Chinese Empire

The Chinese Empire, also known as Imperial China, Empire of China, Celestial Empire, or simply China, was an imperial realm that spanned much from East, North, Central, South and Southeast Asia from the 1st century BC to the 20th century.

Originally emerged as a loose collection of various Han Chinese-speaking entities during the Warring States period, the Qin's wars of unification brought most of the Huaxia realm into one single dynasty, establishing Qin as the first imperial dynasty in 221 BC, the year where the Chinese Empire was first established. The Chinese Empire would continue to expand even after the collapse of the Qin dynasty, with the Han dynasty established itself with unprecedented expansion in the north, south and west. It would be the Tang dynasty four centuries later that China really achieved the golden age of its imperial realm, where China became the world's most powerful economic, political and military power, a status which China would hold until the 19th century, along with its territory spanned from Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia to Northeast Asia and partial Southeast Asia until being put to bed by the An Lushan rebellion. The Chinese Empire marked its revival under the Mongol-based Yuan dynasty, in which China managed to incorporate Tibet and Mongolia into its inner territory. The Qing dynasty, founded three centuries after the fall of Yuan, laid ground to most of China's modern border today with its expansion into the north, central, south and southeast Asia.

Following the 1911 Revolution, the Qing monarchy was abolished a year later, thus put an end to the centuries-old Chinese Empire following the imperial decree issuing abdication of Emperor Xuantong. Yuan Shikai attempted to restore the Chinese Empire three years later, with himself as the Emperor, but it was put to bed by the lack of popular support for the restoration of the monarchy.