What role do "family values" play in Chinese myth?

Who's Who of Chinese Gods What do fortune cookies have to do with Chinese religion?

What religion shunned the Confucian approach?

Who was Japan's first divine emperor?

How did Shinto become an "Asian fusion" religion?

Who's Who of Japanese Gods MYTHICAL MILESTONES.

China Just as Egyptian history (see chapter 2) is traditionally divided by the dynastic ages, ancient Chinese history is also characterized by long periods of ruling dynasties following the prehistoric and so-called legendary periods.

Before the Common Era (BCE) Prehistoric and Legendary Eras c. 8500 Earliest Chinese pottery is created.

c. 7000 First farming villages formed in the Yellow River basin.

c. 3500 Wet rice farming begins near east coast.

First planned villages appear in northern China, with distinct residential and burial areas.

c. 2700 Silk weaving practiced.

c. 2500 First walled cities are built.

22052197 Reign of Yu, legendary emperor of first Xia Dynasty.

c. 1900 Boldly painted burial urns are first used in western China.

Shang (Yin) Dynasty (15231027) 1300 Oracle bones made from deer bones and tortoise shell, with written inscriptions, are used in divination.

Chinese script is created.

Royal burials with human sacrifice are practiced.

Zhou Dynasty (1027221) c. 1000 Chinese bronze casting is at advanced level unrivaled elsewhere in the world at this time.

Origin of the Yi Jing (I Ching, Book of Changes).

841 Beginning of accurately dated history in China.

State-sponsored exploration and early mapping of China's geography.

c. 650 Silk painting, lacquer work, and ceramics become highly skilled.

c 563483 Life of Buddha.

c. 551479 Life of Confucius, most influential philosopher in Chinese history.

c. 520 Speculative birth of Lao-tzu (Laozi), philosopher and traditional founder of Taoism.

513 First mention of iron; casting techniques allow for production of huge quantities of tools and weapons.

371289 Life of philosopher Mencius, who continues Confucian teachings.

c. 360 Widespread use of crossbow in warfare.

325 Prince of Qin takes the title of wang (king), and claims to rule all of China.

c. 300 Cavalry introduced.

Qin Dynasty (221207) 214 Work on Great Wall begins.

206 Great Wall is completed.

The first emperor of all China, Shi Huangdi, unites China. At his death, he will be buried in a vast, man-made mountain. This tomb, discovered in 1974, was guarded by a now-famous army of seven thousand painted terra-cotta warriors.

Han (Western) Dynasty (206 BCE9 CE) 206 Liu Bang proclaims himself emperor of new Han Dynasty; capital established at Chang'an.

165 First official examinations for selection of Chinese civil servants.

141 Han power expands into western China under Emperor Wudi.

136 Confucianism becomes state religion.

111 China conquers and incorporates northern Vietnam.

c. 110 Opening of Silk Road across Central Asia. It links China with southwest Asia and eventually Europe.

108 China takes control of Korea.

98 State establishes a monopoly on alcohol.

Common Era Han (Eastern) Dynasty (25220) 2 First census of Chinese population of more than 57 million, mainly concentrated in the North.

57 Ambassador from king of Nu (Japan) is recognized by the Han emperor.

65 First evidence of Buddhism in China.

106 Invention of paper by Cai Lun, a eunuch serving in the imperial court. With this invention, the Chinese could discard expensive bamboo blocks and silk and adopt a cheap, easily transported writing medium.

168 Following death of Emperor Huandi, Han Empire begins a period of rapid decline, similar in some respects to decline of Roman Empire. It collapses in 220.

220265 Three kingdoms (Wei, Shu, and Wu): period of disunity.

c. 250 First known use of lodestone (magnetic) compass.

265589 Period of division between Wei (northern) and Qi (southern) Empires.

c. 350 Invention of rigid, metal stirrup in China; vitally important innovation in mounted warfare.

399 Chinese monk and pilgrim Fa Xian journeys to India to study Buddhism.

444 Taoism is made the official religion of Wei Empire after the conversion of the emperor.

446 Rebellion in Buddhist monastery against Taoist reforms. Wei emperor orders the execution of every monk in the empire; but many escape.

477 Buddhism becomes Chinese state religion. In 489 huge cave temple complex is built in in northern province of Yungang.

Sui Dynasty (590618) 589 Reunification of China begins.

c. 600 Beginning of book printing.

Tang Dynasty (618906) 618 Under Tang Dynasty control, China becomes a vast empire of some 60 million people.

626 Tang court adopts Buddhism.

Rise of scholar officials.

Expansion into Korea, Manchuria, Central Asia.

630 First Japanese ambassador welcomed at Tang court.

907960 Five Dynasties Period.

Song Dynasty (9601279) 1215 Mongols seize most of North China; Genghis (Chinggis) Khan rules an empire from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea in the west before his death in 1227.

126094 Rule of Kublai Khan.

12751295 Marco Polo in Mongol-ruled China.

Japan Before the Common Era (BCE) c. 10,000 Earliest known pottery vessels made in Honshu.

c. 660 Jimmu-tenno ("divine warrior emperor") is the legendary first human emperor of Japan.

c. 500 Rice cultivation spreads to Japan from China.

Common Era 57 Ambassador from king of Nu is recognized by China's Han emperor.

247 Civil war between rival kingdoms.

260 Temple of Amaterasu founded in Ise, the most sacred and revered shrine of Shinto religion.