XiaDynasty & Earlier

Chinese civilization, as described in mythology, begins with Pangu (),the creator of the universe, and a succession of legendary sage-emperorsand culture heroes among them are Huang Di ,Yao, and Shun) who taught the ancient Chinese to communicate and to findsustenance, clothing, and shelter.
The first chinese civilization was establishedaround the fertile areas of Huanghe (The Yellow River) more than four thousandyears ago. The first glimpse of chinese characters had taken form, andunlike any other places on the world, this cultural development has beendelievered, without any kind of decisive interruption, till this day. Thecultural development of Central-China and East-Asia was influenced by thecontrast between two dramatically different communities. In the northernand western parts of the country one could find enormous wastelands, inhabitedby nomadic societies.  Compared to people in other regions, the nomadswere economically poor, but their military strength was superior. In thesouthern and eastern parts of the country, the fertile river-areas gavelife to an intensive agriculture and the establishment of great communities.These two types of communities were bounded together in an exchange ofgoods, but conflicts often appeared. The farming areas were constantly attacked by the northernbarbarians.

The great area which eventually became China,streched itself from the jungle in the south to the steppes and desertsin the north. In the south The Yunnan-plateau, covered with mountains andrainforests, formed a barrier. This barrier could not prevent the mongolianhabitants from moving south, but it did accomplish making the South-EastAsia, except for parts of Nan Yue, inpenetrable for the imperial troops.In the west the hard to reach highlands of Tibet were also left in peace,until the middle of the first century after Christ.

Between the Yunnan-plataeu and the range ofmountains of Isin-ling, one could spot the south-chinese vegetation-belt,divided by the mighty Yangzijiang. Different types of vegetation were graduallydeveloped, and soon people could enjoy the fruits from hundreds of orangetreesand the extracts from different kinds of tea-plants. But the importanceof this area in the chinese cultural development was not determined bythese types of vegetation, it was the introduction of millet from the northand rice from South-East Asia that made this area historical. Millet andsoyabeans played an important role in the agriculture.

The ancient main-area of China was locatednear The Yellow River, covered with "loose soil".  It stretched itselfup against the steppes and deserts of Mongolia. It was in this region onefirst found the early development of chinese and east-asian agriculture,and these fertile areas also formed the basis of the first chinese civilizations.The "loose soil" was easy to grow, but the climate troubled the farmerswith it's strong and instant rainfalls. Huanghe "The Sorrow of China" rapidlyflooded the lowlands and destroyed many plantations.

The ancient chinese stories from the dawnof time were without doubt legends. A chinese legend said that a giganticgod named Pan Gu separeted heaven and earth by one single slice with hismighty sword. Even though the chinese people lived in the centuries beforeChrist, they seem to have made up stories which stretched farther backtowards the dawn of time. China's most famous historian, Sima Qian, whodied around 85 B.C., tells us about The Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, who heassumed excisted more than 2600 years before Christ.

Legend holds that the Xia was preceded bya succession of three sovereigns and five emperors.

Fuxi, the first of the three sovereigns, usuallyis depicted alongside his wife and sister, the goddess Nugua. Fuxi andNugua are human from the waist up and have the tails of dragons.

Shun, the last of the five emperors, abdicatedin favor of Yu, the first emperor of the Xia Dynasty.

The first prehistoric dynasty is said to beXia (), from about the twenty-firstto the sixteenth century B.C. Xia-dynasty was founded by the Si-clan, whowere descendants of the clan's foundation father, Yu. Because of the lackof written sources, historians have still not gained a correct idea ofhow the people lived at that time. According to the later tradition, Yuspent thirteen years to dig out channels and maintain dikes. When emperorShun died, the officials disagreed with the imperial decision of lettingShun's son inherit the throne. They wanted Yu instead, who after his deathwas followed by his son. It was Yu who founded the first imperial dynastyin China.

Until scientific excavations were made atearly bronze-age sites at Anyang ( ),Henan ( ) Province, in1928, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the Xia.But since then, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, archaeologists haveuncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the existenceof Xia civilization in the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historicaltexts. At minimum, the Xia period marked an evolutionary stage betweenthe late neolithic cultures and the typical Chinese urban civilizationof the Shang dynasty.

Xia was conquered by Tang, and a new era hadbegun, the Shang-dynasty was founded.

Contact Us-------------------------------------ddpcn.com * Required information Full Name: * Your Email: * Message:*