Historical Events

Qin's conquests in 221 BC created a single empire for the first time; Han then held it together for four centuries and gave the Chinese their own name for themselves. The Silk Road opened, Confucianism became state doctrine, and the template of imperial rule was set.

The Song never ruled all of China. Liao, Western Xia and the Jurchen Jin held the north and north-west, and the Song paid tribute to buy peace. Inside its borders, though, came printing, paper money, a merchant navy and mass civil-service examinations.