Asian History

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China: Timeline

It’s hard to say how old Chinese culture actually is, but it’s one of the oldest that still has a presence in the modern world. Legends claim that the earliest rulers in China were the Xia Dynasty, from 2100 to 1600 B.C., with Yu as the first emperor, but there is little proof that the […]

Forbidden City WatchtowerBEIJING, CHINA - MAY 26: The of Forbidden City watchtower is seen on May 26, 2014 in Beijing, China. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. (Photo by Xiao Lu Chu/Getty Images)

Qing Dynasty

Fall of the Ming Dynasty Near the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1616, Manchurian forces from northeastern Asia defeated the Ming army and occupied several cities on China’s northern border. A full-scale invasion followed. China was defeated in 1644, with Emperor Shunzhi establishing the Qing Dynasty. Many of the new Han subjects faced discrimination. […]

South Korea

HISTORY OF KOREA Around A.D. 668, several competing kingdoms were unified into a single dominion on the Korean Peninsula. Successive regimes maintained Korean political and cultural independence for more than a thousand years; the last of these ruling kingdoms would be the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910). After surviving invasions by Japan at the end of the […]

Allied French and English troops storm through a breech in the fortifications of Canton (Guangzhou), China. The event occurred during the Taiping Rebellion, a war begun by a Kwangsi district schoolmaster and mystic Hong Xiuquan, 38, who believed himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ.

Taiping Rebellion

Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan, born in 1814 in Guanlubu, Guangdong, had failed multiple civil service exams when, in 1837, he returned home and went to bed, complaining of sickness. In a feverish state, Hong hallucinated a journey to a heavenly land to the east where his father revealed that demons were destroying humankind. Wielding a […]

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General Chiang Kai-shek addresses the troops in China during World War II, circa 1943.

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China’s Overlooked Role in World War II

China was a vital, but often forgotten, member of the Allies battling Japan—two years before the official start of World War II.

What Caused the Korean War and Why Did the U.S. Get Involved?

The Cold War conflict was a civil war that became a proxy battle between the superpowers as they clashed over communism and democracy.

How Stalin and the Soviet Union Helped Launch the Korean War

Why Did Stalin Support the Start of the Korean War?

Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 with the approval of Joseph Stalin and the promise of backing from China.

Chinese National Day ParadeA mass demonstration on China's National Day, October 1, outside the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Tiananmen, during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s.

What Was the Cultural Revolution?

The Cultural Revolution was a Chinese sociopolitical movement from 1966 to 1976 led by Communist Mao Zedong.

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Mohandas Gandhi

Historian Yohuru Williams gives a brief recap of the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

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How the Kim Dynasty Took Over North Korea

North Korea hasn’t always been under the totalitarian rule of the Kim regime. Foreign enablers and internal strife have completely reshaped the region over the last 100+ years, transforming a once-peaceful monarchy into the oppressive dictatorship we know today.

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