Ancient Chinese History

Begin quote from wikipedia under "Chinese History"
What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than a million years ago.^[3] Recent study shows that the stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site are magnetostratigraphically dated to 1.36 million years ago.^[4] The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, which is dated 1.27 million years ago.^[3] The excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation. Perhaps the most famous specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1923-27.
Three pottery pieces were unearthed at Liyuzui Cave in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province dated 16,500 and 19,000 BC.^[5]

[edit] Neolithic

See also: List of Neolithic cultures of China

The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to between 12,000 and 10,000 BC.^[6] Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC.^[7] The Peiligang culture of Xinzheng county, Henan was excavated in 1977.^[8] With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators.^[9] In late Neolithic times, the Yellow River valley began to establish itself as a cultural center, where the first villages were founded; the most archaeologically significant of those was found at Banpo, Xi'an.^[10] The Yellow River was so named because of loess forming its banks gave a yellowish tint to the water.^[11]
The early history of China is made obscure by the lack of written documents from this period, coupled with the existence of accounts written during later time periods that attempted to describe events that had occurred several centuries previously. In a sense, the problem stems from centuries of introspection on the part of the Chinese people, which has blurred the distinction between fact and fiction in regards to this early history.
By 7000 BC, the Chinese were farming millet, giving rise to the Jiahu culture. At Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000-5000 BC have been discovered "featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing." These pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese.^[12][13] Later Yangshao culture was superseded by the Longshan culture around 2500 BC. end quote.

So, though many people see the Chinese culture as beginning sometime around 3000 to 5000 years ago it actually to be accurate predates even that.

Under the Wikipedia title "China" I found the following interesting information on why we in the U.S.  and Europe call China "China". begin quote.

Etymology

Main article: Names of China

The traditional (top) and simplified (bottom) characters for "China" in Chinese. The first character means "middle" or "center", and the second character means "country".

English names

The word "China"^{[nb 1]} is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in Europe by Marco Polo.^[12][13] In early usage, "china" as a term for porcelain was spelled differently from the name of the country, the two words being derived from separate Persian words.^[14] Both these words are derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),^[14] used as a name for China as early as AD 150.^[15] The origin of this word is the subject of several conflicting scholarly theories.^[16] The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martin Martini, is that the word is derived from "Qin" (秦)(778 BC – 207 BC), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC).^[17] In the Hindu scriptures Mahābhārata (5th century BC )^[18] and Laws of Manu (2nd century BC), the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन) is used to refer to a country of "yellow-colored" barbarians located in the Tibeto-Burman borderlands east of India.^[19] The inhabitants of Yelang, an ancient kingdom in what is now Guizhou, referred to themselves as 'Zina', and may be the source of the Sanskrit word Cīna.^{[16] end quote.}