Xia dynasty

The Xia dynasty (pronounced SHEE-ah; Chinese: 夏朝; pinyin: Xiàcháo; Wade–Giles: Hsia Ch'ao) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. Some scholars, especially Western historians and Sinologists, consider the Xia legendary or at least unproven. Most Chinese archaeologists consider it historical and connect it with the archaeological Erlitou culture, which dates from about 1900 to 1500 BC.

According to tradition, the Xia was established by Yu the Great, a figure who is likely legendary. He received the throne after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave it to him. In traditional history, the Xia was followed by the Shang dynasty.

There are no records of the Xia from its own time, and it is not mentioned in the oldest Chinese texts or in the earliest oracle bone inscriptions, which date from the Late Shang period (13th century BC). The earliest mentions appear in the oldest chapters of the Book of Documents. These chapters report speeches from the early Western Zhou period, and most scholars accept that they date from that time. The speeches compare the Zhou takeover of the Shang with the earlier Shang takeover of the Xia, presenting both as changes in the Mandate of Heaven.

Scholars have proposed different dates for the Xia. According to traditional chronology, based on calculations by Liu Xin, the Xia ruled from 2205 to 1766 BC. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project, which the Chinese government commissioned in 1996, proposed that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC.

For other dynasties with the same name, see Xia (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Xi dynasty, Xin dynasty, Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms), or Western Xia.

Traditional historiography

The Xia dynasty appears in several Chinese classics, including the Book of Documents, the Bamboo Annals, and Sima Qian's Shiji. These sources show that the Xia was considered a real dynasty in the first millennium BCE. The Shiji and Book of Rites say that Yu the Great, the founder of the Xia, was the grandson of Zhuanxu, who was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Other records, like Ban Gu's, say Yu's father was a fifth-generation descendant of Zhuanxu. The Classic of Mountains and Seas says Yu's father Gun was the son of Luoming, who was the son of the Yellow Emperor. Sima Qian traced the dynasty's name to a fief granted to Yu, which Yu used as his surname and his state's name. Gun is the earliest recorded member of the Xia clan. When the Yellow River flooded, Emperor Yao appointed Gun to stop it, and Gun built large levees to block the water. He tried for nine years, but the floods grew stronger and he failed. Shun then had Gun imprisoned for life at Yushan (羽山, 'Feather Mountain'), a mountain between modern Donghai County in Jiangsu and Linshu County in Shandong.

See also: Great Flood (China)

Further information: Hou Yi and Han Zhuo

According to traditional accounts, Shun trusted Yu and gave him the task of stopping the flooding. Yu organized people from different tribes to dig channels and lead the water out to the sea, which was thought to have shaped the world's rivers. His success increased farming, and the Xia tribe grew stronger. Shun later sent Yu to defeat the Sanmiao tribe, and Shun gave Yu the throne because he was worthy. This marks the start of the Xia dynasty. Yu then passed the throne to his son Qi, which set the pattern of rule passing within a family. Zhenxun (modern Gongyi) and Yangcheng (modern Gaocheng) are believed to have been two of the dynasty's capitals. According to Sima Qian, the third Xia king was Tai Kang, who was an avid hunter but a weak ruler. While he was hunting beyond the Luo River, Hou Yi, leader of the Youqiong tribe, took the Xia capital at Zhenxun, which began a long gap in Xia rule. Later, Han Zhuo killed Hou Yi, and then killed King Xiang and took the throne, though the royal family escaped. Xiang's son Shao Kang survived as a fugitive, gathered local lords who opposed Han Zhuo, and won the battle that followed. His reign, and that of his son Zhu, is seen as one of the most prosperous periods in Xia history. The last Xia king, Jie, is said to have been immoral and cruel. He was overthrown by Tang, who founded the new Shang dynasty, and Tang gave the remaining Xia clan a fief in the small state of Qi.

Traditional structure

Main article: Nine Provinces

According to the Book of Documents, Yu the Great divided his state into nine provinces. The chapter "Tribute of Yu" says these provinces match parts of modern China, including Hebei, Shanxi, part of Liaoning, Shandong, Mount Tai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai. The Xia dynasty also moved its capital many times.

Outside the Xia clan's direct rule were the fangguo tribes, some of which were large enough to rival the Xia. Some tribal chiefs later joined the force of Tang to overthrow Jie's regime. The Book of Documents describes how Yu the Great sorted the tribes into five groups by their distance from the Xia home. Texts such as the Book of Rites and the Mencius say the Xia already had an official system and laws to keep society stable. The Xia were also known for farming and irrigation, as the Analects describe Yu's work on drainage. Traditional texts credit the legendary Du Kang with a link to alcohol making, and the Guoyu records that the Xia built roads and bridges. Population estimates remain uncertain. The Book of the Later Han quotes Huangfu Mi, who claimed a total of 13,553,923 people, but this figure is highly speculative. Other estimates, based on records from the time of Emperor Shun, suggest a population of around 2.1 million.

Modern studies

Because a long time passed between the supposed Xia period and the first written records about it, historians are not sure the Xia dynasty or its traditional history is real. In the 1920s, the Doubting Antiquity School, led by Gu Jiegang, was the first group of scholars in China to question the traditional story of early history. Gu concluded that the later the time, the longer the legendary period of early history, and that this history was a tale retold for generations, with new parts added at the beginning. Some historians think the Zhou rulers may have invented the Xia to justify their conquest of the Shang, since the Shang had also replaced the Xia. The Xia's existence is still unproven, even though Chinese archaeologists have tried to link them with the Bronze Age Erlitou culture.

Gu and other historians note that the traditional Xia story has many parallels with Shang history, which suggests the Zhou may have made up or added to the Xia story. Sarah Allan observed that many traits of the Xia are the opposite of traits linked with the Shang. Other scholars argue that Shang political survivors still lived in the early Zhou period, so the Zhou could not easily have invented the Xia story. The Classic of Poetry includes "Eulogies of Shang," which praise the state of Song, whose rulers were descended from the Shang. One eulogy praises "martial king" Tang of Shang for defeating Jie of Xia. A bronze object from the later Song dynasty describes the same event, and its owner was a high officer of the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period. Although oracle bone inscriptions never mention the Xia, Guo Moruo suggested that an enemy state called "Tufang" might be the Xia, and historian Shen Changyun linked the Xia to the name Qi.

Archaeological discoveries

See also: Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project

Inspired by the discovery of the late Shang capital (Yinxu) near modern Anyang, Chinese archaeologists searched the Yellow River basin for earlier capitals. In 1959, Xu Xusheng surveyed the Yi–Luo basin and found the large Bronze Age site of Erlitou near modern Yanshi. It was an urban centre with rammed-earth foundations, which were thought to be palaces or temples. Early radiocarbon dating had wide margins of error, but it matched the traditional dates of the Xia. Most Chinese archaeologists link the Xia with Erlitou, while many Western archaeologists say this link cannot be proven.

Later, more careful dating gave narrower ranges and led to changes in how the phases of Erlitou were understood. The only musical instruments found at Erlitou are a qing sounding stone, two small clapper bells (one earthenware, one bronze), and a xun with one finger hole. Evidence of a large outburst flood at Jishi Gorge that destroyed the Lajia site has been dated to about 1920 BC, and some researchers suggest it may have inspired the myth of Yu the Great. Other scholars, including the authors of The Cambridge History of Ancient China, begin Chinese history with the Shang dynasty instead, and debate continues over whether the Xia existed.

Sovereigns

The following table lists the rulers of Xia, according to the Records of the Grand Historian. Unlike Sima's list of Shang kings, which matches closely with writing on oracle bones from late in that period, no records of Xia rulers have yet been found at archaeological sites from that time, or on later Shang oracle bones.