Jin Dynasty: Did you mean...?

The civil service examinations of Imperial China allowed the state to find the best candidates to staff the vast bureaucracy that governed China from the Han Dynasty onwards (206 BCE - 220 CE). The exams were a means for a young male of any...

The New Kingdom (c. 1570- c.1069 BCE) is the era in Egyptian history following the disunity of the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-1570 BCE) and preceding the dissolution of the central government at the start of the Third Intermediate...

The Mongol invasions of Russia and Eastern Europe occurred first with a brief sortie in 1223 CE and then again in a much larger campaign between 1237 CE and 1242 CE. The Mongols, seemingly coming from nowhere and quickly gaining a reputation...

The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), also known as Heaven's Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China's early kings and then emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky selected a particular...

Oracle bones or dragon bones were the shoulder blades of oxen or the flat underside of a turtle shell known as a plastron that were used for divination during the Shang Dynasty of China which dates between c. 1600 and 1046 BCE. The bones...

The Kuru dynasty of Hastinapur, as portrayed in the Mahabharata, represents a legendary royal lineage whose internal divisions drive one of the most influential narratives in South Asian literary and cultural history. Centered on succession...

A map indicating the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty of China, 960-1125 CE.

A map indicating the territory of the Mongol Yuan dynasty of China (1271-1368 CE).

A selection of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) blue-and-white porcelain. From Chenghua reign, 1465-1487 CE. (British Museum, London)

A Qin dynasty crossbow (221-207 BCE). From Beiguan, Xian, China.