Both the PRC and the ROC currently claim to be the sole legitimate government of China, resulting in an ongoing dispute even after the United Nations recognized the PRC as the government to represent China at all UN conferences in 1971. The Republic of China retreated to the island of Taiwan in 1949. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1636–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and then in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials.
Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly.
However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or " emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times. These states became independent and fought with one another in the following Warring States period. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang, and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is among the world's oldest civilizations and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, and Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia. 91 BC) mention and describe a Xia dynasty (c.
296 BC) and the Records of the Grand Historian (c. Ancient historical texts such as the Book of Documents (early chapters, 11th century BC), the Bamboo Annals (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding, referred to in the records as the twenty-first King of Shang. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c.
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