IMPERIAL CHINA: WHY WERE EXAMS IMPORTANT IN CHINA? HOW DID BEIJING BECOME CHINA’S CAPITAL? WHO LIVED IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY? PORCELAIN For more than 2,000 years, from 221 BC until AD 1912, China was ruled by emperors. In that time, the capital city and the imperial dynasty (ruling family) changed. There were periods of unrest and of invasion by fierce tribes, including the Mongols, but the same system of government continued. Imperial China was a remarkably stable civilization, which led the world in art and technology, with inventions including paper, PORCELAIN, and gunpowder. Table 44. CHINA’S RULERS 221 BCQin dynasty 206 BCHan dynasty AD 221Time of disunity 581Sui dynasty 618Tang dynasty 907China divided into five dynasties 960Song dynasty 1279Yuan dynasty (Mongol) 1368Ming dynasty (last Chinese dynasty) 1644–1912Qing dynasty (Manchu dynasty from Manchuria) WHY WERE EXAMS IMPORTANT IN CHINA? The first Han emperor set up a civil service to run China. Before getting a job in the civil service, officials had to pass a series of difficult exams. Those who passed the top exams could expect jobs as government ministers, and marriage to princesses. HOW DID BEIJING BECOME CHINA’S CAPITAL? After invading China in AD 1279, the Mongol (Yuan) emperors established their capital at Beijing, which was just inside the Great Wall, in what was then the far north of China. In 1368, a new dynasty, the Ming, came to power. They kept Beijing as the capital, rebuilding and expanding the city. The Great Wall snakes across the mountains north of Beijing. Defensive walls had been built since ancient times, but most of the Great Wall as it still stands was built under the Ming emperors. WHO LIVED IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY? The imperial palace at Beijing is called the Forbidden City. Enclosed by a moat and high brick walls, this complex of palaces, halls, gardens, offices, and storehouses was built under the Ming dynasty. The imperial family lived there, along with nobles, servants, and officials. PORCELAIN Porcelain is a translucent (semitransparent) ceramic material, made of fine white clay mixed with crushed stone. It can be shaped on a potter’s wheel, or molded by hand. When fired (baked) at extremely high temperatures, it becomes waterproof, and so hard that steel cannot scratch it. WHY WAS PORCELAIN SO PRECIOUS? Porcelain was first made by Chinese potters during the Tang dynasty. It was a luxury product, for the use of nobles and emperors, and for centuries no one but the Chinese knew how to make it.