Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Sanskrit term Cīna appeared in early Hindu scriptures like the Mahabbarata between the third and fourth centuries BCE. This linguistic journey traveled thousands of miles to the courts of Europe before the people living there used the name. The first recorded use of the name in English appeared in Richard Eden's 1555 translation of a Portuguese explorer's journal.
King Zheng of Qin, who proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang, ordered the burning of all books except those on medicine, agriculture, and divination in 213 BCE. This act of cultural destruction was intended to erase the past and secure his future against rebellion. The First Emperor's death in 210 BCE triggered a series of revolts that led to the collapse of the Qin dynasty.
The Opium Wars were fought between 1839 and 1842 and again in 1856, resulting in the cession of Hong Kong to Britain. The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 to 1895 further weakened the Qing dynasty, leading to the cession of Taiwan to Japan. The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 to 1912 ended the Qing dynasty and the last emperor, Puyi, abdicated in 1912.
The People's Republic of China was founded on the 1st of October 1949. The CCP, led by Mao Zedong, gained control of most of mainland China by 1949, and the ROC government retreated to Taiwan. This event marked the beginning of a new era for the country after decades of civil war and foreign invasion.
Deng Xiaoping launched the reform and opening up policy in 1978 to transform China from a planned economy into a market-based system. The policy sparked an economic boom that lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and initiated rapid industrialization. China's GDP grew from $150 billion in 1978 to $18.74 trillion by 2024.