Unification of China

Good afternoon, my name is Qin Shi Huang, and I am considered to be the first emperor of China.  Before I get into much more about myself and my accomplishments, let me give you a brief background story.  From 475-221 B.C. was the Period of Warring States in China, in which seven small states were constantly battling for supreme power, and China was very divided.  In 221 B.C., China was unified under the Qin Dynasty, and conditions greatly improved.  The Qin Dynasty is considered the first imperial dynasty of China, and I am considered the first empire of this dynasty.

When I was put into power, I not only unified the warring states, but I also started one of the greates archaeological advances of all time, known as the Great Wall.  I began to build this to keep out nomad invaders from surrounding states.  The Qin Dynasty also brought about an improved system of currency, record keeping, and writing.  Although this great dynasty did not last long (only until 207 B.C.) , I believe I have left an everlasting impact on Chinese history, and I am proud to say that I was the first ruler of China.

Thank you very much for your time,

Emperor Qin Shi Huang

Confucius

Good day, my name is Confucius, and I am a great philosopher of ancient China.  I was born in 551 B.C. in Northwest China, into the classical age of the Chou Dynasty.  When I was only three years old, my father died, and I was left to suffer through great poverty under my mother's care.  My young years were filled with war, death, controversy, and trouble, and this was very hard for me to deal with.  Around the age of twenty-five or so, I began to concoct the universal principle of "Goodness".  I believe that if people are good, society will hold together well and war will cease.  I also met a young man named Lao Zi, and together we shared our great ideas.

The five main concepts of my newfound principles, which I hope will someday be known as Confucianism, are:

-Society is in harmony if everyone carries out his or her duties
-The people will follow the ruler's character, and therefore the ruler must be good
-Humanity is the center of heaven and Earth
-Respect and authority towards yourself and others
-Family is the basis of society

After I came up with what I thought were some very valuable ideas, I wanted to get involved in government as soon as possible.  I received a government position and tried to share my ideas, but I do not believe that the people were ready for such concepts.  People do not like change, and I was soon fired.  Since then, I have lived as a wandering teacher trying to spread my great views across China.

Sincerely,

Confucious

After Confucious's death in 479 B.C., people began to come around and realize that the principles of Confucianism were actually genious.  During the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was blended with traditional Chinese views and officially established as a series of philosophies.

Lao Zi and Taoism

Hello, my name is Lao Zi, and I was recently born as a full grown man, having been growing in my mother's womb for about 62  years.  I was born around the 6th Century B.C., but I am not exactly sure of my birthday or year because of the lack of time keeping in this day.  At the time of my birth, I already had a long beard and earlobes, representing young intelligent. 

Upon learning about China and culture, I began to become very interested in philosophy and ideas of that sort.  After studying philosophy for many years and sharing my beliefs with the world, I became known as the founder of Taoism.  This new concept is a combination of my philosophical and religous beliefs, and is becoming very widespread across China.  I have spent many days and hours with Confucious, who also shares some of my new beliefs.  This new "religion" of mine is based around the idea of "The Way".  I believe that people must live life on an effortless path, and should leave nature in the harmonic way that they found it in.  I am one of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism, and I am a deity of this religion.  A symbol of Taoism is the yin-tang symbol, which represents duality and opposites in life.Thank you for your time, and I hope you invest some time in learning a few of my philosophies and ideas.




Sincerely,

Lao Zi

Great Wall

Hello, I am Hao De Li, and it has been an honor to participate in the construction of the Great Wall of China over the last few years of my life.  I was born in 230 B.C., a few years before the start of the Qin Dynasty, and this project has been extremely important in recent society.  After China was unified under Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi in 220 B.C., he began to start what is now considered by far one of the greatest archaeological achievements of all time.

This wall stretches for over 1,000 miles throughout China, and is still in the process of being completed.  Huangdi decided that in order to hold out nomadic invaders from surrounding countries, this wall would be very beneficial.  The building of this great work has not been easy.  It is grueling work every day, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens have been working their hearts out.  Thousands of workers have recently died, and it is rumored that they have been buried in the wall.  I am lucky to still be alive and well, and even luckier to have been a part of this great structure.

Sincerely,

Hao De Li



In 206 B.C., Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty extended the wall much further.  Although the wall was started during the Qin Dyansty, most of the wall existing today can be tracked to the Ming Dynasty.

Buddhism comes to China

Greetings, my name is Siddhartha Gautama, and I consider myself to be the Enlightened One.  Let me share with you my wondrous story, and how my religion of Buddhism has come to be.  I was born as a prince into a wealthy family in 563 B.C., and my childhood years were filled with great luxury.  I lived in a grand palace, and was spoiled by my parents.  One day, I journeyed beyond the palace walls, and encountered a suffering old man.  I then realized that everyone did not have life as good as I did.  Over the next few months, I witnessed death, sickness, and horrible suffering.  I then set out to reach enlightenment.  I journeyed deep into forests everywhere, and put myself through great suffering in order to feel removed from society.  I finally became enlightened under a tree one day, and this event was the beginning of the creation of Buddhism, my very own religion.

After I became Enlightened,  I was named the Buddha, and set about establishing principles to this religion.   I believe in Nirvana, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path,  and preaching against reincarnation.  I then set about spreading these newfound concepts and growing religion all throughout China.  Many dynasties accepted my ideas, while some turned them away.  It is all I can do to try my best to get them to understand my ideas, and if my best is not enough, then it is not enough.

Thankfully,

Buddha

Han Dynasty

Good greetings, I am the great Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty.  I have had many great accomplishments over my period of reign (141-87 B.C.).  I have recently become very ill, and I may pass away in the next few years.  I have ruled over the Han Dynasty since the tender age of fifteen, and in my time I have had many great accomlishments that I triumph with pride.  My most prominent contribution to recent history has been the construction of the Silk Road.  This is a revolutionary interconnection of trade routes throughout China.  These trade routes allowed a much improved level of communication and trading throughout all parts of Asia and China.  In my time, I also influenced poetrry and art, and I truly tried to bring philosophy and more culture to this great country.

Now let me take you back many years to the Han Dynasty before my reign; and after that I will share with you the predicted future of this dynasty.  The Han Dynasty, beginning in 206 B.C., began when the great Emperor Qin was defeated, and at the start of this new control, China began to feel reunited.  During this time, many detailed historical records were kept, as well as the Shiji was written.  This was one of the first real records kept of history.  Confucianism was important in this period, and its many philosophies were enforced.  Many people divided this time into the easterna and western Han Dynasties.  Many great inventions also emerged during this time, such as paper, water clocks, sundials, and the seismograph.

This was a great time, and without my great contributions, China would not be where it is today.

Sincerely,

Emperor Wu Di

Mongols take China

Hello, my name is Chong Wong Di, and I am a Mongol soldier born around 1210 A.D. into the Mongol Empire.  Not soon after I was born, our powerful armies ruthlessly burst out of Central Asia and charged across Asia and Europe in the ultimate path of conquest.  When I was about twenty years old, I joined our Mongol army and began to fight.  Our leader at this time was the great Genghis Khan.  Genghis was the founder of the Mongol Empire, and was named "ruler of all" shortly before I was born, after uniting many nomadic Mongol tribes.  Our armies were the best of the best.  We were the most skilled horsemen around, with the raw talent to ride at lightning speeds on horseback while deftly shooting an arrow, or more recently, firing a gun.

In 1276 A.D., we were able to overtake the Song Empire, and gain China in our full control.  Genghis Khan was killed a few years earlier, and his grandson, the great Kublai Kahn was left in charge.  Kublai led the final strides towards ending the Song Empire, and was named the first emperor of his new dynasty, the Yuan dynasty.  Kublai also moved the capital to Beijing, which was renamed Khanbaliq.  This new empire created a Mongol-centralized government in which the highest classes in job or government are reserved for us Mongols.  When Kublai died, our great Mongol dynasty came crashing down and gave rise to the Ming Dynasty.

I sincerely hoped you enjoyed listening to our great Mongolian history, and that you will invest more time in learning more about it.

Thank you,

Chong Wong Di

The Great Genghis Khan

Tang Dynasty

Good afternoon, I am the esteemed poet Li Po.  I was born in 701 A.D. into the great Tang Dynasty, and I have been considered one of the greatest poets in the history of the world. 
Here is an example of one of my great works:

A Mountain Revelry

To wash and rinse our souls of their age-old sorrows,
We drained a hundred jugs of wine.
A splendid night it was . . . .
In the clear moonlight we were loath to go to bed,
But at last drunkenness overtook us;
And we laid ourselves down on the empty mountain,
The earth for pillow, and the great heaven for coverlet.

The Tang dynasty was one of the greatest  dynasties of Chinese history, and I will now share its morals and concepts with great pride.

This dynasty began around 618 A.D., and followed the great Sui dynasty.  The Sui before us built thousands of miles of canals throughout China, and were a great help to where we are now.  These canals were used widely for transportation of goods as well as communication and trade routes.  In 624 A.D., not long after the beginning of this dynasty, the Tang Code was written.  This was the first set of written Chinese laws that contained given crimes of the people and the resulting punishments.  During this time, a great agricultural and economic reform took place.  A new system of land division and taxing emerged, and the rice industry was booming.  I predict that in the future, around 860 A.D., a series of peasent uprisings may begin.  I believe that our dynasty will come crashing down around 907 A.D., and was succeeded by the Five Dynasties.

Thank you for your interest in our wondorous dynasty, and I wish you luck in whatever path you take.

Li Po

A stunning portrait of yours truly

Sung Dynasty

Hello, my  name is Chong Wong-da'o, and I am a wandering printer born into the late Southern Sung Dynasty in 1270 A.D., and it is currently 1279 A.D., a year after the fall of the Sung.  I work in the newly discovered industry of paper money printing.  This invention, as well as many others, are part of the many establishments that make the Sung Dynasty the great dynasty that it is.

The Sung Dynasty began in 906 A.D. following the reign of the Five Dynasties.  The early portion of this dynasty was the peak of art, industry, technology, and culture of China; and was often referred to as "The Golden Age".  Although our empire was never a large as the Tang, it has been recently named more powerful.  Many revolutionary inventions have emerged recently, including firearms, shipbuilding, clockmaking, medicine, standing navy, the compass, and my own industry of printing bank notes.  This dynasty has been divided into two distinct parts of history: the early Northern Sung (9060-1127), and the late Southern Sung (1127-1279).  During the Northern Sung, education and literature were promoted, as well as the new concept of Neo-Confucianism.  Although these were the better times of the Sung, our military was weak during this time.  In my recent years in the Southern Sung, there has been a lot of war, but also a prominent increase in trade, shipbuilding, and agricultural production.  Women also have recently begun practicing foot-binding, a nasty beauty process.

Just last year (1279 A.D.), our final Southern Sung forces were overthrown by the Mongols, and our great dynasty came to an end.


Thank you for your time,

Chong Wong-d'ao

One of our first releases of handwritten paper currency

Zheng He

Salutations, my name is Zheng He, and I believe that in my recent years, I have proven myself to be one of the most accomplished Chinese explorers of all time.  I was born in 1371 A.D. during the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and helped destroy this dynasty to give rise to the great Ming Dynasty to follow.  When I was still only a young Muslim man, I began to form an alliance with Zhu Di, the Ming emperor at the time.  He began to trust me more and more as I climbed up the job ladder of the empire, until finally around 1400 A.D., when I was appointed as Admiral of China's Navy fleet.  This gave me great power, and soon after this job advancement, I set out to explore.  I was given plenty of money, and was backed up by the largest naval fleet ever created.  We set out overseas and soon discovered places such as Vietnam, Java, Sri Lanka, African regions, and America.

Along our many journeys, we traded with the native people and brought back many foreign goods to China.  We traded precious jewels and metals that people had never seen before for new animals and other goods that would be beneficial once brought back to China.  I also take great pride in my Islamic past, and tried to spread the Muslim word throughout and places we visited.

These journeys were the time of my life, and I truly hope that when I die, I will have left my mark on this world.  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Zheng He