Two modern navies have been known in English as the Chinese Navy:
For Chinese navies before 1912, see:
The People's Liberation Army Navy ( PLAN) ( Simplified Chinese: 中国人民解放军海军 Traditional Chinese: 中國人民解放軍海軍 Pinyin The Republic of China Navy (中華民國海軍 Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Hǎijūn is the maritime branch of the Armed forces of the Republic of China (Taiwan. The Chinese Imperial Navy came into existence from 1132 during the Song Dynasty to the end of the Qing period in 1912 The naval history of China dates back thousands of years with archives existing since the late Spring and Autumn Period ( 722 BC - 481 BC) about the