dynasties of China

The Chinese character {{zhc|c={{linktext|朝}}|p=cháo}} originally meant "morning" or "today". Subsequently, its scope was extended to refer to the regime of the incumbent ruler. Terms commonly used when discussing historical Chinese dynasties include:

• {{zhc|p=cháo|c=朝|l=dynasty}}
• {{zhc|p=cháodài|c=朝代|l=dynastic era}}
• {{zhc|p=wángcháo|c=王朝|l=royal dynasty}}{{efn|While the character {{zhc|c=王|p=wáng}} is translated as "king", this term is often more broadly applied to all dynasties, including those whose rulers held non-royal titles, such as "emperor".{{cite web|website=The Paper|url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1864544|title=陆大鹏谈翻译：历史上的"王朝"与"皇朝"|access-date=4 August 2020|language=zh}}}}
• {{zhc|p=huángcháo|c=皇朝|l=imperial dynasty}}

File:King Yu of Xia.jpg, the initiator of dynastic rule in China, by the Southern Song court painter Ma Lin.]]

As the founder of China's first orthodox dynasty, the Xia dynasty, Yu the Great is conventionally regarded as the inaugurator of dynastic rule in China.{{cite book|last1=Ebrey|first1=Patricia|last2=Liu|first2=Kwang-Ching|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of China|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vr81YoYK0c4C&q=yu+the+great+dynastic+rule&pg=PA10|page=10|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521124331}}{{efn|name="Pre-Xia"}} In the Chinese dynastic system, sovereign rulers theoretically possessed absolute power and private ownership of the realm, even though in practice their actual power was dependent on numerous factors.{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Joseph|title=Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zaj3AAAAQBAJ&q=jia+tian+xia&pg=PA213|page=213|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400848690}}{{efn|name="Constitution"|In AD 1906, the Qing dynasty initiated a series of reforms under the auspices of the Empress Xiaoqinxian to transition to a constitutional monarchy. On 27 August 1908, the Outline of the Constitution Compiled by Imperial Order was promulgated and served as a preliminary version of a full constitution originally intended to take effect 10 years later.{{cite book|last1=Koenig|first1=Lion|last2=Chaudhuri|first2=Bidisha|title=Politics of the 'Other' in India and China: Western Concepts in Non-Western Contexts|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GeaCwAAQBAJ&q=Principles+of+the+Constitution+qing&pg=PA157|page=157|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317530558}} On 3 November 1911, as a response to the ongoing Xinhai Revolution, the Qing dynasty issued the Nineteen Major Articles of Good Faith on the Constitution which limited the power of the Qing emperor, marking the official transition to a constitutional monarchy.{{cite book|last1=Gao|first1=Quanxi|last2=Zhang|first2=Wei|last3=Tian|first3=Feilong|title=The Road to the Rule of Law in Modern China|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eBsBgAAQBAJ&q=qing+constitution+1911+19+creed&pg=PA135|page=135|publisher=Springer |isbn=9783662456378}}{{cite book|last1=To|first1=Michael|title=China's Quest for a Modern Constitutional Polity: from dynastic empires to modern republics|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZsEzDwAAQBAJ&q=qing+constitution+1911+19+creed&pg=PA54|page=54}} The Qing dynasty, however, was overthrown on 12 February 1912.}} By tradition, the Chinese throne was inherited exclusively by members of the male line, but there were numerous cases whereby the consort kins came to possess de facto power at the expense of the monarchs.{{cite book|last1=Whitaker|first1=Donald|last2=Shinn|first2=Rinn-Sup|title=Area Handbook for the People's Republic of China|year=1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXl80SVbbjoC&q=chinese+throne+inheritance+male+line&pg=PA37|page=37}}{{efn|name="ConsortKin"|A powerful consort kin, usually a male, could force the reigning monarch to abdicate in his favor, thereby prompting a change in dynasty. For example, Wang Mang of the Xin dynasty was a nephew of the Empress Xiaoyuan who in turn was the spouse of the Western Han ruler, the Emperor Yuan of Han.{{cite book|last1=Xiong|first1=Deshan|title=Social History Of China|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=90stDQAAQBAJ&q=wang+mang+wang+zhengjun+emperor+yuan&pg=PA95|page=95|publisher=World Scientific |isbn=9781938368264}}}} This concept, known as {{transl|zh|jiā tiānxià}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|家天下}}; "All under Heaven belongs to the ruling family"), was in contrast to the pre-Xia notion of {{transl|zh|gōng tiānxià}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|公天下}}; "All under Heaven belongs to the public") whereby leadership succession was non-hereditary and based on the abdication system.{{cite book|last1=Qi|first1=Zhixiang|title=中國現當代人學史：思想演變的時代特徵及其歷史軌跡|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPcCDAAAQBAJ&q=公天下&pg=PA21|page=21|publisher=獨立作家 |isbn=9789869244923}}

There may also be a predynastic period before a regime managed to overthrow the existing dynasty which led to the official establishment of the new dynasty. For example, the state of Zhou that existed during the Shang dynasty, before its conquest of the Shang which led to the establishment of the Zhou dynasty, is referred to as the Predynastic Zhou{{Cite book|title = Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan|author = Gina L. Barnes|publisher = Oxbow Books|year = 2015|isbn = 9781785700712|page = 45}} or Proto-Zhou.{{Cite book|title = The Lloyd Cotsen Study Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors: Volume 2|author = Lothar von Falkenhausen|publisher = Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press|year = 2012|isbn = 9781950446445|page = 44}} Similarly, the state of Qin that existed during the Zhou dynasty before its wars of unification and the establishment of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC is also referred to as the Predynastic Qin{{Cite book|title = The Archaeology of Early China |author1-link=Gideon Shelach-Lavi

|author = Gideon Shelach-Lavi|publisher = Cambridge University Press|year = 2015|isbn = 9780521196895|page = 314}}{{Cite book|title = Age of Empires: Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties|author = Zhixin Sun|publisher = Metropolitan Museum of Art|year = 2017|isbn = 9781588396174|page = 33}} or Proto-Qin.{{Cite book|title = Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC)|author = Lothar von Falkenhausen|publisher = Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press|year = 2006|isbn = 9781938770456|page = 235}}

File:Shanhaiguan.gif, a decisive battle fought during the Ming–Qing transition. The victorious Qing dynasty extended its rule into China proper thereafter.]]

The rise and fall of dynasties is a prominent feature of Chinese history. Some scholars have attempted to explain this phenomenon by attributing the success and failure of dynasties to the morality of the rulers, while others have focused on the tangible aspects of monarchical rule.{{cite book|last1=Perdue|first1=Peter|title=China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&q=dynastic+cycle+china&pg=PA6|page=6|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674042025}} This method of explanation has come to be known as the dynastic cycle.{{cite book|last1=Elleman|first1=Bruce|last2=Paine|first2=Sarah|title=Modern China: Continuity and Change, 1644 to the Present|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-SEDwAAQBAJ&q=dynastic+cycle&pg=PA19|page=19|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538103876}}{{cite book|last1=Zheng|first1=Yongnian|last2=Huang|first2=Yanjie|title=Market in State: The Political Economy of Domination in China|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHpnDwAAQBAJ&q=dynastic+cycle+john+fairbank&pg=PA83|page=83|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108473446}}

Cases of dynastic transition ({{lang|zh-Hant|改朝換代}}; {{transl|zh|gǎi cháo huàn dài}}) in the history of China occurred primarily through two ways: military conquest and usurpation.{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/2vj832e.html|title=我国古代改朝换代的方式不外乎两种，哪种才是主流？|access-date=18 November 2019}} The supersession of the Liao dynasty by the Jin dynasty was achieved following a series of successful military campaigns, as was the later unification of China proper under the Yuan dynasty; on the other hand, the transition from the Eastern Han to the Cao Wei, as well as from the Southern Qi to the Liang dynasty, were cases of usurpation. Oftentimes, usurpers would seek to portray their predecessors as having relinquished the throne willingly—akin to the abdication system of throne succession—as a means to legitimize their rule.{{cite book|last1=Fan|first1=Shuzhi|title=国史精讲|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xgzAQAAIAAJ&q=禅让+篡位|page=99|publisher=Fudan University Press |isbn=9787309055634}}

One might incorrectly infer from viewing historical timelines that transitions between dynasties occurred abruptly and roughly. Rather, new dynasties were often established before the complete overthrow of an existing regime.{{cite book|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Endymion|title=Chinese History: A Manual|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERnrQq0bsPYC&q=chinese+dynastic+name+guohao&pg=PA13|page=14|publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center |isbn=9780674002494}} For example, AD 1644 is frequently cited as the year in which the Qing dynasty succeeded the Ming dynasty in possessing the Mandate of Heaven. However, the Qing dynasty was officially proclaimed in AD 1636 by the Emperor Taizong of Qing through renaming the Later Jin established in AD 1616, while the Ming imperial family would rule the Southern Ming until AD 1662.{{cite book|last1=Perkins|first1=Dorothy|title=Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMQeAgAAQBAJ&q=qing+dynasty+later+jin&pg=PA1|page=1|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135935627}}{{cite book|last1=Di Cosmo|first1=Nicola|title=The Diary of a Manchu Soldier in Seventeenth-Century China: "My Service in the Army", by Dzengseo|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8piRAgAAQBAJ&q=southern+ming&pg=PA1|page=1|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135789558}} The Ming loyalist Kingdom of Tungning based in Taiwan continued to oppose the Qing until AD 1683.{{cite book|last1=Elman|first1=Benjamin|title=A Cultural History of Modern Science in China|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIfkH9EWUngC&q=southern+ming&pg=PA46|page=46|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674023062}} Meanwhile, other factions also fought for control over China during the Ming–Qing transition, most notably the Shun and the Xi dynasties proclaimed by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong respectively.{{cite book|last1=Tanner|first1=Harold|title=China: A History|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIWC9wCX2c8C&q=shun+dynasty&pg=PA335|page=335|publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0872209152}}{{cite book|last1=Pines|first1=Yuri|title=The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwoM6gOPydEC&q=zhang+xianzhong+great+xi&pg=PA157|page=157|isbn=978-0691134956}}{{cite book|last1=Mote|first1=Frederick|title=Imperial China 900-1800|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQWW7QgUH4gC&q=zhang+xianzhong+great+xi&pg=PA798|page=798|isbn=9780674012127}} This change of ruling houses was a convoluted and prolonged affair, and the Qing took almost two decades to extend their rule over the entirety of China proper.

Similarly, during the earlier Sui–Tang transition, numerous regimes established by rebel forces vied for control and legitimacy as the power of the ruling Sui dynasty weakened. Autonomous regimes that existed during this period of upheaval included, but not limited to, Wei ({{lang|zh-Hant|魏}}; by Li Mi), Qin ({{lang|zh-Hant|秦}}; by Xue Ju), Qi ({{lang|zh-Hant|齊}}; by Gao Tancheng), Xu ({{lang|zh-Hant|許}}; by Yuwen Huaji), Liang ({{lang|zh-Hant|梁}}; by Shen Faxing), Liang ({{lang|zh-Hant|梁}}; by Liang Shidu), Xia ({{lang|zh-Hant|夏}}; by Dou Jiande), Zheng ({{lang|zh-Hant|鄭}}; by Wang Shichong), Chu ({{lang|zh-Hant|楚}}; by Zhu Can), Chu ({{lang|zh-Hant|楚}}; by Lin Shihong), Wu ({{lang|zh-Hant|吳}}; by Li Zitong), Yan ({{lang|zh-Hant|燕}}; by Gao Kaidao), and Song ({{lang|zh-Hant|宋}}; by Fu Gongshi). The Tang dynasty that superseded the Sui launched a decade-long military campaign to reunify China proper.{{cite book|last1=Skaff|first1=Jonathan|title=Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTm6Yka5GigC&q=rebel+during+sui+tang+transition&pg=PA80|page=80|isbn=9780199734139}}

{{anchor|Er Wang San Ke}}Frequently, remnants and descendants of previous dynasties were either purged or granted noble titles in accordance with the "two crownings, three respects" system. The latter served as a means for the reigning dynasty to claim legitimate succession from earlier dynasties. For example, the Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei was accorded the title "Prince of Zhongshan" by the Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi following the latter's deposition of the former.{{cite book|last1=Gong|first1=Yin|title=中国民族政策史|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxhKAQAAIAAJ&q=東魏孝静帝+中山王|page=253|isbn=9787220071041}} Similarly, Chai Yong, a nephew of the Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, was conferred the title "Duke of Chongyi" by the Emperor Renzong of Song; other descendants of the Later Zhou ruling house came to inherit the noble title thereafter.{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Cheng|title=禅让：中国历史上的一种权力游戏|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-gyAQAAIAAJ&q=柴咏+崇义公|page=200|isbn=9787801066961}}

According to Chinese historiographical tradition, each new dynasty would compose the history of the preceding dynasty, culminating in the Twenty-Four Histories.{{cite book|last1=Stunkel|first1=Kenneth|title=Fifty Key Works of History and Historiography|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9pem7Ip_WUgC&q=a+new+dynasty+took+on+responsibility+to+write+the+history+of+the+previous+dynasty&pg=PA143|page=143|isbn=9781136723667}} This tradition was maintained even after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in favor of the Republic of China. However, the attempt by the Republicans to draft the history of the Qing was disrupted by the Chinese Civil War, which resulted in the political division of China into the People's Republic of China on mainland China and the Republic of China on Taiwan.{{cite book|last1=Horner|first1=Charles|title=Rising China and Its Postmodern Fate: Memories of Empire in a New Global Context|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=debJCgAAQBAJ&q=draft+history+of+qing+republic+of+china&pg=PA59|page=59|isbn=9780820335889}}

File:Puyi (1922).jpg, widely considered to be the last legitimate monarch of China, taken in AD 1922.]]

Dynastic rule in China collapsed in AD 1912 when the Republic of China superseded the Qing dynasty following the success of the Xinhai Revolution.{{cite book|last1=Moody|first1=Alys|last2=Ross|first2=Stephen|title=Global Modernists on Modernism: An Anthology|year=2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DLjIDwAAQBAJ&q=china+dynastic+rule+four+millennia&pg=PA282|page=282|isbn=9781474242349}}{{cite book|last1=Grosse|first1=Christine|title=The Global Manager's Guide to Cultural Literacy|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5n-XDwAAQBAJ&q=xinhai+revolution+dynastic+rule&pg=PA71|page=71|isbn=9781527533875}} While there were attempts after the Xinhai Revolution to reinstate dynastic rule in China, they were unsuccessful at consolidating their rule and gaining political legitimacy.

During the Xinhai Revolution, there were numerous proposals advocating for the replacement of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty by a new dynasty of Han ethnicity. Kong Lingyi ({{lang|zh-Hant|孔令貽}}), the Duke of Yansheng and a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius, was identified as a potential candidate for Chinese emperorship by Liang Qichao.{{cite book|last1=Rošker|first1=Jana|last2=Suhadolnik|first2=Nataša|title=Modernisation of Chinese Culture: Continuity and Change|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECJQBwAAQBAJ&q=put+a+descendant+of+Confucius+on+the+throne+Duke+Yansheng&pg=PA74|page=74|isbn=9781443867726}} Meanwhile, gentry in Anhui and Hebei supported a restoration of the Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuxun ({{lang|zh-Hant|朱煜勳}}), the Marquis of Extended Grace.{{cite book|last1=Aldrich|first1=M. A.|title=The Search for a Vanishing Beijing: A Guide to China's Capital Through the Ages|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMMvxX67FpIC&q=Marquis+of+Extended+Grace&pg=PA176|page=176|isbn=9789622097773}} Both suggestions were ultimately rejected.

The Empire of China (AD 1915–1916) proclaimed by Yuan Shikai sparked the National Protection War, resulting in the premature collapse of the regime 101 days later.{{cite book|last1=Schillinger|first1=Nicholas|title=The Body and Military Masculinity in Late Qing and Early Republican China: The Art of Governing Soldiers|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moZwDQAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+of+yuan+shikai+empire+of+china&pg=PA176|page=176|isbn=9781498531696}} The Manchu Restoration (AD 1917) was an unsuccessful attempt at reviving the Qing dynasty, lasting merely 11 days.{{cite book|last1=Hao|first1=Shiyuan|title=China's Solution to Its Ethno-national Issues|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qcm1DwAAQBAJ&q=puyi+restoration+1917&pg=PA51|page=51|isbn=9789813295193}} Similarly, the Manchukuo (AD 1932–1945; monarchy since AD 1934), a puppet state of the Empire of Japan during World War II with limited diplomatic recognition, is not regarded as a legitimate regime.{{cite book|last1=Wells|first1=Anne|title=The A to Z of World War II: The War Against Japan|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ptE9EGO_WUC&q=legitimacy+of+manchukuo&pg=PA167|page=167|isbn=9780810870260}} Ergo, historians usually consider the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor on 12 February 1912 as the end of the Chinese dynastic system. Dynastic rule in China lasted almost four millennia.

File:Seal of Qing dynasty.svg with "{{transl|zh|Dà Qīng Dìguó zhī xǐ}}" ({{lang|zh-Hant|大清帝國之璽}}; "Seal of the Great Qing Empire") rendered in seal script. Seals were a symbol of political authority and legitimacy.]]

China was politically divided during multiple periods in its history, with different regions ruled by different dynasties. These dynasties effectively functioned as separate states with their own court and political institutions. Political division existed during the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Northern and Southern dynasties, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods, among others.

Relations between Chinese dynasties during periods of division often revolved around political legitimacy, which was derived from the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven.{{cite book|last1=Wu|first1=Bin|title=Government Performance Management in China: Theory and Practice|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dl6mDwAAQBAJ&q=political+legitimacy+of+imperial+china&pg=PA45|pages=44–45|isbn=9789811382253}} Dynasties ruled by ethnic Han would proclaim rival dynasties founded by other ethnicities as illegitimate, usually justified based on the concept of Hua–Yi distinction. On the other hand, many dynasties of non-Han origin saw themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China and often sought to portray themselves as the true inheritor of Chinese culture and history. Traditionally, only regimes deemed as "legitimate" or "orthodox" ({{lang|zh-Hant|正統}}; {{transl|zh|zhèngtǒng}}) are termed {{transl|zh|cháo}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|朝}}; "dynasty"); "illegitimate" or "unorthodox" regimes are referred to as {{transl|zh|guó}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|國}}; usually translated as either "state" or "kingdom"{{efn|name="Kingdom"|The term "kingdom" is potentially misleading as not all rulers held the title of king. For example, all sovereigns of the Cao Wei held the title {{transl|zh|huángdì}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|皇帝}}; "emperor") during their reign despite the realm being listed as one of the "Three Kingdoms". Similarly, monarchs of the Western Qin, one of the "Sixteen Kingdoms", bore the title {{transl|zh|wáng}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|王}}; usually translated as "prince" in English writings).}}), even if these regimes were dynastic in nature.{{cite web|url=http://www.todayonhistory.com/people/201910/36697.html|title=历史上的国和代到底有什么区别？|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=15 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115035420/http://www.todayonhistory.com/people/201910/36697.html|url-status=dead}}

Such legitimacy disputes existed during the following periods:

• Three Kingdoms{{cite book|last1=Besio|first1=Kimberly|title=Three Kingdoms and Chinese Culture|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhogHgTrzyEC&q=legitimacy+during+three+kingdoms&pg=PA64|page=64|isbn=9780791480496}}
• The Cao Wei, the Shu Han, and the Eastern Wu considered themselves legitimate while simultaneously denounced the rivaling claims of others.
• The Emperor Xian of Han abdicated in favor of the Emperor Wen of Cao Wei; hence, the Cao Wei directly succeeded the Eastern Han in orthodox historiography.
• The Western Jin accepted the Cao Wei as the legitimate dynasty of the Three Kingdoms period and claimed succession from it.
• The Tang dynasty viewed the Cao Wei as the legitimate dynasty during this period, whereas the Southern Song scholar Zhu Xi proposed treating the Shu Han as legitimate.{{cite journal|last1=Baaquie|first1=Belal Ehsan|last2=Wang|first2=Qing-Hai|year=2018|title=Chinese Dynasties and Modern China: Unification and Fragmentation|journal=China and the World: Ancient and Modern Silk Road|volume=1|issue=1|page=5|doi=10.1142/S2591729318500037|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|last1=Nosco|first1=Peter|title=Confucianism and Tokugawa Culture|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcTE3TUssCAC&q=shu+han+continuation+of+the+legitimate+Han+dynasty+chu+hsi&pg=PA68|page=68|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824818654}}
• Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms{{cite book|last1=Holcombe|first1=Charles|title=A History of East Asia|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYKlDQAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+during+eastern+jin+dynasty+sixteen+kingdoms&pg=PA63|pages=62–63|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107118737}}
• The Eastern Jin viewed itself as a continuation of the Western Jin, and thus legitimate.
• Several of the Sixteen Kingdoms such as the Han-Zhao, the Later Zhao, and the Former Qin also claimed legitimacy.
• Northern and Southern dynasties{{cite book|last1=Yang|first1=Shao-yun|title=The Way of the Barbarians: Redrawing Ethnic Boundaries in Tang and Song China|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5K3DwAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+during+northern+and+southern+dynasties&pg=PA63|page=63|publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295746012}}
• All dynasties during this period saw themselves as the legitimate representative of China; the Northern dynasties referred to their southern counterparts as "{{transl|zh|dǎoyí}}" ({{lang|zh-Hant|島夷}}; "island dwelling barbarians"), while the Southern dynasties called their northern neighbors "{{transl|zh|suǒlǔ}}" ({{lang|zh-Hant|索虜}}; "barbarians with braids").{{cite book|last1=Chen|first1=Huaiyu|title=The Revival of Buddhist Monasticism in Medieval China|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qCNXQSG7mUC&q=daoyi+northern+and+southern+dynasties&pg=PA24|page=24|publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=9780820486246}}{{cite book|last1=Wakeman|first1=Frederic|title=The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-century China, Volume 1|year=1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nXLwSG2O8AC&q=suolu+barbarian&pg=PA446|page=446|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520048041}}
• Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms{{cite book|last1=Liu|first1=Pujiang|title=正统与华夷：中国传统政治文化研究|year=2017|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YWZ0DwAAQBAJ&q=十国正统&pg=PT29|isbn=9787101125795}}
• Having directly succeeded the Tang dynasty, the Later Liang considered itself to be a legitimate dynasty.
• The Later Tang regarded itself as the restorer of the earlier Tang dynasty and rejected the legitimacy of its predecessor, the Later Liang.
• The Later Jin succeeded the Later Tang and accepted it as a legitimate regime.
• The Southern Tang was, for a period of time, considered the legitimate dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
• Since the Song dynasty, Chinese historiography has generally considered the Five Dynasties, as opposed to the contemporary Ten Kingdoms, to be legitimate.{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Thomas|title=Education in Traditional China: A History|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvLACfv6egkC&q=five+dynasties+and+ten+kingdoms+legitimacy&pg=PA238|page=238|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004103635}}
• Liao dynasty, Song dynasty, and Jin dynasty{{cite book|last1=Ng|first1=On Cho|last2=Wang|first2=Edward|title=Mirroring the Past: The Writing And Use of History in Imperial China|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN99fsHpbTsC&q=legitimacy+during+song+liao+jin&pg=PA177|page=177|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824829131}}
• Following the conquest of the Later Jin, the Liao dynasty claimed legitimacy and succession from it{{cite web|url=https://xw.qq.com/partner/hwbrowser/20191010A0H8X2/20191010A0H8X200?ADTAG=hwb&pgv_ref=hwb&appid=hwbrowser&ctype=news|title=宋和辽究竟哪个才是正统王朝？|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731074611/https://xw.qq.com/partner/hwbrowser/20191010A0H8X2/20191010A0H8X200?ADTAG=hwb&pgv_ref=hwb&appid=hwbrowser&ctype=news|url-status=dead}}
• Both the Northern Song and Southern Song considered themselves to be the legitimate Chinese dynasty.
• The Jin dynasty challenged the Song's claim of legitimacy.
• The succeeding Yuan dynasty recognized all three in addition to the Western Liao as legitimate Chinese dynasties, culminating in the composition of the History of Liao, the History of Song, and the History of Jin.Brook, Walt van Praag & Boltjes (2018). p. 52.{{cite book|last1=Biran|first1=Michal|title=The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B934LaVBaz8C&q=qara+khitai+legitimate+dynasty+of+china|page=93|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521842266}}{{cite web|url=http://www.360doc.com/content/19/1105/08/60669552_871172581.shtml|title=试论清人的辽金"正统观"——以辽宋金"三史分修""各与正统"问题讨论为中心|access-date=18 November 2019}}
• Ming dynasty and Northern Yuan{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Feng|title=Chinese Hegemony: Grand Strategy and International Institutions in East Asian History|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynr8CAAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+during+ming+northern+yuan&pg=PA126|page=126|publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804795043}}
• The Ming dynasty recognized the preceding Yuan dynasty as a legitimate Chinese dynasty, but asserted that it had succeeded the Mandate of Heaven from the Yuan, thus considering the Northern Yuan as illegitimate.
• Northern Yuan rulers maintained the dynastic name "Great Yuan" and claimed traditional Han-style titles continuously until AD 1388 or AD 1402; Han-style titles were restored on several occasions thereafter for brief periods, notably during the reigns of Taisun Khan, Choros Esen, and Dayan Khan.{{cite journal|last1=Okada|first1=Hidehiro|year=2002|title=Dayan Khan as a Yuan Emperor : The Political Legitimacy in 15th Century Mongolia|url=https://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/befeo_0336-1519_1994_num_81_1_2245.pdf|journal=Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient|volume=81|page=53|access-date=7 March 2022}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• The historian Rashipunsug argued that the Northern Yuan had succeeded the legitimacy from the Yuan dynasty; the Qing dynasty, which later defeated and annexed the Northern Yuan, inherited this legitimacy, thus rendering the Ming illegitimate.Brook, Walt van Praag & Boltjes (2018). p. 54.
• Qing dynasty and Southern Ming{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Wing-ming|title=East Asian History, Issues 19-20|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yH8wAQAAIAAJ&q=legitimacy+of+southern+ming+and+qing|page=30}}
• The Qing dynasty recognized the preceding Ming dynasty as legitimate, but asserted that it had succeeded the Mandate of Heaven from the Ming, thus refuting the claimed legitimacy of the Southern Ming.
• The Southern Ming continued to claim legitimacy until its eventual defeat by the Qing.
• The Ming loyalist Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan denounced the Qing dynasty as illegitimate.
• The Joseon dynasty of Korea and the Later Lê dynasty of Vietnam had at various times considered the Southern Ming, instead of the Qing dynasty, as legitimate.{{cite book|last1=Fang|first1=Weigui|title=Modern Notions of Civilization and Culture in China|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HheJDwAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+during+Qing+southern+ming&pg=PA30|page=30|publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811335587}}{{cite book|last1=Baldanza|first1=Kathlene|title=Ming China and Vietnam|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6u6xCwAAQBAJ&q=legitimacy+during+Qing+southern+ming&pg=PA206|page=206|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107124240}}
• The Tokugawa shogunate of Japan did not accept the legitimacy of the Qing dynasty and instead saw itself as the rightful representative of {{transl|zh|Huá}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|華}}; "China"); this narrative served as the basis of Japanese texts such as Chūchō Jijitsu and Kai Hentai.{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Bret|title=The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmCpDwAAQBAJ&q=Ch%C5%ABch%C5%8D+jijitsu+imperial+japan+central+dynasty+china&pg=PA294|page=294|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199945726}}{{cite book|last1=Ng|first1=Wai-ming|title=Imagining China in Tokugawa Japan: Legends, Classics, and Historical Terms|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4KKDwAAQBAJ&q=kai+hentai+qing+dynasty&pg=PR17|page=xvii|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9781438473086}}{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Xiaoling|title=從現代到後現代的自我追尋：夏目漱石與村上春樹的比較研究|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fmaBQAAQBAJ&q=%E6%B8%85%E6%9C%9D%E4%B8%8D%E6%98%AF%E6%AD%A3%E7%B5%B1+%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC+%E8%8F%AF%E5%A4%B7%E8%AE%8A%E6%85%8B&pg=PA224|page=224|publisher=獨立作家－秀威出版 |isbn=9789863263012}}

Traditionally, periods of disunity often resulted in heated debates among officials and historians over which prior dynasties could and should be considered orthodox, given that it was politically imperative for a dynasty to present itself as being linked in an unbroken lineage of moral and political authority back to ancient times. However, the Northern Song statesman Ouyang Xiu propounded that such orthodoxy existed in a state of limbo during fragmented periods and was restored after political unification was achieved.{{cite book|last1=Wu|first1=Huaiqi|title=An Historical Sketch of Chinese Historiography|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QdGDwAAQBAJ&q=orthodox+northern+and+southern+dynasties&pg=PA321|page=322|publisher=Springer |isbn=9783662562536}} From this perspective, the Song dynasty possessed legitimacy by virtue of its ability to end the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period despite not having succeeded the orthodoxy from the Later Zhou. Similarly, Ouyang considered the concept of orthodoxy to be in oblivion during the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Northern and Southern dynasties periods.

Traditionally, as most Chinese historiographical sources uphold the idea of unilineal dynastic succession, only one dynasty could be considered orthodox at any given time. Most historical sources consider the legitimate line of succession to be as follows:

{{block indent|1=Xia dynasty → Shang dynasty → Western Zhou → Eastern Zhou → Qin dynasty → Western Han → Eastern Han → Cao Wei → Western Jin → Eastern Jin → Liu Song → Southern Qi → Liang dynasty → Chen dynasty → Sui dynasty → Tang dynasty → Later Liang → Later Tang → Later Jin → Later Han → Later Zhou → Northern Song → Southern Song → Yuan dynasty → Ming dynasty → Qing dynasty}}

These historical legitimacy disputes are similar to the modern competing claims of legitimacy by the People's Republic of China based in Beijing and the Republic of China based in Taipei. Both regimes formally adhere to the One-China principle and claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the whole of China.{{cite book|last1=Hudson|first1=Christopher|title=The China Handbook|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hm63AwAAQBAJ&q=prc+and+roc+legitimacy&pg=PA59|page=59|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134269662}}

{{multiple image

| width = 218

| direction = vertical

| image1 = Han Guangwu Di.jpg

| alt1 = Emperor Guangwu of Han

| image2 = Liu Bei Tang.jpg

| alt2 = Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han

| footer = The Emperor Guangwu of Han (top) and the Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han (bottom) were descended from a common paternal ancestor but are typically considered by historians to be the founders of two separate dynasties.

}}

There were several groups of Chinese dynasties that were ruled by families with patrilineal relations, yet due to various reasons these regimes are considered to be separate dynasties and given distinct retroactive names for historiographical purpose. Such conditions as differences in their official dynastic title and fundamental changes having occurred to their rule would necessitate nomenclatural distinction in academia, despite these ruling clans having shared common ancestral origins.

Additionally, numerous other dynasties claimed descent from earlier dynasties as a calculated political move to obtain or enhance their legitimacy, even if such claims were unfounded.

The agnatic relations of the following groups of Chinese dynasties are typically recognized by historians:

• Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou
• The Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou were ruled by the House of Ji; they are collectively known as the Zhou dynasty{{cite book|last1=Law|first1=Eugene|title=Best of China|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUb_BQNkXdQC&q=western+Zhou+eastern+zhou+zhou+dynasty&pg=PA11|page=11|publisher=五洲传播出版社 |isbn=9787508504292}}
• The founder of the Eastern Zhou, the King Ping of Zhou, was a son of the last Western Zhou ruler, the King You of Zhou
• Western Han, Eastern Han, Shu Han, and Liu Song
• The Western Han, the Eastern Han, the Shu Han, and the Liu Song were ruled by the House of Liu; the first two of which are collectively known as the Han dynasty{{cite book|last1=Li|first1=Xiaobing|title=China at War: An Encyclopedia|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7qNuIJJsNEC&q=han+dynasty+divided+into+two+periods&pg=PA485|page=485|publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=9781598844160}}
• The first emperor of the Eastern Han, the Emperor Guangwu of Han, was a ninth-generation descendant of the Western Han founder, the Emperor Gao of Han; he was also a seventh-generation descendant of the sixth Western Han monarch, the Emperor Jing of Han
• The founder of the Shu Han, the Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han, was also descended from the Emperor Jing of Han
• The Book of Song states that the first Liu Song ruler, the Emperor Wu of Liu Song, was a male-line descendant of a younger brother of the Emperor Gao of Han, the Prince Yuan of Chu
• Western Jin and Eastern Jin
• The Western Jin and the Eastern Jin were ruled by the House of Sima; they are collectively known as the Jin dynasty{{cite book|last1=Mao|first1=Zengyin|title=三字经与中国民俗画|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_vtGt6L4GQC&q=jin+dynasty+western+jin+eastern+jin&pg=PP90|page=90|publisher=五洲传播出版社 |isbn=9787508507996}}
• The Eastern Jin founder, the Emperor Yuan of Jin, was a great-grandson of the Emperor Xuan of Jin; he was also a grandson of the Prince Wu of Langya and a son of the Prince Gong of Langya
• Han-Zhao and Hu Xia
• The Han-Zhao and the Hu Xia were ruled by the House of Luandi (later renamed the House of Liu and the House of Helian respectively)
• The Han-Zhao founder, the Emperor Guangwen of Han-Zhao, and the Hu Xia founder, the Emperor Wulie of Hu Xia, were descended from Liu Qiangqu and Liu Qubei respectively; according to the History of the Northern Dynasties, Liu Qiangqu and Liu Qubei were brothers
• Former Yan, Later Yan, and Southern Yan
• The Former Yan, the Later Yan, and the Southern Yan were ruled by the House of Murong
• The founder of the Later Yan, the Emperor Chengwu of Later Yan, was a son of the Former Yan founder, the Emperor Wenming of Former Yan
• The first monarch of the Southern Yan, the Emperor Xianwu of Southern Yan, was also a son of the Emperor Wenming of Former Yan
• Northern Wei, Southern Liang, Eastern Wei, and Western Wei
• The Northern Wei, the Southern Liang, the Eastern Wei, and the Western Wei were ruled by the House of Tuoba (later renamed the House of Yuan and the House of Tufa respectively)
• The Northern Wei founder, the Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei, and the Southern Liang founder, the Prince Wu of Southern Liang, were respectively descended from the sons of the Emperor Shengwu of Northern Wei, the Emperor Shenyuan of Northern Wei and Tufa Pigu{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Yong|title=东亚文化环流十讲|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhRhEAAAQBAJ&dq=%E7%A7%83%E5%8F%91+%E6%8B%93%E8%B7%8B%E6%B0%8F%E5%90%8C%E6%BA%90+%E7%A7%83%E5%8F%91%E5%8C%B9%E5%AD%A4&pg=PA27|page=27|publisher=上海交通大学出版社有限公司 |isbn=9787313200105}}
• The only ruler of the Eastern Wei, the Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei, was a great-grandson of the seventh emperor of the Northern Wei, the Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
• The Western Wei founder, the Emperor Wen of Western Wei, was a grandson of the Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
• Southern Qi and Liang dynasty
• The Southern Qi and the Liang dynasty were ruled by the House of Xiao
• The founder of the Liang dynasty, the Emperor Wu of Liang, was a son of the Emperor Wen of Liang who was a distant cousin of the Southern Qi founder, the Emperor Gao of Southern Qi
• Western Liang and Tang dynasty
• The Western Liang and the Tang dynasty were ruled by the House of Li
• The founder of the Tang dynasty, the Emperor Gaozu of Tang, was a seventh-generation descendant of the Western Liang founder, the Prince Wuzhao of Western Liang
• Later Han and Northern Han
• The Later Han and the Northern Han were ruled by the House of Liu
• The first ruler of the Northern Han, the Emperor Shizu of Northern Han, was a younger brother of the Later Han founder, the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han
• Liao dynasty and Western Liao
• The Liao dynasty and the Western Liao were ruled by the House of Yelü
• The Western Liao founder, the Emperor Dezong of Western Liao, was an eighth-generation descendant of the first emperor of the Liao dynasty, the Emperor Taizu of Liao
• Northern Song and Southern Song
• The Northern Song and the Southern Song were ruled by the House of Zhao; they are collectively known as the Song dynasty{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Shoufa|title=中国政治制度史|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGtMAAAAIAAJ&q=宋朝+北宋+南宋|page=80|publisher=山东人民出版社 |isbn=9787209030762}}
• The first ruler of the Southern Song, the Emperor Gaozong of Song, was a son of the eighth Northern Song monarch, the Emperor Huizong of Song; he was also a younger brother of the last Northern Song emperor, the Emperor Qinzong of Song
• Yuan dynasty and Northern Yuan
• The Yuan dynasty and the Northern Yuan were ruled by the House of Borjigin
• The Emperor Huizong of Yuan was both the last emperor of the Yuan dynasty and the first ruler of the Northern Yuan
• Ming dynasty and Southern Ming
• The Ming dynasty and the Southern Ming were ruled by the House of Zhu
• The Southern Ming founder, the Hongguang Emperor, was a grandson of the 14th emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Wanli Emperor
• Later Jin and Qing dynasty
• The Later Jin and the Qing dynasty were ruled by the House of Aisin Gioro
• The Emperor Taizong of Qing was both the last Later Jin khan and the first emperor of the Qing dynasty

File:Chinesisches Reich LOC 2011585250.jpg of the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty is considered to be a "Central Plain dynasty", a "unified dynasty", and a "conquest dynasty".]]

The Central Plain is a vast area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. "Central Plain dynasties" ({{lang|zh-Hant|中原王朝}}; {{transl|zh|Zhōngyuán wángcháo}}) refer to dynasties of China that had their capital cities situated within the Central Plain.{{cite book|last1=Li|first1=Xiaobing|last2=Shan|first2=Patrick|title=Ethnic China: Identity, Assimilation, and Resistance|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iB0oCwAAQBAJ&q=zhongyuan+wangchao&pg=PA5|page=5|publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9781498507295}} This term could refer to dynasties of both Han and non-Han ethnic origins.

"Unified dynasties" ({{lang|zh-Hant|大一統王朝}}; {{transl|zh|dàyītǒng wángcháo}}) refer to dynasties of China, regardless of their ethnic origin, that achieved the unification of China proper. "China proper" is a region generally regarded as the traditional heartland of the Han people, and is not equivalent to the term "China". Imperial dynasties that had attained the unification of China proper may be known as the "Chinese Empire" or the "Empire of China" ({{lang|zh-Hant|中華帝國}}; {{transl|zh|Zhōnghuá Dìguó}}).{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/chinese-empire|title=Chinese Empire|access-date=9 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.360kuai.com/pc/9f72d57dccdee86f4?cota=3&kuai_so=1&sign=360_7bc3b157|title=经常提到的波斯帝国，那你知道波斯第一、第二、第三帝国吗？|access-date=13 January 2020}}{{efn|name="ChineseEmpire1"|As proposed by scholars such as Fu Sinian and Ray Huang, there were three major Chinese empires historically. The "First Chinese Empire" ({{lang|zh-Hant|中華第一帝國}}) included the Qin dynasty, the Western Han, the Eastern Han, the Cao Wei, the Western Jin, the Eastern Jin, the Liu Song, the Southern Qi, the Liang dynasty, and the Chen dynasty. The "Second Chinese Empire" ({{lang|zh-Hant|中華第二帝國}}) encompassed the Northern Wei, the Western Wei, the Northern Zhou, the Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty, the Later Liang, the Later Tang, the Later Jin, the Later Han, the Later Zhou, the Northern Song, and the Southern Song. The "Third Chinese Empire" ({{lang|zh-Hant|中華第三帝國}}) consisted of the Liao dynasty, the Jin dynasty, the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty, and the Qing dynasty. Accordingly, the terms "Chinese Empire" and "Empire of China" need not necessarily refer to imperial dynasties that had unified China proper.}}

The concept of "great unity" or "grand unification" ({{lang|zh-Hant|大一統}}; {{transl|zh|dàyītǒng}}) was first mentioned in the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals that was supposedly authored by the Qi scholar Gongyang Gao.{{cite book|last1=Feng|first1=Tianyu|last2=Yang|first2=Hua|title=中国文化发展轨迹|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY7kAAAAMAAJ&q=大一统+最早|page=111|publisher=Shanghai People's Press |isbn=9787208034600}}{{cite book|last1=Jia|first1=Bingqiang|last2=Zhu|first2=Xiaohong|title=图说治水与中华文明|year=2015|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWWADwAAQBAJ&q=大一统+公羊传+隐公元年&pg=PT60|isbn=9787517031246}}{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Xilong|title=历史文化探研──兰州大学历史文化学院专门史论文集|year=2009|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boOjDwAAQBAJ&q=大一统+公羊传+最早&pg=PT785|isbn=9787542114525}} Other prominent figures like Confucius and Mencius also elaborated on this concept in their respective works.{{cite book|last1=Yang|first1=Faxing|title=世界伟人传记丛书（上）|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqo3CgAAQBAJ&q=大一统+孔子&pg=PT969}}{{cite book|last1=Gao|first1=Qi|title=传统文化与治国理政|year=2018|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mA61DwAAQBAJ&q=大一统+孟子&pg=PT200|isbn=9787101127669}}

Historians typically consider the following dynasties to have unified China proper: the Qin dynasty, the Western Han, the Xin dynasty, the Eastern Han, the Western Jin, the Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty, the Wu Zhou, the Northern Song, the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty, and the Qing dynasty.{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/p5qxl3e.html|title=中国历史上十个大一统王朝，其中四个国祚不过百年|access-date=18 November 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/ygblbka.html|title=我国历史上这两大王朝均是大一统王朝，却教科书上却极少被提及|access-date=24 January 2020}} The status of the Northern Song as a unified dynasty is disputed among historians as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were partially administered by the contemporaneous Liao dynasty while the Western Xia exercised partial control over Hetao; the Northern Song, in this sense, did not truly achieve the unification of China proper.{{cite book|last1=Graff|first1=David|last2=Higham|first2=Robin|title=A Military History of China|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKpj1YfXfHEC&q=A+Military+History+of+China+sixteen+prefectures+song+emperor&pg=PA70|pages=70–71|publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0813140674}}

{{Main|Conquest dynasty}}

According to the historian and sinologist Karl August Wittfogel, dynasties of China founded by non-Han peoples that ruled parts or all of China proper could be classified into two types, depending on the means by which the ruling ethnic groups had entered China proper.{{cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=Fan|year=2018|title=Characteristics of the Yuan dynasty: Reflections on several issues from Mongol Yuan history|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00094633.2018.1466564?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=mcsh20|journal=Chinese Studies in History|volume=51|issue=1|page=52|doi=10.1080/00094633.2018.1466564|s2cid=165215790|access-date=2 January 2021}}

"Infiltration dynasties" or "dynasties of infiltration" ({{lang|zh-Hant|滲透王朝}}; {{transl|zh|shèntòu wángcháo}}) refer to Chinese dynasties founded by non-Han ethnicities that tended towards accepting Han culture and assimilating into the Han-dominant society. For instance, the Han-Zhao and the Northern Wei, established by the Xiongnu and Xianbei ethnicities respectively, are considered infiltration dynasties of China.

"Conquest dynasties" or "dynasties of conquest" ({{lang|zh-Hant|征服王朝}}; {{transl|zh|zhēngfú wángcháo}}) refer to dynasties of China established by non-Han peoples that tended towards resisting Han culture and preserving the identities of the ruling ethnicities.{{cite book|last1=van de Ven|first1=Hans|title=Warfare in Chinese History|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXKkCXDvYFYC&q=conquest+dynasties&pg=PA77|page=77|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004117741}} For example, the Liao dynasty and the Yuan dynasty, ruled by the Khitan and Mongol peoples respectively, are considered conquest dynasties of China.

These terms remain sources of controversy among scholars who believe that Chinese history should be analyzed and understood from a multiethnic and multicultural perspective.{{cite book|last1=Bulag|first1=Uradyn|title=Collaborative Nationalism: The Politics of Friendship on China's Mongolian Frontier|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQLiMYUk-nIC&q=conquest+dynasty+nationalist&pg=PA56|pages=56–57|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9781442204331}}

It was customary for Chinese monarchs to adopt an official name for the realm, known as the {{transl|zh|guóhào}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|國號}}; "name of the state"), upon the establishment of a dynasty.Wilkinson (2000). pp. 13–14.{{cite book|last1=Zhu|first1=Fayuan|last2=Wu|first2=Qixing|title=中国文化ABC|year=2000|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVp_DwAAQBAJ&q=中国朝代国号&pg=PT195|isbn=9787210045892}} During the rule of a dynasty, its {{transl|zh|guóhào}} functioned as the formal name of the state, both internally and for diplomatic purposes.

The formal name of Chinese dynasties was usually derived from one of the following sources:

• The name of the ruling tribe or tribal confederation{{cite web|url=https://www.diyifanwen.com/tool/lishichaodai/126900432717083.htm|title=历代王朝国号的分类|access-date=18 November 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://news.ifeng.com/history/1/200709/0929_335_243492.shtml|title=名不正则言不顺：中国各朝代名称、国号的由来|access-date=18 November 2019}}
• e.g., the Western Xia dynasty took its name from its ruling class, the Xia tribal confederation
• The noble title held by the dynastic founder prior to the founding of the dynasty
• e.g., the Emperor Wu of Chen adopted the dynastic name "Chen" from his pre-imperial title "Prince of Chen" upon the establishment of the Chen dynasty{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/2la3op9.html|title=唐朝的皇帝姓李，为什么不叫李朝而叫唐朝？|access-date=18 November 2019}}
• The name of a historical state that occupied the same geographical location as the new dynasty{{cite web|url=https://new.qq.com/omn/20180701/20180701A024FI.html|title=先秦时期的诸侯国名，哪些最受后世的青睐？|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731132305/https://new.qq.com/omn/20180701/20180701A024FI.html|url-status=dead}}
• e.g., the Former Yan was officially named "Yan" based on the ancient State of Yan located in the same region
• The name of a previous dynasty from which the new dynasty claimed descent or succession from, even if such familial link was questionable
• e.g., the Emperor Taizu of Later Zhou officially proclaimed the Later Zhou with the official title "Zhou" as he claimed ancestry from Guo Shu, a royal of the Zhou dynasty{{cite web|url=http://www.8794.cn/lishi/shijian/55356.html|title=后周皇帝列表及简介 后周太祖世宗恭帝简介 后周是怎么灭亡的|access-date=18 November 2019}}
• A term with auspicious or other significant connotations
• e.g., the Yuan dynasty was officially the "Great Yuan", a name derived from a clause in the Classic of Changes, "{{transl|zh|dà zāi Qián Yuán}}" ({{lang|zh-Hant|大哉乾元}}; "Great is the Heavenly and Primal"){{cite book|last1=Hung|first1=Hing Ming|title=From the Mongols to the Ming Dynasty: How a Begging Monk Became Emperor of China, Zhu Yuan Zhang|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rf8gDAAAQBAJ&q=yuan+dynasty+da+zai+qian+yuan&pg=PA13|page=13|publisher=Algora |isbn=9781628941524}}

There were instances whereby the official name was changed during the reign of a dynasty. For example, the dynasty known retroactively as Southern Han initially used the name "Yue", only to be renamed to "Han" subsequently.{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2017-01/04/c_129431196.htm|title=南越国与南汉国|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731132304/http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2017-01/04/c_129431196.htm|url-status=dead}}

The official title of several dynasties bore the character "{{transl|zh|dà}}" ({{lang|zh-Hant|大}}; "great"). In Yongzhuang Xiaopin by the Ming historian Zhu Guozhen, it was claimed that the first dynasty to do so was the Yuan dynasty.{{cite book|last1=Hu|first1=Axiang|last2=Song|first2=Yanmei|title=中国国号的故事|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDUzAQAAIAAJ&q=国号加大字,始于胡元%E3%80%82|page=171|publisher=山东画报出版社 |isbn=9787807135999}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jianshu.com/p/a6fffb05cb05|title=明朝为何定国号为"大明"，绝大部分人只知道五个原因中的一个|access-date=6 January 2020}} However, several sources like the History of Liao and the History of Jin compiled by the Yuan historian Toqto'a revealed that the official dynastic name of some earlier dynasties such as the Liao and the Jin also contained the character "{{transl|zh|dà}}".{{cite web|url=http://www.iqh.net.cn/info.asp?column_id=478|title=辽朝国号考释|access-date=6 January 2020|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731132305/http://www.iqh.net.cn/info.asp?column_id=478|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Hok-lam|title=金宋史論叢|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t21yghJHIpEC&q=大金+金史&pg=PA4|pages=4–5|publisher=Chinese University Press |isbn=9789629960971}} It was also common for officials, subjects, or tributary states of a particular dynasty to include the term "{{transl|zh|dà}}" (or an equivalent term in other languages) when referring to this dynasty as a form of respect, even if the official dynastic name did not include it. For instance, The Chronicles of Japan referred to the Tang dynasty as "{{transl|ja|Dai Tō}}" ({{lang|ja|大唐}}; "Great Tang") despite its dynastic name being simply "Tang".

While all dynasties of China sought to associate their respective realm with {{transl|zh|Zhōngguó}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|中國}}; "Central State"; usually translated as "Middle Kingdom" or "China" in English texts) and various other names of China, none of these regimes officially used such names as their dynastic title.{{cite book|last1=Fogel|first1=Joshua|title=The Cultural Dimensions of Sino-Japanese Relations: Essays on the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=krq5CAAAQBAJ&q=It+was+the+ideal+of+every+dynasty+throughout+Chinese+history%2C+even+when+the+leaders+may+not+have+been+conscious+of+it%2C+to+make+their+dynastic+name+completely+identifiable+with+%E2%80%9CChina.%E2%80%9D&pg=PA66|page=66|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317457671}}{{cite book|last1=Xie|first1=Xuanjun|title=士商工农──等级制度构建文明社会|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-OPDAAAQBAJ&q=%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%B8%8D%E6%98%AF%E5%9B%BD%E5%8F%B7%E6%A6%82%E5%BF%B5&pg=PA379|page=379|publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781329980136}} Although the Qing dynasty explicitly identified their state with and employed "{{transl|zh|Zhōngguó}}"—and its Manchu equivalent "Dulimbai Gurun" ({{ManchuSibeUnicode|lang=mnc|ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ
ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ|style=text-align:left}})—in official capacity in numerous international treaties beginning with the Treaty of Nerchinsk dated AD 1689, its dynastic name had remained the "Great Qing".{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Yuanchong|title=Remaking the Chinese Empire: Manchu-Korean Relations, 1616–1911|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9oCgAAQBAJ&q=zhongguo+geographical+political+cultural+concept&pg=PA71|pages=52–53|publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9781501730511}}{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Fei-Ling|title=The China Order: Centralia, World Empire, and the Nature of Chinese Power|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chUwDwAAQBAJ&q=qing+dynasty+zhongguo+dulimbai+gurun+international+treaties&pg=PA11|page=11|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=9781438467504}} "{{transl|zh|Zhōngguó}}", which has become nearly synonymous with "China" in modern times, is a concept with geographical, political, and cultural connotations.{{cite book|last1=Kang|first1=Jung In|title=Western-Centrism and Contemporary Korean Political Thought|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9oCgAAQBAJ&q=zhongguo+geographical+political+cultural+concept&pg=PA71|page=71|isbn=9780739180990}}

The adoption of {{transl|zh|guóhào}}, as well as the importance assigned to it, had promulgated within the Sinosphere. Notably, rulers of Vietnam and Korea also declared {{transl|zh|guóhào}} for their respective realm.

In Chinese historiography, historians generally do not refer to dynasties directly by their official name. Instead, historiographical names, which were most commonly derived from their official name, are used. For instance, the Sui dynasty is known as such because its formal name was "Sui". Likewise, the Jin dynasty was officially the "Great Jin".

When more than one dynasty shared the same Chinese character(s) as their formal name, as was common in Chinese history, prefixes are retroactively applied to dynastic names by historians in order to distinguish between these similarly-named regimes.{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/bb4gb6.html|title=为何中国古代的一些朝代前要加上"东西南北"，比如"西汉"呢？|access-date=18 November 2019}} Frequently used prefixes include:

• Cardinal direction
• "Northern" ({{lang|zh-Hant|北}}; {{transl|zh|běi}}): e.g., Northern Qi, Northern Yuan
• "Southern" ({{lang|zh-Hant|南}}; {{transl|zh|nán}}): e.g., Southern Yan, Southern Tang
• "Eastern" ({{lang|zh-Hant|東}}; {{transl|zh|dōng}}): e.g., Eastern Jin, Eastern Wei
• "Western" ({{lang|zh-Hant|西}}; {{transl|zh|xī}}): e.g., Western Liang, Western Liao
• Sequence
• "Former"{{efn|name="Prefix1"|"Anterior" is employed in some sources in place of "Former".{{cite book|last1=Christopher|first1=James|title=Conflict in the Far East|year=1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdkUAAAAIAAJ&q=anterior+han+dynasty&pg=PA5|page=5}}{{cite book|last1=Deghati|first1=Reza|last2=Giès|first2=Jacques|last3=Feugère|first3=Laure|last4=Coutin|first4=André|title=Painted Buddhas of Xinjiang: Hidden Treasures from the Silk Road|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IS7rAAAAMAAJ&q=anterior+qin+dynasty|page=43|publisher=Art Media Resources |isbn=9781588860279}}}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|前}}; {{transl|zh|qián}}): e.g., Former Qin, Former Shu
• "Later"{{efn|name="Prefix2"|"Latter" or "Posterior" is employed in some sources in place of "Later".{{cite book|last1=Chang|first1=Chun-shu|title=The Rise of the Chinese Empire: Frontier, immigration, and empire in Han China, 130 B.C.–A.D. 157|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpP5uMHSQ0AC&q=latter+dynasty&pg=PA180|pages=179–180|publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=9780472115341}}{{cite book|last1=Swope|first1=Kenneth|title=The Military Collapse of China's Ming Dynasty, 1618–44|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRaoAgAAQBAJ&q=latter+jin+dynasty&pg=PA223|page=223|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134462094}}{{cite book|last1=Dardess|first1=John|title=More Than the Great Wall: The Northern Frontier and Ming National Security, 1368–1644|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8y4DwAAQBAJ&q=latter+jin+dynasty&pg=PA512|page=512|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538135112}}{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Guo'an|title=A Handbook for 1,000 Basic Chinese Characters|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9NNC3UjRTwC&q=posterior+zhou+dynasty&pg=PA828|page=828|publisher=Chinese University Press |isbn=9789629962838}}{{cite book|last1=Zhao|first1=Ziqiang|title=私家藏宝：粤桂港澳台私人藏品珍集|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsbQaTDWseYC&q=posterior+zhou+dynasty&pg=PA7|page=7|publisher=广西美术出版社 |isbn=9787806740989}}}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|後}}; {{transl|zh|hòu}}): e.g., Later Zhao, Later Han
• Surname of the ruling family
• e.g., Wu Zhou, Ma Chu
• Other types of prefixes
• e.g., Shu Han (the prefix "Shu" is a reference to the realm's geographical location at Sichuan), Hu Xia (the prefix "Hu", meaning "barbarian", refers to the dynasty's ethnic Xiongnu origin)

A dynasty could be referred to by more than one retroactive name in Chinese historiography, albeit some are more widely used than others. For instance, the Western Han is also known as the "Former Han", and the Yang Wu is also called the "Southern Wu".{{cite book|last1=Loewe|first1=Michael|title=The Government of the Qin and Han Empires: 221 BCE – 220 CE|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wcpgDwAAQBAJ&q=western+han+former+han&pg=PR6|page=vi|publisher=Hackett |isbn=9781603840576}}{{cite web|url=http://www.qulishi.com/article/201903/324855.html|title=五代十国时期的十国政权之一：南吴的发展史|access-date=8 August 2020}}

Scholars usually make a historiographical distinction for dynasties whose rule were interrupted. For example, the Song dynasty is divided into the Northern Song and the Southern Song, with the Jingkang Incident as the dividing line; the original "Song" founded by the Emperor Taizu of Song was therefore differentiated from the "Song" restored under the Emperor Gaozong of Song.{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Chi Chuen|last2=Li|first2=William|last3=Chiu|first3=Amy|title=The Psychology of Chinese Gambling: A Cultural and Historical Perspective|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpuHDwAAQBAJ&q=jingkang+incident+northern+song+southern+song&pg=PA21|page=21|publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811334863}} In such cases, the regime had collapsed, only to be re-established; a nomenclatural distinction between the original regime and the new regime is thus necessary for historiographical purpose. Major exceptions to this historiographical practice include the Western Qin, the Southern Liang, and the Tang dynasty; the first two were interrupted by the Later Qin, while the continuity of the latter was broken by the Wu Zhou.{{cite web|url=http://www.xixik.com/content/ef840f0c74a814ec|title=先秦、秦国、秦朝、前秦、后秦、西秦是什么关系？|access-date=4 August 2020}}{{cite book|last1=Lü|first1=Simian|title=两晋南北朝史（第一册）|year=2020|publisher=Beijing Book Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-8LEAAAQBAJ&dq=404%E5%B9%B4+%E5%82%89%E6%AA%80%E5%8E%BB%E5%B9%B4%E5%8F%B7%E3%80%81%E7%BD%A2%E5%B0%9A%E4%B9%A6%E4%B8%9E%E9%83%8E%E5%AE%98+%E9%99%8D%E4%BA%8E%E5%90%8E%E7%A7%A6&pg=PT228|isbn=9787999131410}}{{cite web|url=https://kknews.cc/history/bz3g6z6.html|title=汉分东西汉因为中间有新莽为什么唐朝中间有武周却不分东西唐|access-date=4 August 2020}}

In Chinese sources, the term "dynasty" ({{lang|zh-Hant|朝}}; {{transl|zh|cháo}}) is usually omitted when referencing dynasties that have prefixes in their historiographical names. Such a practice is sometimes adopted in English usage, even though the inclusion of the word "dynasty" is also widely seen in English scholarly writings. For example, the Northern Zhou is also sometimes referred to as the "Northern Zhou dynasty".{{cite book|last1=Yuan|first1=Haiwang|title=This is China: The First 5,000 Years|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GpQEIU0PGkC&q=northern+zhou+dynasty&pg=PA40|page=40|publisher=Berkshire |isbn=9781933782768}}

Often, scholars would refer to a specific Chinese dynasty by attaching the word "China" after the dynastic name. For instance, "Tang China" refers to the Chinese state under the rule of the Tang dynasty and the corresponding historical era.{{cite book|last1=Hammond|first1=Kenneth|last2=Beezley|first2=William|last3=DeBlasi|first3=Anthony|last4=MacLachlan|first4=Colin|title=The Human Tradition in Premodern China|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXgKLvo1LicC&q=tang+china&pg=PA77|page=77|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780842029599}}

File:China Dynasties.gif.]]

While the earliest orthodox Chinese dynasties were established along the Yellow River and the Yangtze in China proper, numerous Chinese dynasties later expanded beyond the region to encompass other territorial domains.{{cite book|last1=Brødsgaard|first1=Kjeld|title=Hainan – State, Society, and Business in a Chinese Province|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6t9AgAAQBAJ&q=hainan+han+dynasty&pg=PA11|page=11|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134045471}}{{cite book|last1=Wong|first1=Koon-kwai|title=Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta: A Geographical Survey|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NR4qAwAAQBAJ&q=chinese+dynasty+macau&pg=PA242|pages=241–242|publisher=香港教育圖書公司 |isbn=9789882004757}}{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Wei Bin|title=Hong Kong: The Pearl Made of British Mastery and Chinese Docile-diligence|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwPUGWBTsX4C&q=chinese+dynasty+hong+kong&pg=PA3|page=3|isbn=9781594546006}}{{cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=Christopher|title=Taiwan and Chinese Nationalism: National Identity and Status in International Society|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVX2aAuOt1EC&q=taiwan+qing+dynasty&pg=PA21|page=21|isbn=9781134727551}}{{cite book|last1=Hsu|first1=Cho-yun|title=China: A New Cultural History|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2_GQpLPPl8C&q=Manchuria+qing+dynasty&pg=PA421|page=421|isbn=9780231528184}}{{cite book|last1=Lockard|first1=Craig|title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A Global History|year=2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xW7LDwAAQBAJ&q=tang+dynasty+rule+siberia&pg=PA260|page=260|isbn=9780357365472}}{{cite book|last1=Gan|first1=Chunsong|title=A Concise Reader of Chinese Culture|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR2nDwAAQBAJ&q=tang+dynasty+aral+sea&pg=PA24|page=24|isbn=9789811388675}}{{cite book|last1=Westad|first1=Odd|title=Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uL8NoXZtyxMC&q=sakhalin|page=11|isbn=9780465029365}}{{cite book|last1=Sanders|first1=Alan|title=Historical Dictionary of Mongolia|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5umNthHltQC&q=mongolia+qing+dynasty&pg=PR55|page=v|isbn=9780810866010}}{{cite book|last1=Paige|first1=Jeffrey|title=Agrarian Revolution|year=1978|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iuROQYHKmL8C&q=vietnam+chinese+rule&pg=PA278|page=278|isbn=9780029235508}}{{cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=Michael|title=Xinjiang and China's Rise in Central Asia - A History|year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhHphtBg-QC&q=xinjiang+tang+dynasty&pg=PA16|page=16|isbn=9781136827068}}{{cite book|last1=Kshetry|first1=Gopal|title=Foreigners in Japan: A Historical Perspective|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVSMAAAAQBAJ&q=han+dynasty+korean+peninsula&pg=PA25|page=25|isbn=9781469102443}}Tanner (2009). p. 167.

At various points in time, Chinese dynasties exercised control over China proper (including Hainan, Macau, and Hong Kong), Taiwan, Manchuria (both Inner Manchuria and Outer Manchuria), Sakhalin, Mongolia (both Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia), Vietnam,Lockard (2020). p. 262. Tibet, Xinjiang, as well as parts of Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan,Hsu (2012). p. 268. and Siberia.

Territorially, the largest orthodox Chinese dynasty was either the Yuan dynasty or the Qing dynasty, depending on the historical source.{{efn|name="GreatYuan"}} This discrepancy can be mainly attributed to the ambiguous northern border of the Yuan realm: whereas some sources describe the Yuan border as located to the immediate north of the northern shore of Lake Baikal, others posit that the Yuan dynasty reached as far north as the Arctic coast, with its western boundary with the Golden Horde in Siberia delimited by the Ob and the Irtysh.{{cite book|title=History of the World Map by Map|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxGnDwAAQBAJ&q=yuan+dynasty+map&pg=RA1-PA33|page=133|isbn=9780241379189|author1=D. K}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Tan|editor-first1=Qixiang|title=The Historical Atlas of China|year=1982|chapter=元时期全图（一）|chapter-url=http://www.guoxue123.com/other/map/pic/14/01.jpg}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Tan|editor-first1=Qixiang|title=The Historical Atlas of China|year=1982|chapter=元时期全图（二）|chapter-url=http://www.guoxue123.com/other/map/pic/14/20.jpg}} In contrast, the borders of the Qing dynasty were demarcated and reinforced through a series of international treaties, and thus were more well-defined.

Apart from exerting direct control over the Chinese realm, various dynasties of China also maintained hegemony over other states and tribes through the Chinese tributary system.{{cite book|last1=Kavalski|first1=Emilian|title=Asian Thought on China's Changing International Relations|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRhvBAAAQBAJ&q=chinese+tributary+system&pg=PA57|pages=56–57|isbn=9781137299338}} The Chinese tributary system first emerged during the Western Han and lasted until the 19th century AD when the Sinocentric order broke down.{{cite book|last1=Rand|first1=Christopher|title=Military Thought in Early China|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hLVDgAAQBAJ&q=chinese+tributary+system+western+han&pg=PA142|page=142|isbn=9781438465180}}{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Kerry|title=China's 19th Party Congress: Start Of A New Era|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvZtDwAAQBAJ&q=chinese+tributary+system+19th+century&pg=PA197|page=197|isbn=9781786345936}}

The modern territorial claims of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China are inherited from the lands once held by the Qing dynasty at the time of its collapse.Tanner (2009). p. 419.{{cite book|last1=Esherick|first1=Joseph|last2=Kayali|first2=Hasan|last3=Van Young|first3=Eric|title=Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reKxAAAAQBAJ&q=complete+territories+of+manchu,+han,+mongol,+hui,+tibetan&pg=PA245|page=245|isbn=9780742578159}}{{cite book|last1=Zhai|first1=Zhiyong|title=憲法何以中國|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ziEwDwAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA190|page=190|isbn=9789629373214}}{{cite book|last1=Gao|first1=Quanxi|title=政治憲法與未來憲制|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P46rDAAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA273|page=273|isbn=9789629372910}}

This list includes only the major dynasties of China that are typically found in simplified forms of Chinese historical timelines. This list is neither comprehensive nor representative of Chinese history as a whole.

{{box|wide=yes|background=white|align=center|border size=1px|text align=left|header=Legend|

{{legend|#FFFDF9|Dynasties of relatively great significance}}

{{legend|lightgray|Major time periods}}

{{legend|#FFA25E|Dynasties counted among the "Three Kingdoms"}}

{{legend|#5E7EFF|Dynasties counted among the "Sixteen Kingdoms"{{efn|name="SixteenKingdoms"}}}}

{{legend|#60FF5E|Dynasties counted among the "Northern dynasties" within the broader "Northern and Southern dynasties"}}

{{legend|#C05EFF|Dynasties counted among the "Southern dynasties" within the broader "Northern and Southern dynasties"}}

{{legend|#FFEB5E|Dynasties counted among the "Five Dynasties" within the broader "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms"}}

{{legend|#FF5E96|Dynasties counted among the "Ten Kingdoms" within the broader "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms"}}}}

{{box|wide=yes|background=white|align=center|border size=1px|text align=left|header=Criteria for inclusion|This list includes only the major dynasties of China that are typically found in simplified forms of Chinese historical timelines. Many other dynastic regimes existed within or overlapped with the geographical boundaries specified in the definition of "China" in the study of Chinese historical geography.{{efn|name="HistoricalGeography"|As proposed by scholars such as Tan Qixiang, the geographical extent of "China" as defined in Chinese historical geography largely corresponds with the territories once ruled by the Qing dynasty during its territorial peak between the AD 1750s and the AD 1840s, prior to the outbreak of the First Opium War.{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Hongying|title=中国式民主的类型学意义——一种宪法学视角的阐释|year=2016|publisher=China Social Sciences Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KolVDwAAQBAJ&q=中国历史地理学+地域范围+谭其骧+清朝&pg=PT202|isbn=9787516181829}} At its height, the Qing dynasty exercised jurisdiction over an area larger than 13 million km{{sup|2}}, encompassing:{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Fei-ling|title=The China Order: Centralia, World Empire, and the Nature of Chinese Power|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chUwDwAAQBAJ&q=qing+dynasty+13+million+square+km&pg=PA68|page=68|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=9781438467504}}{{cite book|last1=Gao|first1=James|title=Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800–1949)|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJrLhcgog8oC&q=qing+dynasty+13+million+sq+km&pg=PR36|page=xxxvi|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810863088}}{{cite book|last1=Yang|first1=Yi|title=一本書讀懂亞洲史|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ev2FDwAAQBAJ&q=1300%E8%90%AC%E5%B9%B3%E6%96%B9%E5%85%AC%E9%87%8C+%E6%B8%85%E6%9C%9D&pg=PT148|page=145|publisher=海鴿 |isbn=9789863921165}}

• Tannu Uriankhai in the north;{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Zhenmin|title=Relationship Between the Chinese Central Authorities and Regional Governments of Hong Kong and Macao: A Legal Perspective|year=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3dvDwAAQBAJ&q=Tannu+Uriankhai+qing+dynasty&pg=PA35|page=35|publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811323225}}
• Stanovoy Range and Sakhalin in the northeast;{{cite book|title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&q=Outer+Khingan+Range+qing+dynasty&pg=PA107|page=107|isbn=9789629371401}}{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Qizhi|last2=Wang|first2=Tianyou|last3=Cheng|first3=Chongde|title=元明清史|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXR8oHuHgZsC&q=%E6%B8%85%E6%9C%9D%E7%96%86%E5%9F%9F%E5%9B%9B%E8%87%B3%E8%8C%83%E5%9B%B4&pg=PA381|page=381|isbn=9789571128696}}Gan (2019). p. 26.
• Taiwan and its adjacent islands in the southeast;
• Hainan and the South China Sea Islands in the south;{{cite book|last1=Talmon|first1=Stefan|last2=Jia|first2=Bing Bing|title=The South China Sea Arbitration: A Chinese Perspective|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzTaBAAAQBAJ&q=qing+dynasty+south+china+sea&pg=PA186|page=186|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781782253754}}
• Pamir Mountains in the west;{{cite book|last1=Roy|first1=Kaushik|title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyVnAwAAQBAJ&q=qing+dynasty+lake+balkhash+Pamir+Mountains&pg=PA87|pages=86–87|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781780938004}}
• Lake Balkhash in the northwest.

Modern Chinese historiography considers all regimes, regardless of the ethnicity of the ruling class, that were established within or overlapped with the above geographical boundaries to be part of Chinese history.{{cite book|last1=Lin|first1=Fu|title=中国历史地理学研究|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLltAAAAIAAJ&q=中国历史地理学+曾经在这个范围内活动的民族都是中国历史上的民族|pages=142–143|publisher=福建人民出版社 |isbn=9787211050840}}{{cite book|last1=Wu|first1=Chuanjun|last2=Yang|first2=Qinye|last3=Lu|first3=Qi|title=20世纪中国学术大典：地理学|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=erzI3apM1iUC&q=%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%86%E5%AD%A6+%E6%9B%BE%E7%BB%8F%E5%9C%A8%E8%BF%99%E4%B8%AA%E8%8C%83%E5%9B%B4%E5%86%85%E6%B4%BB%E5%8A%A8%E7%9A%84%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F%E9%83%BD%E6%98%AF%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2%E4%B8%8A%E7%9A%84%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F&pg=PA297|page=297|isbn=9787533430221}} Similarly, all ethnic groups that were active within the above geographical boundaries are considered ethnicities of China. Regions outside of the above geographical boundaries but were under Chinese rule during various historical periods are included in the histories of the respective Chinese dynasties.}} These were:{{cite journal|last1=Ge|first1=Jianxiong|last2=Hua|first2=Linfu|year=2002|title=The Development of Chinese Historical Geography over the Last 50 Years (1950–2000)|url=http://ccs.ncl.edu.tw/newsletter_84/016_027.pdf|journal=Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies|volume=21|issue=4|page=20|access-date=24 November 2019}}

• Dynastic regimes that existed within the fengjian system: e.g., State of Deng, State of Huo, State of Chu, State of Yiqu
• Dynastic regimes that existed within the jimi system: e.g., Xuanque Prefecture ({{lang|zh-Hant|玄闕州}}), Zhulong Prefecture ({{lang|zh-Hant|燭龍州}}), Maolian Guard ({{lang|zh-Hant|毛憐衛}}), Jianzhou Left Guard ({{lang|zh-Hant|建州左衛}})
• Dynastic regimes that existed within the tusi system: e.g., Chiefdom of Bozhou, Chiefdom of Shuidong, Chiefdom of Yongning, Chiefdom of Tsanlha
• Localized dynastic regimes: e.g., Nanyue, Tuyuhun, Dali Kingdom, Kingdom of Tungning
• Short-lived dynastic regimes: e.g., Zhai Wei, Northern Liao, Chen Han, Shun dynasty
• Regional dynastic regimes that ruled an area historically or currently associated with "China": e.g., Rouran Khaganate, Tibetan Empire, Bohai, Kara-Khanid Khanate

Dynasties that belonged to the following categories are excluded from this list:

• Dynasties outside of "China" with full or partial Chinese ancestry: e.g., Early Lý dynasty of Vietnam, Thonburi dynasty of Siam{{cite book|last1=Vu|first1=Hong Lien|last2=Sharrock|first2=Peter|title=Descending Dragon, Rising Tiger: A History of Vietnam|year=2014|publisher=Reaktion Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PuBXBQAAQBAJ&q=Lý+Bôn+China&pg=PT43|isbn=9781780233888}}{{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Hugh|title=East Asia: A New History|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GBvRs-za0CIC&q=Ly+Bon+Chinese&pg=PA134|page=134|publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781477265178}}{{cite book|last1=Chansiri|first1=Disaphol|title=The Chinese Émigrés of Thailand in the Twentieth Century|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xEMsg-FkbJIC&q=Thonburi+dynasty+Chinese&pg=PA47|pages=46–47|publisher=Cambria Press |isbn=9781934043745}}{{cite book|last1=Zheng|first1=Yangwen|title=China on the Sea: How the Maritime World Shaped Modern China|year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5bAyAQAAQBAJ&q=Thonburi+dynasty+Chinese&pg=PA112|page=112|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004194786}}
• Dynasties that ruled Chinese tributary states outside of "China": e.g., Đinh dynasty of Vietnam, First Shō dynasty of the Ryukyu Islands{{cite book|last1=Rutherford|first1=Scott|title=Vietnam|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kRi_BKq60OgC&dq=dinh+dynasty+chinese+tributary&pg=PA20|page=20|publisher=Langenscheidt Publishing |isbn=9789812349842}}{{cite book|last1=Minahan|first1=James|title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&q=first+sho+dynasty+tributary+china&pg=PA231|page=231|publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=9781610690188}}
• Dynasties outside of "China" which identified themselves as "China": e.g., Joseon dynasty of Korea, Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam{{cite book|last1=Elman|first1=Benjamin|last2=Liu|first2=Jenny|title=The 'Global' and the 'Local' in Early Modern and Modern East Asia|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt3zDQAAQBAJ&q=little+china+%E5%B0%8F%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E&pg=PA175|page=175|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004338128}}{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Robert|title=Korea-China Relations in History and Contemporary Implications|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XIzDwAAQBAJ&q=little+china+%E5%B0%8F%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E&pg=PA10|page=10|publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319622651}}{{cite book|last1=Xie|first1=Xuanjun|title=第三中国论|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3gh2CwAAQBAJ&q=%E8%B6%8A%E5%8D%97+%E9%98%AE%E6%9C%9D+%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E8%87%AA%E5%B1%85&pg=PA202|page=202|publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781329800250}}{{cite book|last1=Wu|first1=Weiming|title=東亞易學史論：《周易》在日韓越琉的傳播與影響|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXU3DwAAQBAJ&q=%E8%B6%8A%E5%8D%97+%E9%98%AE%E6%9C%9D+%E5%B0%8F%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E&pg=PA161|page=161|publisher=國立臺灣大學出版中心 |isbn=9789863502500}}
• Dynasties that ruled Sinicized states outside of "China": e.g., Baekje dynasty of Korea, Later Lê dynasty of Vietnam{{cite book|last1=Linduff|first1=Katheryn|last2=Rubinson|first2=Karen|title=Are All Warriors Male?: Gender Roles on the Ancient Eurasian Steppe|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xd5bAAAAQBAJ&dq=sinicized+baekje&pg=PA126|page=126|publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=9781461647508}}{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Yuk Wah|title=Vietnamese-Chinese Relationships at the Borderlands: Trade, Tourism and Cultural Politics|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjoVAgAAQBAJ&dq=le+dynasty+sinicization&pg=PA28|page=28|isbn=9781134494576}}}}

{{Further|Timeline of Chinese history}}

{{Stacked bar

|A1=1299

|T1=Xia–Shang–W. Zhou

|A2=295

|T2=Spring and Autumn

|A3=255

|T3=Warring States

|A4=441

|T4=Qin–Han

|A5=369

|T5=Jin–Northern and Southern Dynasties

|A6=318

|T6=Sui–Tang

|A7=461

|T7=Five Dynasties–Liao–Song–W. Xia–Jin–Yuan

|A8=544

|T8=Ming–Qing

|A9=110

|T9=ROC–PRC

|Total=4092 }}

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from: -2070 till: -1600 color:DY text:"Xia (2070–1600 BC)"

from: -1600 till: -1046 color:DY text:"Shang (1600–1046 BC)"

from: -1046 till: -771 color:DY text:"W. Zhou (1046–771 BC)"

from: -770 till: -256 color:DY text:"E. Zhou (770–256 BC)"

from: -221 till: -207 color:DY text:"Qin (221–207 BC)"

from: -202 till: 9 color:DY text:"W. Han (202 BC–AD 9)"

from: 9 till: 23 color:DY text:"Xin (AD 9–23)"

from: 25 till: 220 color:DY text:"E. Han (AD 25–220)"

from: 220 till: 266 color:DY text:"Cao Wei (AD 220–266)"

from: 221 till: 263 color:DY text:"Shu Han (AD 221–263)"

from: 222 till: 280 color:DY text:"E. Wu (AD 222–280)"

from: 266 till: 316 color:DY text:"W. Jin (AD 266–316)"

from: 304 till: 329 color:DY text:"Han-Zhao (AD 304–329)"

from: 304 till: 347 color:DY text:"Cheng-Han (AD 304–347)"

from: 317 till: 420 color:DY text:"E. Jin (AD 317–420)"

from: 319 till: 351 color:DY text:"L. Zhao (AD 319–351)"

from: 320 till: 376 color:DY text:"F. Liang (AD 320–376)"

from: 337 till: 370 color:DY text:"F. Yan (AD 337–370)"

from: 351 till: 394 color:DY text:"F. Qin (AD 351–394)"

from: 384 till: 409 color:DY text:"L. Yan (AD 384–409)"

from: 384 till: 417 color:DY text:"L. Qin (AD 384–417)"

from: 385 till: 400 color:DY text:"W. Qin (pre-interregnum; AD 385–400)"

from: 386 till: 403 color:DY text:"L. Liang (AD 386–403)"

from: 386 till: 535 color:DY text:"N. Wei (AD 386–535)"

from: 397 till: 414 color:DY text:"S. Liang (AD 397–414)"

from: 397 till: 439 color:DY text:"N. Liang (AD 397–439)"

from: 398 till: 410 color:DY text:"S. Yan (AD 398–410)"

from: 400 till: 421 color:DY text:"W. Liang (AD 400–421)"

from: 407 till: 431 color:DY text:"Hu Xia (AD 407–431)"

from: 407 till: 436 color:DY text:"N. Yan (AD 407–436)"

from: 409 till: 431 color:DY text:"W. Qin (restored; AD 409–431)"

from: 420 till: 479 color:DY text:"Liu Song (AD 420–479)"

from: 479 till: 502 color:DY text:"S. Qi (AD 479–502)"

from: 502 till: 557 color:DY text:"Liang (AD 502–557)"

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from: 535 till: 557 color:DY text:"W. Wei (AD 535–557)"

from: 550 till: 577 color:DY text:"N. Qi (AD 550–577)"

from: 557 till: 581 color:DY text:"N. Zhou (AD 557–581)"

from: 557 till: 589 color:DY text:"Chen (AD 557–589)"

from: 581 till: 619 color:DY text:"Sui (AD 581–619)"

from: 618 till: 690 color:DY text:"Tang (pre-interregnum; AD 618–690)"

from: 690 till: 705 color:DY text:"Wu Zhou (AD 690–705)"

from: 705 till: 907 color:DY text:"Tang (restored; AD 705–907)"

from: 907 till: 923 color:DY text:"L. Liang (AD 907–923)"

from: 907 till: 925 color:DY text:"F. Shu (AD 907–925)"

from: 907 till: 937 color:DY text:"Yang Wu (AD 907–937)"

from: 907 till: 951 color:DY text:"Ma Chu (AD 907–951)"

from: 907 till: 978 color:DY text:"Wuyue (AD 907–978)"

from: 909 till: 945 color:DY text:"Min (AD 909–945)"

from: 916 till: 1125 color:DY text:"Liao (AD 916–1125)"

from: 917 till: 971 color:DY text:"S. Han (AD 917–971)"

from: 923 till: 937 color:DY text:"L. Tang (AD 923–937)"

from: 924 till: 963 color:DY text:"Jingnan (AD 924–963)"

from: 934 till: 965 color:DY text:"L. Shu (AD 934–965)"

from: 936 till: 947 color:DY text:"L. Jin (AD 936–947)"

from: 937 till: 976 color:DY text:"S. Tang (AD 937–976)"

from: 947 till: 951 color:DY text:"L. Han (AD 947–951)"

from: 951 till: 960 color:DY text:"L. Zhou (AD 951–960)"

from: 951 till: 979 color:DY text:"N. Han (AD 951–979)"

from: 960 till: 1127 color:DY text:"N. Song (AD 960–1127)"

from: 1038 till: 1227 color:DY text:"W. Xia (AD 1038–1227)"

from: 1115 till: 1234 color:DY text:"Jin (AD 1115–1234)"

from: 1124 till: 1218 color:DY text:"W. Liao (AD 1124–1218)"

from: 1127 till: 1279 color:DY text:"S. Song (AD 1127–1279)"

from: 1271 till: 1368 color:DY text:"Yuan (AD 1271–1368)"

from: 1368 till: 1635 color:DY text:"N. Yuan (AD 1368–1635)"

from: 1368 till: 1644 color:DY text:"Ming (AD 1368–1644)"

from: 1616 till: 1636 color:DY text:"L. Jin (AD 1616–1636)"

from: 1636 till: 1912 color:DY text:"Qing (AD 1636–1912)"

from: 1644 till: 1662 color:DY text:"S. Ming (AD 1644–1662)"

from: 1912 till: 2000 color:ND text:"ROC (AD 1912–present)"

from: 1949 till: 2000 color:ND text:"PRC (AD 1949–present)"

barset:skip

{{box|background=white|align=center|border size=1px|text align=left|header=Legend|

{{legend|#FF3399|Protodynastic rulers}}

{{legend|#FF9933|Dynastic regimes{{efn|name="Timeline"|The dynastic regimes included in this timeline are the same as the list above.}}}}

{{legend|#009900|Non-dynastic regimes}}}}

{{Portal|China|Taiwan|Monarchy|History

}}

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• 1911 Revolution
• Administration of territory in dynastic China
• Ancient Chinese states
• Chinese expansionism
• Chinese historiography
• Chinese sovereign
• Conquest dynasty
• Debate on the Chineseness of Yuan and Qing dynasties
• Dragon Throne
• Dynastic cycle
• Eighteen Kingdoms
• Emperor at home, king abroad
• Emperor of China
• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (ancient)
• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (early)
• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (late)
• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (middle)
• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (Warring States period)
• Fanzhen
• Fengjian
• Golden ages of China
• Historical capitals of China
• Jiedushi
• Jimi system
• List of Chinese monarchs
• List of Confucian states and dynasties
• List of Mongol states
• List of recipients of tribute from China
• List of tributary states of China
• List of Vietnamese dynasties
• Little China (ideology)
• Mandate of Heaven
• Monarchy of China
• Names of China
• Pax Sinica
• Sinosphere
• Six Dynasties
• Succession to the Chinese throne
• Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
• Tianxia
• Timeline of Chinese history
• Tributary system of China
• Tusi
• Twenty-Four Histories
• Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project
• Zhonghua minzu

{{div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• China Handbook Editorial Committee, China Handbook Series: History (trans., Dun J. Li), Beijing, 1982, pp. 188–189; and Shao Chang Lee, "China Cultural Development" (wall chart), East Lansing, 1984.
• {{cite book |last = Wilkinson |first = Endymion Porter |year = 2018 |title = Chinese History: A New Manual |edition = 5th |publisher = Harvard University Asia Center |location = Cambridge, MA |isbn = 9780998888309 }} Specifically Section A.2 "Dynasties", in this and earlier editions, which includes subsections on "Naming the Dynasties", "Sets of Dynasties", "The Dynastic Cycle", "Legitimate Succession", "Grade School History" (the effect on common understanding of China's history).

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Dynasties of China}}

• Columbia University. [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/china_timeline.htm#song The Dynasties Song]
• Tan Qixiang. [http://www.guoxue123.com/other/map/zgmap/ The Historical Atlas of China]

{{Chinese Imperial Government}}

{{authority control}}

Chinese

Category:Royalty-related lists