Five thousand years of Chinese civilization

Five thousand years of Chinese civilization (or 5000 years of Chinese history) is a Chinese historiographical expression widely circulated since the late Qing dynasty claiming that China has five thousand years of history or civilization. First disseminated by European missionaries in the 17th century, the expression is commonly found especially in the Chinese-speaking world by the early 20th century to show that China has a long-lasting history, although it is sometimes used by the governments and media as an instrument of Chinese nationalism and soft power.

Source: Wikipedia — Five thousand years of Chinese civilization (CC BY-SA 4.0)