Chinese Expansionism

Chinese expansionism over the last four thousand years has been a central feature of the history of East Asia. During times when China wielded much greater power such as during the Han, Tang, Yuan, and Qing dynasties, China would even influence the development and politics further north and west in North Asia, Central Asia, and parts of South and Southeast Asia.

Historic background

Qin and Han dynasties

Historically, China has been a major empire in history, and throughout its history, China developed from the northern basin of the Huaxia, which is believed to be between modern Yellow and Yangtze rivers, slowly became a major power from ancient era. To achieve that, various ancient Chinese dynasties had perpetuated the expansion of the realm, until it was unified under the Qin dynasty. However, it was only the Qin dynasty that China truly started its process of expansion into other nations. Qin dynasty's expansionism eventually led to its first contacts with the ancient Yue tribes, and further extended to the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Xiongnus. The Qin dynasty laid the foundation for future territorial expansions by subsequent Chinese dynasties.

The Han dynasty marked the height of early Chinese expansionism. Under the Han dynasty, China managed to conquer northern Korea and northern Vietnam, annexing several parts of these territories in the process. The Han dynasty also managed to conquer nomad tribes as far north as Mongolia and Siberia and gained control over western regions as far as modern Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia.

Following the fall of the Han dynasty, the Korea peninsula gained political independence from The Central Plain dynasties, leaving only northern Vietnam remaining under Chinese control, and the Three Kingdoms era temporarily halted Chinese expansionism. Nonetheless, the Cao Wei