Ancient Chinese Dynasties

Worksheet Description

Ancient China spans thousands of years. During the period of time that we refer to as Ancient China, China was ruled by twelve different dynasties. A dynasty is the rule of a country or region by one family over a long period of time. Typically, the head of the family is an emperor or a king, and when they die, they are succeeded by another member of the family. When a new family takes control, a new dynasty begins. The Ancient Chinese believed that their rulers had the right to be emperors because they had a Mandate of Heaven. This meant that the gods had given those individuals the right to rule. In order to keep this right, the ruler had to be good and just. When a dynasty was superseded, the Chinese believed it was because they had lost the Mandate of Heaven.

The twelve major dynasties in Ancient China are as follows.

• Xia
• Shang
• Zhou
• Qin
• Han
• Six Dynasties
• Sui
• Tang
• Five Dynasties
• Song
• Yuan
• Ming