China was really the first modern state, by which I mean it had a centralized government and a core of bureaucrats who could execute the wishes of that government, and it lasted in pretty much the same form from 150 BCE until 1911 CE, which is technically known as a long-ass time. The Chinese were also among the first people to write history. In fact, one of the Confucian classics is called the Shu Jing, or Classic of History. This is great for us because we can now see the things the Chinese recorded as they were happening, but it's also problematic because of the way the story is told. So even me from the past with this five minutes of world history knows that Chinese history is conveniently divided into periods called dynasties. Mr. Green, I didn't even say anything. That doesn't seem very fair.