Zhejiang was outside the sphere of influence of early Chinese civilization during the Shang Dynasty (C.1600–1046BC). Instead it was populated by peoples collectively known as the Yue, such as the Dongyue and the Ouyue. Starting from the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC–476BC), a state of Yue emerged in northern Zhejiang that was heavily influenced by Chinese civilization further north, and under King Goujian of Yue it reached its zenith and was able to wipe out, in 473 BC, the state of Wu further north, a major power at the time. In 333 BC, this state was in turn conquered by the state of Chu further west; and the state of Qin in turn subjugated all the states of China under its control in 221 BC, thereby establishing a unified Chinese empire.
Throughout the Qin Dynasty (221BC–206BC) and Han Dynasty (206BC–220AD), Zhejiang was under the control of the unified Chinese state, though it was a frontier area at best, and southern Zhejiang was not under anything more than nominal control, it being still inhabited by Yue peoples with their own political and social structures. Near the end of the Han Dynasty Zhejiang was home to minor warlords Yan Baihu and Wang Lang, who fell in turn to Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who eventually established the Kingdom of Wu (222–280), one of the Three Kingdoms (220–280).
From the fourth century onwards, China began to be invaded from the north by nomadic peoples, who conquered areas of North China and established the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Dynasties (386–581). As a result, massive numbers of refugees arrived from the north and poured into South China, which hosted the refugees Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420) and Southern Dynasties (420–589); this accelerated the sinicization of South China, including Zhejiang.
The Sui Dynasty (581–618) reestablished unity and built the Grand Canal of China, which linked Hangzhou to the North China Plain, providing Zhejiang with a vital link to the centers of Chinese civilization. The Tang Dynasty (618–907) presided over a golden age of China. Zhejiang was, at this time, part of the Jiangnandong Circuit, and there began to appear references to its prosperity. Later on, as the Tang Dynasty disintegrated, Zhejiang constituted most of the territory of the regional kingdom of Wuyue.
The Northern Song Dynasty re-established unity in around 960. Under the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the prosperity of South China began to overtake North China. After the north was lost to the Jurchens in 1127, Zhejiang had its heyday: the modern provincial capital, Hangzhou, was the capital of the Han Chinese Southern Song Dynasty which held on to South China. Renowned for its prosperity and beauty, it may have been the largest city in the world at the time.
Ever since then all the way to the present day, north Zhejiang has, together with neighbouring south Jiangsu, been synonymous with luxury and opulence in Chinese culture. Mongol conquest and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) in 1279 ended Hangzhou's political clout, though Hangzhou continued to prosper; Marco Polo visited the city, which he called "Kinsay", and called the "finest and noblest city" in the world".
The Zhejiang province, particularly the Longquan district, became renowned during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasty for its production of a particular celadon (greenware) ceramic. The Southern Song Longquan celadon is characterized by a thick unctuous glaze of a particular bluish-green tint over an otherwise undecorated light-grey porcellaneous body that is delicately potted. Yuan Longquan celadons feature a thinner, greener glaze on increasingly larger vessels with decoration and shapes derived from Middle Eastern ceramic and metalwares. These were produced in large quantities for the Chinese export trade to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and in the Ming, Europe. Ming wares are mainly noted for a decrease in quality and it is in this period that the Longquan kilns declined, to be eventually replaced in popularity and ceramic production by the kilns of Jingdezhen, in neighboring Jiangxi province.
This tripod planter from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) was found in Zhejiang province. It is housed in the Smithsonian in Washington. The Ming Dynasty which drove out the Mongols in 1368 was the first to establish Zhejiang Province, and the borders of the province have since changed little. With the invasion of Western capitalism, Zhejiang became the most important bridge between Shanghai, the national economic center, and wealthy Southern China.
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