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[[File:Chinese silk, 4th Century BC.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Detail of Chinese [[silk]] from the 4th century BCE. The characteristic trade of silk through the [[Silk Road]] connected various regions from China, India, Central Asia, and the Middle East to Europe and Africa.]]

The '''history of Asia''' can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as [[East Asia]], [[South Asia]], [[History of Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] and the [[Middle East]] linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian [[steppe]]. See [[History of the Middle East]] and [[Outline of South Asian history|History of the Indian Subcontinent]] for further details on those regions.

The coastal periphery was the home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations and religions, with each of three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. These valleys were fertile because the soil there was rich and could bear many root crops. The civilizations in [[Mesopotamia]], [[ancient India]], and [[ancient China]] shared many similarities and likely exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other notions such as that of writing likely developed individually in each area. Cities, states, and then empires developed in these lowlands.

The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes, they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The northern part of the continent, covering much of [[Siberia]] was also inaccessible to the steppe nomads due to the dense forests and the [[tundra]]. These areas in Siberia were very sparsely populated.

The centre and periphery were kept separate by mountains and deserts. The [[Caucasus Mountains|Caucasus]], [[Himalayas|Himalaya]], [[Karakum Desert]], and [[Gobi Desert]] formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could only cross with difficulty. While technologically and culturally the city dwellers were more advanced, they could do little militarily to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force. Thus the nomads who conquered states in the [[Middle East]] were soon forced to adapt to the local societies.

The [[spread of Islam]] waved the [[Islamic Golden Age]] and the [[Timurid Renaissance]], which later influenced the age of [[Gunpowder empires|Islamic gunpowder empires]].

Asia's history features major developments seen in other parts of the world, as well as events that have affected those other regions. These include the trade of the [[Silk Road]], which spread cultures, languages, religions, and diseases throughout [[Afro-Eurasia|Afro-Eurasian]] trade. Another major advancement was the innovation of [[gunpowder]] in medieval China, later developed by the Gunpowder empires, mainly by the [[Mughal tribe|Mughal]]s and [[Safavid]]s, which led to advanced warfare through the use of guns.

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==Prehistory==
{{main|Prehistoric Asia}}
[[File:Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg|thumb|Some [[henge]]s at [[Göbekli Tepe]] in [[Turkey]] were erected as far back as [[Göbekli Tepe#Layer III|9600 BC]], predating those of [[Stonehenge]], by over seven millennia.<ref name="ArchMag">{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html|title=The World's First Temple|work= Archaeology magazine |date=November–December 2008|page=23}}</ref>]]

A report by archaeologist Rakesh Tewari on Lahuradewa, [[India]] shows new C14 datings that range between 9000 and 8000 BC associated with rice, making Lahuradewa the earliest [[Neolithic]] site in entire South Asia.<ref name="archae">{{cite web |title=Second preliminary report of the excavations at Lahuradewa district |url=http://www.uparchaeology.org/archae.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613040512/http://www.uparchaeology.org/archae.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-13 |publisher=Directorate of Archaeology (U.P, India)}}
</ref> [[Neolithic|Settled life]] emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the [[Indus River]] alluvium approximately 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] of the third millennium BC.

[[Göbekli Tepe]] is a [[Neolithic]] site in the [[Anatolia|Southeastern Anatolia Region]] of [[Turkey]]. Dated to the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]], between {{circa}} 9500 and 8000 BC, the site comprises a number of large circular structures supported by massive stone pillars – the world's oldest known [[megalith]]s.

The [[prehistoric Beifudi site]] near Yixian in [[Hebei]] Province, China, contains relics of a culture contemporaneous with the [[Cishan culture|Cishan]] and [[Xinglongwa culture|Xinglongwa]] cultures of about 8000–7000 BC, Neolithic cultures east of the [[Taihang Mountains]], filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square meters and the collection of Neolithic findings at the site consists of two phases.<ref name="archdis">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
 |title=New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 – The Fourth Archaeology Forum of CASS
 |publisher=Institute of Archaeology – Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
 |access-date=2007-09-18
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512174808/http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
 |archive-date=2011-05-12
}}
</ref>

Around 5500 BC the [[Tel Halaf|Halafian]] culture appeared in [[Lebanon]], [[Land of Israel|Israel]], [[Syria]], [[Anatolia]], and northern [[Mesopotamia]], based upon dryland agriculture.

In southern Mesopotamia were the alluvial plains of [[Sumer]] and [[Elam]]. Since there was little rainfall, [[irrigation]] systems were necessary. The [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] culture flourished from 5500 BC.

==Ancient==
===Bronze Age===
{{Main|Ancient Near East}}
[[File:Bronze Age End.svg|thumb|270px|Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]], beginning {{circa|1200}} BC]]
The [[Chalcolithic]] period (or Copper Age) began about 4500 BC, then the [[Bronze Age]] began about 3500 BC, replacing the Neolithic cultures.

The [[Indus Valley civilization]] (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BC; mature period 2600–1900 BC) which was centered mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent; it is considered that an early form of Hinduism was performed during this civilization. Some of the great cities of this civilization include [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro]], which had a high level of town planning and arts. The cause of the destruction of these regions around 1700 BC is debatable, although evidence suggests it was caused by natural disasters (especially flooding).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Indus Valley Civilisation|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/11372/data/history.htm|work=ThinkQuest|access-date=9 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509014129/http://library.thinkquest.org/11372/data/history.htm|archive-date=9 May 2013}}</ref> This era marks [[Vedic period]] in India, which lasted from roughly 1500 to 500 BC. During this period, the [[Sanskrit]] language developed and the [[Vedas]] were written, epic hymns that told tales of gods and wars. This was the basis for the Vedic religion, which would eventually sophisticate and develop into [[Hinduism]].{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=68}}

China and [[Vietnam]] were also centres of metalworking. Dating back to the Neolithic Age, the first bronze drums, called the Dong Son drums have been uncovered in and around the Red River Delta regions of Vietnam and Southern China. These relate to the prehistoric Dong Son Culture of Vietnam.

In Ban Chiang, Thailand (Southeast Asia), bronze artifacts have been discovered dating to 2100 BC. In Nyaunggan, Burma bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artifacts. Dating is still currently broad (3500–500 BC).

===Iron and Axial Age===
{{Main|Iron Age}}
{{Further|Axial Age}}

The Iron Age saw the widespread use of iron tools, weaponry, and armor throughout the major civilizations of Asia.

====Middle East====
[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|right|270px|The [[First Persian Empire]] at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC]]
The [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid dynasty]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], founded by [[Cyrus the Great]], ruled an area from [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] to the [[Indus River]] and Central Asia during the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Persian politics included a tolerance for other cultures, a highly [[centralized government]], and significant infrastructure developments. Later, in [[Darius I|Darius the Great]]'s rule, the territories were integrated, a bureaucracy was developed, nobility were assigned military positions, tax collection was carefully organized, and spies were used to ensure the loyalty of regional officials. 

The primary religion of Persia at this time was [[Zoroastrianism]]. Developed by the philosopher [[Zoroaster]], the religion introduced an early form of [[monotheism]] to the area and tenets such as spiritual salvation through personal moral action, an [[Eschatology|end time]], and both [[General judgment|general]] and [[Particular judgment]] with a [[heaven]] or [[hell]]. It also banned animal sacrifice and the use of intoxicants in rituals. Rooted in ancient religious practices predating known history, these concepts would heavily influence later emperors and the masses. 

The Persian Empire was successful in establishing peace and stability throughout the Middle East and was a major influence in art, politics (affecting Hellenistic leaders), and religion.

[[Alexander the Great]] conquered this dynasty in the 4th century BC, creating the brief [[Hellenistic period]]. However, he was unable to establish stability; after his death, Persia broke into small, weak dynasties including the [[Seleucid Empire]], followed by the [[Parthian Empire]]. By the end of the Classical age, Persia had been reconsolidated into the [[Sassanid Empire]], also known as the second Persian Empire.

The [[Roman Empire]] would later control parts of Western Asia. The [[Seleucid]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and [[Sassanid]] dynasties of Persia dominated Western Asia for centuries.

====India====
{{See also|Greater India}}

The Maurya and Gupta empires are called the Golden Age of India and were marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, art, religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Indian culture. The religions of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]], which began in the Indian sub-continent, were important influences on South, East and Southeast Asia.
[[File:Hinduism_Expansion_in_Asia_2023.svg|thumb|Hinduism expansion in Asia, from its heartland in Indian Subcontinent, to the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, started circa 1st century marked with the establishment of early [[History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia|Hindu settlements and polities in Southeast Asia]].]]

By 600 BC, the [[Indian subcontinent]] was politically fragmented into numerous states, including the sixteen major [[Mahajanapada|Mahājanapadas]] (Sanskrit: महाजनपद) and many smaller kingdoms and republics that often competed and feuded with one another.<ref name=Thapar2012a>{{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |title=Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas |edition=Revised |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0198077244 |pages=15–18}}</ref><ref name=Singh2008a>{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=9788131711200 |pages=330–335}}</ref>  

In 327 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] advanced through [[Bactria]] and crossed into northwestern India. He campaigned across the Punjab to the [[Beas River]], but his army refused to march farther east into the Ganges basin, forcing him to retreat.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bactria |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bactria |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Goyal |first=S. |title=The Historiography of the Early Maurya Empire |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=38 |year=1977 |pages=57–65 |jstor=41694369}}</ref> The Macedonian withdrawal weakened Greek control in the region and opened the way for new powers.  

Shortly afterward, [[Chandragupta Maurya]], with the counsel of [[Chanakya]], overthrew the [[Nanda Empire|Nanda dynasty]] around 321 BC and established the [[Maurya Empire]] (Sanskrit: मौर्य राजवंश, ''Maurya Rājavaṃśa'').<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mishra |first=S.C. |title=A Landmark Study of Mauryan India |journal=Social Scientist |volume=6 |issue=10 |year=1978 |pages=86–92 |jstor=3518067}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Chandragupta |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=25 August 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chandragupta |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> The Mauryan state became one of the world’s largest empires of its time, stretching north to the [[Himalayas]], east into what is now [[Assam]], west beyond modern [[Pakistan]], and annexing [[Balochistan]] and much of present-day [[Afghanistan]] at its greatest extent.<ref name=MauryaBrit>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mauryan Empire |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=25 August 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauryan-Empire |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> South of the empire lay [[Tamilakam]], an independent region dominated by the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]], and [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Tamilakam |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tamilakam |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref>  

The Mauryan Empire was notable for its sophisticated administration. Chandragupta and his successors ruled through an autocratic monarchy supported by a standing army, provincial governors, a complex bureaucracy, a regulated taxation system, state monopolies in key commodities, standardized coinage, and even a postal network.<ref name=Singh2008b>{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=9788131711200 |pages=340–345}}</ref><ref name=MauryaBrit/>  

Chandragupta’s grandson, [[Ashoka]] (r. 268–232 BC), expanded Mauryan control across almost the entire subcontinent (except for the southern tip). Following his conversion to Buddhism, Ashoka promoted dhamma (Sanskrit: धर्म, Pali: धम्म, ''dhamma'' = righteousness), non-violence, and public welfare through his famous [[Edicts of Ashoka|edicts]], leaving a lasting impact on Indian society and religion.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ashoka |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=7 September 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ashoka |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> After Ashoka’s death, the empire gradually fragmented; by 185 BC the last Mauryan ruler was overthrown, and successor states arose in the north and northwest, including the [[Shunga Empire|Śuṅgas]], [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greeks]], and [[Indo-Scythians|Śakas]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=India: The end of the Mauryan Empire |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India/The-end-of-the-Mauryan-Empire |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref>  

The [[Kushan Empire]] (Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, ''Kuṣāṇa Rājavaṃśa''; 1st–3rd centuries AD), founded by Central Asian invaders from the northwest, became a major power across northern India and Central Asia. Under Emperor [[Kanishka]] (c. 127–150 AD), the Kushans were notable patrons of Buddhism, supporting its spread along the Silk Roads into Central Asia and China.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Kushan dynasty |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=14 August 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kushan-dynasty |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> While Buddhism flourished under their rule, in later centuries its close association with foreign dynasties contributed to perceptions of it as an “outside” religion, a factor in its eventual decline within India.<ref name=Thapar2012b>{{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |title=Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas |edition=Revised |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0198077244 |pages=202–207}}</ref>  

The [[Gupta Empire]] (Sanskrit: गुप्त राजवंश, ''Gupta Rājavaṃśa''), founded by [[Chandragupta I]] around AD 320, later unified much of northern India through conquest and alliance. Gupta rule covered less territory than the Mauryas but brought long-lasting stability and is remembered as a classical age of Indian civilization, marked by advances in art, science, and literature.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Gupta dynasty |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=11 September 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gupta-dynasty |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> By the mid-6th century AD, sustained invasions by the [[Huna people|Hūṇas]] and internal divisions contributed to Gupta decline and fragmentation.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=India: Literature—The Hūṇa invasions and aftermath |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India/Literature |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref>  

====Classical China====

=====Zhou dynasty=====
{{main|Zhou dynasty}}
[[File:Zhou dynasty 1000 BC.png|thumb|Population concentration and boundaries of the [[Western Zhou]] dynasty in China]]
Since 1029 BC, the [[Zhou dynasty]] ({{zh|c=周朝|p=Zhōu Cháo|w=Chou Ch'ao}} {{IPA|cmn|tʂóʊ tʂʰɑ̌ʊ|}}), had existed in China and it would continue to until 258 BC.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=43}} The Zhou dynasty had been using a [[Feudalism|feudal system]] by giving power to local nobility and relying on their loyalty in order to control its large territory.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=43}} As a result, the Chinese government at this time tended to be very decentralized and weak, and there was often little the emperor could do to resolve national issues. Nonetheless, the government was able to retain its position with the creation of the [[Mandate of Heaven]], which could establish an emperor as divinely chosen to rule. The Zhou additionally discouraged the [[human sacrifice]] of the preceding eras and unified the [[Chinese language]]. Finally, the Zhou government encouraged settlers to move into the [[Yangtze|Yangtze River]] valley, thus creating the Chinese Middle Kingdom.

But by 500 BC, its political stability began to decline due to repeated nomadic incursions{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=43}} and internal conflict derived from the fighting princes and families. This was lessened by the many philosophical movements, starting with the life of [[Confucius]]. His philosophical writings (called [[Confucianism]]) concerning the respect of elders and of the state would later be popularly used in the Han dynasty. Additionally, [[Laozi]]'s concepts of [[Taoism]], including [[yin and yang]] and the innate duality and balance of nature and the universe, became popular throughout this period. Nevertheless, the Zhou dynasty eventually disintegrated as the local nobles began to gain more power and their conflict devolved into the [[Warring States period]], from 402 to 201 BC.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=44}}

=====Qin dynasty=====
{{main|Qin dynasty}}
One leader eventually came on top, [[Qin Shi Huang]] ({{zh|c=始皇帝}}, ''Shǐ Huángdì''), who overthrew the last Zhou emperor and established the Qin dynasty.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=43}} The [[Qin dynasty]] (Chinese: 秦朝; pinyin: Qín Cháo) was the first ruling dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=42}} The new Emperor abolished the feudal system and directly appointed a bureaucracy that would rely on him for power. Huang's imperial forces crushed any regional resistance, and they furthered the Chinese empire by expanding down to the [[South China Sea]] and northern [[Vietnam]]. Greater organization brought a uniform tax system, a national census, regulated road building (and cart width), standard measurements, standard coinage, and an official written and spoken language.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=45}} Further reforms included new irrigation projects, the encouragement of [[silk]] manufacturing,{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=45}} and (most famously) the beginning of the construction of the Great Wall of China—designed to keep out the nomadic raiders who'd constantly badger the Chinese people. However, Shi Huang was infamous for his tyranny, forcing laborers to build the Wall, ordering heavy taxes, and severely punishing all who opposed him. He oppressed Confucians and promoted [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]], the idea that people were inherently evil, and that a strong, forceful government was needed to control them. Legalism was infused with realistic, logical views and rejected the pleasures of educated conversation as frivolous. All of this made Shi Huang extremely unpopular with the people. As the Qin began to weaken, various factions began to fight for control of China.

=====Han dynasty=====
{{main|Han dynasty}}
[[File:SeidenstrasseGMT.JPG|300px|thumb|The [[Silk Road]] in Asia]]
The [[Han dynasty]] ({{zh|s=汉朝|t=漢朝|p=Hàn Cháo}}; 206 BC – 220 AD) was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–265 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. One of the Han dynasty's greatest emperors, [[Emperor Wu of Han]], established a peace throughout China comparable to the [[Pax Romana]] seen in the Mediterranean a hundred years later.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=45}} To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people". The Han dynasty was established when two peasants succeeded in rising up against Shi Huang's significantly weaker successor-son. The new Han government retained the centralization and bureaucracy of the Qin, but greatly reduced the repression seen before. They expanded their territory into [[Korea]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Central Asia]], creating an even larger empire than the Qin.

The Han developed contacts with the Persian Empire in the Middle East and the Romans, through the [[Silk Road]], with which they were able to trade many commodities—primarily silk. Many ancient civilizations were influenced by the [[Silk Road]], which connected China, [[India]], the Middle East and Europe. Han emperors like Wu also promoted Confucianism as the national "religion" (although it is debated by theologians as to whether it is defined as such or as a philosophy). Shrines devoted to Confucius were built and Confucian philosophy was taught to all scholars who entered the Chinese bureaucracy. The bureaucracy was further improved with the introduction of an examination system that selected scholars of high merit. These bureaucrats were often upper-class people educated in special schools, but whose power was often checked by the lower-class brought into the bureaucracy through their skill. The Chinese imperial bureaucracy was very effective and highly respected by all in the realm and would last over 2,000 years. The Han government was highly organized and it commanded the military, judicial law (which used a system of courts and strict laws), agricultural production, the economy, and the general lives of its people. The government also promoted intellectual philosophy, scientific research, and detailed historical records.
[[File:East-Hem 200bc.jpg|thumb|280px|The [[Han dynasty]] and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC]]
However, despite all of this impressive stability, central power began to lose control by the turn of the [[Common Era]]. As the Han dynasty declined, many factors continued to pummel it into submission until China was left in a state of chaos. By 100 AD, philosophical activity slowed, and corruption ran rampant in the bureaucracy. Local landlords began to take control as the scholars neglected their duties, and this resulted in heavy taxation of the peasantry. Taoists began to gain significant ground and protested the decline. They started to proclaim magical powers and promised to save China with them; the Taoist [[Yellow Turban Rebellion]] in 184 (led by rebels in yellow scarves) failed but was able to weaken the government. The aforementioned Huns combined with diseases killed up to half of the population and officially ended the Han dynasty by 220. The ensuing period of chaos was so terrible it lasted for three centuries, where many weak regional rulers and dynasties failed to establish order in China. This period of chaos and attempts at order is commonly known as that of the [[Six Dynasties]]. The first part of this included the [[Three Kingdoms]] which started in 220 and describes the brief and weak successor "dynasties" that followed the Han. In 265, the [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]] of China was started and this soon split into two different empires in control of northwestern and southeastern China. In 420, the conquest and abdication of those two dynasties resulted in the first of the [[Southern and Northern dynasties]]. The Northern and Southern dynasties passed through until finally, by 557, the [[Northern Zhou|Northern Zhou dynasty]] ruled the north and the [[Chen dynasty]] ruled the south.

==Medieval{{anchor|Medieval}}==
During this period, the [[Eastern world]] empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. Gunpowder was widely used as early as the 11th century and they were using moveable type printing five hundred years before Gutenberg created his press. Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism were the dominant philosophies of the Far East during the Middle Ages. [[Marco Polo]] was not the first Westerner to travel to the Orient and return with amazing stories of this different culture, but his accounts published in the late 13th and early 14th centuries were the first to be widely read throughout Europe.

===Western Asia (Middle East)===
{{main|Medieval Middle East}}
[[File:Byzantine and Sassanid Empires in 600 CE.png|thumb|right|310px|Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD]]
The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]] regions saw dramatic change during the Medieval era caused primarily by the spread of [[Islam]] and the establishment of the Arabian Empires.

In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated into small, weak states; the two most prominent were the [[Sassanian Empire]] of the [[History of Iran|Persians]] in what is now [[Iran]] and [[Iraq]], and the Byzantine Empire in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). The Byzantines and Sassanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years. The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power. Meanwhile, the nomadic [[Bedouin]] tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism.

While the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], a new power in the form of [[Islam]] grew in the Middle East under [[Muhammad in Medina]]. In a series of rapid [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army]], led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]] and completely engulfing Persia in the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. These Caliphates included the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and later the [[Seljuq Empire]].

[[File:Caliphate 750.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[early Muslim conquests]], 622–750]]
After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into an [[Islamic Golden Age]], inspiring achievements in [[architecture]], the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life. Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in [[History of medicine|medicine]], [[History of elementary algebra|algebra]], [[History of geometry|geometry]], [[History of astronomy|astronomy]], [[History of anatomy|anatomy]], and [[History of ethics|ethics]] that would later find their way back to Western Europe.

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]]. This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joined forces, mainly from England, France, and the emerging [[Holy Roman Empire]], to enter the region. In 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]] and founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]] and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]] in what became known as the [[Mongol conquests]]. The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the Turko-Mongol, [[Timur]], and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]].

===Central Asia===
{{main|Medieval Central Asia}}

====Mongol Empire====
[[Image:Mongolia 1500 AD.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turco-Mongol]] residual states and domains by the 15th century]]
The [[Mongol Empire]] conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. Medieval Asia was the kingdom of the Khans. Never before had any person controlled as much land as [[Genghis Khan]]. He built his power unifying separate Mongol tribes before expanding his kingdom south and west. He and his grandson, Kublai Khan, controlled lands in China, Burma, Central Asia, Russia, Iran, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Genghis Khan was a Khagan who tolerated nearly every religion.

===South Asia/Indian Subcontinent===
====India====
{{main|Medieval India}}
[[File:Delhi Sultanate map.png|thumb|right|320px|The [[Delhi Sultanate]].]]

The Indian early medieval age, 600 to 1200, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When [[Harsha]] of [[Kannauj]], who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukya]] ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the [[Pala Empire|Pala]] king of [[Bengal]]. When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the [[Pallava]]s from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the [[Pandyas]] and the [[Cholas]] from still farther south. The Cholas could under the rule of [[Raja Raja Chola]] defeat their rivals and rise to a regional power. Cholas expanded northward and defeated [[Eastern Chalukya]], [[Eastern Ganga dynasty|Kalinga]] and the [[Pala Empire|Pala]]. Under [[Rajendra Chola]] the Cholas created the first notable navy of Indian subcontinent. The [[Chola navy]] extended the influence of Chola empire to [[southeast asia]]. During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.<ref>{{citation|last=Stein|first=B.|author-link=Burton Stein|date=1998|title=A History of India|edition=1st|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-0-631-20546-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXdVS0SzQSAC|pages=119–122}}</ref>
The [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent]] mainly took place from the 12th century onwards, though earlier Muslim conquests include the limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Umayyad campaigns in India, during the time of the Rajput kingdoms in the 8th century.

Major economic and military powers like the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and [[Bengal Sultanate]], were seen to be established. The search of their wealth led the [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus]].

[[Sher Shah Suri]] of the [[Sur Empire]] of [[Indian subcontinent|India]] introduced the standardised [[rupee|rūpya]] coin in the 16th century now used as the currency of [[Indonesia]], [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Nepal]]. 

The [[Vijayanagara Empire]] based in the Deccan Plateau region of South India, was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, patronized by saint Vidyaranya, the 12th Shankaracharya of Sringeri in Karnataka.<ref>{Dhere, Ramchandra (2011). Rise of a Folk God: Vitthal of Pandharpur South Asia Research. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 9780199777648. Sewell, Robert (2011). A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-8120601253.}</ref> The empire rose to prominence as a result of attempts by the southern powers to resist and ward off Turkic Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. At its peak, it subjugated almost all of South India's rulers and pushed the sultans of the Deccan beyond the Tungabhadra-Krishna river region. After annexing modern day Odisha (ancient Kalinga) from the Gajapati Empire, became a notable power.<ref>{/ Stein, Burton (1989). The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-26693-2.}</ref> The empire lasted until 1646 after a major military defeat in the [[Battle of Talikota]] in 1565 by the combined armies of the [[Deccan sultanates]].

===East Asia===
{{main|History of East Asia}}
[[File:East-Hem 1200ad.jpg|thumb|280px|The [[Song dynasty]] and main polities in Asia c. 1200]]

====China====
{{main|History of China}}
China saw the rise and fall of the Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties and therefore improvements in its bureaucracy, the spread of [[Buddhism]], and the advent of [[Neo-Confucianism]]. It was an unsurpassed era for Chinese ceramics and painting. Medieval architectural masterpieces the Great South Gate in Todaiji, Japan, and the Tien-ning Temple in Peking, China are some of the surviving constructs from this era.

=====Sui dynasty=====
{{main|Sui dynasty}}
A new powerful dynasty began to rise in the 580s, amongst the divided factions of China. This was started when an aristocrat named Yang Jian married his daughter into the Northern Zhou dynasty. He proclaimed himself [[Emperor Wen of Sui]] and appeased the nomadic military by abandoning the Confucian scholar-gentry. Emperor Wen soon led the conquest of the southern Chen dynasty and united China once more under the [[Sui dynasty]]. The emperor lowered taxes and constructed granaries that he used to prevent famine and control the market. Later Wen's son would murder him for the throne and declare himself [[Emperor Yang of Sui]]. Emperor Yang revived the Confucian scholars and the bureaucracy, much to anger of the aristocrats and nomadic military leaders. Yang became an excessive leader who overused China's resources for personal luxury and perpetuated exhaustive attempts to [[Goguryeo–Sui War|conquer Goguryeo]]. His military failures and neglect of the empire forced his own ministers to assassinate him in 618, ending the Sui dynasty.

=====Tang dynasty=====
{{main|Tang dynasty}}
[[File:Battle of Talas.png|thumb|380px|[[Battle of Talas]] between Tang dynasty and [[Abbasid Caliphate]] c. 751]]

Fortunately, one of Yang's most respectable advisors, Li Yuan, was able to claim the throne quickly, preventing a chaotic collapse. He proclaimed himself [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang|Emperor Gaozu]], and established the [[Tang dynasty]] in 623. The Tang saw expansion of China through conquest to Tibet in the west, [[Vietnam]] in the south, and Manchuria in the north. Tang emperors also improved the education of scholars in the Chinese bureaucracy. A Ministry of Rites was established and the examination system was improved to better qualify scholars for their jobs.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 270|quote=In the Tang and Song periods, the examination system was greatly expanded, and the pattern of advancement in the civil service was much more regularized. This meant that in the political realm more than any previous political system (and those yet to come for centuries), the Chinese connected merit as measured by tested skills with authority and status.}} In addition, Buddhism became popular in China with two different strains between the peasantry and the elite, the [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] and [[Zen]] strains, respectively.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|pp. 271–272|quote=Among the masses, the salvationist pure land strain of Mahayana Buddhism won widespread conversions because it seemed to provide a refuge from an age of war and turmoil. Members of the elite class, on the other hand, were more attracted to the Chan variant of Buddhism, or Zen as it is known in Japan and the West.}} Greatly supporting the spread of Buddhism was [[Wu Zetian|Empress Wu]], who additionally claimed an unofficial "Zhou dynasty" and displayed China's tolerance of a woman ruler, which was rare at the time. However, Buddhism would also experience some backlash, especially from Confucianists and Taoists. This would usually involve criticism about how it was costing the state money, since the government was unable to tax Buddhist monasteries, and additionally sent many grants and gifts to them.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 273|quote=Because monastic lands and resources were not taxed, the Tang regime lost huge amounts of revenue as a result of imperial grants or the gifts of wealthy families to Buddhist monasteries.}}

The Tang dynasty began to decline under the rule of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]], who began to neglect the economy and military and caused unrest amongst the court officials due to the excessive influence of his concubine, [[Yang Guifei]], and her family.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 274|quote=The arrogance and excessive ambition of Yang Guifei and her family angered members of the rival cliques at court, who took every opportunity to turn Yang&apos;s excesses into a cause for popular unreast.}} This eventually sparked a revolt in 755.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 274|quote=The deepening crisis came to a head in 755 when one of [Xuanzong]&apos;s main military leaders&nbsp;... led a widely supported revolt with the aim of founding a new dynasty to supplant the Tang.}} Although the revolt failed, subduing it required involvement with the unruly nomadic tribes outside of China and distributing more power to local leaders—leaving the government and economy in a degraded state. The Tang dynasty officially ended in 907 and various factions led by the aforementioned nomadic tribes and local leaders would fight for control of China in the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]].

=====Liao, Song and Jin dynasties=====
{{main|Liao dynasty|Song dynasty|Jin dynasty (1115–1234)}}
[[File:Along the River During the Qingming Festival (detail of original).jpg|thumb|260px|Daily life of people from the [[Song Dynasty|Song]] period at the capital, Bianjing, today's [[Kaifeng]]]]
By 960, most of China proper had been reunited under the [[Song dynasty]], although it lost territories in the north and could not defeat one of the nomadic tribes there—the [[Liao dynasty]] of the highly sinicized [[Khitan people]]. From then on, the Song would have to pay tribute to avoid invasion and thus set the precedent for other nomadic kingdoms to oppress them. The Song also saw the revival of Confucianism in the form of [[Neo-Confucianism]]. This had the effect of putting the Confucian scholars at a higher status than aristocrats or Buddhists and also intensified the reduction of power in women. The infamous practice of [[foot binding]] developed in this period as a result. Eventually the Liao dynasty in the north was overthrown by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] of the Manchu-related [[Jurchen people]]. The new Jin kingdom [[Jin–Song Wars|invaded northern China]], leaving the Song to flee farther south and creating the [[Southern Song dynasty]] in 1126. There, cultural life flourished.

=====Yuan dynasty=====
{{main|Yuan dynasty}}
 [[File:Route of Marco Polo.png|thumb|380px|Map of Marco Polo's travels]]
By 1227, the Mongols had conquered the [[Western Xia]] kingdom northwest of China. Soon the Mongols incurred upon the Jin empire of the Jurchens. Chinese cities were soon besieged by the Mongol hordes that showed little mercy for those who resisted and the Southern Song Chinese were quickly losing territory. In 1271 the current great khan, [[Kublai Khan]], claimed himself Emperor of China and officially established the Yuan dynasty. By 1290, all of China was under control of the Mongols, marking the first time they were ever completely conquered by a foreign invader; the new capital was established at [[Khanbaliq]] (modern-day [[Beijing]]). Kublai Khan segregated Mongol culture from Chinese culture by discouraging interactions between the two peoples, separating living spaces and places of worship, and reserving top administrative positions to Mongols, thus preventing Confucian scholars to continue the bureaucratic system. Nevertheless, Kublai remained fascinated with Chinese thinking, surrounding himself with Chinese Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian advisors.

Mongol women displayed a contrasting independent nature compared to the Chinese women who continued to be suppressed. Mongol women often rode out on hunts or even to war. Kublai's wife, [[Chabi]], was a perfect example of this; Chabi advised her husband on several political and diplomatic matters; she convinced him that the Chinese were to be respected and well-treated in order to make them easier to rule.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 14}}{{rp|p. 327|quote=[Chabi] convinced Kubilai that the harsh treatment of the survivors of the defeated Song imperial family would only anger the peoples of north China and make them more difficult to rule.}} However, this was not enough to affect Chinese women's position, and the increasingly Neo-Confucian successors of Kublai further repressed Chinese and even Mongol women.

The Black Death, which would later ravage Western Europe, had its beginnings in Asia, where it wiped out large populations in China in 1331.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gribbin |first1=John |title=Q is for quantum: particle physics from A-Z |last2=Gribbin |first2=Mary |date=1998 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=978-0-297-81752-9 |location=London |pages=463 |quote=1331: Black Death emerges in China and eventually spreads to Europe.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Senker |first=Cath |title=The Black Death 1347-1350: the plague spreads across Europe |date=2006 |publisher=Raintree |isbn=9781410922786 |pages=8 |quote=Chinese records from 1331 describe a mysterious illness that swept through Hopei province in the northeast. It killed 90 percent of the population.}}</ref>

====Japan====
{{main|History of Japan}}
[[File:Shotoku Taishi.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of [[Prince Shōtoku]]]]

=====Asuka period=====
Japan's medieval history began with the [[Asuka period]], from around 600 to 710. The time was characterized by the [[Taika Reform]] and imperial centralization, both of which were a direct result of growing Chinese contact and influences. In 603, [[Prince Shōtoku]] of the [[Imperial House of Japan|Yamato dynasty]] began significant political and cultural changes. He issued the [[Seventeen-article constitution]] in 604, centralizing power towards the emperor (under the title ''tenno'', or heavenly sovereign) and removing the power to levy taxes from provincial lords. Shōtoku was also a patron of Buddhism and he encouraged building temples competitively.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=124–137}}

=====Nara period=====
Shōtoku's reforms transitioned Japan to the [[Nara period]] (c. 710 to c. 794), with the moving of the Japanese capital to [[Nara, Nara|Nara]] in [[Honshu]]. This period saw the culmination of Chinese-style writing, etiquette, and architecture in Japan along with Confucian ideals{{sfn|Stearns|2011|pages=291–301}} to supplement the already present Buddhism. Peasants revered both Confucian scholars and Buddhist monks. However, in the wake of the [[735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic]], Buddhism gained the status of state religion and the government ordered the construction of numerous Buddhist temples, monasteries, and statues.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=124–137}} The lavish spending combined with the fact that many aristocrats did not pay taxes, put a heavy burden on peasantry that caused poverty and famine.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=124–137}} Eventually the Buddhist position got out of control, threatening to seize imperial power and causing [[Emperor Kanmu]] to move the capital to [[Heian-kyō]] to avoid a Buddhist takeover.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|pages=291–301}} This marked the beginning of the [[Heian period]] and the end of Taika reform.

=====Heian period=====
With the Heian period (from 794 to 1185) came a decline of imperial power. Chinese influence also declined, as a result of its correlation with imperial centralization and the [[Mandate of Heaven|heavenly mandate]], which came to be regarded as ineffective. By 838, the Japanese court discontinued its embassies in China; only traders and Buddhist monks continued to travel to China. Buddhism itself came to be considered more Japanese than Chinese, and persisted to be popular in Japan. Buddhists monks and monasteries continued their attempts to gather personal power in courts, along with aristocrats. One particular noble family that dominated influence in the imperial bureaucracy was the [[Fujiwara clan]]. During this time cultural life in the imperial court flourished. There was a focus on beauty and social interaction and writing and literature was considered refined. Noblewomen were cultured the same as noblemen, dabbling in creative works and politics. A prime example of both Japanese literature and women's role in high-class culture at this time was ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'', written by the [[lady-in-waiting]] [[Murasaki Shikibu]]. Popularization of wooden palaces and [[shōji]] sliding doors amongst the nobility also occurred.
[[File:Machiya in Heian period.jpeg|thumb|[[Machiya]] in Heian period]]
Loss of imperial power also led to the rise of provincial warrior elites. Small lords began to function independently. They administered laws, supervised public works projects, and collected revenue for themselves instead of the imperial court. Regional lords also began to build their own armies. These warriors were loyal only their local lords and not the emperor, although the imperial government increasingly called them in to protect the capital. The regional warrior class developed into the [[samurai]], which created its own culture: including specialized weapons such as the [[katana]] and a form of chivalry, [[bushido]]. The imperial government's loss of control in the second half of the Heian period allowed banditry to grow, requiring both feudal lords and Buddhist monasteries to procure warriors for protection. As imperial control over Japan declined, feudal lords also became more independent and seceded from the empire. These feudal states squandered the peasants living in them, reducing the farmers to an almost [[serfdom]] status. Peasants were also rigidly restricted from rising to the samurai class, being physically set off by dress and weapon restrictions. As a result of their oppression, many peasants turned to Buddhism as a hope for reward in the afterlife for upright behavior.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|pages=296}}

With the increase of feudalism, families in the imperial court began to depend on alliances with regional lords. The Fujiwara clan declined from power, replaced by a rivalry between the [[Taira clan]] and the [[Minamoto clan]]. This rivalry grew into the [[Genpei War]] in the early 1180s. This war saw the use of both samurai and peasant soldiers. For the samurai, battle was ritual and they often easily cut down the poorly trained peasantry. The Minamoto clan proved successful due to their rural alliances. Once the Taira was destroyed, the Minamoto established a military government called the [[shogunate]] (or bakufu), centered in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]].

=====Kamakura period=====
The end of the Genpei War and the establishment of the [[Kamakura shogunate]] marked the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the [[Kamakura period]] in 1185, solidifying feudal Japan.

====Korea====
{{main|Goryeo}}

=====[[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]=====
[[File:History of Korea-476.PNG|thumb|Korean peninsula in 476 AD. There are three kingdoms and Gaya Union in the picture. This picture shows the heyday of [[Goguryeo]]]]
The three Kingdoms of Korea involves [[Goguryeo]] in north, [[Baekje]] in southwest, and [[Silla]] in southeast Korean peninsula. These three kingdoms act as a bridge of cultures between China and Japan. [[Prince Shōtoku]] of Japan had been taught by two teachers. One was from [[Baekje]], the other was from [[Goguryeo]]. Once Japan invaded [[Silla]], Goguryeo helped Silla to defeat Japan. [[Baekje]] met the earliest heyday of them. Its heyday was the 5th century AD. Its capital was [[Seoul]]. During its heyday, the kingdom made colonies overseas. Liaodong, China and Kyushu, Japan were the colonies of [[Baekje]] during its short heyday. [[Goguryeo]] was the strongest kingdom of all. They sometimes called themselves as an Empire. Its heyday was 6th century. King Gwanggaeto widened its territory to north. So Goguryeo dominated from Korean peninsula to Manchuria. And his son, [[Jangsu of Goguryeo|King Jangsu]] widened its territory to south. He occupied [[Seoul]], and moved its capital to [[Pyeongyang]]. Goguryeo almost occupied three quarters of South Korean peninsula thanks to king Jangsu who widened the kingdom's territory to south. [[Silla]] met the latest heyday. King Jinheung went north and occupied[[Seoul]]. But it was short. [[Baekje]] became stronger and attacked Silla. Baekje occupied more than 40 cities of Silla. So Silla could hardly survive.
China's Sui dynasty invaded [[Goguryeo]] and [[Goguryeo–Sui War]] occurred between Korea and China. [[Goguryeo]] won against China and [[Sui dynasty]] fell. After then, [[Tang dynasty]] reinvaded [[Goguryeo]] and helped [[Silla]] to unify the peninsula. [[Goguryeo]], [[Baekje]], and Japan helped each other against Tang-Silla alliance, but [[Baekje]] and [[Goguryeo]] fell. Unfortunately, [[Tang dynasty]] betrayed [[Silla]] and invaded Korean peninsula in order to occupy the whole Korean peninsula ([[Silla-Tang war]]).{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Silla advocated 'Unification of Three Korea', so people of fallen Baekje and Goguryeo helped Silla against Chinese invasion. Eventually Silla could beat China and unified the peninsula. This war helped Korean people to unite mentally.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

=====North-South States Period=====
[[File:History of Korea-Inter-country Age-830 CE.gif|thumb|left|[[Balhae]] in the north, [[Later Silla]] in the south]]
[[File:Korea - Seoul - National Museum - Incense Burner 0252-06a.jpg|thumb|right|the [[Goryeo ware]], which shows splendid culture of [[Goryeo]] in mediaeval Korea.]]

The rest of [[Goguryeo]] people established [[Balhae]] and won the war against Tang in later 7th century AD. [[Balhae]] is the north state, and [[Later Silla]] was the south state. Balhae was a quite strong kingdom as their ancestor Goguryeo did. Finally, the Emperor of Tang dynasty admits Balhae as 'A strong country in the East'. They liked to trade with Japan, China, and Silla. Balhae and Later Silla sent a lot of international students to China. And Arabian merchants came into Korean peninsula, so Korea became known as 'Silla' in the western countries. Silla improved Korean writing system called Idu letters. Idu affected [[Katakana]] of Japan. [[Liao dynasty]] invaded [[Balhae]] in early 10th century, so [[Balhae]] fell.

=====Later Three Kingdoms of Korea=====
The unified Korean kingdom, Later Silla divided into three kingdoms again because of the corrupt central government. It involves [[Later Goguryeo]] (also as known as "Taebong"), [[Later Baekje]], and Later Silla. The general of [[Later Goguryeo]], Wang Geon took the throne and changed the name of kingdom into [[Goryeo]], which was derived by the ancient strong kingdom, [[Goguryeo]], and Goryeo reunified the peninsula.

=====Goryeo =====
{{main|Goryeo}}
[[Goryeo]] reunited the Korean peninsula during the later three kingdoms period and named itself as 'Empire'. But nowadays, Goryeo is known as a kingdom. The name 'Goryeo' was derived from [[Goguryeo]], and the name [[Korea]] was derived from Goryeo. Goryeo adopted people from fallen [[Balhae]]. They also widened their territory to north by [[Goryeo–Khitan War|defending Liao dynasty]] and attacking the [[Jurchen people]]. Goryeo developed a splendid culture. The first metal type printed book [[Jikji]] was also from Korea. The [[Goryeo ware]] is one of the most famous legacies of this kingdom. Goryeo imported Chinese government system and developed into their own ways.

During this period, laws were codified and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished and spread throughout the peninsula. The [[Tripitaka Koreana]] is 81,258 books total. It was made to keep Korea safe against the Mongolian invasion. It is now a UNESCO world heritage. Goryeo won the battle against [[Liao dynasty]]. Then, the [[Mongolian Empire]] invaded Goryeo. Goryeo did not disappear but it had to obey Mongolians. After 80 years, in 14th century, the Mongolian dynasty Yuan lost power, King Gongmin tried to free themselves against Mongol although his wife was also Mongolian. At the 14th century, [[Ming dynasty]] wanted Goryeo to obey China. But Goryeo didn't. They decided to invade China. Going to China, the general of Goryeo, Lee Sung-Gae came back and destroyed Goryeo. Then, in 1392, he established new dynasty, [[Joseon]]. And he became [[Taejo of Joseon]], which means the first king of [[Joseon]].

===Southeast Asia===
{{main|Medieval Southeast Asia}}

==== Khmers ====
[[File:Angkor Wat reflejado en un estanque 02.jpg|thumb|right|The Hindu-Buddhist temple of [[Angkor Wat]].]]
In 802, [[Jayavarman II]] consolidated his rule over neighboring peoples and declared himself [[chakravartin]], or "universal ruler". The Khmer Empire effectively dominated all [[Mainland Southeast Asia]] from the early 9th until the 15th century, during which time they developed a sophisticated monumental architecture of most exquisite expression and mastery of composition at [[Angkor]].

====Vietnam====
{{main|History of Vietnam}}
The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around 20,000 years ago, as the first modern humans arrived and settled on this land, known as the [[Hoabinhian]]s, which can be traced back to the modern-day Negritos. Archaeological findings from 1965, which are still under research, show the remains of two hominins closely related to the Sinanthropus, dating as far back as the [[Middle Pleistocene Transition|Middle Pleistocene]] era, roughly half a million years ago.
[[File:Nam Tien.PNG|190px|right|thumb|Map of [[Vietnam]] showing the conquest of the south (the ''[[Nam tiến]], 1069–1757'').]]
Pre-historic Vietnam was home to some of the world's earliest civilizations and societies—making them one of the world's first people who had practiced agriculture. The Red River valley formed a natural geographic and economic unit, bounded to the north and west by mountains and jungles, to the east by the sea and to the south by the [[Red River Delta]]. The need to have a single authority to prevent floods of the Red River, to cooperate in constructing hydraulic systems, trade exchange, and to repel invaders, led to the creation of the first legendary Vietnamese states approximately 2879 BC. While in the later times, ongoing research from archaeologists have suggested that the Vietnamese [[Dong Son culture|Đông Sơn culture]] were traceable back to Northern Vietnam, Guangxi and Laos around 700 BC.

Vietnam's long coastal and narrowed lands, rugged mountainous terrains, with two major deltas, were soon home to several different ancient cultures and civilizations. In the north, the Đông Sơn culture and its indigenous chiefdoms of [[Hồng Bàng dynasty|Văn Lang]] and [[Âu Lạc]] started to flourish by 500 BC. In Central, [[Sa Huỳnh culture]] of [[Chams|Austronesian Chamic peoples]] also thrived. Both were swept by the Chinese [[Han dynasty]] expansion from the north - the Han conquest of [[Nanyue]] brought parts of Vietnam under the Chinese rule in 111 BC. Traditional Chinese became the official script as well as the later developed independent [[Chữ Nôm|Nôm script]] of Vietnamese.

In 40 AD, the [[Trưng sisters|Trưng Sisters]] led the first uprising of indigenous tribes and peoples against [[Vietnam under Chinese rule|Chinese domination]]. The rebellion was however defeated, but as the Han dynasty began to weaken by late 2nd century and China (中国) started to descend into state of turmoil, the indigenous peoples of Vietnam rose again and some became free. In 192 AD, the Chams of Central Vietnam revolted against the Chinese and subsequently became independent [[Champa|Kingdom of Champa]], while the Red River Delta saw loosening Northern control. At that time, with the introduction of [[Buddhism]] and [[Hinduism]] by the second century AD, Vietnam was the first place in Southeast Asia which shared influences of both [[Indosphere|Indian]] and [[East Asian cultural sphere|Sino cultures]], and the rise of first Indianized kingdoms Champa and [[Funan]].

[[File:Southeast Asian history - 13th century.png|thumb|[[Đại Việt]], [[Champa]], [[Khmer Empire|Angkor Empire]] and their neighbours, late 13th century]]
During these 1,000 years there were many uprisings against Chinese domination, and at certain periods Vietnam was independently governed under the Trưng Sisters, [[Early Lý dynasty|Early Lý]], [[Khúc clan|Khúc]] and [[Dương Đình Nghệ]]—although their triumphs and reigns were temporary.

When [[Ngô Quyền]] ([[List of monarchs of Vietnam|Emperor of Vietnam]], 938–944) restored sovereign power in the country with the victory at [[Battle of Bạch Đằng (938)|The battle of Bạch Đằng River]] (938), the next millennium was advanced by the accomplishments of successive local dynasties: [[Ngô dynasty|Ngô]], [[Đinh dynasty|Đinh]], [[Early Lê dynasty|Early Lê]], [[Lý dynasty|Lý]], [[Trần dynasty|Trần]], [[Hồ dynasty|Hồ]], [[Later Trần dynasty|Later Trần]], [[Lê dynasty|Later Lê]], [[Mạc dynasty|Mạc]], [[Revival Lê dynasty|Revival Lê]], [[Tây Sơn dynasty|Tây Sơn]] and [[Nguyễn dynasty|Nguyễn]]. Nôm script (Chữ Nôm) of the Vietnamese started to develop and become more sophisticated, with literature being published and written in Nôm. At various points during the imperial dynasties, Vietnam was ravaged and divided by civil wars and witnessed interventions by the [[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]], [[Champa|Cham]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming]], [[Thailand|Siamese]], [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], [[French colonial empire|French]], and [[Empire of Japan]].

The [[Ming dynasty|Ming Empire]] conquered the Red River valley for a while before [[Vietnamese people|native Vietnamese]] regained control and the French Empire reduced Vietnam to a French dependency for nearly a century, followed by brief but brutal occupation by the Japanese Empire. During the French period, widespread brutality, inequality and cultural remnants of [[History of writing in Vietnam|Hán-Nôm]] were being destroyed, with the French wishing to rid the Vietnamese of their [[Confucianism|Confucian legacy]] from the 1880s. French was the official language during this period. The [[Vietnamese alphabet|Vietnamese Latin script]], seen to be a Latin transliteration of Hán-Nôm, superseded the Hán-Nôm logographic scripts and became the main mode of written as well as spoken language since the 20th century.

Japan invaded in 1940, creating deep resentment that fuelled resistance to post-World War II military-political efforts by the returning power of France, and the United States who had viewed themselves as fighters for liberty and democracy against the red waves of [[communism]]. In the [[Vietnam War]], the United States or the [[Western Bloc]] supported [[South Vietnam]] and the [[Soviet Union]] or the [[Eastern Bloc]] supported [[North Vietnam]]. Political upheaval, a period of intense fighting and war, followed by Communist insurrection and victory further put an end to the monarchy after World War II, and the country was proclaimed a Socialist Republic. Vietnam suffered heavy sanctions as well as political and economic isolation following brutal wars with China and Cambodia in the successive years. Following that era, the [[Đổi Mới]] (renovation/innovation) reformations were enacted. The forces of market liberalisation and globalisation has shaped [[Economy of Vietnam|Vietnam's economic]] and political circumstances since.

==Early modern==
{{further|Early modern period}}
[[File:Modern Asia (1796).tif|thumb|245px|A 1796 map of Asia (or the "[[Eastern world]]"), which also included the continent of [[Australia]] (then known as [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]) within its realm.]]
The [[Russian Empire]] began to expand into Asia from the 17th century, and would eventually take control of all of [[Siberia]] and most of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The [[Ottoman Empire]] controlled Anatolia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans from the 16th century onwards. In the 17th century, the [[Manchu people|Manchu]] conquered China and established the [[Qing dynasty]]. In the 16th century, the [[Mughal Empire]] controlled much of India and initiated the second golden age for India. China was the largest economy in the world for much of the time, followed by India until the 18th century.

===Ming China===

By 1368, [[Zhu Yuanzhang]] had claimed himself [[Hongwu Emperor]] and established the Ming dynasty of China. Immediately, the new emperor and his followers drove the Mongols and their culture out of China and beyond the Great Wall.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 503|quote=Immediately after he seized the throne, Zhu launched an effort to rid China of all traces of the "barbarian" Mongols. Mongol dress was discarded, Mongol names were dropped by those who had adopted them and were removed from buildings and court records, and Mongol palaces and administrative buildings in some areas were raided and sacked. The nomads themselves fled or were driven beyond the Great Wall, where military expeditions pursued them on several occasions.}} The new emperor was somewhat suspicious of the scholars that dominated China's bureaucracy, for he had been born a peasant and was uneducated.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 503|quote=Because the Hongwu emperor, like the founder of the earlier Han dynasty, was from a peasant family and thus poorly educated, he viewed the scholar-gentry with some suspicion.}} Nevertheless, Confucian scholars were necessary to China's bureaucracy and were reestablished as well as reforms that would improve the exam systems and make them more important in entering the bureaucracy than ever before. The exams became more rigorous, cut down harshly on cheating, and those who excelled were more highly appraised. Finally, Hongwu also directed more power towards the role of emperor so as to end the corrupt influences of the bureaucrats.

====Society and economy====
The Hongwu emperor, perhaps for his sympathy of the common-folk, had built many irrigation systems and other public projects that provided help for the peasant farmers.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 504|quote=Perhaps because his lowly origins and personal suffering made him sensitive to the plight of the peasantry, Hongwu introduced measures that would improve the lot of the common people. Like most strong emperors, he promoted public works projects, including dike building and the extension of irrigation systems aimed at improving the farmers&apos; yields.}} They were also allowed to cultivate and claim unoccupied land without having to pay any taxes and labor demands were lowered.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 504|quote=... Hongwu decreed that unoccupied lands would become the tax-exempt property of those who cleared and cultivated them. He lowered forced labor demands on the peasantry by both the government and members of the gentry class.}} However, none of this was able to stop the rising landlord class that gained many privileges from the government and slowly gained control of the peasantry. Moneylenders foreclosed on peasant debt in exchange for mortgages and bought up farmer land, forcing them to become the landlords' tenants or to wander elsewhere for work.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|page=505|loc=Chapter 22}} Also during this time, [[Neo-Confucianism]] intensified even more than the previous two dynasties (the Song and Yuan). Focus on the superiority of elders over youth, men over women, and teachers over students resulted in minor discrimination of the "inferior" classes. The fine arts grew in the Ming era, with improved techniques in brush painting that depicted scenes of court, city or country life; people such as scholars or travelers; or the beauty of mountains, lakes, or marshes. The Chinese novel fully developed in this era, with such classics written such as ''[[Water Margin]]'', ''[[Journey to the West]]'', and ''[[Jin Ping Mei]]''.

Economics grew rapidly in the Ming dynasty as well. The introduction of American crops such as [[maize]], [[sweet potatoes]], and [[peanut]]s allowed for cultivation of crops in infertile land and helped prevent famine. The population boom that began in the Song dynasty accelerated until China's population went from 80 or 90 million to 150 million in three centuries, culminating in 1600.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 507|quote=By 1600 the population of China had risen to as many as 150 million from 80 to 90 million in the 14th century.}} This paralleled the market economy that was growing both internally and externally. Silk, tea, ceramics, and lacquer-ware were produced by artisans that traded them in Asia and to Europeans. Westerners began to trade (with some Chinese-assigned limits), primarily in the port-towns of [[Macau]] and [[Guangzhou|Canton]]. Although merchants benefited greatly from this, land remained the primary symbol of wealth in China and traders' riches were often put into acquiring more land.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 507|quote=Much of the merchants' wealth was invested in land rather than plowed back into trade or manufacturing, because land owning, not commerce, remained the surest route to social status in China.}} Therefore, little of these riches were used in private enterprises that could've allowed for China to develop the [[market economy]] that often accompanied the highly-successful Western countries.

====Foreign interests====
[[File:Fort St. George, Chennai.jpg|thumb|A view of the [[Fort St George]] in 18th-century [[Madras]].]]
In the interest of national glory, the Chinese began sending impressive [[Junk (ship)|junk]] ships across the [[South China Sea]] and the [[Indian Ocean]]. From 1403 to 1433, the [[Yongle Emperor]] commissioned [[Treasure voyages|expeditions]] led by the admiral [[Zheng He]], a Muslim [[eunuch]] from China. Chinese junks carrying hundreds of soldiers, goods, and animals for zoos, traveled to Southeast Asia, Persia, southern Arabia, and east Africa to show off Chinese power. Their prowess exceeded that of current Europeans at the time, and had these expeditions not ended, the world economy may be different from today.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 15}}{{rp|p. 339|quote=There is no question that the course of world history might have been changed dramatically had the Chinese thrust continued, for the tiny European expeditions that began to creep down the western coast of Africa at about the same time would have been no match for this combination of merchant and military organization.}} In 1433, the Chinese government decided that the cost of a navy was an unnecessary expense. The Chinese navy was slowly dismantled and focus on interior reform and military defense began. It was China's longstanding priority that they protect themselves from nomads and they have accordingly returned to it. The growing limits on the Chinese navy would leave them vulnerable to foreign invasion by sea later on.

[[File:Schall-von-bell.jpg|thumb|Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy.]]

As was inevitable, Westerners arrived on the Chinese east coast, primarily [[Jesuit]] missionaries which reached the mainland in 1582. They attempted to [[Jesuit China missions|convert the Chinese people to Christianity]] by first converting the top of the social hierarchy and allowing the lower classes to subsequently convert. To further gain support, many Jesuits adopted Chinese dress, customs, and language.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 508|quote=The Jesuits believed that the best way to convert a great civilization such as China was to adopt the dress, customs, language and manners of its elite.}} Some Chinese scholars were interested in certain Western teachings and especially in Western technology. By the 1580s, Jesuit scholars like [[Matteo Ricci]] and [[Adam Schall]] amazed the Chinese elite with technological advances such as European clocks, improved calendars and cannons, and the accurate prediction of eclipses.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 508|quote=Beginning in the 1580s, a succession of brilliant Jesuit scholars ... spent most of their time in the imperial city, correcting faulty calendars, forging cannons, fixing clocks imported from Europe, and astounding the Chinese scholar-gentry with the accuracy of their instruments and their ability to predict eclipses.}} Although some the scholar-gentry converted, many were suspicious of the Westerners whom they called "barbarians" and even resented them for the embarrassment they received at the hand of Western correction. Nevertheless, a small group of Jesuit scholars remained at the court to impress the emperor and his advisors.

====Decline====
[[Image:Batavia, C. de Jonghe (1740).jpg|thumb|left|Dutch Batavia in the 17th century, built in what is now [[North Jakarta]]]]

Near the end of the 1500s, the extremely centralized government that gave so much power to the emperor had begun to fail as more incompetent rulers took the mantle. Along with these weak rulers came increasingly corrupt officials who took advantage of the decline. Once more the public projects fell into disrepair due to neglect by the bureaucracy and resulted in floods, drought, and famine that rocked the peasantry. The famine soon became so terrible that some peasants resorted to selling their children to slavery to save them from starvation, or to eating bark, the feces of geese, or [[Human cannibalism|other people]].{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 509|quote=Peasants in afflicted districts were reduced to eating the bark from trees or the excrement of wild geese. Some peasants sold their children into slavery to keep them from starving, and peasants in some areas resorted to cannibalism.}} Many landlords abused the situation by building large estates where desperate farmers would work and be exploited. In turn, many of these farmers resorted to flight, banditry, and open rebellion.
[[File:Qing Empire circa 1820 EN.svg|thumb|The [[Qing conquest of the Ming]] and expansion of the empire]]
All of this corresponded with the usual dynastic decline of China seen before, as well as the growing foreign threats. In the mid-16th century, Japanese and ethnic Chinese pirates began to raid the southern coast, and neither the bureaucracy nor the military were able to stop them.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 510|quote=One of the early signs of the seriousness of imperial deterioration was the inability of Chinese bureaucrats and military forces to put an end to the epidemic of Japanese (and ethnic Chinese) pirate attacks that ravaged the southern coast in the mid-16th century.}} The threat of the northern [[Manchu people]] also grew. The Manchu were an already large state north of China, when in the early 17th century a local leader named [[Nurhaci]] suddenly united them under the [[Eight Banners]]—armies that the opposing families were organized into. The Manchus adopted many Chinese customs, specifically taking after their bureaucracy. Nevertheless, the Manchus still remained a Chinese [[vassal]]. In 1644 Chinese administration became so weak, the 16th and last emperor, the [[Chongzhen Emperor]], did not respond to the severity of an ensuing rebellion by local dissenters until the enemy had invaded the [[Forbidden City]] (his personal estate). He soon hanged himself in the imperial gardens.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 22}}{{rp|p. 510|quote=By [1644], the administrative apparatus had become so feeble that the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, did not realize how serious the rebel advance was until enemy soldiers were scaling the walls of the forbidden city. ... the ill-fated Chongzhen retreated to the imperial gardens and hanged himself rather than face capture.}} For a brief amount of time, the [[Shun dynasty]] was claimed, until a loyalist Ming official called support from the Manchus to put down the new dynasty. The Shun dynasty ended within a year and the Manchu were now within the Great Wall. Taking advantage of the situation, the Manchus marched on the Chinese capital of Beijing. [[Manchu conquest of China|Within two decades]] all of China belonged to the Manchu and the [[Qing dynasty]] was established.

===Korea: Joseon dynasty (1392–1897)===
{{Main|Joseon}}
[[File:Gyeongbokgung-Gyeonghoeru-02.jpg|thumb|Gyeonghoeru of [[Gyeongbokgung]], the [[Joseon]] dynasty's royal palace.]]
In early-modern Korea, the 500-year-old kingdom, [[Goryeo]] fell and new dynasty [[Joseon]] rose in August 5, 1392. [[Taejo of Joseon]] changed the country's name from [[Goryeo]] to [[Joseon]]. [[Sejong the Great]] created [[Hangul]], the modern Korean alphabet, in 1443; likewise the Joseon dynasty saw several improvements in science and technology, like Sun Clocks, Water Clocks, Rain-Measuring systems, Star Maps, and detailed records of Korean small villages. The ninth king, [[Seongjong of Joseon|Seongjong]] accomplished the first complete Korean [[Gyeongguk daejeon|law code]] in 1485. So the culture and people's lives were improved again.

In 1592, Japan under [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] invaded Korea. That war is [[Imjin war]]. Before that war, Joseon was in a long peace like PAX ROMANA. So Joseon was not ready for the war. Joseon had lost again and again. Japanese army conquered [[Seoul]]. The whole [[Korean peninsula]] was in danger. But [[Yi Sun-sin]], the most renowned general of Korea, defeated Japanese fleet in southern Korea coast even 13 ships VS 133 ships. This incredible battle is called "[[Battle of Myeongnyang]]". After that, [[Ming dynasty]] helped Joseon, and Japan lost the battle. So Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign in Korea failed, and the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]] has later began. Korea was hurt a lot at [[Imjin war]]. Not long after, Manchurian people invaded Joseon again. It is called [[Qing invasion of Joseon]]. The first invasion was for sake. Because Qing was at war between Ming, so Ming's alliance with Joseon was threatening. And the second invasion was for Joseon to obey Qing. After that, Qing defeated Ming and took the whole Chinese territories. Joseon also had to obey Qing because Joseon lose the second war against Qing.

After the Qing invasion, the princes of the Joseon dynasty lived their childhood in China. The son of King Injo met [[Adam Schall]] in Beijing. So he wanted to introduce western technologies to Korean people when he becomes a king. He died before he could take the throne. After then, the alternative prince became the 17th king of the Joseon dynasty, [[Hyojong]], trying to revenge for his kingdom and fallen Ming dynasty to Qing. Later kings such as [[Yeongjo]] and [[Jeongjo]] tried to improve their people's lives and stop the governors' unreasonable competition. From the 17th century to the 18th century, Joseon sent diplomats and artists to Japan more than 10 times. This group was called 'Tongshinsa'. They were sent to Japan to teach Japan about advanced Korean culture. Japanese people liked to receive poems from Korean nobles. At that time, Korea was more powerful than Japan. But that relationship between Joseon and Japan was reversed after the 19th century. Because Japan became more powerful than Korea and China, either. So Joseon sent diplomats called 'Sooshinsa' to learn Japanese advanced technologies. After king Jeongjo's death, some noble families controlled the whole kingdom in the early 19th century. At the end of that period, Western people invaded Joseon. In 1876, Joseon was set free from Qing so they did not have to obey Qing. But Japanese Empire was happy because Joseon became a perfect independent kingdom. So Japan could intervene in the kingdom more. After this, Joseon traded with the [[United States]] and sent 'Sooshinsa' to Japan, 'Youngshinsa' to Qing, and 'Bobingsa' to the US and Europe. These groups took many modern things to the Korean peninsula.

===Japan: Tokugawa or Edo period (1603–1867)===
{{Main|Edo period}}
[[File:Great Wave off Kanagawa2.jpg|thumb|''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', {{circa|1830}} by [[Hokusai]], an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period]]
In early-modern Japan following the [[Sengoku period]] of "warring states", central government had been largely reestablished by [[Oda Nobunaga]] and [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] during the [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]]. After the [[Battle of Sekigahara]] in 1600, central authority fell to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] who completed this process and received the title of ''[[shōgun]]'' in 1603.

Society in the Japanese "[[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa period]]" (see [[Edo society]]), unlike the shogunates before it, was based on the strict class [[hierarchy]] originally established by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]. The ''[[daimyō]]s'' (feudal lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of [[samurai]], with the farmers, artisans, and merchants ranking below. The country was strictly closed to foreigners with few exceptions with the ''[[Sakoku]]'' policy. Literacy rose in the two centuries of isolation.<ref>Geoffrey Barraclough and Norman Stone, ''HarperCollins Atlas of World History'' (2003) p 175.</ref>

In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, ''daimyōs'' and samurai were more or less identical, since ''daimyōs'' might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local lords. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this [[social stratification]] system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the [[peasantry]] were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.<ref>McClain, ''Japan: A Modern History'' (2002) pp 69-75.</ref>

=== India ===
{{Main|Mughal Empire|Maratha Confederacy}}
[[File:Shah Abbas the Great receiving the Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618.jpg|thumb|The [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with [[Abbas I of Persia|Shah Abbas the Great]] of [[Safavid dynasty|Iran]]. ]]
In the [[Indian subcontinent]], the Mughal Empire ruled most of India in the early 18th century. During emperor [[Shah Jahan]] and his son [[Aurangzeb]]'s Islamic [[sharia]] reigns, the empire reached its architectural and economic zenith, and became the world's largest economy,<ref>[[Angus Maddison|Maddison, Angus]] (2003): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA259 Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics]'', [[OECD Publishing]], {{ISBN|9264104143}}, pages 259–261</ref> worth over 25% of world GDP. In the mid-18th century it was a major [[proto-industrialization|proto-industrializing]] region.<ref name="voss">{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Tirthankar |author-link=Tirthankar Roy |editor1=Lex Heerma van Voss |editor2=Els Hiemstra-Kuperus |editor3=Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk |year=2010 |chapter=The Long Globalization and Textile Producers in India |title=The Ashgate Companion to the History of Textile Workers, 1650–2000 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |page=255 |isbn=978-0-7546-6428-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f95ljbhfjxIC&pg=PA255}}</ref>

Following major events such as the [[Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire]], [[Battle of Plassey]], [[Battle of Buxar]] and the long [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]], most of South Asia was colonised and governed by the [[British Empire]], thus establishing the [[British Raj]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20130704144023/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 4, 2013|title=Manas: History and Politics, Mughals}}</ref> The "classic period" ended with the death of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal Emperor]] [[Aurangzeb]],<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|title=Mughal Empire (1500s, 1600s)|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/mughalempire_1.shtml|work=bbc.co.uk|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 October 2010|location=London|at=Section 5: Aurangzeb}}</ref> although the dynasty continued for another 150 years. During this period, the Empire was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different regions. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period which was characterised by the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and architectural results. The Maratha Empire was located in the south west of present-day India and expanded greatly under the rule of the [[Peshwa]]s, the prime ministers of the Maratha empire. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] against [[Ahmad Shah Durrani|Ahmad shah Durrani king of Afghanistan]] which halted imperial expansion and the empire was then divided into a confederacy of Maratha states.

=== British and Dutch colonization ===
{{Main|Dutch East India Company|East India Company}}
The European economic and naval powers pushed into Asia, first to do trading, and then to take over major colonies. The Dutch led the way followed by the British. Portugal had arrived first, but was too weak to maintain its small holdings and was largely pushed out, retaining only [[Goa]] and [[Macau]]. The British set up a private organization, the [[East India Company]], which handled both trade and Imperial control of much of India.<ref>Holden Furber, ''Rival Empires of Trade in the Orient, 1600–1800'' (U of Minnesota Press,  1976).</ref>

The [[Company rule in India|commercial colonization of India]] commenced in 1757, after the [[Battle of Plassey]], when the [[Nawab of Bengal]] surrendered his dominions to the British East India Company,<ref>{{Harvnb|Bose|Jalal|2003|p=76}}</ref>{{Citation not found|date=December 2022}} in 1765, when the company was granted the ''diwani'', or the right to collect revenue, in [[Bengal]] and [[Bihar]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1994|p=46}}, {{Harvnb|Peers|2006|p=30}}</ref> or in 1772, when the company established a capital in [[Calcutta]], appointed its first [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]], [[Warren Hastings]], and became directly involved in governance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=56}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Clive]] and [[Mir Jafar]] after the [[Battle of Plassey]], 1757 by Francis Hayman]]

The [[Maratha Empire|Maratha states]], following the [[Anglo-Maratha Wars (disambiguation)|Anglo-Maratha wars]], eventually lost to the [[British East India Company]] in 1818 with the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]. The rule lasted until 1858, when, after the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]] and consequent of the [[Government of India Act 1858]], the [[India Office|British government]] assumed the task of directly administering India in the new [[British Raj]].<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/393/ |title = Official, India |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1890–1923 |access-date = 2013-05-30 }}</ref> In 1819 [[Stamford Raffles]] established [[Singapore]] as a key trading post for Britain in their rivalry with the Dutch. However, their rivalry cooled in 1824 when an [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824|Anglo-Dutch treaty]] demarcated their respective interests in Southeast Asia. From the 1850s onwards, the pace of colonization shifted to a significantly higher gear.

The [[Dutch East India Company]] (1800) and [[British East India Company]] (1858) were dissolved by their respective governments, who took over the direct administration of the colonies. Only [[Thailand]] was spared the experience of foreign rule, although, Thailand itself was also greatly affected by the power politics of the Western powers. Colonial rule had a profound effect on Southeast Asia. While the colonial powers profited much from the region's vast resources and large market, colonial rule did develop the region to a varying extent.<ref>Commercial agriculture, mining and an export based economy developed rapidly during this period.</ref>

==Late modern==
{{further|Modern history#Late modern period}}

===Central Asia: The Great Game, Russia vs Great Britain===
[[File:Great Game cartoon from 1878.jpg|thumb|250px|Political cartoon depicting the Afghan [[Sher Ali Khan|Emir Sher Ali]] with the rival "friends" the [[Russian Bear]] and British Lion (1878)]]

[[The Great Game]] was a political and diplomatic confrontation between Great Britain and Russia over [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and neighbouring territories in [[Central Asia|Central]] and [[South Asia]]. It lasted from 1828 to 1907. There was no war, but there were many threats. Russia was fearful of British commercial and military inroads into [[Central Asia]], and Britain was fearful of Russia threatening its largest and most important possession, India. This resulted in an atmosphere of distrust and the constant threat of war between the two empires. Britain made it a high priority to protect all the approaches to India, and the "great game" is primarily how the British did this in terms of a possible Russian threat. Historians with access to the archives have concluded that Russia had no plans involving India, as the Russians repeatedly stated.<ref>Barbara Jelavich, ''St. Petersburg and Moscow: Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814–1974'' (1974) p 200</ref>

The Great Game began in 1838 when Britain decided to gain control over the [[Emirate of Afghanistan]] and make it a protectorate, and to use the [[Ottoman Empire]], the [[Qajar dynasty|Persian Empire]], the [[Khanate of Khiva]], and the Emirate of Bukhara as buffer states between both empires. This would protect India and also key British sea trade routes by stopping Russia from gaining a port on the Persian Gulf or the Indian Ocean. Russia proposed Afghanistan as the neutral zone, and the final result was diving up Afghanistan with a neutral zone in the middle between Russian areas in the north and British in the South. Important episodes included the failed [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] of 1838, the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] of 1845, the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] of 1848, the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] of 1878, and the annexation of [[Khanate of Kokand|Kokand]] by Russia.<ref>* {{cite journal |jstor = 40105749|title = Great Britain's Great Game: An Introduction|journal = The International History Review|volume = 2|issue = 2|pages = 160–171|last1 = Ingram|first1 = Edward|year = 1980|doi = 10.1080/07075332.1980.9640210}}
</ref> The 1901 novel [[Kim (novel)|''Kim'']] by [[Rudyard Kipling]] made the term popular and introduced the new implication of great power rivalry. It became even more popular after the 1979 advent of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]].<ref name="Seymour Becker 2012">Seymour Becker, "The ‘great game’: The history of an evocative phrase." ''Asian Affairs'' 43.1 (2012): 61-80.</ref>

===Qing China===
{{Main|Qing dynasty}}
[[File:Empire Chinois, Japon (1832).jpg|thumb|280px|The Qing Empire in 1832.]]
By 1644, the northern [[Manchu people]] had conquered [[Ming dynasty]] and established a foreign dynasty—the [[Qing dynasty]]—once more. The Manchu Qing emperors, especially Confucian scholar [[Kangxi Emperor|Kangxi]], remained largely conservative—retaining the bureaucracy and the scholars within it, as well as the Confucian ideals present in Chinese society. However, changes in the economy and new attempts at resolving certain issues occurred too. These included increased trade with Western countries that brought large amounts of silver into the Chinese economy in exchange for tea, [[porcelain]], and silk textiles. This allowed for a new merchant-class, the [[comprador]]s, to develop. In addition, repairs were done on existing [[Levee|dikes]], canals, roadways, and [[irrigation]] works. This, combined with the lowering of taxes and government-assigned labor, was supposed to calm peasant unrest. However, the Qing failed to control the growing landlord class which had begun to exploit the peasantry and abuse their position.

By the late 18th century, both internal and external issues began to arise in Qing China's politics, society, and economy. The exam system with which scholars were assigned into the bureaucracy became increasingly corrupt; bribes and other forms of cheating allowed for inexperienced and inept scholars to enter the bureaucracy and this eventually caused rampant neglect of the peasantry, military, and the previously mentioned infrastructure projects. Poverty and banditry steadily rose, especially in rural areas, and mass migrations looking for work throughout China occurred. The perpetually conservative government refused to make reforms that could resolve these issues.

====Opium War====
{{Main|First Opium War|Second Opium War}}
[[File:98th Foot at Chinkiang.jpg|thumb|British troops taking [[Battle of Chinkiang|Zhenjiang]] from Qing troops]]
China saw its status reduced by what it perceived as parasitic trade with Westerners. Originally, European traders were at a disadvantage because the Chinese cared little for their goods, while European demand for Chinese commodities such as tea and porcelain only grew. In order to tip the trade imbalance in their favor, British merchants began to sell Indian [[opium]] to the Chinese. Not only did this sap Chinese bullion reserves, it also led to widespread drug addiction amongst the [[scholar official|bureaucracy]] and society in general. A ban was placed on opium as early as 1729 by the [[Yongzheng Emperor]], but little was done to enforce it. By the early 19th century, under the new [[Daoguang Emperor]], the government began serious efforts to eradicate opium from Chinese society. Leading this endeavour were respected scholar-officials including [[Imperial Commissioner (China)|Imperial Commissioner]] [[Lin Zexu]].

After Lin [[Destruction of opium at Humen|destroyed more than 20,000 chests of opium]] in the summer of 1839, Europeans demanded compensation for what they saw as unwarranted Chinese interference in their affairs. When it was not paid, the British declared war later the same year, starting what became known as the [[First Opium War]]. The outdated Chinese [[Junk (ship)|junks]] were no match for the advanced British gunboats, and soon the [[Yangzi River]] region came under threat of British bombardment and invasion. The emperor had no choice but to sue for peace, resulting in the exile of Lin and the making of the [[Treaty of Nanking]], which ceded the British control of [[Hong Kong]] and opened up trade and diplomacy with other European countries, including Germany, France, and the USA.
[[File:1859-60 CE world map.PNG|thumb|280px|Political map of Asia in 1860]]

====Manchuria====
{{Further|Northeast China|History of Manchuria}}
Manchuria/Northeast China came under influence of Russia with the building of the [[Chinese Eastern Railway]] through [[Harbin, China|Harbin]] to [[Vladivostok]].<ref>Henry B.  Miller, "Russian Development of Manchuria." ''National Geographic Magazine'' 15 (1904): 113+ [https://books.google.com/books?id=cxQSAAAAYAAJ&dq=manchuria+%22port+arthur%22&pg=PA113 online].</ref> The [[Empire of Japan]] replaced Russian influence in the region as a result of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1904–1905, and Japan laid the [[South Manchurian Railway]] in 1906 to [[Lüshunkou|Port Arthur]]. During the [[Warlord Era]] in China, [[Zhang Zuolin]] established himself in Northeast China, but was murdered by the Japanese for being too independent. The former Chinese emperor, [[Puyi]], was then placed on the throne to lead a Japanese puppet state of [[Manchukuo]].<ref>Louise Young, ''Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism'' (1999) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YjW41KFGw04C&dq=manchuria++japan&pg=PP1 excerpt]</ref> In August 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the region. From 1945 to 1948, Northeast China was a base area for Mao Zedong's [[People's Liberation Army]] in the [[Chinese Civil War]]. With the encouragement of the Kremlin, the area was used as a staging ground during the Civil War for the [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communists]], who were victorious in 1949 and have controlled ever since.<ref>Steven I. Levine, ''Anvil of Victory: The Communist Revolution in Manchuria, 1945-1948'' (1987).</ref>

=== Joseon ===
[[File:Korea-Portrait_of_Emperor_Gojong-01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]] (1852–1919), the 26th king of [[Joseon]] dynasty and the first emperor of [[Korean Empire]].]]
[[File:Deoksugung Palace.jpg|thumb|right|[[Deoksugung]], the palace where Emperor Gojong established [[Korean Empire]].]]
When it became the 19th century, the king of [[Joseon]] was powerless. Because the noble family of the king's wife got the power and ruled the country by their way. The 26th king of Joseon dynasty, [[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]]'s father, [[Heungseon Daewongun]] wanted the king be powerful again. Even he wasn't the king. As the father of young king, he destroyed noble families and corrupt organizations. So the royal family got the power again. But he wanted to rebuild [[Gyeongbokgung]] palace in order to show the royal power to people. So he was criticized by people because he spent enormous money and [[inflation]] occurred because of that. So his son, the real king [[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]] got power.

=== Korean Empire ===
By the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] article 1 of the first Sino-Japanese war, Korea was independented from China. The 26th king of [[Joseon]], Gojong changed the nation's name to ''Daehan Jeguk'' ([[Korean Empire]]). And he also promoted himself as an emperor. The new empire accepted more western technology and strengthened military power. And [[Korean Empire]] was going to become a neutral nation. Unfortunately, in the [[Russo-Japanese war]], Japan ignored this, and eventually Japan won against [[Russian Empire]], and started to invade Korea. Japan first stole the right of diplomacy from Korean Empire illegally. But every western country ignored this invasion because they knew Japan became a strong country as they defeated Russian Empire. So emperor Gojong sent diplomats to a Dutch city known as [[The Hague]] to let everyone know that Japan stole the Empire's right illegally. But it was failed. Because the diplomats couldn't go into the conference room. Japan kicked Gojong off on the grounds that this reason. 3 years after, In 1910, Korean Empire became a part of Empire of Japan. It was the first time ever after invasion of Han dynasty in 108 BC.

==Contemporary==
{{further|Contemporary history}}
[[File:Asia (late 19th century- early 20th century).jpg|thumb|380px|Map of Asia for early 20th century]]
The European powers had control of other parts of Asia by the early 20th century, such as [[British Raj|British India]], [[French Indochina]], [[Spanish East Indies]], and Portuguese [[Macau]] and [[Goa]]. The [[Great Game]] between Russia and Britain was the struggle for power in the Central Asian region in the nineteenth century. The [[Trans-Siberian Railway]], crossing Asia by train, was complete by 1916. Parts of Asia remained free from European control, although not influence, such as [[Persia]], [[Thailand]] and most of China. In the 20th century, the [[Empire of Japan]] expanded into China and Southeast Asia during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and [[World War II]]. After the war, many Asian countries became independent from European powers. During the [[Cold War]], the northern parts of Asia were communist controlled with the [[Soviet Union]] and People's Republic of China, while western allies formed pacts such as [[CENTO]] and [[SEATO]]. Conflicts such as the [[Korean War]], [[Vietnam War]] and [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]] were fought between communists and anti-communists. In the decades after the Second World War, a massive restructuring plan drove Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, a phenomenon known as the [[Japanese post-war economic miracle]]. The [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] has dominated much of the recent history of the Middle East. After the [[Soviet Union]]'s collapse in 1991, there were many new independent nations in Central Asia.

===China===
{{main|History of the Republic of China|History of the People's Republic of China}}
Prior to [[World War II]], China faced a civil war between [[Mao Zedong]]'s Communist party and [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s nationalist party; the nationalists appeared to be in the lead. However, once the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese invaded]] in 1937, the two parties were forced to form a temporary cease-fire in order to defend China. The nationalists faced many military failures that caused them to lose territory and subsequently, respect from the Chinese masses. In contrast, the communists' use of guerilla warfare (led by [[Lin Biao]]) proved effective against the Japanese's conventional methods and put the Communist Party on top by 1945. They also gained popularity for the reforms they were already applying in controlled areas, including land redistribution, education reforms, and widespread health care. For the next four years, the nationalists would be forced to retreat to the small island east of Fujian province, known as [[Geography of Taiwan|Taiwan]] (formerly known as Formosa), where they remain today. In mainland China, [[China|People's Republic of China]] was established by the Communist Party, with [[Mao Zedong]] as its [[President of the People's Republic of China|state chairman]].

The communist government in China was defined by the party [[Professional revolutionaries|cadres]]. These hard-line officers controlled the [[People's Liberation Army]], which itself controlled large amounts of the bureaucracy. This system was further controlled by the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of China|Central Committee]], which additionally supported the state chairman who was considered the head of the government. The People's Republic's foreign policies included the repressing of [[secession]] attempts in Mongolia and Tibet and supporting of [[North Korea]] and [[North Vietnam]] in the [[Korean War]] and [[Vietnam War]], respectively. By 1960 China and the USSR became adversaries, battling worldwide for control of local communist movements.

Today China plays important roles in world economics and politics. China today is the world's second largest economy and the second fastest growing economy.

=== Indian Subcontinent ===
{{See also|South Asia#Contemporary era}}[[Image:Partition of India.PNG|thumb|Britain's holdings on the [[Indian subcontinent]] were granted independence in 1947 and 1948, becoming five new independent states: [[Dominion of India|India]], [[Post-independence Burma, 1948–1962|Burma]], [[Dominion of Ceylon|Ceylon]], [[Kingdom of Sikkim|Sikkim]], and [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]] (including [[East Bengal]], from 1971 [[Bangladesh]]).]]
From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, large regions of India were gradually annexed by the [[East India Company]], a chartered company acting as a sovereign power on behalf of the British government. Dissatisfaction with [[company rule in India]] led to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], which rocked parts of north and central India, and led to the dissolution of the company. India was afterwards ruled directly by the [[The Crown|British Crown]], in the [[British Raj]]. After [[World War I]], a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the [[Indian National Congress]], led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], and noted for [[nonviolent resistance|nonviolence]]. Later, the [[All-India Muslim League]] would advocate for a separate Muslim-majority [[nation state]].

In August 1947, the British Indian Empire was [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into the [[Dominion of India|Union of India]] and [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. In particular, the partition of [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]] and Bengal led to rioting between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in these provinces and spread to other nearby regions, leaving some 500,000 dead. The police and army units were largely ineffective. The British officers were gone, and the units were beginning to tolerate if not actually indulge in violence against their religious enemies.<ref>Philip Ziegler, ''Mountbatten''(1985) p. 401.</ref><ref name=symonds>{{cite book| last = Symonds | first = Richard | author-link=Richard Symonds (academic) | title = The Making of Pakistan | year = 1950 | publisher = Faber and Faber | location = London | oclc = 1462689 | page = 74| quote = At the lowest estimate, half a million people perished and twelve millions became homeless.}}</ref><ref name="Abid2014">{{cite web |last1=Abid |first1=Abdul Majeed |title=The forgotten massacre |url=https://nation.com.pk/29-Dec-2014/the-forgotten-massacre |website=The Nation |date=29 December 2014|quote=On the same dates [4 and 5 March 1947], Muslim League-led mobs fell with determination and full preparations on the helpless Hindus and Sikhs scattered in the villages of Multan, Rawalpindi, Campbellpur, Jhelum and Sargodha. The murderous mobs were well supplied with arms, such as daggers, swords, spears and fire-arms. (A former civil servant mentioned in his autobiography that weapon supplies had been sent from NWFP and money was supplied by Delhi-based politicians.)}}</ref> Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations anywhere in modern history, with a total of 12&nbsp;million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan (which gained independence on 15 and 14 August 1947 respectively).<ref name=symonds /> In 1971, [[Bangladesh]], formerly [[East Pakistan]] and [[East Bengal]], seceded from Pakistan<ref name="Raghavan2013">{{cite book|author=Srinath Raghavan|title=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S-wAQAAQBAJ|date=12 November 2013|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-73129-5}}</ref> through an [[Bangladesh Liberation War|armed conflict]] sparked by the rise of the [[Bengali nationalism|Bengali nationalist]] and [[self-determination]] movement.

===Korea===
[[File:2018 inter-Korean summit 01.jpg|thumb|right|The third Inter-Korean Summit, which was held in 2018, between South Korean president [[Moon Jae-in]] and North Korean supreme leader [[Kim Jong Un]]. It was a historical event that symbolized the peace of Asia.]]
During the period when the [[Korean War]] occurred, Korea divided into North and South. [[Syngman Rhee]] became the first president of [[South Korea]], and [[Kim Il Sung]] became the supreme leader of [[North Korea]]. After the war, the president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee tries to become a dictator. So the [[April Revolution]] occurred, eventually [[Syngman Rhee]] was exiled from his country. 
In 1963, [[Park Chung Hee]] was empowered with a military coup d'état. He dispatched [[Republic of Korea Army]] to [[Vietnam War]]. And during this age, the economy of [[South Korea]] outran that of [[North Korea]].

Although [[Park Chung Hee]] improved the nation's economy, he was a dictator, so people didn't like him. Eventually, he was murdered by [[Kim Jae-gyu]]. In 1979, [[Chun Doo-hwan]] was empowered by another coup d’état by military. He oppressed the resistances in the city of [[Gwangju]]. That event is called 'Gwangju Uprising'. Despite the Gwangju Uprising, [[Chun Doo-hwan]] became the president. But the people resisted again in 1987. This movement is called '[[June Struggle]]'. As a result of [[Gwangju Uprising]] and [[June Struggle]], South Korea finally became a democratic republic in 1987.

[[Roh Tae-woo]] (1988–93), [[Kim Young-sam]] (1993–98), [[Kim Dae-jung]] (1998–2003), [[Roh Moo-hyun]] (2003–2008), [[Lee Myung-bak]] (2008–2013), [[Park Geun-hye]] (2013–2017), [[Moon Jae-in]] (2017–) were elected as a president in order after 1987. In 1960, [[North Korea]] was far wealthier than [[South Korea]]. But in 1970, South Korea begins to outrun the North Korean economy. In 2018, South Korea is ranked #10 in world [[GDP]] ranking.

== See also ==
* [[Ancient Asian history]]
* {{section link|List of history journals|Asia}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Refend}}
{{Asia topics}}
{{History of Asia}}
{{History by continent}}

[[Category:History of Asia| ]]