China INTRODUCTION hina is among the oldest existing civilizations in the world Nomadic peoples wandered through much of what is now China more than 12 000 years ago By around 7000 B C many of those peoples had begun to settle along China s rivers including the Yellow River in the north and the Yangtze in the south There they began to farm and raise animals Over time farming settlements joined together to form states Eventually some states became stronger than others They conquered their neighbors and estab lished dynasties that ruled over China The early his tory of China can be divided into five main dynasties the Xia SHAH ruled from about 2070 to 1600 B C the Shang from around 1600 to 1046 B C the Zhou The longest river in Asia the Yangtze has influenced Chinese history from its
