissidents, Chiang had distanced himself from the faction by the end of the Fourth Great War in favor of political neutrality in the Cold War. However, continued border skirmishes with Russia to the north and Bharat being rebuilt into a GTO ally led to many within the Kuomintang’s inner circle favoring an alliance with Mosley’s England in order to counteract the perceived renewed western intrusion into China’s sphere of influence. With backing from his old connections in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and fascist English agents, Dai Li would successfully launch a coup against Chiang Kai-shek on 12 June 1952 and force Chiang Kai-shek into exile in Henryland where he was given political asylum. This coup is where historians placed China’s entrance into the Cold War on the side of the fascist bloc.

Dai Li and Chinese fascism (1952-1987)

Dai Li, President of China (1952 - 1987)

As the fourth President of China, Dai Li had represented a stark departure from his predecessors by transforming the Kuomintang into an explicitly fascist party, with the 1953 Chinese Constitution explicitly modeled after Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile’s doctrine of fascism. As a result, China openly joined the fascist bloc in 1953 and moved away from its policy of neutrality.

China had begun actively trading and supply weaponry to England and Italy while growing more openly militaristic in East Asia. In 1954, China used the threat of military force on Korea to force the isolated monarchy into giving up the ports of Incheon, Donghae, and Mokpo. In the same year, China organized the 1954 Tibetan coup which saw the fascistic Republic of Tibet established and the Dalai Lama forced into exile in Bharat. China also assisted in an invasion of Dai Viet in 1965 to install a fascist government in the kingdom. These aggressive military actions ruined any relationship China had with the members of the GTO or Frankfurt Pact. However, the most aggressive of these actions would come against Russia in the 1970s.

By 1971, China had successfully tested their first atomic bomb, putting them on par with the neighboring Russian Republic which had active atomic weaponry since the 1960s. Both powers were engaged in an arms race for control over East Asia with Kirghizia aligning with Russia while China extended its sphere of influence into both Tibet and Altishahr. At the same time, Russia had been funding an Atayal revolt on the island of Formosa against the Chinese government. As a result, both states were engaging in several proxy wars but also direct border skirmishes with one another. President Dai Li and Russian President Alisa Rosenbaum also disliked each other on a personal level, further adding to the animosity between both countries. Both China and Russia also used their permanent member status on the League to Enforce Peace Security Council to introduce resolutions condemning one another and sought to weaponize multilateral organizations against one another.

A series of border skirmishes would occur between Russia and China from 1973 until outright war would be declared in 1977. The Sino-Russian War lasted four months from November 1977 until January 1978. The conflict didn’t result in an outright offensive by either side but instead shelling and continued border skirmishes on towns along the Sino-Russian border. Despite this, the conflict greatly alarmed the international community because it was the first war between nuclear-armed states. After roughly 3 months of fighting, United States President Richard Lugar was able to broker a peace deal known as the Old Saybrook Accords signed by diplomats in Old Saybrook, Saybrook on 8 January 1978. The accords saw China renounce its claims to Vladivostok in exchange for 5 billion dollars in aid and reparations from Russia for the killing of Chinese soldiers. Both sides claimed victory in the conflict.

Government-aligned Chinese soldiers in Nanjing

During the last 2 decades of the Cold War, Dai Li had begun to emphasize reproachment and detente with the west. This became more apparent following the fall of fascist Italy in 1974 and the end of fascism in England in 1983. While avoiding internal reforms, Dai Li visited Japan in 1985, the first fascist bloc leader to visit a GTO member during the Cold War. Despite these efforts at reform, the GTO trade embargo would remain on Chinese goods until Dai Li's death in 1986. Dai Li died at the age of 89. This sent the Blue Shirts Society of the Kuomintang into chaos due to Dai never announcing a successor. This resulted in the 1986 Chinese Constitutional crisis fought between fascist Blue Shirt loyalist Yen Chia-kan and Kuomintang reformist Lee Teng-hui. In order to prevent the power struggle from resulting in the fracturing of the government, General Zhao Nanqi ordered his soldiers to march on Nanjing and proclaim himself president while purging the Blue Shirts from government. While the reformists accepted Zhao as president and recognized his junta, the blue shirt loyalists mutinied and began a revolt against Zhao in the rural provinces west of Shanxi. By August 1991, Blue Shirt militias had seized the city of Yinchuan and was reported to have been engaging government forces in the provinces of Altishahr, Shangdong, Qinghai, and Sichuan. Historians often attribute August 1991 to be the official start of the Second Chinese Civil War.

Armed conflict and the struggle for democratization (1991-1994)

Second Chinese Civil War (1991-1994)

The early phase of the Chinese Civil War had dire global and regional geopolitical and economic consequences. Due to China being a permanent member of the League to Enforce Peace Security Council, an emergency meeting of the council was convened in Philadelphia on 17 August 1991 to address the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country. The council unanimously voted to recognize the Zhao Nanqi junta as the official government of China with humanitarian aid authorized to civilians and refugees fleeing Blue Shirt controlled areas. An emergency meeting of the GTO the following week would see the US, Russia, Ireland, and Bharat agree to supply weaponry to the Zhao junta to defeat the fascist rebels. By September 1991, roughly 40,000 Chinese citizens had been displaced by a Blue Shirts offensive in Qinghai while fighting in Shanxi had intensified. The Blue Shirts loyalists, led by Yen Chia-kan, were predominantly popular in the rural provinces of west China due to fascist-era infrastructure investment programs which raised the standard of living for the rural poor and general fear that the overthrow of the Blue Shirts would bring about the "globalization of China" and the outsourcing of their work to foreign corporations. In contrast, the reformists who supported Zhao were often younger, more urban, and lived in coastal eastern China. This divide led Timbuktu Gazette journalist Walter Cronkite to describe the civil war as a "conflict between urban and rural China." This sentiment was echoed by Yen himself, who framed the Blue Shirts as the last line of defense against "western cosmopolitan elitists."

An apartment complex in Chengdu after being bombed by Ireland (c. 1992)

While the GTO had initially wanted to avoid direct intervention in the Civil War, the Irish military had begun to directly intervene in the conflict on behalf of the Zhao junta from February 1992 onwards. This intervention was prompted by a largely successful fascist offensive which saw Zhao junta strongholds in Lanzhou and Chengdu, giving the Blue Shirts a massive morale boost while devastating the junta's line of command east of Chongqing. Even as the Blue Shirts captured more territory, the junta's loyalists continued to operate behind enemy lines and engaged in infrastructure sabotage to weaken the Blue Shirts line of command. By April 1993, the frontlines had become less clear and entrenched as sabotage and covert warfare became more common. Irish bombings which were supposed to devastate the Blue Shirts invertedly helped their cause as the civilian and soldier deaths were viewed as an act of western aggression and the Zhao junta being subservient to western/Irish war criminals.

By 1993, the civil war had begun to turn in favor of the Zhao junta. A decisive junta victory at the Battle of Chongqing halted any Blue Shirt operations east of the Yangtze River while fascist supply lines suffered continued junta ambushes. A change in administrations in Russia and the United States would also result in leaders who were more hawkish towards the Chinese fascists and actively pursued weapon shipments to the junta government to defeat Blue Shirt holdouts. A counteroffensive in May 1994 would see most remaining Blueshirt holdouts in western China wiped out. The last remaining stronghold was in the city of Xining near the border with Altishahr. After a prolonged months-long siege, the city finally fell on 22 October 1994.

Despite popular support for the campaign against the fascists in western China, the increased authoritarianism of the Zhao junta became unpopular with Chinese citizens in the urban cities of the east. While Zhao was able to maintain popularity at home by positioning himself as an anti-fascist crusader, he ignored many problems plaguing China such as income inequality, urban poverty, and social upheaval caused by an exodus of refugees from western China into eastern cities. Zhao sought to disregard these issues and stay in power indefinitely, but the threat of mutiny from his subordinates brought Zhao to the bargaining table with the more liberal members of the Kuomintang on 1 December 1994. Thus, the negotiations for a new constitution were underway in Nanjing as representatives from the junta, the liberal wing of the Kuomintang, and the Left Kuomintang had met in Nanjing.

Negotiations and a new constitution (1994-1995)

Tanks in Nanjing guarding the site of ongoing negotiations between rebels and the government (c. 1995)

From 1 December 1994 until 4 March 1995, negotiations on a new Chinese constitution to replace the fascist-era one were held. Negotiations were often tense at times stemming from disagreements on the status of non-Han minorities within the country, how much power the President should hold and whether the President should be term-limited, and whether China would be a unitary or federal state. The federalist faction at the Nanjing Negotiations were largely the liberal reformist wing of the Kuomintang, represented by Lee Teng-hui. Those in favor of a stronger, more unitary state included those more loyal to the already reigning military junta such as Chiang Wei-kuo, the adopted son of former President Chiang Kai-shek. A new constitution would be agreed upon and ratified at the negotiations on 4 March 1995, beginning the contemporary era of Chinese history.

Contemporary China (1995-present)

Upon the ratification of the new constitution, China would resume its diplomatic functions and send representatives back to the LTEP for the first time in nearly 4 years to resume its occupation of their permanent seat on the Security Council. Lee Teng-hui would be inaugurated as the first Chinese president under the current constitutional system on 4 March 1995, gaining the nickname "Mr. Democracy" in the process. The 1995 legislative elections would also see the first multiparty elections in Chinese history and were contested by the Kuomintang Party, the Left Kuomintang, the Federation of Trade Unions, and the Democratic Party. The Kuomintang Party won a parliamentary majority on a platform of reproachment with the GTO and the modernization of Chinese infrastructure and social services. During this period, China experienced steady economic growth and began to return to a Georgist style of economic structure while aligning with the United States on several foreign policy issues. Despite this realignment with the U.S., relations remained tense with Ireland, Bharat, and Russia due to ongoing territorial, geopolitical, and economic disputes. As a result, China remained a major GTO partner without fully joining the organization or sharing a favorable view of all GTO members.

China's presence on the international stage would continue to rise going into the 21st century, hosting both the 2006 Winter Olympic games in Beijing and 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. At the same time, China became a full member of the World Trade Organization in 2005, directly competing with Bharat for greater economic influence in Southeast Asia, beginning what is now known as the Sino-Bharati Proxy War. China also condemned Russian intervention in Japanese Korea in 2003 while simultaneously improving relations with both Japan and the United States. Due to this multifaceted alignment, geopolitical analysts such as Axel Kaiser described China as a "wild card" in the current world order. This uncertain geopolitical alignment and refusal to do business with certain large economies has slowed Chinese economic growth in the 2010s, with China being the 6th largest economy in the world as of 2025.

Since 2019, the President of China has been Chiang Hsiao-yen, the grandson of former President Chiang Kai-shek after being elected in the 2018 Presidential election. He was re-elected in 2022 and announced his intentions to seek a third term in 2026.

Government and politics

System of government

Officially, China is a presidential constitutional republic with a federal division of powers. The government is divided into five Yuan, similar to governmental branches in most western democracies, known as the Executive Yuan (the cabinet), the Legislative Yuan (the legislature), the Judiciary Yuan, the Control Yuan (the auditory branch), and the Examination Yuan (the civil service branch). Although according to the Constitution of 1995, all Yuan hold de jure equal powers in the government, the Executive Yuan is arguably one of the weakest. Power has been concentrated in the hands of the presidency as a result of the Zhao junta, even after China itself has nominally democratized. Much of the former Executive Yuan's powers have been delegated to the either the legislature or the premier—the leader of the Executive Yuan—in the 1995 Constitution. Despite this, China remains a presidential republic.

Chiang Hsiao-yen, President of the Republic of China

The President of China is Chiang Hsiao-yen, the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Political parties

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Foreign relations

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Armed forces

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Economy

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Demographics

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Culture and society

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