15 Great Facts About Ancient China

15 Great Facts About Ancient China

The history of China is quite an interesting one. This could be due to the fact that it is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and somehow they uphold most f their cultures. When it comes to ancient China, it is important to note the fact that it produced one of the oldest cultures in the world and thus why it is quite crucial historically speaking. The name China was derived from the name Qin Dynasty, a powerful Chinese dynasty, that was pronounced as ‘Chin.’ It was known mostly as the land of silk. A land where fine silk came from and thus was always included in any conversations revolving around trade. With that said, we can have a look at some of the greatest facts about ancient China.

1. Ancient China was inhabited from 1.7 million years ago

Ancient China- Author; Asadal- Wikimedia Commons

Ancient China is not known as one of the oldest civilizations in the world by mistake. What we know as China today, has been inhabited by people for at least 1.7 million years. This conclusion was arrived at when two human teeth and stone tools were found in Yuanmou. After research, it was found that these items date all the way back to 1.7 million years ago.

2. Ancient China coexisted with other many powerful kingdoms

Mural of ancient China at the Shanghai Expo 2010 World’s Fair- Author; Gary Todd- Wikimedia Commons

Historically, it is believed that China has ten main dynasties. Many of these dynasties however were one kingdom among many and at the time, there were many different kingdoms, states and empires that were all existing at the same time. However, these are the kingdoms that make the era of ancient China come to be known as also one of the most powerful dynasties to have existed. They ruled trade and basically the whole economy of East Asia. It kind of makes you wonder if at the time it was a superpower just like it is now. It goes to show that their success in terms of economy and influence didn’t begin the other day.

3. The first emperor of ancient China was buried with rivers of mercury

A modern statue of Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of China) near the Terracotta Army in Xi’an- Author; JesseW900- Wikimedia Commons

The first emperor of the Qin dynasty (which is basically what we know as China now) was known as Qin Shi Huang and existed from 259- 210 BCE. He built a lavish tomb complex that took up to 38 square miles and the tomb remains unopened to date. Why? Because the emperor surrounded the said tomb with rivers of toxic mercury. Hence, the site is unstable and a bit risky for archeological expeditions. Maybe he didn’t want anyone disturbing his corpse long after he was gone. Nobody really knows his reason for this but a Chinese historian by the name of Sima Qian in reference to the tomb wrote,

“The floor of the central burial chamber floats on rivers, lakes, and seas of mercury…The vaulted ceiling is inlaid with pearls and gems to emulate the sun, moon, and principal stars of the constellations in the night sky.”

4. The existence of the Xia Dynasty has always been disputed

Stones and axes said to be from the Xia Dynasty- Author; Gary Todd- Wikimedia Commons

Historically speaking, the first Chinese dynasty was the Xia dynasty. It was then succeeded by the Shang Dynasty and then the Zhou Dynasty. Nevertheless, very little is known about the Xia dynasty. In fact, there is also very little archeological evidence of its existence. Due to this, many historical scholars believe that the Shang dynasty invented the word Xia in their writings and that it didn’t really exist while others believe that people may have lived around that time but they weren’t necessarily from a formal dynasty. However, there has been the presentation of a few shreds of evidence that the dynasty did indeed exist. Some of these include geological evidence of a flood that apparently launched the Xia dynasty and bronze artifacts and tools that were recovered from the homeland of Xia. Supposedly.  It is however unclear whether the people who were using these artifacts did indeed form a formal dynasty and whether they really lived around the same time as the Xia dynasty is said to have existed. In other words, it is still quite an enigma whether indeed the dynasty existed and had a full civilization.

5. There was a civilization that got lost and not much is known about it

Bronze head from Sanxingdui- Author; Nishanshaman- Wikimedia Commons

As noted earlier, there are many legends surrounding the existence of the Xia dynasty but very little evidence that it indeed existed. On the other hand, however, there was an ancient dynasty that truly existed and its existence was proven but nothing is known about its culture. This came to the limelight in 1929 when a farmer was digging a pond in Sichuan province and discovered jade artifacts underground. The site came to be known as Sanxingdui and it was never really fully excavated until 1986. When it was fully excavated and unearthed, many artifacts of impeccable artistry and complexity were found. For instance, there were giant golden mask figures, a huge bronze wheel, and a bronze tree about 4 metres tall unearthed. These are just but a few of what the archeologists found. What is even more intriguing is that this civilization left no written records and researchers, scholars and scientists are still trying to find out who the people in this civilization were and why it died out. The civilization came to officially be known as the Sanxingdui civilization.

6. Sea Trade was actually illegal in ancient China

Ancient trade ship- Author; Robert Taylor Pritchett – The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea- Wikimedia Commons

The Ming and Qing dynasties adopted an anti-trade policy in order to restrict foreign interference and also fight against piracy. This came to be known as the ‘Haijin’ policies. In other words, sea ban policies. They were however not very effective. For example, in the Ming dynasty, these policies were meant to protect national interests and discourage piracy but instead gave rise to smuggling and bribery on the southern coast. Then again, whenever there are strict policies put across, human beings always find a way to extort each other and maneuver around those policies. In the Qing dynasty, however, these policies were enforced more strictly and it limited foreigners from trading with the dynasty from Macao. Because of this, people living along the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangnan were forced to relocate to the inland parts f the region. They were not allowed to resettle in their ancestral homes. This went on until the ban was lifted in 1683. During the period, the land (present Hong Kong and Shenzen) became a wasteland. Eventually, the ban on trade and travel was lifted after the British defeated the Qing dynasty in the Opium Wars which forced the dynasty to open more ports hence the lifting of the ban.

7. The emperor of Qianlong came to be known as the ‘worst poet’

Portrait of Emperor Qianlong- Author; Giuseppe Castiglione – Wikimedia Commons

In a typical sense, the ancient china civilization was characterized by poets and calligraphers. It was common artistry in this civilization. Many of them gained fame for their beautiful poem verses and well-calligraphed art. However, the Qianlong emperor came to be famous for completely the opposite reason. He was infamous for how bad his poetry was. It’s pretty funny when you think about it. Being known all over the dynasty because of how bad you are at something. Anyway, it is alleged that he wrote around 43,000 poems in his lifetime but it was characterized by plagiarism and even the hiring of ghostwriters. One of his famous badly written poem about snow is as follows:

One piece, another piece, and another piece;
Two pieces, three pieces, four, five pieces;
Six pieces, seven pieces, eight, nine pieces;
All fly into the flowering reeds and disappear.

It is a bit hilarious though. Badly written yes, but it will surely crack a smile on your face.

8. The Tibet empire of the Tang Dynasty in ancient China once ruled from Bangladesh to Mongolia

Map of the Ancient Tibet Empire- Author; Broomhall, Marshall, 1866- Wikimedia Commons

The Tibet empire became quite influential and powerful when between 780-790 BCE, it ruled from Bangladesh to Mongolia. This was no easy feat and they must have had very powerful strongholds to be able to achieve this. Moreover, the dynasty ruled from Kashmir to Chengdu and proceeded further to Urumqi. Many Chinese emperors related with the Tibetan empire through battles, embassies, arranged marriage alliances and even cultural exchange. Everyone wanted a piece of the empire and you cannot really blame them. It was too powerful. Unfortunately, just like every other powerful stronghold, it is always its own people who bring it down. This powerful empire came crashing down after a civil war over Langdarma’s (last Tibetan emperor) successor erupted.

9. Arrival of Giraffes into ancient China was thanks to Emperor Zheng He

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Giraffes were typically found in the African continent which is very far from China. So to see emperor Zheng He arriving with two giraffes after his expeditions must have been such a sight to behold. This happened in the early 1400s when it is said the convoy of Zheng met two travellers from the Kenyan kingdom of Malindi and these Malindi men gave the emperor the two giraffes. The first giraffe arrived at the Yongle emperor’s court and was joined by the second one a year later. It is however not clear what really happened to the giraffes.

10. Merchants and traders were considered a low class in ancient China

Art of merchants and traders- Author; Publisher New York Ward, Lock- Wikimedia Commons

The irony of it all is that merchants and traders would often earn a lot of money through their trades and some of them would be quite rich. However, they were considered among the lowest in the social classes. They were even lower than farmers and peasants. I’m not sure who came up with that hierarchy, but that was the arrangement in ancient China’s social class distinction.

11. Many men in the forbidden city of ancient China were actually eunuchs

Photograph of the Qing Dynasty Empress Longyu with Eunuchs- Author; Court photographer- Wikimedia Commons

The forbidden city in ancient China was the imperial palace during the dynasties of Ming and Qing. In this city, most of their men were eunuchs. Meaning, castrated men either as punishment, poverty and coercion or even free choice. In the forbidden city, they were typically used ad servants, spies and workers in the kingdom. As they were castrated, they would not impregnate women and were thus considered less of a threat to the emperor’s bloodline. Physically, they were weaker, stopped growing beards and lost their deep voices. So in essence they sounded like children or young women. They reached their height of power in the Ming dynasty when 70,000 eunuchs ended up serving in the imperial court. Because they were considered a political threat, the number was reduced to 30,000 but still, they were a force to reckon with. This is because they had access to so much information, documents and protocols. Remember some of them had actually worked as spies and servants. Typical people whom information always reach their ears. They could easily intervene in government affairs if they wanted to, have spies of their own and even manipulate the emperor. Thus, they had to be reduced.

12. Coins in ancient China were carried around using strings

Ancient Chinese coins or reproductions of unknown origin- Author; 5snake5- Wikimedia Commons

In ancient China, their coins would typically have holes at the centre in order to allow them to be carried around easily. This was until the Republican era. People would thread the coins on a string and hang them from their belts. Although I’m thinking this was a bit risky because carrying them in the open like that made you a target of theft. Anyway, large payments would also be made in strings of around a thousand or a hundred coins.

13. Female peasants developed what came to be known as the ‘Women’s Script’

Women’s Script (Nüshu)- Author; Liuxingy- Wikimedia Commons

Actually, apart from the known simplified Chinese characters, there is another way to write Chinese. This is known as Nüshu or in other words Women’s script. It was developed by women in the Hunan province around the 19th century. You’re probably wondering why they would develop their own form of writing. Well, this was because they were forbidden from attaining formal education and thus invented their own handwriting in order to share information, write songs and poems and even communicate easily with other women. They managed to keep it a secret, something that was only known amongst themselves because nobody knew about these scripts until the 1980s. Indeed very impressive and innovative.

14. The queue hairstyle typical in ancient China was actually forced by the government

Chinese Men spotting the queue hairstyle- Author; Lai Afong- Wikimedia Commons

One look at the queue hairstyle and you would think it was maybe a hairstyle that the people adopted due to cultural and identity reasons. Wrong. This hairstyle was actually forced by the government. When the Ming dynasty was conquered by the Manchus and established their own dynasty, the new emperor forced the people to wear their hair in a particular hairstyle. It was known as queue and it was basically a shaved head with a long braid down the back. It was actually illegal to remove the queue or for the men to wear their hair in a different style. Chopping it off was seen as a rebellion against the government and it could easily warrant arrest. Wow! Talk about dictatorship that even dictates how you should wear your hair.

15. Ancient China civilization correctly learned human anatomy even before Europeans

Anatomy of the heart in ancient Chinese medicine- Author; Wellcome Collection gallery- Wikimedia Commons

The Chinese correctly learned the whole human anatomy way before the Europeans. That is, 1400 years before them. Even though history books may say otherwise. An English physician (William Harvey) in 1628 caused quite a stir when he wrote that blood circulated around the body in a loop instead of being created by the liver as it has been previously believed. The idea was new to Europeans but Chinese scientists were way ahead of them. They already knew the function of blood and heart from at least the second century BCE. During this era, a Chinese scientific text talked of the “ceaseless movement in an annular circuit” of blood and compared the heart to a pumping mechanism. In other words, it was alluding to the fact that blood is pumped all through the body from the heart.

Learning about ancient China is very interesting because the more you read about the civilization, the more it is proved to you that indeed there is really nothing under the sun.