great wall

China is the world's oldest continuous civilization, with a history characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent dynastic change. Power was generally concentrated in the hands of the emperor, but sometimes shifted to powerful officials or regional warlords. The country's territorial extent varied according to its shifting fortunes. For many centuries, most notably from the 7th through the 14th centuries, China stood as the world's most advanced civilization and as East Asia's dominating cultural influence. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the country was too weak to repel European colonialism and Japanese invasion, while at the same time suffering internal conflicts which led to its continuing division. A Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War established the People's Republic of China in the mainland while the Nationalists held out in Taiwan.