date_of_death wu xian 
East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent , which can be defined in either geographical or ethno - cultural terms . Geographically and geopolitically , it includes China , Hong Kong , and Macao ; Mongolia and Taiwan ; North and South Korea ; and Japan ; it covers about , or about ___MASK74___ % of the Asian continent , about twice the area of Europe . The Xia dynasty ( c . 2070  c . ___MASK77___ ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese history . It is described in ancient historical chronicles such as the " Bamboo Annals ", the " Classic of History " and the " Records of the Grand Historian ". According to tradition , the dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun , the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him . The Xia was later succeeded by the Shang dynasty ( c . 1600  c . ___MASK69___ ). Shanghai (": Zånhae " ), often abbreviated as Hu or Shen , is one of the four direct - controlled municipalities of the People ' s Republic of China . It is the most populous city proper in the world , with a population of more than ___MASK21___ million . It is a global financial centre and transport hub , with the world ' s busiest container port . Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China , Shanghai sits on the south edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the Chinese coast . The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north , south and west , and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea . The Communist Party of China ( CPC ) is the founding and ruling political party of the People ' s Republic of China ( PRC ). The CPC is the sole governing party of China , although it coexists alongside eight other legal parties that comprise the United Front ; these parties , however , hold no real power or independence from the CPC . It was founded in ___MASK58___ , chiefly by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao . The party grew quickly , and by ___MASK47___ the CPC had driven the nationalist Kuomintang ( KMT ) government from mainland China after the Chinese Civil War , thus leading to the establishment of the People ' s Republic of China . The CPC is currently the world ' s second largest political party with a membership of 88 . 76 million as of 2016 ( while the Indian Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have remained the largest with a membership of ___MASK87___ million as of the previous year , 2015 ). It also controls the world ' s largest armed force , the People ' s Liberation Army . Tianjin , formerly romanized as Tientsin , is a metropolis in northern coastal Mainland China , administered by the People ' s Republic of China and one of the five national central cities of China , with a total municipal population of ___MASK65___ , ___MASK26___ , ___MASK2___ . It is governed as one of the four direct - controlled municipalities of the PRC and is thus under direct administration of the central government . Tianjin borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality , bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea . Part of the Bohai Economic Rim , it is the largest coastal city in northern China . The Xia  Shang  Zhou Chronology Project was a multi - disciplinary project commissioned by the People ' s Republic of China in ___MASK18___ to determine with accuracy the location and time frame of the Xia , Shang , and Zhou dynasties . Tsinghua University professor Li Xueqin was the director , and some 200 experts took part in the project , which correlated radiocarbon dating , archaeological dating methods , historical textual analysis , astronomy , and other methods to achieve greater temporal and geographic accuracy . Preliminary results of the project were released in November ___MASK96___ . However , several of the project ' s methods and conclusions have been disputed by other scholars . The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty , according to traditional historiography , ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC , succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty . The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the " Book of Documents ", " Bamboo Annals " and " Records of the Grand Historian ". According to the traditional chronology based on calculations made approximately ___MASK20___ , 000 years ago by Liu Xin , the Shang ruled from ___MASK88___ to ___MASK40___ BC , but according to the chronology based upon the " current text " of " Bamboo Annals ", they ruled from 1556 to 1046 BC . The Xia  Shang  Zhou Chronology Project dated them from c . 1600 to 1046 BC . The Book of Documents ( Shujing , earlier " Shu - king ") or Classic of History , also known as the Shangshu , is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature . It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China , and served as the foundation of Chinese political philosophy for over ___MASK20___ , 000 years . Macau ( literally : " Bay Gate "), ( in Portuguese , which is still widely used in the city ) also spelled Macao ( in English ), officially the Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China , is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia . Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in China to the North and the Pearl River Estuary to the East and South . Hong Kong lies about to its East across the Delta . With a population of ___MASK72___ , ___MASK32___ living in an area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world . Chang ' an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history , today known as Xi ' an . Chang ' an means " Perpetual Peace " in Classical Chinese . During the short - lived Xin dynasty , the city was renamed " Constant Peace "; yet after its fall in AD ___MASK98___ , the old name was restored . By the time of the Ming dynasty , the name was again changed to Xi ' an , meaning " Western Peace ", which has remained its name to the present day . Liu Xin ( c . ___MASK13___ BC  AD ___MASK98___ ), courtesy name Zijun , was a Chinese astronomer , historian , and editor during the Western Han Dynasty ( ___MASK24___ BC - AD ___MASK62___ ) and Xin Dynasty ( AD ___MASK62___  ___MASK98___ ). He later changed his name to Liu Xiu due to the naming taboo of Emperor Ai of Han . He was the son of Confucian scholar Liu Xiang ( 77  ___MASK10___ BC ) and an associate of other prominent thinkers such as the philosopher Huan Tan ( d . 28 AD ). Liu founded the Old Text school of Confucianism . Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People ' s Republic of China , is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia . Macau lies across the delta to the west , and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north . With a total land area of and a population of over ___MASK34___ . 3 million of various nationalities , it ranks as the world ' s fourth most densely populated sovereign state or territory . Wu Xian ( Chinese :  ) was a Chinese Shaman . Wu ( Chinese :  ; pinyin : w ; Wade -- Giles : wu ; literally means `` shaman '' ) who have practiced divination , prayer , sacrifice , rainmaking , and healing in Chinese traditions dating back over 3 , 000 years . Wu Xian lived in the Shang dynasty ( c . ___MASK3___ -- ___MASK79___ BC ) of China . He is considered as one of the main ancient Chinese astronomers alongside more historical figures such as Gan De and Shi Shen , the latter two of whom lived during the Warring States ( 403 -- ___MASK6___ BC ) . He has also been represented as one of the `` Three Astronomical Traditions '' on the Dunhuang map which was made during the Tang dynasty ( 618 -- 907 ) . The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China ( ___MASK24___ BC  220 AD ), preceded by the Qin dynasty ( ___MASK6___  ___MASK24___ BC ) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 AD ). Spanning over four centuries , the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history . To this day , China ' s majority ethnic group refers to itself as the " Han people " and the Chinese script is referred to as " Han characters ". It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang , known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han , and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty ( 9  23 AD ) of the former regent Wang Mang . This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods : the Western Han or Former Han ( ___MASK24___ BC  9 AD ) and the Eastern Han or Later Han ( 25  220 AD ). The Zhou dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang dynasty and preceded the Qin dynasty . Although the Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history , the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty , surnamed Ji , lasted only until ___MASK86___ BC , a period known as the Western Zhou . China , officially the People ' s Republic of China ( PRC ), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia . With a population of over ___MASK83___ . 381 billion , it is the world ' s most populous country . The state is governed by the Communist Party of China , and its capital is Beijing . It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , four direct - controlled municipalities ( Beijing , Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ), and two mostly self - governing special administrative regions ( Hong Kong and Macau ), and claims sovereignty over Taiwan . The country ' s major urban areas include Shanghai , Guangzhou , Beijing , Chongqing , Shenzhen , Tianjin and Hong Kong . China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia , and has been characterized as a potential superpower . Beijing ( formerly romanised as Peking ) is the capital of the People ' s Republic of China and the world ' s third most populous city proper . It is also one of the world ' s most populous capital cities . The city , located in northern China , is governed as a direct - controlled municipality under the national government with ___MASK45___ urban , suburban , and rural districts . Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighbouring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast ; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China . The Bamboo Annals , also known as the Ji Tomb Annals , is a chronicle of ancient China . It begins at the earliest legendary times ( the Yellow Emperor ) and extends to ___MASK5___ BC , with the later centuries focusing on the history of the State of Wei in the Warring States period . It thus covers a similar period to Sima Qian ' s " Records of the Grand Historian " ( 91 BC ). The original may have been lost during the Song dynasty , and the text is known today in two versions , a " current text " ( or " modern text ") of disputed authenticity and an incomplete " ancient text ". The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . It is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization , and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture . Its territory , acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers , rivaled that of the Han dynasty , and the Tang capital at Chang ' an ( present - day Xi ' an ) was the most populous city in the world .