Chinese History for Kids- Chinese History for Kids

Previously published as Chinese History for Kids: Song, Yuan, Ming by BrightStart PrintShop. How did China change from the commercial cities and new technologies of the Song to Mongol-Yuan rule and the global connections of the Ming? Chinese History for Kids: Song, Yuan, and Ming takes readers ages 9-12 from 960 to 1644 CE through three major dynasties and the wider worlds around them. In the Song era, readers explore Kaifeng, civil service examinations, maritime trade, jiaozi paper money, printing and movable type, gunpowder weapons, compass navigation, art, and the long conflicts with Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and the Mongols. The Yuan section follows Kublai Khan and explains how Yuan China fit within the wider Mongol world. Readers discover Dadu, relay stations, state paper currency, religious diversity, trade across Eurasia, Marco Polo's famous account, blue-and-white porcelain, astronomy, and the ambitions-and limits-of Yuan conquest. The Ming section traces Zhu Yuanzhang and the Yongle emperor, the building of the Forbidden City, Zheng He's seven voyages across the Indian Ocean, maritime trade, the Ming Great Wall, porcelain production, global silver flows, collaboration between Chinese scholars and Jesuits, the Imjin War, and the crises that ended Ming rule in Beijing in 1644. Rather than presenting Song, Yuan, and Ming as isolated dynasties, this book shows a connected world shaped by farmers, merchants, sailors, artisans, soldiers, scholars, officials, translators, and families. Includes maps, black-and-white historical illustrations, timelines, a glossary, review and discussion questions, and sources for further reading. Designed for independent reading, homeschool history, and classroom enrichment.