The Qin were the first dynasty to rule China. King Shi Huang conquered the vast region and declared himself the emperor, a title borrowed from mythology, the first in a parade of of rulers that was to exist for twenty-one centuries.
One of the most renowned historic sites of early Imperial China is the tomb of the first Qin emperor with its 8,000 terracotta life-sized terracotta warriors, located in Shanzi Province, 300 miles southwest of Beijing.
The Ming was one of the longest dynasties in Chinese imperial history, ruling the country from A.D. 1369 to 1644 and uniting a divided China under their rule. The Ming period was renowned for its mastery of the art of porcelain.
In imperial China, poetry, calligraphy and painting were considered the "Three Perfections." Scholars and artists were encouraged and nurtured. During the Ming dynasty, novels and scholarly encyclopedia were written.
Under imperial rule, the Chinese invented several profound human creations, including paper, gunpowder, clay type and a seafaring compass.
The last dynasty, the Qing ruled China from A.D. 1644 to 1911 when China dissolved into civil war and disorder. The emperor's palace compound, the Forbidden City in Beijing, constructed in the 15th century, remains but most of imperial China's treasures have been scattered to the four winds.
