1. Yuan Ming Qing Dynasties
元朝 明朝 清朝
yuán míng qīng

2. Yuan Dynasty 元朝
In 1206, Genghis Khan成吉思汗（chénɡ jí sī hán） united the Mongolian tribes. The Mongols went on to build a huge empire.
In 1260, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai founded the Yuan Dynasty, with its capital in today’s Beijing.
The Yuan army seized in Hangzhou in 1276, and in 1279 it crushed the remaining forces of Southern Song Dynasty and united the whole of China.
The Yuan Dynasty endured until 1368, when Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty.

3. The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was broader than that of any of the preceding dynasties, and Beijing became a world-renowned commercial metropolis.

4. Marco Polo’s travels in China
In the summer of 1271, Italian Marco Polo arrived in China with his father and uncle after a journey which had taken four years.
He became a favorite of Kublai Khan, who often sent him on inspection tours. It is said that he served as the magistrate of Yangzhou for three years. He also traveled to Southeast Asia during this time. The three Europeans returned to their homeland in 1295.
Marco Polo wrote his account of his journey to China in his The Travels of Marco Polo while in jail. His description of the fabulous wealth of China under the Yuan Dynasty, and the prosperous cities roused the interest of merchants and explorers. The result was expanded contract between China and Europe.

5. The four great inventions
The technique of making paper

6. The four great inventions
The technique of making paper

7. The four great inventions
The invention of the compass

8. The four great inventions
The technique of printing

9. The four great inventions
Gunpowder and firearms

10. The Ming and Qing Dynasties (Before the Opium War of 1840 )
Further development of the unitary
multi-ethnic country and decline of feudal society

11. Introduction
The final phrase of Chinese feudal society is represented by the period of the Ming and Qing dynasties, from the 14th to 19th centuries.

12. Introduction
The Ming Dynasty lasted over 280 years from its establishment in Nanjing AD to 1644.
The early reign of the Qing Dynasty lasted over 190 years from Emperor Shunzhi’s entry into Beijing in 1644 to the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840.

13. Introduction
During this period, economic and cultural between the East and the West became more and more frequent. The opening of new navigation routes linked almost all corners of the globe.

14. Introduction
With the Industrial Revolution in the West, capitalism progressed rapidly.
However, China was left behind the phrase of history, due to the restrictions imposed by the feudal political and economic structure, which hampered the development of commerce. But aggression by Western colonialists forced the Chinese feudal rulers to change their attitude to the outside world.

15. Founder: Zhu Yuanzhang
Zhu Yuanzhang was a born into a poor peasant family.
In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues, and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu rose to command the force that conquered China and ended the Yuan Dynasty.

16. Zheng He’s voyages
In the early Ming Dynasty, China was one of the most advanced and developed countries in the world. In order to transmit the national power and strengthen contacts with other countries, Emperor Chengzu sent Zheng He on six voyages to the Western Ocean (Southeast Asia west of Brunei and the Indian Ocean) on a diplomatic missions. Zheng He’s seventh and last voyage was authorized by Emperor Chengzu’s successor.

17. Zheng He’s voyages
In 1405, Zheng He ( AD) embarked on his first voyage.
His fleet of more than 200 ships carried well over 20,000 men, and large amounts of gold, precious stones, porcelain and silk to be used for trade and as gifts.
The fleet sailed westwards as far as the Red Sea.
The round trip took two years, some of the countries they visited dispatched envoys bearing tribute to the Ming court on Zheng’s ships. Subsequent voyages took Zheng to the east coast of Africa.
Zheng’s voyages were a great feet in the world’s navigation history. There are still some buildings in Southeast Asia dedicated to his memory.

18. Zheng Chenggong Recovers Taiwan
Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China since ancient time.
In 1624 AD, Dutch colonialists started to build forts and seize territory on Taiwan. In 1661, Zheng Chenggong, a Ming general, set out with an army from Jimen, resolved to drive the Dutch from Taiwan.
Zheng’s forces besieged the Dutch in today’s Tainan City and cut off their water supply. Refusing a huge bribe from the Dutch commander, Zheng forced the enemy to surrender, and expelled the Dutch from Taiwan once and for all in 1662.

19. Data: a brief history of China’s administration of Taiwan
In 230 AD, Sun Quan, ruler of the state of Wu in Three Kingdom Period, sent his envoy Wei Wen to Taiwan.
In 607 AD, Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty, sent ministers to Taiwan to reassure the local people.
In 1292, Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, sent ministers to Taiwan to reassure the local people.
In 1335, the Yuan Dynasty set up the Penghu Inspectorate as the official administration of Taiwan.
In 1684, the Qing Dynasty set up the Taiwan Prefecture.

20. Li Shizhen and Bencaogangmu
Li Shizhen ( AD) determined to write a definitive material medica. He spent 30 years on his life’s work, which he completed at the age of 60.
His book, titled with Bencaogangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) contains details of 1,800 kinds of herbs and other medicinal materials, 10,000 prescriptions and over 1,000 illustrations. It was the most scientific description of traditional Chinese medicine of its time, and still used today, having been translated into several major languages.

21. Peasant Uprising
Li Zicheng was a Chinese rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over China briefly as the emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty before his death a year later.

22. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
The Qing dynasty (1644–1911) was the last imperial dynasty in China. Founded by the Manchus, it was the second non-Han Chinese dynasty to rule all over Chinese territory. The Manchus were formerly known as Jurchen, residing in the northeastern part of the Ming territory outside the Great Wall. They emerged as the major threat to the late Ming dynasty after Nurhaci united all Jurchen tribes and established an independent state. However, the Ming dynasty would be overthrown by Li Zicheng's peasants rebellion, with Beijing captured in 1644 and the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen committing suicide.

23. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
The Manchus enforced a 'queue order,' forcing the Han Chinese to adopt the Manchu queue hairstyle. The traditional Han clothing, or Hanfu, was also replaced by Manchu-style clothing Qipao (bannermen dress and Tangzhuang).

24. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
The Kangxi Emperor ordered the creation of Kangxi Dictionary, the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters that had been compiled.
The Qing dynasty set up the "Eight Banners" system that provided the basic framework for the Qing military organization. Bannermen could not undertake trade or manual labour; they had to petition to be removed from banner status. They were considered a form of nobility and were given preferential treatment in terms of annual pensions, land and allotments of cloth.

26. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
The Manchu allied with the Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui to seize Beijing, which was made the capital of the Qing dynasty, and then proceeded to subdue the remaining Ming's resistance in the south. The decades of Manchu conquest caused enormous loss of lives and the economic scale of China shrank drastically.
Nevertheless, the Manchus adopted the Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government in their rule and were considered a Chinese dynasty.

27. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
Over the next half-century, all areas previously under the Ming dynasty were consolidated under the Qing. Xinjiang, Tibet, and Mongolia were also formally incorporated into Chinese territory.

29. Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911)
By the end of Qianlong Emperor's long reign, the Qing Empire was at its zenith. China ruled more than one-third of the world's population, and had the largest economy in the world. By area it was one of the largest empires ever.

30. The golden age of three emperors
The reigns of the Qing emperors Kangxi ( AD), Yongzheng ( AD) and Qianlong ( AD) marked a period of unprecedented prosperity both politically and economically.

31. The golden age of three emperors
Kangxi enjoyed the longest reign in Chinese history. During his reign, the separatist activities in Mongolia and Tibet were quashed, and control of Taiwan was wrested from Zheng Chenggong’s descendants. In addition, encroachment from tsarist Russia was halted. Kangxi thus made great contributions to the territorial integrity of the country, as well as to its security and prosperity.

32. The golden age of three emperors
Emperor Yongzheng proved a worthy successor to Kangxi’s policies.
Emperor Qianlong also strengthened the central government’s control over the ethnic-minority areas, particularly in Tibet.