China country profile – BBC News

1368-1644 – Ming dynasty: follows the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. China’s capital is moved from Nanjing to Beijing. China creates one of the world’s strongest navies, characterised by admiral Zheng He’s voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa.

1644-1912 – Qing dynasty. The Manchu conquest of China (1618-1683) sees a decades long conflict between the emerging Qing dynasty, the incumbent Ming dynasty, and several smaller factions. It ends with the consolidation of Qing rule, the last imperial dynasty of China.

1839-42 and 1856-60 – Opium Wars. Fought between China, the UK and later France, triggered by China’s campaign to stop opium trafficking by British merchants. European military superiority forces China to unequal treaties granting trade concessions and territory to Western powers. This begins China’s “century of humiliation” (1839-1940s) a term used in China to describe the period of intervention and subjugation of the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China by Western powers and Japan.

1850-1864 – The Taiping Rebellion: civil war between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom based in Nanjing. Between 20-30 million people are killed.

1862-1877 – Dungan or Tongzhi Hui Revolt, or or Hui (Muslim) Minorities War: Uprising in western China mainly by Chinese Muslims. Results in significant population changes in northwest China. Some 21 million die due to massacres, famine and plague.

1894-95 – Sino-Japanese War: China loses influence in Korea, which becomes a Japanese protectorate, and is forced to cede Taiwan to Japan.

1899-1901 – Boxer Rebellion or the Yihetuan Movement: an anti-foreign, anti-colonial and anti-Christian uprising. After hesitation, the Imperial government supports the Boxers. Western powers intervene with 20,000 troops and capture and loot Beijing. The Qing dynasty’s handling of the rebellion further weakens their control over China.

1911-12 – Military revolts lead to the proclamation of Republic of China under Sun Yat-sen, but much of the country is taken over by warlords.

Late-1920s – The Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek, reunify much of the country and move the capital to Nanjing.

1927-37 – China is politically and militarily divided between the Kuomintang and the Communists under Mao Zedong. The Kuomintang score successes against the Red Army, which is forced to retreat in the Long March (1934-35) to Shaanxi in northwest China.

1931 – Mukden Incident: Japan’s army stages a bomb attack on railway line, blaming Chinese dissidents, and uses this as a pretext to invade Manchuria. This date is sometimes seen as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1937-45 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The 1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident sees Chinese and Japanese forces clash, leading to a full-scale Japanese invasion. Japan quickly captures Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing. Some 40,000-300,000 Chinese are killed by Japanese forces in the Nanjing massacre – which remains an issue between modern China and Japan. China’s government relocates to Chongqing.

1939 – War reaches a stalemate: Japan controls major cities but lacks the forces to control the interior.

1939-45 – World War Two sees uneasy alliance between the Communists and Kuomintang.

1945-49 – China’s civil war resumes as Japan’s military defeat becomes clearer. The Communists gain control of mainland China and established the People’s Republic of China in 1949 under Mao Zedong, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan.