Periods of Unity and Division

    In the 3rd century BC, the emperors of Ch'in, for the first time, conquered the divided, warring states and established a well-defined border.  For the first time after centuries of division, China was united.  However, after fewer than twenty years, the descendents of the states that the emperors of Ch'in had subjugated revolted against the despotic regime of Ch'in and re-established their vanquished nations.
    A few years after the collapse of the Ch'in dynasty, the Han dynasty unified the country.  Although the government of the Han dynasty experienced some powerful insurrection from the peasantry, the unified nation lasted approximately four hundred years before the famous Three Kingdoms took over.  The Three Kingdoms, Wei, Shu, and Wu, fought battles against one another for dozens of years and their boundaries barely moved as a result.
    One of the dominant courtiers in the Wei government, Sze-ma Yen debilitated and overthrew his incompetent emperor, from whom Sze-ma arrogated the position.  Sze-ma established the dynasty of Chin, which lasted only approximately three hundred and fifty years because of invasions by nomadic ethnic groups and the collapse of the government that resulted from internal insurgency.  The nomadic ethnic groups, consisting of five different races, in addition to the Han race, established sixteen small states throughout China, four southern dynasties that occupied only south of the Yang-tze River, and five northern dynasties that resided in the northern part of China.  Border clashes occurred frequently and the chaos in China was the greatest in history.
    The Sui dynasty again exorcised the chaos, and the Tang dynasty followed soon after, with little to no resistance from the common people.  Northern invasions persisted yet barely any disorder existed on the border.  Although pandemonium still was prevalent in the government, the overall period was peaceful.  When the Tang dynasty was shattered to pieces, five subsequent dynasties ensued, one after another.  Aside from the Five Dynasties, up to ten small, divided states existed simultaneously until the Song dynasty was founded by the emperor Chao Kuang-ying.
    Chao's dynasty relished a short period of peace, and the power of northern invasions by other races became ever-increasing.  The dynasty of Liao, established by the race Chi-tan, pushed the border of the Song dynasty down until it was south of the Yellow River.  The dynasty of Chin, established by the race Manchu, pulverized the dynasty of Liao and pushed the border of the Song dynasty even more south.  The Late Song dynasty's northern border was only south of the Yang-tze River. 
    The Mongolians undermined the power of Manchu from behind and crushed the unwary dynasty with their powerful cavalry.  Then they incorporated the whole China into the enormous Mongolian Empire, which stretched from the Pacific Ocean to as far as Moscow and Ukraine in Europe.  However, the Yuen dynasty (the Mongolian Empire) only enjoyed eighty years of peace.  The government's suppression of all races other than the Mongolians provoked rebellions among the peasants, and the Yuen dynasty disintegrated by the army led by Chu Yuen-chang, who had taken over his father-in-law's army.
    Chu's dynasty, Ming, lasted fewer than three hundred years, and confronted attacks from all sides, including invasion from the north by Manchu and numerous martial conflicts from the west.  Very soon the Chinese dynasty was replaced by the Manchurian.