The development of history as a formal education class in China did not occur until the final years of the Qing Dynasty in 1903 and was listed as a required course for the five years of high school. Most of the history taught focused on Chinese and Asian countries although there were some courses that focused on the history of Western countries. In 1922, with the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, education was once again reformed and modeled after the American system, with three years in both junior high and high school. History remained a compulsory course, despite changes to compulsory courses up until 1949. The author continues with a discussion of the changes in history curricula in China between 1950-60, where history remained a required course. In 1953, the curriculum was revised in order to include a study of Soviet modern history since the two countries were close political allies at the time. After 1956, a uniform set of textbooks and syllabi for history courses were mandated at both the junior high and high school levels, with students learning sufficient history at the junior high level so that they could gain a deeper understanding of history in high school and/or enter the work force with sufficient knowledge of the historical past. The author continues with a discussion of the changes in history in China from 1960-1976. During this time, the ultra-left trend of thought in China led to a reduction in the teaching of history, as they were more interested in focusing on the present. From 1976-90, history, which at one stage during the Cultural Revolution had been destroyed, was returned as a required, standardized, formal course focusing on Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa. Since the 1990s, there has been reform in history teaching in China, with three different programs being offered across the country as the need for different requirements of different schools and areas was realized. A discussion of these changes concludes the article.