An Outline History of China

Preface
This book combines, in one volume, the English editions of An
Outline History of China, published in 1982, and An Outline History
of China 1919-1949, published in 1993.
In the autumn of 1997, the History of China in Chinese contain-
ing 22 sections bound in 12 volumes, of which I was chief editor, was
completed. Mr. Wu Canfei, an editor at the Foreign Languages Press
(FLP) in Beijing, suggested that the two English edition books, which
had been published and distributed for many years, be bound into one
volume titled An Outline History of China (revised edition), and be
officially published by FLP after it had revised the translation. Prior to
this, they had translated the Chinese editions of the two books into
English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French and other languages. This
was something I had wanted to do for many years. When I drew up
the plan for compiling An Outline History of China, I considered
writing about the period from 1919 to 1949 in the book, but failed to
do so due to factual difficulties. The idea was realized in late 1987,
and the second volume of the book came into being. It covers Chinese
history from 1919 to 1949, and is now Chapter 11 in this revised edi-
tion of An Outline History of China. Though An Outline History of
China, which now includes the second volume, cannot be regarded as
a complete Chinese history, readers can gain an overall understanding
of Chinese history more conveniently through this single-volume edi-
tion.
This combined book retains the original edition's style, content
and features. However, there have been some necessary revisions and
corrections made to specific historical facts, figures and regions, andsome linguistic corrections. Here I would like to express my gratitude
to Mr. Wu Canfei for his patient work.
We are still endeavoring to apply correct historical theories in our
study of the course and characteristics of the development of Chinese
history. To what degree we have managed to achieve this will be de-
cided by our readers.
An Outline History of China and its follow-up have been popular
among a broad range of readers since they were first published. Chi-
nese editions have sold nearly one million copies, and foreign-
language editions have sold out. The history departments of many
colleges and universities use them as textbooks, showing the social
demand and readers' appreciation of the work. We would like to ex-
press our deep gratitude for this. There are some issues in Chinese
history of interest to everyone that, owing to a shortage of materials or
research, we have been unable to address. We hope to do so in the
future.

Bai Shouyi
December 1998, Beijing

CONTENTS

Chapter I Introduction 1
1. A Land of 9,600,000 Square Kilometres 1
2. Fifty-six Ethnic Groups and a Population of More Than 1,000,000,000 8
3. 1,700,000 Years and 3,600 Years 16
Chapter II Traces of Remote Antiquity 28
1. From Yuanmou Man to Peking Man; the Making of Tools and
the Use of Fire 28
2. Dingcun (Tingtsun) Man and Upper Cave Man; the Improve-
ment of Tools and the Emergence of Ornaments 31
3. The Yangshao Culture and Its Matriarchal Communes 35
4. The Patriarchal Clan Society of the Longshan Culture 40
Chapter 1II Myth and Legend 48
1. The Legends of Ancient Tribes 48
2. Tribal Chiefs, Gods and Their Sons 50
3. The Hereditary Monarchy of the Xia Dynasty 52
Chapter IV The Slave State of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties 56
1. The Earliest Written History 56
2. The Slave-owning Shang Dynasty 60
3. The Social Economy of the Shang Dynasty 64
4. The Rise of the Zhou and the Establishment of the Slave-
owning Zhou Dynasty 69
5. Economic Development Under Zhou Slavery 75
6. The Zhou Dynasty from Prosperity to Decline 78
Chapter V The Early Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and
Warring States Periods: Transition from Slavery to
Feudalism 81
1. The Early Eastern Zhou and the Spring and Autumn Period:
Contention for Supremacy Among the Major States 81
2. The Seven Powers of the Warring States Period 86
3. The Transition from Slavery to Feudalism 92
4. Confucius, Mo Zi, Other Thinkers and the Elegies of Chu 98
Chapter VI The Qin and Han Dynasties: the Growth of Feudal
Society 112
1. The Qin, China's First Feudal Dynasty 112
2. Peasant Uprisings in the Late Qin Dynasty 116
3. Establishment and Consolidation of the Western Han Dynasty 120
4. Golden Age of the Western Han Dynasty 125
5. Decline of the Western Han Dynasty; Uprisings of the Green
Woodsmen and Red Eyebrows 131
6. The Establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Prolonged
Turbulence, and the Yellow Turban Uprising 137
7. The Development of Social Productive Forces 147
8. The Growth of Feudal Relations 152
Chapter VII The Three Kingdoms, the Jin, the Southern and
Northern Dynasties, the Sui and the Tang: the Ear-
lier Period of Ascendancy of Chinese Feudalism 158
1. The Three Kingdoms 158
2. The Western Jin, the Eastern Jin and the Sixteen States 164
3. The Southern and Northern Dynasties 173
4. The Establishment of the Sui Dynasty and the Peasant Upris-
ings in Its Closing Years 184
5. The Golden Age of the Tang 190
6. Tmqnoil in the Mid-Tang Period 200
7. The Decline of the Tang Empire and the Late-Tang Peasant
Uprisings 208
8. The Development of Social Productive Forces 216
9. The Development of Feudal Relations and the Feudalization of
Regions Inhabited by Several Ethnic Group 224
Chapter VIII The Five Dynasties, the Song and the Yuan: the
Later Period of Ascendancy of Chinese Feudalism 231
1. The Five Dynasties and Ten States 231
2. Rise and Fall of the Northern Song; Uprisings by Wang Xiao-
bo and Fang La 235
3. The Liao, the Xia and the Jin: Their Relations with the North-
ern Song 245
4. Rival Regimes of the Song and the Jin; Uprisings by Zhong
Xiang, Yang Yao and the Red Jackets 252
5. The Rise of the Mongols and the Fall of the Xia, the Jin and
the Southern Song 260
6. Founding of the Yuan Dynasty and Peasant Uprisings During
the Late Yuan 267
7. Further Growth of Social Productivity; Southward Shift of
Economic Development 276
8. Further Development of Feudal Relations; Feudalization of the
Border Regions 282
9. China's Communications with the Outside World 289
Chapter IX The Ming-Qing Period: the Twilight of Feudalism 295
1. Establishment of the Ming Dynasty 295
2. Decline of the Ming Dyansty; Refugee and Miner Uprisings 305
3. Decay of the Ming Dynasty; Peasant Uprisings Continued 310
4. Rise of the Manchus; Peasant Uprisings Towards the End of
the Ming; Fall of the Ming Dynasty 321
5. Peasant Regime of the Great Shun; Princes of the Southern
Ming; Unification Activities During the Early Qing Dynasty 337
6. Qing Rule Strengthened 346
7. Decline of the Qing; Uprisings of Different Ethnic Groups 357
8. The Decline of Feudalism and the Emergence of Sprouts of
Capitalism 365
9. Arrival of Western Colonialism 378
Chapter X Semi-Colonial and Semi-Feudal Society; the Old De-
mocratic Revolution 388
1. The Opium War 388
2. The qhiping Peasant War 393
3. The Second Opium War; Russia's Occupation of Chinese
Territory 398
4. The Later Period of the Taiping Peasant War 403
5. Culture and Learning After the Opium War 408
6. Foreign Economic Aggression and the Official "Westerniza-
tion'' Drive 411
7. The Proletariat and the National Bourgeoisie in the Early
Days; the Spread of Modern Western Science 414
8. Foreign Aggression and China's Border Crises 418
9. The Sino-Japanese War and Imperialist Partition of China 422
10. The Modernization Movement of the Bourgeois Reformists 427
11. The Anti-Imperialist Patriotic Movement of the Yi He Tuan 434
12. The Rise of the Bourgeois Revolutionary Movement 439
13. The Founding of the Tong Meng Hui 445
14. The Wuchang Uprising; The Founding of the Republic of
China and the Fall of the Qing Dynasty 449
15. The Period of Beiyang Warlord Rule 455
16. Ideology and Culture During the Period of Bourgeois Revo-
lution 460
17. The Dawn of the Chinese Revolution 468
Chapter Xl The Continuation of the Semi-Colonial and Semi-
Feudal Society and the New-Democratic Revolution 474
1. The May 4th Movement and the Beginning of the New-
democratic Revolution 474
2. The Development of the National Capitalist Economy and the
Formation of the Programme of the Chinese Communist Party
in the Democratic Revolution 488
3. The Evolution of the Beiyang Warlord Forces and the Rise of
the National Revolutionary Movement 497
4. Northern Expeditionary War and Failure of the National
Revolution 514
5. Establishment of Kuomintang Rule and the Beginning of the
Soviet Revolution 528
6. Growth and Decline of the Kuomintang Factions and Setting-
up of the Soviet Areas 536
7. The September 18th Incident and the Upsurge of the Nation-
wide Anti-Japanese Democratic Movement. The Kuomintang
Policy of "InternaI Pacification Before Resistance to Foreign
Invasion" 553
8. Fascist Rule of the Kuomintang Government. The Deepening
and Expansion of the Soviet Revolution and the Long March
of the Red Army 565
9. The Birth of New-democratic Economy. Economic Changes in
the Kuomintang Area 581
10. Transition from Civil War to the War of Resistance Against
Japan 589
11. The July 7th Incident and the Stm't of the Nationwide War of
Resistance Against Japan. Three Kinds of Political Power
Exist Simultaneously 605
12. Changes in the Situation of the Anti-Japanese War from the
Stage of Stalemate 625
13. The Outbreak of the Pacific War. 'The Kuomintang Area and
the Liberated Area in the Mid-Period of the Anti-Japanese
641
War
14. The Political Struggle in the Later Stage of the Anti-Japanese
War and the Final Victory of the War 656
15. Proposals of Political Parties Concerning National Recon-
struction. The Political Consultative Conference 672
16. The Outbreak of All-out Civil War. Radical Turn in Military
and Political Situation in China 684
17. The Downfall of the Nanjing Regime and the Founding of the
People's Republic of China 705
18. Philosophy, Historiography, Natural Science and Literature 725

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