Human Epic
States and society
Uruk: a city of labor and administration
Population and urban scale grew rapidly at Late Uruk. Production, exchange, and public building required increasingly complex organization, marking an important stage in the development of large urban societies.
Hammurabi’s stele: property, households and justice
Under Hammurabi, Babylonian legal judgements concerning property, family, and labor were inscribed on a stone stele. The document preserves ancient institutions and social order, including differences in legal status.
Erlitou: palaces, workshops and an early urban center
Palatial buildings, roads and workshops at Erlitou reveal an organized early urban center. Its relationship to the Xia of later written accounts remains debated.
Late Shang at Yinxu: the royal house, writing and bronze
Oracle bones and bronze inscriptions from Late Shang Anyang preserve records of ritual, war, farming and royal activity, providing direct evidence of early Chinese writing and Shang society.
Western Zhou: royal grants, kinship and ritual bronzes
Royal grants, kinship and ritual linked regional states. Bronze inscriptions recorded appointments and gifts, preserving institutions that influenced later political thought.
Qin: a unified empire and territorial government
After conquering rival states, Qin organized rule through an emperor, territorial offices and administrative documents, integrating standards whose influence outlasted the dynasty.
Western Han: imperial government and classical education
Western Han adapted Qin institutions, developed administration and classical education, and expanded exchanges and political connections with neighboring societies.
Eastern Han: the Luoyang court and scholarly networks
Eastern Han restored the dynasty around Luoyang as classical learning and local elite networks developed. Political conflict and regional power eventually fractured imperial rule.
The Three Kingdoms: regional states, farming and recruitment
Wei, Shu and Wu organized agriculture, populations and government amid warfare. From Han’s replacement by Wei to Jin’s conquest of Wu, the rise and fall of regional states reshaped society and political order.
Eastern Jin and the southern dynasties: migration and Jiankang
Migration and regional development increased the south’s importance under Eastern Jin and successive southern dynasties, transforming literature and religion while separate states ruled the north.
The northern dynasties: land, capitals and Buddhist art
Northern Wei and successor states reshaped government, land and military institutions in diverse societies. Buddhism and cave art flourished alongside exchanges with southern states.
Sui: reunification and institutional integration
Sui conquered Chen in 589, ending prolonged north–south division and integrating administration and transport. Tang inherited and adapted many of these institutions.
Tang China: Chang’an, institutions and exchange
Chang’an connected travelers and religious traditions across Asia. Tang institutions influenced East Asia, while examinations offered one route into office alongside family status and other channels.
Liao: Khitan government across steppe and agrarian regions
Khitan Liao developed differentiated institutions for steppe and agrarian populations. Trade, diplomacy and warfare with Song and other states shaped northern society.
Jin: Jurchen military households and northern government
Jurchen Jin displaced Liao and confronted Southern Song, adapting institutions across Jurchen and agrarian traditions and creating a distinct experience of northern rule.
Magna Carta: the Runnymede settlement and its reissues
King John and the barons reached an agreement at Runnymede, placing provisions on taxation, justice, and feudal rights in a charter. Written limits on royal authority formed an important part of this medieval document.
Ming: the two capitals, commerce and publishing
Ming rebuilt government as later commercial cities, crafts and publishing developed. After the Beijing court fell in 1644, Southern Ming regimes continued in the south.
Qing: varied institutions and imperial society
Qing governed diverse regions through different institutions as population, commerce and territory changed. Nineteenth-century warfare, social crises and reform transformed its relationships at home and abroad.
The Nanjing provisional government: Sun Yat-sen’s oath, declaration and constitution
Sun Yat-sen took office as provisional president in Nanjing as a republican government began its work.
The Universal Declaration: drafting and adopting a common standard
The UN General Assembly adopted a shared standard for human dignity and fundamental rights.
The Central People’s Government in 1949: formation, proclamation and policy
The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China was established in Beijing and proclaimed at Tiananmen, beginning a new period of institutions and reconstruction.
The Third Plenum of 1978: economic priorities and the beginning of reform
The plenum adopted a communiqué shifting priorities toward modernization and addressing economic management and external economic links, marking a key starting point for later reforms.
The Paris Agreement: shared goals and continuing national action
The UN climate conference adopted a shared framework for responding to climate change through mitigation, adaptation, and finance.
No articles match these filters