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1700 BCE
The Shang Dynasty
Many artifacts found from the Shang Dynasty contained hieroglyphic writing engraved into them. The hieroglyphic writing system used during this era later evolved into the Chinese characters used today. -
1045 BCE
The Zhou Dynasty
People during this time began to write religious and philosophical beliefs down to teach others of their beliefs. When the beliefs spread, many schools were opened to teach children and uneducated adults. -
221 BCE
Qin Dynasty
When the emperor of the Qin Dynasty took over, he destroyed Buddhism books that were currently being taught and replaced them with his own teachings. The writing system he exchanged the current books for are a stemmed into China's current writing system. -
206 BCE
The Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the center for science and technological advancements during is reign. This meant that many books on the subjects were being produced to spread the information. -
618
The Tang Dynasty
Many historical poets lived in the Tang Dynasty and produced amazing poetry about life along the Silk Road. Some poets even exposed the hardships that Chinese citizens faced on a daily basis. With the growth in poets in this era, more people began to study the art of poetry, and schools began to teach it more often. -
960
The Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty made the technological advancement of movable type in this era. Printing became much easier, quicker, and cheaper to produce. This made literature more accessible to the common person in China. -
1279
The Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty began to entertain themselves with dramatic puppet shows that later transformed into plays with human actors. This growing interest caused an increased amount of writing due to the creation of scripts. -
1368
The Ming Dynasty
People from the Ming Dynasty began to write novels and stories based around heroic religious characters who went on amazing journeys. Literature benefited from this because common people began to read entire books often.