Changes

==Myth or history?==

==Myth or history?==

{{History of China}}

{{History of China}}

The character used to write Xia was not used on the Shang oracle bones, the earliest phase of Chinese writing. Beginning in the middle period of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC), the character does appears on several bronze inscriptions. These are not thought to be references to the dynasty, but rather mean "large" or "summer." The Shang had a two-season calendar, so it is possible that China had no concept of summer before this time.

The character used to write Xia was not used on the Shang oracle bones, the earliest phase of Chinese writing. In the Spring and Autumn period (770 to 481 BC), the character appears on several bronze inscriptions. These are not thought to be references to the dynasty, but rather mean "large" or "summer." The Shang had a two-season calendar, so it is possible that China had no concept of summer before this time.<ref name="mair">Mair, Victor, “[https://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp238_xia_dynasty_china.pdf Was there a Xia dynasty?]” Sino-Platonic Papers, May 2013.</ref>

The earliest mention of a Xia dynasty can be found in ''Analects'' by Confucius (c. 551 – c. 479 BC). This is over a thousand years after the end of the dynasty. ''Analects'' does not provide much information about the Xia. The main sources for the story of the Xia are the ''Bamboo Annals'' (~300 BC) and ''Records of the Grand Historian'', written by Sima Qian around 100 BC.<ref>Mair, Victor, “[https://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp238_xia_dynasty_china.pdf Was there a Xia dynasty?]” Sino-Platonic Papers, May 2013.</ref>

The earliest mention of a Xia dynasty can be found in ''Analects'' by Confucius (c. 551 – c. 479 BC). This is over a thousand years after the end of the dynasty. ''Analects'' does not provide much information about the Xia. The main sources for the story of the Xia are the ''Bamboo Annals'' (~300 BC) and ''Records of the Grand Historian'', written by Sima Qian around 100 BC.<ref name="mair"/>

==The Mandate of Heaven==

==The Mandate of Heaven==