Table of contents 1
Maps 6
Preface 7
Acknowledgements 10
Nomenclature 10
Pronunciation guide to modern Chinese 11
The sounds of Mandarin Chinese 11
The syllables in Mandarin Chinese 14
The Chinese tones 15
Other popular romanization and transliteration systems 16
Comparative tables 17
Comparison Hanyu Pinyin—Tongyong Pinyin 20
Conversion table Wade Giles—Hanyu Pinyin—MPS 21
PartⅠ：China today 26
Facts and statistics about China 26
China’s population 27
China’s demographic development 27
Nationalities in China 29
Languages in China 37
Religions in China 38
China’s geography 42
General features 42
China’s topography 43
Rivers and lakes 45
Vegetation and cultivation/Land usage 47
Natural disasters 47
China’s climate 48
Climatic data for select Chinese cities 48
Government and politics 52
PRC（People’s Republic of China） 52
—Political system of the PRC 52
—The Chinese Communist Party（CCP） 53
—Presidents and Premiers of the PRC 56
—The Parliament and the Judiciary of the PRC 56
—Ministries and agencies under the PRC State Council 57
—Governors/Chief Executives of Hong Kong since 1843 and of Macau since 1623 60
ROC（Republic of China） 64
—Political system of the ROC 64
—Major political parties of the ROC 65
—Presidents of the ROC 1912-1948 67
—Presidents/Vice Presidents of the ROC since 1948 67
—Premiers/Heads of the ROC’s Executive Yuan 68
—Heads of the ROC’s four other Yuans since 1928. 71
—Ministries and agencies under the ROC Executive Yuan 72
—Complete ROC election results since 1989 74
—Rulers and Governors of Taiwan since 1624 75
Human rights in China 78
Cross-strait relations 79
Territorial issues 86
—Disputed land borders of the PRC 86
—Islands with sovereignty claimed by both the PRC and ROC 87
—Islands under the effective control of the ROC 89
China’s economy 91
China（PRC） 91
Taiwan（ROC） 96
Quantification of the economies in Greater China and Singapore 99
Banking and finance 101
Part Ⅱ：The Chinese provinces 110
The provinces of China today 110
China’s administrative organization 110
Ranking of China’s cities and provinces by population，area，and pop.density（2005） 112
Administrative subdivisions in the PRC 113
Abbreviations of geographical names 115
Changes in China’s provincial composition since 1949 116
Provinces of the old ROC（1912-1949） 117
Obsolete geographical names 118
Gazetteer—the Chinese provinces in detail 119
1.安徽 119
2.北京 121
3.重庆 122
4.福建 124
5.甘肃 126
6.广东 128
7.广西 131
8.贵州 134
9.海南 136
10.河北 137
11.黑龙江 140
12.河南 143
13.香港 146
14.湖北 147
15.湖南 150
16.内蒙古 153
17.江苏 156
18.江西 158
19.吉林 160
20.辽宁 162
21.澳门 165
22.宁夏 166
23.青海 168
24.陕西 170
25.山东 173
26.上海 176
27.山西 177
28.四川 179
29.台湾 183
30.天津 187
31.西藏 188
32.新疆 190
33.云南 193
34.浙江 196
A few words about Singapore 199
Part Ⅲ：China’s history 202
Chronology of Chinese dynasties 202
Historical capitals 205
The History of China：A Summary 208
The emergence of humans in the China region 208
Neolithic China：the Yangshao and Longshan Cultures 208
The legendary Xia Dynasty and the mythical emperors 210
The Shang/Yin Dynasty（ca.1500-1000 BC） 211
The Zhou Dynasty（ca.1000-221 BC） 212
Qin Dynasty（221-207 BC）：Birth of a unified China 221
The Han Dynasty（207 BC-220 AD） 225
Time of division between Han and Sui（220-589） 232
The Sui Dynasty（589-618） 243
The Tang Dynasty（618-907） 245
Time of division between Tang and Song（902-979） 253
The Song Dynasty（960-1279） 256
The Mongols and the Yuan Dynasty（1279-1368） 265
Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）：Chinese rule restored 270
The Manchus and the Qing Dynasty（1644-1911） 278
Chronology of Greater China 1911-2006 295
List of noteworthy persons in Greater China 390
Part Ⅳ：Appendix 474
Japan，Korea and Vietnam：History and Geography 474
History of Japan 475
Prime Ministers of Japan since 1885 476
Geographical names in Japan 478
History of Korea 479
Leaders of Korea since 1948 480
Geographical names in Korea 481
Leaders of Vietnam since 1954 482
Geographical names in Vietnam 484
International geographical names and terms 485
The 194 countries of the world and their capitals 485
Alternative country names in Chinese 490
Obsolete country names 490
Important geographic terms 490
Continents and intercontinental regions 491
Seas and oceans，gulfs and straits 491
Major lakes 493
Major rivers 493
Major mountain ranges 494
Islands，islets，and archipelagos 494
Other places，territories，and regions 497
Transnational or disputed territories and regions 498
U.S.states 499
Canada’s provinces and territories 500
Australia’s states and territories 500
Administrative division of the United Kingdom 501
The French regions 501
The 16 German states 502
The Russian republics 502
Space terms 503
Selected time zones 505
Chinese holidays 507
The Chinese calendar 508
Yin and Yang，the Five Primary Elements，the Ten Heavenly Stems 509
The Chinese Zodiac：Twelve Animal Signs and Twelve Earthly Branches 511
The Ganzbi system 511
The Eight Trigrams and 64 Hexagrams 513
The 24 Solar Terms and the Eight Festivals 514
Data about the Chinese lunar calendar，length of Chinese lunar years 1900-2050 516
Chinese family names 524
Single-character family names 524
Two-character family names 526
Degrees of kinship 527
Military rank 530
Ranks in the PRC Armed Forces 530
Ranks in the ROC Armed Forces 531
Weights and measures 532
Chinese system 532
Metric system 533
US/British system 535
Other important measures 538
Useful conversion tables 539
List of chemical elements 541
Excerpts from important documents 544
Treaty of Shimonoseki（1895） 544
～in Chinese：马关条约（下关条约） 545
Japan’s“21 Demands”to China［full text］（1915） 546
～in Chinese：日本的《二十一条要求》【全文】 548
Cairo Declaration［full text］（1943） 549
Agreements reached at the Yalta（Crimea）Conference（1945） 549
Potsdam Declaration（1945） 550
Japan’s First Instrument of Surrender（1945） 550
～in Chinese：日本投降书 551
Surrender Order of the Imperial General Headquarters of Japan（1945） 552
Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of the Communist Rebellion［full text］（1948） 553
～in Chinese：动员戡乱时期临时条款【全文】 554
Treaty of San Francisco（1951） 555
Treaty of Peace between the ROC and Japan（1952） 556
～in Chinese：中华民国与日本国间和平条约 557
UN Resolution 2758［full text］（1971） 557
Shanghai Communique（1972） 558
～in Chinese：中华人民共和国和美利坚合众国联合公报（《上海公报》） 559
Joint Communique of the Gov.of Japan and the Goov.of the PRC（1972） 560
～in Chinese：中日联合声明 560
Taiwan Relations Act（1979） 561
Joint Communique of the PRC and the USA（1982） 566
～in Chinese：中华人民共和国和美利坚合众国联合公报（八一七公报） 567
PRC Constitution， Article 36：Religion（1982） 567
～in Chinese：中华人民共和国宪法（第三十六条） 568
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea（1982） 568
The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong（1984） 568
～in Chinese：中华人民共和国政府和大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国政府关于香港问题的联合声明 570
Guidelines for National Unification［full text］（1991） 571
～in Chinese：国家统一纲领【全文】 572
ROC President Lee Teng-hui’s remarks about the“state-to-state relationship”extant between the ROC and the PRC（1999） 573
ROC President Chen Shui-bian’s“Five Noes”（2000，2004） 573
The “Anti-Secession Law”of the PRC［full text］（2005） 574
～in Chinese：反分裂国家法【全文】 576
List of abbreviations and acronyms 578
Sources/Further reading 664