China and the West Compared- an early twentieth century analysis of China cultural development vis-a-vis the West

Chinese Culture Visualized by Henry Fenn, 1926 *

Date	World History	Characterization	Key Facts	Dynasties		Thought		Art	Knowledge
1300 BCE	Moses Trojan War	Origin of the Chinese. Ultimate origin highly disputed. At this time a group of city states existed on the lower Yellow River. Around them ranged the "barbarians".	.	Yin		Bone inscriptions give names of Yin Emperors and show animism and Emperor worship		Neolithic Pottery and stone carving. No bronzes extant	Bone records mention hunting, fishing and silk weaving
1200 BCE	.	.	.		Sacrifical jades
1100 BCE	Tiglath Pileser I	Consolidation. Civilisation spread west and south by the expulsion and assimilation of "barbarians". For breif periods a vigorous "Son of Heaven" temporarily tightened feudal bonds & maintained a sort of empire.	.	.		.	.
1000 BCE	Solomon	Wu Wang the founder	Chou		Lyric Poetry		"Nine Tripods" - symbols of Imperial Authority said to have been lost in 233 BCE	Medicine Dyeing
900 BCE	Lycurgus Carthage	.	841BCE interregnum - earliest authentic date in Chinese history	"Book of Changes" Materials for the "Odes" and History" evolved. Books took present form in Han dynasty.		.	Books made of bamboo strips strung together
800 BCE	First Olympiad Rome founded	.	Hsuan Wang - China raided by the Hsiung Nu 776 BCE Eclipse of sun - verified date	.		.	.
700 BCE	Hebrew prophets & Greek poets	.	"The Five Tyrants"	.		Bronze Age Altar vessels, swords and mirrors	.
600 BCE	Buddha	Classical Age . The production of the classics, which moulded Chinese thought, parallels the Golden Age of Greek Thought.	536 BCE first written law code	Confucius		.	.
500 BCE	Persian Wars Socrates	"The Seven Hero States"	Mo Tze Mencius Chuang Tze		.	.
400 BCE	Plato Aristotle Alexander	Rise of Chin State	Yang Tze Sophists		Iron Age "The Ten Stone Drums"architecture on grand scale	Magnetism known Silk reached Europe Round coins first used Alchemy
300 BCE	Punic Wars	First Empire By linking fragments of ancient wall Chin Shi Huang symbolized unification of China	Chang I - statesman 214 BCE Great Wall completed	Hsun Tze Fixation of literary language. Burning of books		Archaic but vigorous reliefs on tomb walls	Chang Chien to Bactria Iron plough Cast iron
Chin
Han
200 BCE	Destruction of Carthage & Corinth	.	Kao Tsu Wu Ti crushed Hsiung Nu	Imperial sacrifice to Confucius Classics restored Tao Te Ching took shape		.	Ink Harness for horses
100 BCE	Julius Caesar	Pax Sinica Expansion into Centra Asia but peace at home. New influences & cultural advance, synchronous with Pax Romana in the West.	.	Ssu-Ma Chien Age of historians, lexicographers and antiquarians		Bactrian, Iranian and Siberian influence follow Han conquests	Contact with Roman Asia
0	Jesus Christ	.	9 Wang Mang - usurper Ming Ti	34 Taoism organized 65 Buddhism welcomed		.	97 Kan Ying to Basra
100	Jerusalem destroyed	.	.	Pan Chao 165 Taoism a state religion 175 "13 books" cut in stone		171 Earliest landscape on stone tablet	102 Pan Chao to Caspian 105 Tsai Lun invented paper 165 Roman trade mission
200	Marcus Aurelius	Age of Romance	Chu-Ko Liang - strategest Ssu-Ma Yen - founder of Tsin	"Seven scholars of Chang An"		.	220 Roman Tsin Lun to Nanking Chinese visit Antioch 284 Mission from Diocletian Stirrup
3 Kingdoms
Tsin
300	Constantine Roman Empire split	.	.	335 Chinese first become bonzes		.	Tea first mentioned
400	End of Roman Empire	Dark Ages The Han Empire, like Rome, fell through internal degeneracy and barbarian incursions. The Tob Tatars kept open the Central Asian trade routes. Buddhism became firmly implanted & preserved Chinese culture through 4 centuries of disorder much as Christianity was preserving Western culture during Europe's Dark Ages.	.	"Seven sages of bamboo grove" "Style of the six dynasties" 444 Destruction of monasteries		Ku Kai Chich - earliest extant Paintings Yun Kang cave sculptures Greco-Indian influences	399 Fahsien crossed Central Asia to India, returning by sea in 414 Glass process from Parthia Porcelain
Wei	S Sung
Ch'i Liang Cheng
500	Justinian	Foot binding said to have begun Grand canal built	Bodhidharma		.	Sung Yun - traveler Silkworm eggs & stirrup to Europe
600	Hegira	.	Sui		Printing of Buddhist Books Taosim the state religion		Creative Painting Northern & Southern schools Li Ssu Hsun Wang Wei	Public libraries 629 Hsuan Chuang traveled in India for 14 years & took back Buddhist scrolls
T'ang
Zenith of Empire T'ai Tsung like Charlemagne restored an old empire revivified by fresh blood (Tatar). Inspired by a new faith (Buddhism). Broadened by new contacts (Persia, India)	Lyric Poetry Wang Wei Li Po Tu Fu Han Yu Po Chu I	Alien Religions Mazdeism Nestorian- ism Maniche- ism Judaism Islam
700	Arabs checked at Tours	Ming Huang Yang Kuei Fei Liu Chih Ch'i - Historian	Wu Tao Tze	Chinese culture to Japan Gunpowder Ship's rudder Court gazette Paper making to Arabia
800	Charlemagne Alfred the Great	.	.	.		Porcelain manufactured	868 First printed book Horse harness to West
900	Holy Roman Empire	Barracks Emperors	.	953 Classics reprinted		Earliest intact porcelains	.
1000	Crusades	New Classicism Deepening of culture but little originality. Political weakness.	Wang An Shih - reformer	5	Dynasties	Thought crystalized Philosophy, science & history all according to classical traditions		Painting conventionalized Li Lung Mian Mi Fei	Moveable type - not dvl'ped Paper money Gunpowder used in war
1100	.	Hui Tsung - artist Emperor Rise of the Khitans Genghis Khan	Sung		Ssu-Ma Kuang - historian		Academy of painting	1122 Earliest recorded use of compass in navigation Paper, compass, iron plough to Europe, printing to Egypt
1200	Magna Carta	.	.	Kin / Jin	S. Sung	Chu Hsi - philosopher Su Tong P'o - scholar Cheng Ch'iao - Historian 1292 Coming of Franciscans		Renaissance of painting Chao Meng Fu	Travels of the Polos Ship's rudder to West
1300	Renaissance Gutenberg Fall of Constantinople	Mongol Age The crusades and the Mongol conquests brought free intercourse from the Atlantic to the Pacific	Kublai Khan	Yuan		Drama & Novel Lamaism the state religion		Huang Kung Ming Refinement in painting	.
1400	China, having driven back the Tatars, rested on her laurels, recalled the past and...	Peking built by Yung Lo Cheng Ho - expedition to the Indian Ocean	Ming		Continued conservative literary tradition with less vigor and originality Yung Lo encyclopedia		Shun Shih Tien Wen Cheng Ming Chiu Shih Chai Tang Yin	Metal type in Korea Porcelain & cast iron process to Europe
1500	Age of Discovery	. Stagnated	Wan Li 1592 First clash with Japan over Korea	Wang Ying Ming Philosopher Mateo Ricci & Paul Hsu		Lacquer Variety of color and design in porcelain Cloisonne Hightide of artistic production	1517 Portuguese traders come Tea to England
1600	Reformation & Religious Wars	.	K'ang Hsi - patron of arts	Han Hsueh School Adam Schall		Painting Imitative "Four Wangs"	Porcelain process reintroduced into Europe
Qing
1700	Thwarted progress Patronage of classical scholarship. Welcome to western science but intolerance of progressive thinking.	Ch'ien Lung - conqueror	Critical scholarship		.	Spread of Chinese culture to Japan & Korea
1800	American, French, Industrial Revolutions	Trade wars & Treaties Isolation proves impossible and western ideas are forced upon China	T'ai P'ing Rebellion	Spread of Christianity & Western culture		.	.
Adaptation Mass education movement
1900	World War	Struggle for freedom, unity & democracy	Sun Yatsen	Jarred by contacts with new ideals the Chinese are now assimilarting rather than creating. But there are signs of reviving interest in the arts.	Western Science brings radical changes in thought and life.
Republic

* This table is published with the kind permission of Robert Fenn, whose father Henry first published it in Peiping (as Beijing was then called) in 1926. Please note that it uses the Wade-Giles rather than Pinyin transliteration system.
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