The Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty (about 2070-1600 BC) is the first hereditary dynasty recorded in Chinese history. It is generally believed that the Xia Dynasty lasted for about 471 years and was destroyed by the Shang Dynasty. Later generations often call themselves "Chinese", making it a synonym for China.
According to historical records, yuzhuan was located in Ziqi, which changed the system of abdication of primitive tribes and created the precedent of nearly four thousand years of inheritance in China. Therefore, the "family and the world" in Chinese history began with the establishment of the Xia Dynasty. The eleven Si tribes of the Xia nationality and the central royal family of the Xia Hou family have a patriarchal relationship in blood, a enfeoffment relationship in politics, and a tribute Fu relationship in economy, which roughly constitute the core territory of the Xia Dynasty. Xiaxi starts from the west of Henan Province and the south of Shanxi Province, ends at the junction of Henan Province, Shandong Province and Hebei Province in the East, reaches the north of Hubei Province in the south, and reaches the south of Hebei Province in the north. The geographical center of this area is the area of Yanshi, Dengfeng, Xinmi and Yuzhou in Henan Province.
Based on the study of the dating history of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the project of exploring the origin of Chinese civilization, the social picture from 2500 BC to 1500 BC, that is, from the time of Yao and Shun to the time of Xia and Shang, is preliminarily outlined. In the Central Plains, including yuduyangcheng (now the site of Wangchenggang, Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan Province), six large-scale and high-level central capitals in the Xia Dynasty were included in the research focus.
There are a certain number of ritual vessels made of bronze and jade in the cultural relics of the Xia period, which are in the late Neolithic age and the early Bronze Age. There are many records about Xia Dynasty in Chinese traditional literature. Erlitou culture found in the west of Henan Province has the basic conditions of the age and geographical location of Xia culture, but it has not been found similar to the written records of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the Yin Ruins of Anyang. Many Chinese and foreign historians believe that the whole period, or the first and second periods, of Zhenyi (Erlitou site, Xiadu, Yanshi, Luoyang, Henan) are the remains of the capital of Xia Dynasty.
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In the Xia Dynasty, it is used to be called "Xia" in history. There are ten sources of this appellation, among which the more credible one is that "Xia" is the pictograph of Xia totem.
Sima Qian recorded that "Xia" was the name of a tribe composed of twelve clans, i.e. Xia Hou, Hu, Nan, Zhen'an, Tong Cheng, Bao, Fei, Qi, Zeng, Xin, Ming and Zhen Guan. Therefore, after the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, the name of the tribe was taken as the national name. The Xia Dynasty was founded on the ruins of the primitive social system.
Zhang Shoujie of Tang Dynasty thought that "Xia" was named after Dayu was granted the title of "Xia Bo" by Yangzhai. "Xia" evolved from the place names of "residence of Xia" and "Daxia" to the name of tribe, and then became the name of a country. This is the beginning of China's hereditary dynasty that many historians think.
According to the Concise Encyclopedia Britannica, "Xia" means "Chinese people".
