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Add BCE temporal tags to all documents; add temporal-dating steering doc

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civilizations/ancient-china.md
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# Ancient China
## Overview
Ancient Chinese civilization developed along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, producing enduring contributions to philosophy, governance, technology, and culture. This entry covers the period from the Shang dynasty through the Han dynasty (~1600 BCE – 220 CE).
Ancient Chinese civilization developed along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, producing enduring contributions to philosophy, governance, technology, and culture. This entry covers the period from the Shang dynasty through the Han dynasty (~1600 BCE – 220 CE). @t[1600 BCE..220]
## Key Facts
- Region: East Asia, centered on the Yellow River and Yangtze River valleys
- Period covered: ~1600 BCE – 220 CE
- Period covered: ~1600 BCE – 220 CE @t[1600 BCE..220]
- Major dynasties: Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
- Language: Old Chinese, Classical Chinese
- Writing: Oracle bone script (~1200 BCE), evolving into seal script and clerical script
- Writing: Oracle bone script (~1200 BCE), evolving into seal script and clerical script @t[~1200 BCE]
## Major Dynasties
- Shang (~1600–1046 BCE): First historically verified dynasty, oracle bones, bronze casting [^1]
- Zhou (~1046–256 BCE): Longest dynasty, Mandate of Heaven, Confucius, Laozi
- Qin (221–206 BCE): First unified empire under Qin Shi Huang, Great Wall, standardization
- Han (206 BCE – 220 CE): Silk Road trade, paper invention, Confucian state ideology
- Shang (~1600–1046 BCE): First historically verified dynasty, oracle bones, bronze casting @t[1600 BCE..1046 BCE] [^1]
- Zhou (~1046–256 BCE): Longest dynasty, Mandate of Heaven, Confucius, Laozi @t[1046 BCE..256 BCE]
- Qin (221–206 BCE): First unified empire under Qin Shi Huang, Great Wall, standardization @t[221 BCE..206 BCE]
- Han (206 BCE – 220 CE): Silk Road trade, paper invention, Confucian state ideology @t[206 BCE..220]
## Achievements
- Oracle bone script: Earliest Chinese writing ~1200 BCE
- Iron casting by ~500 BCE (centuries before the West)
- Oracle bone script: Earliest Chinese writing ~1200 BCE @t[~1200 BCE]
- Iron casting by ~500 BCE (centuries before the West) @t[~500 BCE]
- Silk production and trade
- Paper invented ~100 CE during the Han dynasty [^2]
- Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism as philosophical traditions
- Great Wall construction begun under Qin Shi Huang ~221 BCE
- Great Wall construction begun under Qin Shi Huang ~221 BCE @t[~221 BCE]
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[^1]: Keightley, D. *Sources of Shang History* (University of California Press, 1978)