Hegel famously said that China has no history because it never seems to break out of the dynastic cycle. I would say rather that China speed-run history. This is because it was super early in achieving two things: freedom from religion in state affairs (« secular »Zhou replaced superstitious Shang 3000 years ago) and a laissez-faire market.
This allowed for inequality to rapidly accumulate in society until it becomes intolerable over centuries. This didn’t happen in say Europe because religion and hierarchy kept ppl locked in rigid divisions of haves and have nots where they accept their lot in life. Feudalism was incredibly stable. In China however, the discontent of the have nots eventually boil over, most typically in a peasant rebellion led by a guy who failed his exams. Very intense civil wars typically follow and the disorder may last for decades or centuries before China unites again under a new central authority.
Each new dynasty tries something different, to try and avert the calamity that befell the previous dynasty. So for instance the Tang dynasty overempowered the military and fell to coups. So the Song dynasty nerfed their military and eventualy fell to the mongols. But no dynasty have ever solved the cycle. If they did, they would still be here today. Instead, every dynasty eventually fell, with the successful ones lasting about 300 years, before the chessboard is flipped over, providing a hard reset that's needed to give everyone "table stakes" in society and the cycle starts all over again.