Nurhaci, leader of the Jianzhou Jurchens, unified Jurchen clans and founded the Later Jin dynasty, renouncing Ming overlordship.

Hong Taiji proclaimed the Great Qing dynasty in Shenyang, renaming the state from "Great Jin" and elevating his position from Khan to Emperor, suggesting imperial ambitions beyond unifying the Manchu territories.

The Qing army, allied with Ming general Wu Sangui, seized Beijing and North China after defeating peasant rebels, marking the traditional start of the dynasty's rule.

The Kangxi Emperor, of Manchu ethnic origin, consolidated control, embraced Confucianism and Buddhism, and encouraged scholarship, population, and economic growth.

The Revolt of the Three Feudatories delayed the complete Qing conquest until 1683, marking the beginning of the High Qing era.

The Kangxi Emperor sponsored the Peiwen Yunfu, a rhyme dictionary.

The Kangxi Emperor sponsored the Kangxi Dictionary.

The Kangxi Emperor consolidated control, embraced Confucianism and Buddhism, and encouraged scholarship, population, and economic growth.

The Qing dynasty reached its apex during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, who led the Ten Great Campaigns of conquest and supervised Confucian cultural projects.

The Qianlong Emperor sponsored the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.

The British East India Company sent a diplomatic mission to China led by Lord Macartney in order to open trade and put relations on a basis of equality.

The Qing dynasty reached its apex during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, who led the Ten Great Campaigns of conquest and supervised Confucian cultural projects. After his death, the dynasty faced internal revolts, economic disruption, official corruption, foreign intrusion, and the reluctance of Confucian elites to change their mindset.

Robert Morrison of the London Missionary Society arrived at Canton.

Robert Morrison completed a translation of the entire Bible.

Lin Zexu confiscated opium stocks without compensation, leading Britain to send a military expedition the following year.

The Qing surrender in the First Opium War marked a decisive, humiliating blow. The Treaty of Nanjing, the first of the "unequal treaties", demanded war reparations, forced China to open up the Treaty Ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai to Western trade and missionaries, and to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain.

The Taiping Rebellion began under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan, who launched an uprising in Guizhou and established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with himself as its king.

Qing authorities boarded a ship, the Arrow, which the British claimed had been flying the British flag, an incident which led to the Second Opium War.

The Xianfeng Emperor agreed to the Treaty of Tientsin, which contained clauses deeply insulting to the Chinese.

Anglo-French forces looted and burned the Old Summer Palace and, in an act of revenge for the arrest, torture, and execution of the English diplomatic mission.

The Tongzhi Restoration brought vigorous reforms and the introduction of foreign military technology in the Self-Strengthening Movement.

Qing forces under Zeng Guofan succeeded in crushing the Taiping revolt.

A British company built the Shanghai–Woosung line, obtaining the land under false pretenses, and it was soon torn up.

Defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War led to loss of suzerainty over Korea and cession of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan.

Defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War led to loss of suzerainty over Korea and cession of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan.

The Guangxu Emperor initiated the Hundred Days' Reform, but it was poorly executed and terminated by the Empress Dowager Cixi in the Wuxu Coup.

Anti-foreign Boxers killed many Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries; in retaliation, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China and imposed a punitive indemnity.

The court directed a constitution to be drafted, and provincial elections were held, the first in China's history.

The imperial examination system was abolished.

The population of Qing dynasty rose to 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, soon leading to a fiscal crisis.

The Qing dynasty became a constitutional monarchy when Zaifeng created a "responsible cabinet" led by Yikuang, Prince Qing.

The Wuchang Uprising led to the Xinhai Revolution.

The abdication of the Xuantong Emperor brought the dynasty to an end.

There was an abortive attempt to restore the Qing led by Zhang Xun.

The Empire of Japan invaded Northeast China and founded Manchukuo there, with Puyi as its emperor.

Manchukuo fell after the invasion of Northeast China to fight Japan by the Soviet Union.