China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – since October 1, 1949, is a country in East Asia. It is the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion.  It is the world’s third or fourth-largest country by area. The country (including Hainan, an island province in the South China Sea), is officially divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. 

Chinese music history is revealed through the archaeological resources that go back to 3000 BCE and whose own extensive written documents refer to countless forms of music not only in connection with folk festivals and religious events but also in the courts of hundreds of emperors and princes in dozens of provinces, dynasties, and periods. For all the richness of detail in Chinese sources, however, it is only for the last segment of Chinese music history—from the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE) to the present—that there is information about the actual music itself. 

Major Chinese Dynasties:

Shang    1766 BCE – 1076 BCE

Zhou      1047 BCE – 256 BCE

Qin         221 BCE – 206 BCE

Han        206 BCE – 220 CE

Sixteen Kingdoms                           

                 204 CE – 409 CE

Jin           265 CE – 420 CE

Southern & Northern Dynasties

                 420 CE – 589 CE

Sui          581 CE – 681 CE

Tang      618 CE – 907 CE

Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms 

                 907 CE – 960 CE

Liao        916 CE – 1125 CE

Song      960 CE – 1279 CE

Yuan      1279 CE – 1368 CE

Ming      1368 CE – 1644 CE

Qing       1644 CE – 1911 CE

Resource: China – Wikipedia; Chinese music | Characteristics, History, Instruments, Genres, & Facts | Britannica