China's major dynasties ranked by how long each house actually held power, counted from the year the dynastic name was proclaimed to the year the last ruler lost the throne. The Han, Jin and Song are each counted as a single house across their two halves, and regimes that ruled alongside the central plains courts — Liao, Jin, Western Xia and Northern Wei — are included.
The Zhou lasted 790 years — 236 years longer than the Shang in second place, and close to double the Han's 405. Stretch that span onto a modern calendar and it would reach from the mid Southern Song all the way to 2026. The middle of the table is more surprising still: the Liao (209 years) and the Western Xia (189 years) both outlived the Northern Song (167 years) they fought against. Meanwhile the two unification dynasties every schoolchild knows, Qin and Sui, survived just 15 and 37 years and miss the top fifteen entirely — yet each handed the empire to a successor, the Han and the Tang, that would run for four and three centuries. And a neat coincidence at the tail: the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1636–1912) both lasted exactly 276 years.
| Rank | Dynasty | Period | Duration (years) | Founding ruler | Principal capital | Counting note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhou dynasty | 1046–256 BC | 790 | King Wu of Zhou (Ji Fa) | Haojing (Western Zhou), Luoyi (Eastern Zhou) | Western Zhou 275 years plus Eastern Zhou 515 years; dates per the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project |
| 2 |
Wikipedia, Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Shang dynasty |
| 1600–1046 BC |
554 |
| Tang of Shang |
| Bo, later Yin (modern Anyang, Henan) |
| Dates per the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project; oracle bones at Yinxu are the direct written evidence |
| 3 | Xia dynasty | c. 2070–1600 BC | 470 | Yu the Great (or his son Qi) | Yangcheng and Zhenxun, per transmitted texts | Absolute dates from the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project; the historicity of the Xia remains debated |
| 4 | Han dynasty | 202 BC – AD 220 | 405 | Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) | Chang'an (Western Han), Luoyang (Eastern Han) | Western Han 210 years plus Eastern Han 195 years; the Xin interregnum of AD 9–23 is excluded |
| 5 | Song dynasty | 960–1279 | 319 | Emperor Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin) | Kaifeng (Northern Song), Lin'an/Hangzhou (Southern Song) | Northern Song 167 years plus Southern Song 152 years, split at the Jingkang incident of 1127 |
| 6 | Tang dynasty | 618–907 | 289 | Emperor Gaozu (Li Yuan) | Chang'an (modern Xi'an) | Includes Wu Zetian's Zhou interlude of 690–705; excluding it gives 274 years |
| 7 | Ming dynasty | 1368–1644 | 276 | Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) | Nanjing, moved to Beijing in 1421 | Ends with the Chongzhen Emperor's death in 1644; counting the Southern Ming would extend it to 1662 |
| 8 | Qing dynasty | 1636–1912 | 276 | Hong Taiji, who proclaimed the Qing name in 1636 | Shengjing (Shenyang), moved to Beijing in 1644 | 296 years if counted from Nurhaci's Later Jin in 1616, or 268 years from the 1644 entry into Beijing |
| 9 | Liao dynasty | 916–1125 | 209 | Emperor Taizu (Yelü Abaoji) | Shangjing Linhuang (modern Bairin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia) | 218 years if counted from Abaoji's accession as khagan in 907; the Western Liao survived in Central Asia until 1218 |
| 10 | Western Xia | 1038–1227 | 189 | Emperor Jingzong (Li Yuanhao) | Xingqing (modern Yinchuan, Ningxia) | Counted from Li Yuanhao's proclamation of the Great Xia in 1038; destroyed by the Mongol conquest |
| 11 | Jin dynasty (266–420) | 266–420 | 155 | Emperor Wu (Sima Yan) | Luoyang (Western Jin), Jiankang/Nanjing (Eastern Jin) | Western Jin 266–316 plus Eastern Jin 317–420, split by the court's flight south in 317 |
| 12 | Northern Wei | 386–534 | 148 | Emperor Daowu (Tuoba Gui) | Pingcheng (modern Datong, Shanxi), moved to Luoyang in 493 | Split into Eastern and Western Wei in 534; the longest-lived of the Northern Dynasties |
| 13 | Jin dynasty (1115–1234) | 1115–1234 | 119 | Emperor Taizu (Wanyan Aguda) | Huining, moved to Zhongdu (modern Beijing) in 1153 | Destroyed the Liao and the Northern Song before falling to a Mongol–Song alliance |
| 14 | Yuan dynasty | 1271–1368 | 97 | Kublai Khan (Emperor Shizu) | Dadu (modern Beijing) | Counted from Kublai's proclamation of the Great Yuan in 1271; the Northern Yuan continued on the steppe until 1388 |
| 15 | Liu Song dynasty | 420–479 | 59 | Emperor Wu (Liu Yu) | Jiankang (modern Nanjing) | The longest of the four Southern Dynasties; called Liu Song to distinguish it from the later Song |
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Zhou dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shang dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Han dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Song dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Tang dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ming dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Qing dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Yuan dynasty, retrieved 2026-08-04.
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