Emperors of Chinas Xia Dynasty

Emperors of Chinas Xia Dynasty According to legend, the Xia Dynasty ruled China beginning more than four thousand years ago. Although no firm documentary evidence has yet been found for this period, it is possible that some form of evidence exists, like the  oracle bones  that have proved the existence of the Shang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BCE). The Xia Kingdom supposedly grew up along the Yellow River, and its first leader was a sort of community organizer named Yu who got all of the people to cooperate in creating dams and canals to control the annual river floods. As a result, their agricultural production and their population increased, and they selected him to become their leader under the name of Emperor Yu the Great. We know about these legends thanks to much later Chinese historical chronicles such as the  Classic of History  or  Book of Documents.  Some scholars believed that this work was compiled from earlier documents by Confucius himself, but that seems unlikely. Xia history is also recorded in the  Bamboo Annals, another ancient book of unknown authorship, as well as in Sima Qians  Records of the Grand Historian  from 92 BCE. There is often more truth than we might guess in ancient myths and legends. That certainly has proved true in the case of the dynasty that came after the Xia, the Shang, which was long thought to be mythical until archaeologists discovered the above-mentioned oracle bones bearing the names of some of the mythical Shang emperors. Archaeology may one day prove the doubters wrong about the Xia Dynasty as well. Indeed, archaeological work in the Henan and Shanxi provinces, along the ancient course of the Yellow River, has turned up evidence of a complex early Bronze Age culture from the correct time period. Most Chinese scholars are quick to identify this complex, called the Erlitou culture, with the Xia Dynasty, although some foreign scholars are more skeptical. The Erlitou digs reveal an urban civilization with bronze foundries, palatial buildings, and straight, paved roads. Finds from the Erlitou sites also include elaborate tombs. Within those tombs are grave goods including the famous  ding tripod  vessels, one of a class of artifacts known as ritual bronzes. Other finds include bronze wine jugs and jeweled masks, as well as ceramic mugs and jade implements. Unfortunately, the one type of artifact not discovered so far is any trace of writing that conclusively states that the Erlitou site is one and the same with the Xia Dynasty. China’s Xia Dynasty Yu the Great, c. 2205 – c. 2197 BCEEmperor Qi, c. 2146 – c. 2117 BCETai Kang, c. 2117 – c. 2088 BCEZhong Kang, c. 2088 – c. 2075 BCEXiang, c. 2075 – c. 2008 BCEShao Kang, c. 2007 – c. 1985 BCEZhu, c. 1985 – c. 1968 BCEHuai, c. 1968 – c. 1924 BCEMang, c. 1924 – c. 1906 BCEXie, c. 1906 – c. 1890 BCEBu Jiang, c. 1890 – c. 1831 BCEJiong, c. 1831 – c. 1810 BCEJin, c. 1810 – c. 1789 BCEKong Jia, c. 1789 – c. 1758 BCEGao, c. 1758 – c. 1747 BCEFa, c. 1747 – c. 1728 BCEJie, c. 1728 – c. 1675 BCE To learn more, go to the list of China’s Dynasties.