History Lessons Needed

As a self-described fan of eastern Asia, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around its history. As a citizen of the youngest major nation in the world, our paltry 400 (pilgrims) to 500 or so (Columbus) years of (non-aboriginal) history pales when faced with the 2,500 years of what was to become China. The extension of our history into its largely European predecessors doesn't help me completely either. The fact that China's history is usually described in terms of dynasties and eras, helps sort it out a bit.

Just the last dynasty -- the Qing (from 1600s to the first decade or so of the 20th century), along with the Republican and Communist eras that followed it, pretty much span most of the significant history of the US. The Ming (1300s to 1600s) are more or less coincidental with the European Reformation and Renaissance. The first emperor and his Qin era, around 200 BC and the Han era that followed it paralleled the Roman Empire, more or less.

But the vaunted Tang Dynasty, often described as the pinnacle of classical Chinese culture started around the 6th century AD. Trying to extend my parallel history context, I realize I have no idea what the heck was going on in Europe from the dissipation of the Roman Empire until the battle of Hastings in 1066, and not much more than some Shakespearean hints of English monarchy from then until the Reformation. That's quite a gap to be unaccounted for.

Embarrassing.