The 10 Oldest Ancient Civilizations That Have Ever Existed

[Civilization]

5. The Chinese Civilization


Civilization Name: Chinese civilization
Period: 1600 BC–1046 BC
Original Location: Yellow River and Yangtze region
Current Location: Country of China
Major Highlights: Invention of paper and silk



Ancient China – also known as Han China – comes in at number five and doubtlessly has one of the most diverse histories. In fact, if you consider all the dynasties from the very first to the very last that ever ruled in China, a significantly huge period of time needs to be covered.

The Yellow River civilization is said to be the beginning of the entire Chinese civilization as this is where the earliest dynasties were based. It was around 2700 BC that the legendary Yellow Emperor began his rule, which later led to the birth of many dynasties that went on to rule mainland China.

In 2070 BC, the Xia dynasty became the first to rule the whole of China as described in ancient historical chronicles. From then on, there were a number of dynasties that held control during different periods of time until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912 AD with the Xinhai Revolution. This marked the end of more than four millennia of ancient Chinese civilization. By this time, however, the Chinese had given the world some of its most useful inventions and products such as gunpowder, paper, printing, the compass, alcohol, cannons, and many more.