Difference between revisions of "Xia dynasty"
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In the 1920s, scholars of the "Doubting Antiquities School" questioned whether the Xia should be considered historical.<ref name=Lee>Lee, Yun Kuen, "[http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/17161 Building the Chronology of Early Chinese History]", University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu) 2002.</ref> It was once common to dismiss the dynasty altogether as mythical. In the 1980s, radiocarbon dating allowed archaeologists to identify Erlitou in northern Henan Province as the site of Zhenxun, the Xia capital.<ref>"[http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Nov/79635.htm./ Stunning Capital of Xia Dynasty Unearthed]", ''China Daily'', Nov. 11, 2003.</ref> | In the 1920s, scholars of the "Doubting Antiquities School" questioned whether the Xia should be considered historical.<ref name=Lee>Lee, Yun Kuen, "[http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/17161 Building the Chronology of Early Chinese History]", University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu) 2002.</ref> It was once common to dismiss the dynasty altogether as mythical. In the 1980s, radiocarbon dating allowed archaeologists to identify Erlitou in northern Henan Province as the site of Zhenxun, the Xia capital.<ref>"[http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Nov/79635.htm./ Stunning Capital of Xia Dynasty Unearthed]", ''China Daily'', Nov. 11, 2003.</ref> | ||
− | 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 | + | 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.<ref>Allan, Sarah, "Erlitou and the Formation of Chinese Civilization: Toward a New Paradigm", The Journal of Asian Studies, 66:461–496 Cambridge University Press, 2007.</ref> 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?== | ||
In the 1990s, the government funded the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project to sort out early Chinese history using modern research techniques.<ref>Chen Ning, "[http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/topic/31689-the-controversy-of-the-xia-shang-zhou-chronology-p/ The Controversy of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project]" (2009).</ref> Although the project did not establish a chronology for the Xia, it did reaffirm the dynasty's place at the head of the Chinese dynastic table. | In the 1990s, the government funded the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project to sort out early Chinese history using modern research techniques.<ref>Chen Ning, "[http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/topic/31689-the-controversy-of-the-xia-shang-zhou-chronology-p/ The Controversy of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project]" (2009).</ref> Although the project did not establish a chronology for the Xia, it did reaffirm the dynasty's place at the head of the Chinese dynastic table. | ||
{{Template:History of China}} | {{Template:History of China}} | ||
− | Skeptics counter that the Xia was at most only one of dozens of states in China at this time.<ref name="Lee" /> Oral tradition concerning the pre-historic states may have been reworked when their stories were written down in the early [[Zhou dynasty]] (c. 1045–256 BC). Emphasis on the Xia supports a "unilinear" view of history in which each dynasty passes the baton to the next | + | Skeptics counter that the Xia was at most only one of dozens of states in China at this time.<ref name="Lee" /> Oral tradition concerning the pre-historic states may have been reworked when their stories were written down in the early [[Zhou dynasty]] (c. 1045–256 BC). Emphasis on the Xia supports a "unilinear" view of history in which each dynasty passes the baton to the next.<ref name="Lee" /> |
Sarah Allan, a leading skeptic, has pieced together Shang mythology and cosmology. The Shang associated the Xia with the time of the flood, according to Allan. After the waters receded, the Xia grew weak. They were vanquished by the Shang sun-kings and eventually departed. There is no issue of dynastic handover in this version of the myth. The Shang rulers must have already viewed themselves as sovereign when the two peoples were living side by side. Shang records suggest that the Xia had a complex system of laws, as well as an unusual religion. Many traits of the Xia are the opposite of traits that the Shang associated with themselves. While Shang represent light, fire, the sun, birds, and the East, the Xia represent dark, water and the West. As such dualities fit together all too neatly with yin-yang cosmology, they suggest that the story is mythological.<ref>Allan, Sarah, "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/25211710 The myth of the Xia dynasty]," ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', No. 2, 1984.</ref> | Sarah Allan, a leading skeptic, has pieced together Shang mythology and cosmology. The Shang associated the Xia with the time of the flood, according to Allan. After the waters receded, the Xia grew weak. They were vanquished by the Shang sun-kings and eventually departed. There is no issue of dynastic handover in this version of the myth. The Shang rulers must have already viewed themselves as sovereign when the two peoples were living side by side. Shang records suggest that the Xia had a complex system of laws, as well as an unusual religion. Many traits of the Xia are the opposite of traits that the Shang associated with themselves. While Shang represent light, fire, the sun, birds, and the East, the Xia represent dark, water and the West. As such dualities fit together all too neatly with yin-yang cosmology, they suggest that the story is mythological.<ref>Allan, Sarah, "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/25211710 The myth of the Xia dynasty]," ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', No. 2, 1984.</ref> | ||
− | The Shang version of the myth is | + | ==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 from the Xia to the Shang.<ref name=Arthur>The legend of the the Xia can be compared to the legend of the King Arthur, which was created by Norman writers to justify the Norman Conquest.</ref> 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.<ref name="Lee" /> | ||
− | The following is the list Xia rulers given by [[Sima Qian]]. | + | 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]]. | ||
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Revision as of 13:00, May 28, 2014
Xia dynasty | |||||||||
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Chinese | 夏朝 | ||||||||
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In the 1920s, scholars of the "Doubting Antiquities School" questioned whether the Xia should be considered historical.[2] It was once common to dismiss the dynasty altogether as mythical. In the 1980s, radiocarbon dating allowed archaeologists to identify Erlitou in northern Henan Province as the site of Zhenxun, the Xia capital.[3]
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.[4] 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?
In the 1990s, the government funded the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project to sort out early Chinese history using modern research techniques.[5] Although the project did not establish a chronology for the Xia, it did reaffirm the dynasty's place at the head of the Chinese dynastic table.
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 |
Skeptics counter that the Xia was at most only one of dozens of states in China at this time.[2] Oral tradition concerning the pre-historic states may have been reworked when their stories were written down in the early Zhou dynasty (c. 1045–256 BC). Emphasis on the Xia supports a "unilinear" view of history in which each dynasty passes the baton to the next.[2]
Sarah Allan, a leading skeptic, has pieced together Shang mythology and cosmology. The Shang associated the Xia with the time of the flood, according to Allan. After the waters receded, the Xia grew weak. They were vanquished by the Shang sun-kings and eventually departed. There is no issue of dynastic handover in this version of the myth. The Shang rulers must have already viewed themselves as sovereign when the two peoples were living side by side. Shang records suggest that the Xia had a complex system of laws, as well as an unusual religion. Many traits of the Xia are the opposite of traits that the Shang associated with themselves. While Shang represent light, fire, the sun, birds, and the East, the Xia represent dark, water and the West. As such dualities fit together all too neatly with yin-yang cosmology, they suggest that the story is mythological.[6]
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 from the Xia to the Shang.[7] 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.[2]
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 | Reign (years) | Chinese | Pinyin |
01 | 45 | 禹 | Yu (the Great) |
02 | 10 | 啟 | Qi |
03 | 29 | 太康 | Tai Kang |
04 | 13 | 仲康 | Zhong Kang |
05 | 28 | 相 | Xiang |
06 | 21 | 少康 | Shao Kang |
07 | 17 | 杼 | Zhu |
08 | 26 | 槐 | Huai |
09 | 18 | 芒 | Mang |
10 | 16 | 泄 | Xie |
11 | 59 | 不降 | Bu Jiang |
12 | 21 | 扃 | Jiong |
13 | 21 | 廑 | Jin |
14 | 31 | 孔甲 | Kong Jia |
15 | 11 | 皋 | Gao |
16 | 11 | 發 | Fa |
17 | 52 | 桀 | Jie |
Reference
- ↑ "Xia dynasty," Britannica
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lee, Yun Kuen, "Building the Chronology of Early Chinese History", University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu) 2002.
- ↑ "Stunning Capital of Xia Dynasty Unearthed", China Daily, Nov. 11, 2003.
- ↑ Allan, Sarah, "Erlitou and the Formation of Chinese Civilization: Toward a New Paradigm", The Journal of Asian Studies, 66:461–496 Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- ↑ Chen Ning, "The Controversy of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project" (2009).
- ↑ Allan, Sarah, "The myth of the Xia dynasty," The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 2, 1984.
- ↑ The legend of the the Xia can be compared to the legend of the King Arthur, which was created by Norman writers to justify the Norman Conquest.