Xia dynasty

The Xia dynasty is an era of Chinese history that began in 2070 BC and continued until 1600 BC. It was followed by the Shang dynasty. Shun, the last of the mythical Five Emperors, picked Yu the Great as his successor, according to the traditional account. Yu was able to control a worldwide flood by building embankments. Yu's son succeeded him, making Yu the founder of a dynasty. There were seventeen Xia rulers. The last was Jie. Jie fell in love with a woman who was both beautiful and cruel. Outraged rebels led by Zi Lü overthrew the Xia and established the Shang dynasty. This dynastic handover, it is a model for the "Mandate of Heaven" concept.

Xia dynasty
Chinese	夏朝
Transcriptions Mandarin - Pinyin Xià cháo - Wade-Giles Hsia ch'ao

In the 1920s, scholars of the "Doubting Antiquities School" questioned whether the Xia should be considered historical. It was once common to dismiss the dynasty altogether as mythical. In the 1980s, radiocarbon dating suggested that Erlitou in northern Henan Province might be the site of Zhenxun, the Xia capital.

Erlitou was culturally dominant in its heyday and was unlike earlier Neolithic cultures. Its residents practiced ancestor worship, and the city can be viewed the place where a distinctively Chinese culture was forged. Sites from the Xia period show mixed copper and stone use, a transitional phase between neolithic and Bronze Age culture. China entered the Bronze Age around 1700 BC, toward the end of the dynasty.

Myth or history?

History of China
Xia c. 2070–c. 1600 BC
Shang c. 1600 – 1046 BC
Zhou 1045–256 BC
Qin 221–206 BC
Han 206 BC – 220 AD
Three Kingdoms 220–280
Jin 265–420
Northern and Southern Dynasties 420–589
Sui 581–618
Tang 618–907
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 907–960
Song 960–1279
Yuan 1271–1368
Ming 1368–1644
Qing 1644–1911
Republic 1912–1949
People's Republic 1949–present

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.

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 dynasty are the Bamboo Annals (~300 BC) and Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian around 100 BC.

The Mandate of Heaven

The Shang version of the myth is quite different than the Zhou version, which emphasizes the shift of the Mandate of Heaven (tiānmìng) from the Xia to the Shang. The Mandate is a central theory in Chinese political ideology. According to this theory, a dynasty rules until it the Mandate is forfeit as a result of a ruler's immoral behavior. The Zhou and later dynasties found this theory useful since it delegitimizes movements for regional autonomy. Skeptics note that the story of Jie's downfall is suspiciously similar to that of the final Shang ruler, who is also said to have been an immoral tyrant.

Zhou religion, including the Xia myth, is the basis of Chinese Native Religion.

Rulers

The following is the list of Xia rulers as given by Sima Qian.

Table of Rulers
Order	Pinyin	Chinese	Reign (years)
1	Yu (the Great)	禹	45
2	Qi	啟	10
3	Tai Kang	太康	29
4	Zhong Kang	仲康	13
5	Xiang	相	28
6	Shao Kang	少康	21
7	Zhu	杼	17
8	Huai	槐	26
9	Mang	芒	18
10	Xie	泄	16
11	Bu Jiang	不降	59
12	Jiong	扃	21
13	Jin	廑	21
14	Kong Jia	孔甲	31
15	Gao	皋	11
16	Fa	發	11
17	Jie	桀	52