administration of government. The civil servants were 

 appointed by competitive examination — a procedure 

 which is surprisingly not employed in the selection of 

 members of modern governments. During the Han Dyn- 

 asty, the religion of Buddhism was introduced into China 

 from India, and paper was first used. 



From about 300 A.D. for three centuries China under- 

 went a period of disorder — the Dark Ages — caused by 

 continued invasions of the aggessive Huns and Tartars 

 from the north, but with the start of the Tang Dynasty 

 (about 600 A.D.), followed by the Sung Dynasty (c. 900 

 A.D., a further period of central control united the Chi- 

 nese in a Golden Age of culture. Science, art, and learning 

 flourished: the magnetic compass, printing from blocks, 

 and gunpowder were first devised; beautiful porcelain 

 was manufactured, and painting was advanced; and contact 

 with other countries (India and Arabia) was effected. 

 But about 1250 A.D. China was conquered by the fierce 

 Mongols led by Ghengis Khan, and became part of the 

 Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan however encouraged foreign 

 contact (e.g. Marco Polo from Italy) and trade, but did 

 not succeed in conquering Japan or Indonesia. The Mongol 

 rule was cut short about 1370 by the Mings who revived 

 the Mandarins and Confucianism; also art and learning. 

 Jesuit missionaries from Europe visited China about 1600 

 and reported on the great scientific and cultural heights 

 attained by the Chinese. The Ming Dynasty was replaced 

 by the Manchus (c. 1700) who included Korea, Mon- 

 golia and Indo-China in their territory. The Manchus 

 were anxious to keep foreigners out of China, but from 

 1850 onwards several European nations traded with the 

 Chinese. The failure of an anti-European rebellion in 1 900, 

 and the formation of the Chinese Republic in 1912, ended 



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