eu). It was then followed by the Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty. In these dynasties, writing was developed, weapons and pottery was introduced, and silk was produced. Also, during the Zhou Dynasty, Daoism and Confucianism were developed. Next, in came the Qin Dynasty that was established as the first empire. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor, began the building of the great wall, standardized writing systems, designed standard currency, and enforced legalism onto his citizens. Eventually, the Qin Dynasty was overthrown when it became weak from the death of Qin Shi Huang. The strong Han Dynasty arrived right after the Qin Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was split into the Eastern Han and the Western Han. This empire grew so much, the emperor needed a larger government to rule it. Many things were introduced in the Han Dynasty, like the compass, paper, steel, and porcelain. The Han Dynasty also expanded far westward to guard trade traffic and they fortified the Great Wall to protect the Silk Road. Although, China will fight back and gain control again.
Buddhism reached China by the time of the later Han Dynasty. It spread to China through the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a trade route that extended from China to the Mediterranean. Buddhists missionaries and traders traveled this route to expand the buddhist religion to other regions. Buddhist scriptures helped the chinese identify with the religion. Different kinds of Buddhism developed in China and the teachings of Buddhism were changed by Chinese as it developed in their region. Instead of using the buddhism created in India, China used Mahayana Buddhism, to look inward and not to look outwards is the only way to achieve enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism contained the belief in repetitive prayers, heaven and bodhisattvas which help people gain salvation. However, China still had major problems that could not be solved through Buddhism.
A major problem in the China was the Mongolian invasions.