Life In China

Zhōngguó was used as a common name for the Republic of China (Zhonghua Minguo) after its establishment in 1912. After the Communists took over control of mainland China in 1949, they established the People's Republic of China (PRC). After the ROC's loss of the UN "China" seat in 1971, the PRC gained the ability to be the "representative" of "China" under the one China policy and as a result is now commonly known as "China" or "Zhōngguó" in Chinese. The Republic of China nowadays is commonly known as "Taiwan".
History
Ancient China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing, the others being Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilization, the Maya and other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece, and Ancient Egypt.