Chinese Empire

The Empire of China (Chinese: 中國帝國, Pinyin: Zhōngguó dìguó) is a large nation, the second largest in the world and the largest nation entirely in Asia at 13,321,744 square kilometers. It borders (clockwise from the east) Japan, Indochina, Burma, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, India, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

It is also the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.5 billion, and is also the largest democracy, led by Empress Catherine IV and the current Prime Minister is Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.

Etymology
The word "China" is derived from the Persian word Chin (چین), which is from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन). It is first recorded in 1516 in the journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The journal was translated and published in England in 1555. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that Cīna is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty. However, the word was used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata (5th century BC) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BC).

The official name of the present country is the Empire of China (Chinese: 中國帝國; pinyin: Zhōngguó dìguó). The common Chinese names for the country are Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中國, from zhōng, "central" or "middle", and guó, "state" or "states," and in modern times, "nation") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中國), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhōngguó appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BCE, and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbarians". The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states or provinces in the central plain, but was not used as a name for the country as a whole until the nineteenth century. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", with other civilizations having the same view of themselves.

Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250,000 and 2.24 million years ago. A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) exhibits hominid fossils dated at between 680,000 and 780,000 BCE. The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire. The Peking Man site has also yielded remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000–11,000 BCE. Some scholars assert that a form of proto-writing existed in China as early as 3000 BCE.

According to Chinese tradition, the first imperial dynasty was the Xia, which emerged around 2070 BCE. However, the dynasty was considered mythical by historians until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou, Henan in 1959. It remains unclear whether these sites are the remains of the Xia Dynasty or of another culture from the same period.

Early dynastic rule
The first Chinese dynasty that left historical records, the loosely feudal Shang, settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BCE. The oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found, and is a direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters. The Shang were conquered by the Zhou, who ruled between the 12th and 5th centuries BCE, until its centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou state and continually waged war with each other in the 300-year Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven powerful sovereign states in what is now China, each with its own king, ministry and army.

Imperial China
The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE, after the state of Qin conquered the other six kingdoms and established the first unified Chinese state. Qin Shi Huang, the emperor of Qin, proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (始皇帝) and imposed reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.

The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that has endured to the present day. The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world. The Han Dynasty adopted Confucianism, a philosophy developed in the Spring and Autumn period, as its official state ideology. Despite the Han's official abandonment of Legalism, the official ideology of the Qin, Legalist institutions and policies remained and formed the basis of the Han government.

After the collapse of Han, a period of disunion known as the period of the Three Kingdoms followed. In 581 CE, China was reunited under the Sui. However, the Sui Dynasty declined following its defeat in the Goguryeo–Sui War (598–614).

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture entered a golden age. The An Shi Rebellion in the 8th century devastated the country and weakened the dynasty. The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size to around 100 million people, mostly due to the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song Dynasty also saw a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own and trade precious artworks. The Song Dynasty saw a revival of Confucianism, in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang.

Detail from "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", a 12th-century painting showing everyday life in the Song Dynasty's capital city, Bianjing (today's Kaifeng) In the 13th century, China was gradually conquered by the Mongol empire. In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty; the Yuan conquered the last remnant of the Song Dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty. Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that Zheng He led explorations throughout the world, reaching as far as Africa. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. During the Ming Dynasty, philosophers such as Wang Yangming further critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and innate morality.

In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official who led the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty, with some Japanese help.

Early Qing
Initially, Qing administrators were content to leave the country in isolation. Thus, it kept itself, only trading with Eastern Asian and generally unaware of Japanese imperialism except through increased trade with Japan instead of other states. However, in 1776, China, then being underdeveloped opened its doors and joined the Asian Trade League. In the 1780s to the early 1800s, the Oyugun Khan of Dzungaria conquered Central Asia, taking present day Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

By 1820, China proper had rapidly industrialized, but much of the country was still agrarian and rural.

The Great Leap Forward
In 1820, the Daoguang Emperor or Henry I took the throne and while it slowly developed for the first fifteen years, it began accelerating by 1835. The first railroad opened, linking Beijing with Shanghai, and by 1840, a network of railroads were set up, with one line going from Kyzyl (present day Turkmenbasy, Turkmenistan) on the Caspian to Shanghai on the East China Sea.

As a result, with telegraph wires, Han culture began to spread throughout China. Industry began to spring up on a massive scale and China

Geography


China lays between 18°N and 54°N in latitude and between 73°E and 139°E. As a result, it has a large climate.

Owing to tremendous differences in latitude, longitude, and altitude, the climate of China is extremely diverse, ranging from tropical in the far south to subarctic in the far north and alpine in the higher elevations of the Tibetan Plateau. Monsoon winds, caused by differences in the heat-absorbing capacity of the continent and the ocean, dominate the climate. During the summer, the East Asian Monsoon carries warm and moist air from the south and delivers the vast majority of the annual precipitation in much of the country. Conversely, the Siberian anticyclone dominates during winter, bringing cold and (comparatively) dry conditions. The advance and retreat of the monsoons account in large degree for the timing of the rainy season throughout the country. Although most of the country lies in the temperate belt, its climatic patterns are complex.

The highest point of China is Mount Everest at around 8,850m, and the lowest is at Ayding Lake in Qurighar, at 154m below sea level. It is also home to the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility, generally regarded to be at 320 km (200 mi) from Urumqi, though Tos-Bulak in northern Mongolia also claims to have that claim.

Politics
The Empire of China is a multiparty democracy operating under the Westminster system. It is divided into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial on the federal level, but the regions have substantial autonomy.

Parliament
Parliament (Chinese: 議會, Yìhuì) is the legislative branch of government, and is divided into two chambers:


 * The House of Commons (下議院), a 500 seat body elected by all Chinese citizens over the age of 18
 * The Senate (參議院), a 138 seat body who is appointed by the Emperor on the advice of the Prime Minister

The leader of the majority party (with the most seats) is Prime Minister of the Chinese Empire.

Executive
The executive is divided into two parts.

The head of state is the Emperor of China (中國的皇帝), currently Empress Catherine IV (b. 1920) since 1981, when her mother, Catherine III (b. 1892, d. 1981) died. Catherine IV plans to abdicate on August 10th to her son, Prince Rory, making him the first male Emperor since 1937 when Henry II died. She has the right to royal perogative and can veto laws.

The head of government is the Prime Minister of China (中國總理), currently Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj since 2013 from the Reformist Party.

Administrative divisions
The first-level divisions are the regions (區域). Clockwise from NE, they are Manchuria, China proper, Tibet, Qurighar, and Mongolia. They have substantial autonomy with some modifications of the law code (China uses common law due to British influence), their own official languages, in charge of regulations, education, healthcare, and taxation. They were first set up in 1967 with the Administrative Reform Act, 1967, that decentralized Chinese government. Thus, in many areas, jurisdiction is under regional control, but save for foreign affairs (besides cultural ties), defense, establishing new prefectures, and monetary policies, they are in charge and thus, many examples of concurrent jurisdiction have occurred.

China has 295 second-order prefectures (地區), with 12 more prefectures created since 1967 following the Administrative Reform Act of 1967 which set up the regions. From 1907 (with the Administrative Reform Act of 1907) to 1967, they were the first-level divisions, with 415 examples. They had almost no power, but since the reforms in 1967, the regions can give the prefectures as much autonomy as they want that is not specified as either exclusively federal or regional, or both.

Culture
Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism and conservative philosophies. For much of the country's dynastic era, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious imperial examinations, which have their origins in the Han Dynasty. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy, poetry and painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama. Chinese culture has long emphasized a sense of deep history and a largely inward-looking national perspective. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.