Changes

===Historical===

===Historical===

{{History of China}}  

{{History of China (full)}}  

The traditional view of ancient Chinese history, still promoted by the Chinese government, is of a succession of dynasties from Xia to Shang to Zhou going back 5,000 years. Historians working in China identify Erlitou with the Xia dynasty.<ref>The official view of ancient chronology is given by the [http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/17161 Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project] (2001), which refines the traditional timeline.</ref> Other states and cultures existed at the same time, and the focus on the traditional dynastic sequence may reflect the basis of dynasty-oriented historians. Among the first historians to carefully separate myth from history was [[Sima Qian]]. His history begins with the exile of King Li of the Zhou dynasty in 841 BC, still the earliest securely dated event in Chinese history.

The traditional view of ancient Chinese history, still promoted by the Chinese government, is of a succession of dynasties from Xia to Shang to Zhou going back 5,000 years. Historians working in China identify Erlitou with the Xia dynasty.<ref>The official view of ancient chronology is given by the [http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/17161 Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project] (2001), which refines the traditional timeline.</ref> Other states and cultures existed at the same time, and the focus on the traditional dynastic sequence may reflect the basis of dynasty-oriented historians. Among the first historians to carefully separate myth from history was [[Sima Qian]]. His history begins with the exile of King Li of the Zhou dynasty in 841 BC, still the earliest securely dated event in Chinese history.