Zheng He

Replica of one of the boats

The great Zheng He died today; I heard the news. It's 1435, and he passed away in China.
The Ming Dynasty has been ruling us since 1368, and restored Chinese culture after the Mongol invasion. It means "brilliant", which is pretty cool.
But let's go back to Zheng He. In 1405, he commanded the first of seven expeditions he would make to explore the outside world. He explored Africa as well as many other places outside of China. Some even say he discovered the Americas, but he didn't get the credit. When the fleets got back, the Ming destroyed and banned the building of the ships. Scholars didn't have interest in the outside world. This strict Chinese tradition eventually led to China's downfall. This was pretty important because he started a bit of dislike for Western culture as well as the outside world; Zheng He also started interest in the outside world from the common people.

Mongols take China

Mongols attacking

I just paid my tributes to the Mongols, and I am extremely grateful to be alive right now. :O
Let me tell you what happened recently; it's pretty crazy!
In 1206,  a guy named Genghis Kahn united all of the nomadic people who called themselves the Mongols. Now, this guy is not so nice. He has this belief that you must have committed a sin if he harms you or your city; he would be the punishment.
Anyway, he rolled into China. These people didn't even have a dominant culture to ours, but they had one thing that was so powerful it took us down. They had archers on horseback, and they could pick you off before you even knew what was going on. Besides China, they rolled across most of Asia only to be stopped at Ain Jalut. They even achieved the only successful winter attack on Russia. Once they were in power, they weren't all that bad, so many say. I am just afraid of them.
Genghis died in 1273, but his grandson, Kublai Kahn, wasn't done with China yet. He was what they called the 5th Great Kahn, and he conquered Southern China. He wanted to preserve Mongolian culture, and only wanted Mongols in high governmental positions or the army. The only issue with that was that there was too few Mongols, and a large amount of China. In 1271, the Yuan Dynasty was established. Kublai wanted to learn different cultural approaches, so he invited many to come. For example, Marco Polo came from Italy and wrote a book on Chinese culture. These records sparked interest in the riches of Asia.
The Mongols were important because they reshaped Chinese culture, and created one of the largest empires on History. They also revolutionized war strategies by inventing the stirrup, and the archer on horseback.

Sung Dynasty

Chinese rice field

In my opinion, this was the best dynasty I've ever lived in. Starting in 960 CE and ending in , it was the high point of Chinese civilization as a whole. Our capital is Lin'an.
Industry, technology, art, and architecture all were enhanced during this period. As I write this, I can look at my mechanical clock, which was something that is new to us. It's pretty exciting for everyone. Recently, gunpowder, block printing, and a moveable type have been invented as well! The creation of paper money has also happened recently! This will make trading so much easier! It's a big economic step for us, and trade is flourishing. Spices are a big part of trading for our country.
Another thing that was established in this empire was the idea of two crops of rice per year. This created surpluses, which allowed people to pursue other things, like commerce, education, and arts!
The Chinese people are quite content right now, including myself.
The dynasty lasted for a long time, but it ended in 1279 CE. It had a long-lasting impact on the world through its many inventions and advances in civilization!

Tang Dynasty

After the Han Dynasty came to an end, our country was thrown into confusion. We were unorganized for quite some time! However, our country wasn't hurt by it; Buddhism was still spreading, trade was still occurring, and the Chinese weren't dying out. We were ruled for a short time from 598-618 during the Sui Dynasty, but that didn't last long. One good thing that came out of the Sui Dynasty was the Grand Canal, which was pretty cool.
However, we needed a ruler, and we soon had one: Li Yuan, the first Tang emperor, who came into power at the start of the dynasty, which was 618 CE.
Some refer to this as the Golden Ages of Poetry. I can't say I disagree with them. Amazing poets like Li-Po and Du Fu come from this time, and their works are just fantastic!
During this dynasty, we expanded our borders, restored the Han System (Confucian), rebuilt bureaucracy, and increased some taxes. The last part I am not so happy about, but the emperors can't please everyone!
Our economy was one of the most advanced in the world; trade is wonderful for us!
In 907 CE, this empire fell, losing the Mandate of Heaven. This dynasty was pretty important for us because we unified China after centuries of disorganization. We also made some great additions to our art and poetry, which is really important to us! :)

Buddhism comes to China

Buddha

As we all know, Buddhism is pretty important. My man Buddha achieved Enlightenment, and started a religion that many people have converted to; it is a spin-off of Hinduism. 
But, how it got to China is pretty unclear. We know that the date of it was during the Han Dynasty, but there's only rumors of how it happened.
What I heard from town was that our emperor Ming Ti had a dream and sent people down to the Silk Road to try to see what it meant. When they returned, they had a picture of the Buddha and some texts.
The first Buddhist community was said to have come about around 150 AD. From then on, it spread like wildfire!

Han Dynasty

Well, here we are!
Now, Liu Bang is in power, and we are in what is called the Han Dynasty, which started on 221 BCE. Finally, we have a stable and peaceful country! Our Great Wall has been extended as well; we now have more watch towers to guard against attack. Something else that is pretty cool is that Confucianism is our law now! We're all about goodness, and it's a nice change from Qin Shi Huangdi!
We have also established the Silk Road, which is really helping our trading. The economy is fantastic now! We're getting much more resources now. Our empire has 50 million people in it, which is great!
Sadly enough, the Han Dynasty comes to a half in 220 CE. We accomplished wonderful things in this empire, and set the precedent of using Confucian concepts in our law!

Silk Road Routes

Great Wall of China

I was sitting right outside of my house on the date of 220 BCE when I heard the news. Qin Shi Huangdi, our first emperor that I mentioned earlier, started the biggest engineering project that the world has ever seen, so it's pretty important! It really shows how smart the Chinese can be, and how rich our culture is. Anyway, he's building what is called "The Great Wall". Basically, it's this enormous wall that's built using wood and soil mix that turns really solid. The point of it is to keep the Mongols out in the North and to symbolize the unification of China. I heard a rumor that's going around that the purpose of this huge wall is to keep us in (which is kind of scary)!
In my opinion, it's a nice idea, but the way he's going about it is all wrong. The living conditions of it are awful; one million people are working on  it, and a fourth of them have died.
I hope that he puts an end to these horrible working conditions, but my hopes aren't high!

Watch towers on the Great Wall of China

Unification of China

It had been a rough time in our area for around 250 years. There are no united kingdoms. Seven of them have fought again and again for control of China. The Qin Dynasty finally achieved unification of China using their horses and foot soldiers, which is a pretty new thing for us. These guys rolled in and stayed in power from 221-207 BCE. Some cool things were introduced in this time, like the channel built by Li Bing through Mount Qian. I’m happy about it because my house isn’t flooded anymore!
There is one thing that’s kind of bad: our first Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi. He’s a legalist, and I’m not so sure about his ruling methods. We’ll see how things go, I guess!

Confucius

Something really cool happened today, on 500 BCE. I got to talk to Confucius which was pretty sweet. He rolled into my farm and told me I was doing my job well; duty is one of the things he's big on. He is a wandering teacher because he lost his government job, so I hear.

I’ve heard about him for a while, but I never really understood what this guy was all about. He told me what his thoughts are as we walked along my farm. He’s all for goodness. Confucius told me that real people can establish a civilized society (by real, he was talking about kind and compassionate people). He said that art and poetry is where it’s at. I didn’t understand that part! I mean, we live in an army dominated world. But he said that you’re only as good as your art. Pretty cool. Family is also very important in Confucius’ concepts; the Five Constant Relationships have three of them relate to family.

All in all, I’m really honored to have met this guy. He is an amazing philosopher, and he did amazing work. I have a feeling that his ideas are going to catch on someday.

Lao Zi and Taoism



Yin Yang - Taoist Balance Symbol

On the date of about 600 BCE, I heard about the concept of Taoism from my man Lao-Zi, who is the expert of all experts on it.
Taoism is all about harmony with nature. People should strive to understand “the way” of the universe. When I asked him some questions about it, he told me to read the Te Ching, which is a Taoist text. It’s the book of wisdom. Taoists believe that the right kind of government is one that did not interfere a lot with the people. They have little concern for human problems, and concentrate on nature and the universe. Balance is a main part of it.
This whole thing is pretty important because the concepts of Taoism affected the culture all over the world, especially in the East!