Xia dynasty

Xia dynasty
Chinese	夏朝
Transcriptions Mandarin - Pinyin Xià cháo - Wade-Giles Hsia4 ch'ao2

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.

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 allowed archaeologists to identify Erlitou in northern Henan Province as the site of Zhenxun, the Xia capital. In the 1990s, the government funded the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project to sort out China's ancient history using modern research techniques. 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. 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. In Zhou political theory, legitimacy is established by the Mandate of Heaven. 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.

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. So 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.

The Shang version of the myth is thus quite different than the Zhou version, which emphasizes the shift of the Mandate of Heaven from the Xia to the Shang. Zhou religion, including this myth, is the basis of Chinese Native Religion.

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.

The following is the list Xia rulers 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