Chronology Summary
When
What
1644-1911
Qing Dynasty
1792-4 Lord Macartney's embassy to China
1839 Lin Zexu's destruction of 20000 chests of opium leads to the deterioration of relations between Britain and China and the outbreak of the First Opium War
1842 The First Opium War concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing (Nanking) which provides for the opening of the first five treaty ports-in Shanghai Ningbo Xiamen (Amoy) Fuzhou (Foochow) and Guangzhou (Canton)-and the cession of the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain
1845 The Sino-American Treaty of Wangxia permits Americans to trade in the treaty ports and to purchase land for Protestant churches and missions. It also establishes the principle of extra territoriality by which foreigners are tried only by their own consuls
1850-64 Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan
1856 Outbreak of the Second Opium War
1858 Signing of the Treaty of Tianjin (Tientsin) which allows for the opening of more cities to trade and foreign residence and the establishment of foreign ambassadors in Beijing
1860 The refusal of the Chinese to observe the terms of the Treaty of Tianjin results in renewed hostilities. An Anglo-French force occupies Beijing and destroys the Imperial Summer Palace
1860s-90s The opening of a Foreign Office in Beijing in 1861 marks the beginning of a number of diplomatic and military modernization projects described collectively as the Self-Strengthening movement
1894-5 China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War exposes the limitations of the Self-Strengthening movement. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) China is forced to cede the Liaodong peninsula and Taiwan to Japan in perpetuity and to permit Japanese to reside and trade in China. Young radicals among them Sun Yat-sen form Self-Strengthening and Revive China societies Foreign powers scramble for concessions in China. Russia is forced to grant a 25-year lease on Lushun (Port Arthur) and the Dalian (Dairen) peninsula. Germany acquires Jiaozhou (Kiaochow) Bay. France demands a lease on Guangzhou (Kwangchow) Bay and Britain obtains a lease on Weihaiwei for as long as the Russians remain in Lushun and on Hong Kong's New Territories for 99 years.
1898 In an attempt to strengthen China the Guangxu emperor embarks on a programme of reform but the 'Hundred Days Reform' is ended by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The Emperor becomes a prisoner in his own palace. The Dowager Empress and the court flee to Xi'an
1901 By the Boxer Protocol, China is required to pay a large indemnity to the foreign powers
1900 The Boxer Rebellion leads to the siege of the legations in Beijing.
1905 Civil service examinations are abolished. In Tokyo Sun Yat-sen forms the Alliance Society 1908 The Empress Dowager dies and the 2-year-old Puyi is proclaimed emperor. China holds the first elections for regional assemblies the following year
1911 An uprising in Wuhan leads to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Nanjing is proclaimed the national capital
1912 On 1 January the Republic of China is declared with Sun Yat-sen as provincial president. Yuan Shikai a Manchu general then takes China's first constitution is proclaimed
1914 On the outbreak of the First World War China declares herself neutral
1915 Japan presents the Twenty-one Demands calling for Japanese control of Shandong Manchuria Inner Mongolia the south-east coast of China and the Yangtze valley as well as the use of Japanese advisers in the Chinese administration
1916 Yuan Shikai declares himself emperor but dies soon after. Generals of provincial armies declare their independence as local warlords
1917 Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (KMT) Party sets up a military government in Guangzhou
1919 By the terms of the Treaty of Versailles Japan's demands for control of all former German territories in China are accepted by the Western powers. On 4 May students in Beijing demonstrate in protest and organize a strike and boycott of Japanese goods. The cultural and intellectual revolution taking place during this period is subsequently commonly known as the May Fourth movement
1921 The northern warlords declare war on Sun Yat-sen's government in Guangzhou. The Chinese Communist Party is founded in Shanghai
1922 Sun Yat-sen launches the Northern Expedition against warlords
1925 Sun Yat-sen dies. A demonstration in Shanghai on 30 May is fired on the order of a British police inspector: 9 students are killed. A general strike is called in Shanghai which leads to anti-British demonstrations elsewhere and a boycott of British goods
1926 Chiang Kai-shek assumes command of the KMT armies relaunches the Northern Expedition and takes Hankou
1927 Chiang Kai-shek launches a purge of Communists. In Hunan Mao Zedong leads the Autumn Harvest Uprising. When the revolt fails he is forced to flee
1928 Japanese troops land in Shandong. Mao and Zhou Enlai establish a Soviet regime in Ruijin Jiangxi
1930 Chiang Kai-shek launches the first of five campaigns of encirclement and extermination against the Communists. The first major internal purge of Chinese Communists takes place in what becomes known as the Futian Incident
1932 The Japanese attack Shanghai but then withdraw. Zhou Enlai establishes the first 'Labour Persuasion' camps in Communist-controlled territory
1934 KMT armies encircle the Communist Red Army in Jiangxi. In October the Communists break out and begin the Long March to Yan'an in Shanxi province
1936 Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped in Xi'an and forced to agree to a United Front with the Communists against Japan
1937 An incident at the Marco Polo bridge west of Beijing marks the beginning of the Japanese invasion of China
1938 Japan occupies most of eastern China. The KMT government moves its capital to Chongqing
1942 At Yan'an Mao purges his enemies in the Rectification movement. He also outlines Party policy on intellectuals at the Yan'an Forum
1943 Britain and America relinquish all extra territorial privileges and concessions in China
1945 Japan surrenders. Civil war between the Communists and the KMT resumes
1949 On 1 October Mao Zedong declares the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT government flee to Taiwan
1949-51 Land reform already undertaken earlier in Communist-controlled areas is now enforced throughout China leading to the persecution of millions of landlords and wealthy peasants
1950 China invades Tibet. Hostilities break out between North and South Korea. China sends Volunteers to assist the North
1953 The first five-year plan is launched
1955 Mao begins the collectivization of peasants' holdings into co-operatives
1956 Under the slogan 'Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend' Mao launches the Hundred Flowers movement to encourage greater freedom of debate in political matters
1957 Those who have spoken out during the Hundred Flowers movement are condemned and imprisoned in the Anti-Rightist movement
1958 In an attempt to create a socialist Utopia Mao launches the Great Leap Forward. The peasants are stripped of their remaining possessions and forced to join communes
1959 In Tibet China suppresses a rebellion and the Dalai Lama and his supporters flee to India. By the autumn many parts of China are in the grip of a severe famine as a result of the policies of the Great Leap Forward. Between 1959 and 1961 over 30 million Chinese starve to death
1960 The Soviet Union withdraws all its experts from China and stops all aid
1966 In a bid to restore his authority after the failure of the Great Leap Forward Mao launches the Cultural Revolution
1969 Fighting breaks out along the Ussuri River between the USSR and China
1971 After a failed coup d'état against Mao Lin Biao flees but dies in a plane crash
1972 The American President Richard Nixon visits China
1975 On Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek dies
1976 The death of Zhou Enlai in January provokes demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Mao dies in September having named Hua Guofeng as his successor. An attempted coup by the Gang of Four in October fails and its members are arrested and subsequently put on trial
1978 At the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress Deng Xiaoping becomes de facto successor to Mao and announces the Four Modernizations. Meanwhile posters begin to appear on what becomes known as Democracy Wall in Beijing in which issues of political significance are openly discussed and Mao is criticized. A young electrician Wei Jingshengputs up a poster calling for a Fifth Modernization democracy
1979 The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The one-child policy is introduced in the countryside 1982 In January Deng visits the United States. In February China attacks Vietnam in punishment for its invasion of Cambodia but the Vietnamese successfully block the attack. China is forced to withdraw. In October Wei Jingsheng is put on trial and in December the Democracy Wall is closed down Hu Yaobang becomes Party General Secretary 1983 Campaigns against crime and 'spiritual pollution' are launched
1979-83 The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The one-child policy is introduced in the countryside
1982 Hu Yaobang becomes Party General Secretary
1983 Campaigns against crime and 'spiritual pollution' are launched
1986 Pro-democracy demonstrations by students occur in major cities
1987 Hu Yaobang is forced to step down and an Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization campaign is launched. Zhao Ziyang replaces Hu as Party General Secretary and Li Peng becomes Prime Minister
1989 Zhao pushes for political reform
1989 Hu Yaobang dies. In honour of his memory students hold demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and occupy the square for over a month. On 20 May martial law is declared in Beijing and on 3/4 June the army reposes the square killing hundreds. Zhao Ziyang is arrested and Jiang Zemin is declared Deng's successor. A clampdown on political activity follows
1992 Deng embarks on a Southern Tour to relaunch his economic reforms Deng falls into a coma
1996 Taiwan holds its first open elections for the Presidency and the National Assembly. China fires missiles into the Taiwan Strait
1997 Deng Xiaoping dies. Hong Kong hitherto under British rule is returned to China
1998 Zhu Rongji becomes Prime Minister and seeks membership for China of the World Trade Organization
1999 Macao the last territory on the mainland occupied by the Portuguese for four hundred years is returned to China
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| 1644-1911 | Qing Dynasty |
| 1792-4 | Lord Macartney's embassy to China |
| 1839 | Lin Zexu's destruction of 20000 chests of opium leads to the deterioration of relations between Britain and China and the outbreak of the First Opium War |
| 1842 | The First Opium War concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing (Nanking) which provides for the opening of the first five treaty ports-in Shanghai Ningbo Xiamen (Amoy) Fuzhou (Foochow) and Guangzhou (Canton)-and the cession of the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain |
| 1845 | The Sino-American Treaty of Wangxia permits Americans to trade in the treaty ports and to purchase land for Protestant churches and missions. It also establishes the principle of extra territoriality by which foreigners are tried only by their own consuls |
| 1850-64 | Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan |
| 1856 | Outbreak of the Second Opium War |
| 1858 | Signing of the Treaty of Tianjin (Tientsin) which allows for the opening of more cities to trade and foreign residence and the establishment of foreign ambassadors in Beijing |
| 1860 | The refusal of the Chinese to observe the terms of the Treaty of Tianjin results in renewed hostilities. An Anglo-French force occupies Beijing and destroys the Imperial Summer Palace |
| 1860s-90s | The opening of a Foreign Office in Beijing in 1861 marks the beginning of a number of diplomatic and military modernization projects described collectively as the Self-Strengthening movement |
| 1894-5 | China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War exposes the limitations of the Self-Strengthening movement. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) China is forced to cede the Liaodong peninsula and Taiwan to Japan in perpetuity and to permit Japanese to reside and trade in China. Young radicals among them Sun Yat-sen form Self-Strengthening and Revive China societies |
| Foreign powers scramble for concessions in China. Russia is forced to grant a 25-year lease on Lushun (Port Arthur) and the Dalian (Dairen) peninsula. Germany acquires Jiaozhou (Kiaochow) Bay. France demands a lease on Guangzhou (Kwangchow) Bay and Britain obtains a lease on Weihaiwei for as long as the Russians remain in Lushun and on Hong Kong's New Territories for 99 years. | |
| 1898 | In an attempt to strengthen China the Guangxu emperor embarks on a programme of reform but the 'Hundred Days Reform' is ended by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The Emperor becomes a prisoner in his own palace. The Dowager Empress and the court flee to Xi'an |
| 1901 | By the Boxer Protocol, China is required to pay a large indemnity to the foreign powers |
| 1900 | The Boxer Rebellion leads to the siege of the legations in Beijing. |
| 1905 | Civil service examinations are abolished. In Tokyo Sun Yat-sen forms the Alliance Society 1908 |
| The Empress Dowager dies and the 2-year-old Puyi is proclaimed emperor. China holds the first elections for regional assemblies the following year | |
| 1911 | An uprising in Wuhan leads to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Nanjing is proclaimed the national capital |
| 1912 | On 1 January the Republic of China is declared with Sun Yat-sen as provincial president. Yuan Shikai a Manchu general then takes China's first constitution is proclaimed |
| 1914 | On the outbreak of the First World War China declares herself neutral |
| 1915 | Japan presents the Twenty-one Demands calling for Japanese control of Shandong Manchuria Inner Mongolia the south-east coast of China and the Yangtze valley as well as the use of Japanese advisers in the Chinese administration |
| 1916 | Yuan Shikai declares himself emperor but dies soon after. Generals of provincial armies declare their independence as local warlords |
| 1917 | Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (KMT) Party sets up a military government in Guangzhou |
| 1919 | By the terms of the Treaty of Versailles Japan's demands for control of all former German territories in China are accepted by the Western powers. On 4 May students in Beijing demonstrate in protest and organize a strike and boycott of Japanese goods. The cultural and intellectual revolution taking place during this period is subsequently commonly known as the May Fourth movement |
| 1921 | The northern warlords declare war on Sun Yat-sen's government in Guangzhou. The Chinese Communist Party is founded in Shanghai |
| 1922 | Sun Yat-sen launches the Northern Expedition against warlords |
| 1925 | Sun Yat-sen dies. A demonstration in Shanghai on 30 May is fired on the order of a British police inspector: 9 students are killed. A general strike is called in Shanghai which leads to anti-British demonstrations elsewhere and a boycott of British goods |
| 1926 | Chiang Kai-shek assumes command of the KMT armies relaunches the Northern Expedition and takes Hankou |
| 1927 | Chiang Kai-shek launches a purge of Communists. In Hunan Mao Zedong leads the Autumn Harvest Uprising. When the revolt fails he is forced to flee |
| 1928 | Japanese troops land in Shandong. Mao and Zhou Enlai establish a Soviet regime in Ruijin Jiangxi |
| 1930 | Chiang Kai-shek launches the first of five campaigns of encirclement and extermination against the Communists. The first major internal purge of Chinese Communists takes place in what becomes known as the Futian Incident |
| 1932 | The Japanese attack Shanghai but then withdraw. Zhou Enlai establishes the first 'Labour Persuasion' camps in Communist-controlled territory |
| 1934 | KMT armies encircle the Communist Red Army in Jiangxi. In October the Communists break out and begin the Long March to Yan'an in Shanxi province |
| 1936 | Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped in Xi'an and forced to agree to a United Front with the Communists against Japan |
| 1937 | An incident at the Marco Polo bridge west of Beijing marks the beginning of the Japanese invasion of China |
| 1938 | Japan occupies most of eastern China. The KMT government moves its capital to Chongqing |
| 1942 | At Yan'an Mao purges his enemies in the Rectification movement. He also outlines Party policy on intellectuals at the Yan'an Forum |
| 1943 | Britain and America relinquish all extra territorial privileges and concessions in China |
| 1945 | Japan surrenders. Civil war between the Communists and the KMT resumes |
| 1949 | On 1 October Mao Zedong declares the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT government flee to Taiwan |
| 1949-51 | Land reform already undertaken earlier in Communist-controlled areas is now enforced throughout China leading to the persecution of millions of landlords and wealthy peasants |
| 1950 | China invades Tibet. Hostilities break out between North and South Korea. China sends Volunteers to assist the North |
| 1953 | The first five-year plan is launched |
| 1955 | Mao begins the collectivization of peasants' holdings into co-operatives |
| 1956 | Under the slogan 'Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend' Mao launches the Hundred Flowers movement to encourage greater freedom of debate in political matters |
| 1957 | Those who have spoken out during the Hundred Flowers movement are condemned and imprisoned in the Anti-Rightist movement |
| 1958 | In an attempt to create a socialist Utopia Mao launches the Great Leap Forward. The peasants are stripped of their remaining possessions and forced to join communes |
| 1959 | In Tibet China suppresses a rebellion and the Dalai Lama and his supporters flee to India. By the autumn many parts of China are in the grip of a severe famine as a result of the policies of the Great Leap Forward. Between 1959 and 1961 over 30 million Chinese starve to death |
| 1960 | The Soviet Union withdraws all its experts from China and stops all aid |
| 1966 | In a bid to restore his authority after the failure of the Great Leap Forward Mao launches the Cultural Revolution |
| 1969 | Fighting breaks out along the Ussuri River between the USSR and China |
| 1971 | After a failed coup d'état against Mao Lin Biao flees but dies in a plane crash |
| 1972 | The American President Richard Nixon visits China |
| 1975 | On Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek dies |
| 1976 | The death of Zhou Enlai in January provokes demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Mao dies in September having named Hua Guofeng as his successor. An attempted coup by the Gang of Four in October fails and its members are arrested and subsequently put on trial |
| 1978 | At the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress Deng Xiaoping becomes de facto successor to Mao and announces the Four Modernizations. Meanwhile posters begin to appear on what becomes known as Democracy Wall in Beijing in which issues of political significance are openly discussed and Mao is criticized. A young electrician Wei Jingshengputs up a poster calling for a Fifth Modernization democracy |
| 1979 | The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The one-child policy is introduced in the countryside 1982 In January Deng visits the United States. In February China attacks Vietnam in punishment for its invasion of Cambodia but the Vietnamese successfully block the attack. China is forced to withdraw. In October Wei Jingsheng is put on trial and in December the Democracy Wall is closed down Hu Yaobang becomes Party General Secretary 1983 Campaigns against crime and 'spiritual pollution' are launched |
| 1979-83 | The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The one-child policy is introduced in the countryside |
| 1982 | Hu Yaobang becomes Party General Secretary |
| 1983 | Campaigns against crime and 'spiritual pollution' are launched |
| 1986 | Pro-democracy demonstrations by students occur in major cities |
| 1987 | Hu Yaobang is forced to step down and an Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization campaign is launched. Zhao Ziyang replaces Hu as Party General Secretary and Li Peng becomes Prime Minister |
| 1989 | Zhao pushes for political reform |
| 1989 | Hu Yaobang dies. In honour of his memory students hold demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and occupy the square for over a month. On 20 May martial law is declared in Beijing and on 3/4 June the army reposes the square killing hundreds. Zhao Ziyang is arrested and Jiang Zemin is declared Deng's successor. A clampdown on political activity follows |
| 1992 | Deng embarks on a Southern Tour to relaunch his economic reforms Deng falls into a coma |
| 1996 | Taiwan holds its first open elections for the Presidency and the National Assembly. China fires missiles into the Taiwan Strait |
| 1997 | Deng Xiaoping dies. Hong Kong hitherto under British rule is returned to China |
| 1998 | Zhu Rongji becomes Prime Minister and seeks membership for China of the World Trade Organization |
| 1999 | Macao the last territory on the mainland occupied by the Portuguese for four hundred years is returned to China |