Xia Dynasty

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Xia Dynasty of China is the first dynasty to be described in ancient historical records such as Records of the Grand Historian and Bamboo Annals. According to Warring States and Han Dynasty texts, the Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great[1] after Shun gave his throne to him, and was later defeated and replaced by the Shang. According to the traditional chronology based upon calculations by Liu Xin, the Xia ruled between 2205 and 1766 BC; however, according to the chronology based upon the Bamboo Annals, it ruled between 1989 and 1558 BC. The Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC. Because there are no textual records earlier than about 13th century BC in China, it is impossible to prove the existence of the Xia, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link the Xia with the Erlitou archaeological site.