dynasty date
xia c.21st-16th century b.c.
shang c.16th-11th century b.c.
western zhou c.11th century b.c.-770 b.c.
eastern zhou （spring and autumn and warring states periods） 770-221 b.c.
qin 221-207 b.c.
western han 206 b.c.-a.d. 24
eastern han 25-220
three kingdoms （wei， shu and wu） 220-265
western jin 265-316
eastern jin 317-420
southern and northern dynasty 420-589
sui 581-618
tang 618-907
five dynasties 907-960
northern song 960-1127
southern song 1127-1279
yuan 1271-1368
ming 1368-1644
qing 1644-1911
republic of china 1912-1949
people's republic of china 1949-