Later Zhou

State · 750 BCE – 960 CE · at its largest around 960 CE

In this dataset the name covers the Zhou royal house's shrinking domain around Luoyang in the Eastern Zhou era; it is also the name of the last of the Five Dynasties in northern China (951–960 CE).

On its lands while it lasted

Zhou dynasty (1,046–256 BCE): The longest-lasting Chinese dynasty, whose rulers claimed the Mandate of Heaven; real power declined after the move east in 771 BCE.
Confucius (551 BCE – 479 BCE): Philosopher and teacher from the state of Lu whose ideas on ethics, family and government became the foundation of Confucianism.
The Art of War (c. 500 BCE): Military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a general associated with the state of Wu; it remains one of the most influential works on strategy.
Tao Te Ching (c. 400 BCE): Foundational text of Taoism traditionally attributed to Laozi; most scholars date its compilation to the 4th century BCE.
Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE – 210 BCE): King of Qin who conquered the other Warring States and in 221 BCE became the first emperor of a unified China, standardising script, coinage and measures.
Qin unifies China (221 BCE): With the fall of Qi, the state of Qin completed the conquest of the Warring States and founded the first unified Chinese empire.
Terracotta Army (c. 210 BCE): Thousands of life-size clay soldiers and horses buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang; discovered by farmers in 1974.
Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE): Liu Bang founded the Han dynasty, a formative imperial age whose name became that of the majority Chinese ethnic group.
Emperor Wu of Han (156 BCE – 87 BCE): Han emperor whose 54-year reign saw wars against the Xiongnu, expansion into Central Asia, Korea and Vietnam, and state sponsorship of Confucianism.
Papermaking improved by Cai Lun (105 CE): The court official Cai Lun presented an improved process for making paper from bark, hemp and rags; earlier paper fragments date to the 2nd century BCE.
Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE): After the end of the Han, China was divided among the states of Wei, Shu and Wu.
Sui reunification of China (589 CE): The Sui dynasty conquered the southern Chen dynasty, reuniting China after nearly three centuries of division.
Grand Canal (c. 609 CE): The world’s longest artificial waterway. The Sui dynasty joined older canals into a network by about 609 CE; the Yuan realigned it to run directly north to Beijing by 1293, the course it follows between Beijing and Hangzhou today.
Tang dynasty (618–907 CE): The Tang dynasty, ruling from Chang'an, presided over a cosmopolitan golden age of poetry, Buddhism and trade.
Gunpowder (c. 850 CE): Chinese alchemists discovered the explosive mixture of saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal by the 9th century; the first written formulas appear in 1044.