02 Xia Dynasty

The Xia dynasty

The Xia dynasty is said to be a prehistoric dynasty dating from twenty-first century through the sixteenth century B.C.E. thus marking the end of a primitive society to a class society. Legend also speaks of a great flood that occurred in the Yellow River Valley. This flood assumedly washed away entire villages as well as valuable crop land. Survivors of this flood where forced to relocate. Some fled to the hillsides others to far off places. Yao, who was reportedly to be the leader of the confederation, called together the chieftains of all the tribes to discuss how to best to control the flooding. Gun was elected to take charge of the fight against the flood. Nine years where spent under Gun's leadership building dams and dykes. However, these efforts would prove fruitless. As more disastrous floods occurred, additional sand and mud were deposited downstream destroying all they had built and eventually bottled up the mouth of the Yellow River causing the flood waters to engulf what precious little land was left. Yao was now getting old and yielded control to Shun. Shun placed great importance on flood control and personally inspected work sties. Gun was incarcerated and killed for failing his mission.
Yu, Gun's son, would now carry out his father's mission. After Yu studied the events that led to his father's failure, he enlisted the help of experienced workers and devised a plan of correction. Yu decided it would be best to implement different methods of building dams and dykes. They set forth digging ditches and canals in an effort to divert the flood waters and in doing so provide outlets to the sea. Yu and his men worked 13 years before they succeeded in dredging all the rivers. The villagers who where displaced by the floods where now able to return and convert the once flooded lands into an agricultural area. In doing so they where able to produce such crops as tea, rice, millet and various fruits. Yu would now be known as "Yu the Great" by those who benefited from his efforts.

The Hereditary System

Yu the Great contemplated abdicating his throne to Boyi who had assisted him during the time work was being done to control the floods. Qi, Yu's son, however, had other plans. Qi used his position of power to gain control of his father's throne by murdering Boyi, thus establishing the hereditary dynasty and slave labor was implemented. There have been many mythical stories about the birth of Yu. One states that at three years old, after Gun's death his body showed no signs of decay and when someone cut open his body out sprang Yu. Another is that Yu's mother gave birth to him after eating some sort of wild fruit. It was believed Yu was the son of a god.
The Xia Dynasty was said to have been founded when Shun abdicated the throne in favor of his minister Yu, whom Shun viewed as the perfect civil servant. Instead of passing power to the person deemed most capable of rulership, Yu passed power to his son Qi, setting the precedence for dynastic rule. The Xia Dynasty thus began a period of family or clan control.

Religious Developments: Prefiguring the Mandate of Heaven

It was during this period that Chinese civilization developed a ruling structure that employed both a benign civilian government and harsh punishment for legal transgressions. From this the earliest forms of Chinese legal codes came into being. The sixth emperor, it is said, grew anxious that unjust rule and high taxes was alienating the people, so he introduced reforms designed to regain popular support. He is also credited with founding ancestor reverence, thus creating an enduring link in Chinese thought between the earthly and heavenly realms. In this thought system, it is only by earning the blessing of the spirits that can anyone prosper, and no one who acts unjustly will ever be blessed.
The end of the Xia Dynasty saw an increase in conflict, abuse of power and oppression. Resources where exhausted from the building of places and pavilions, causing the masses to flee in an attempt to escape the oppressive rule. Jie, the last ruler, was said to be a corrupt king. He was overthrown by Tang, the leader of Shang people from the east.

Xia Dynasty

The establishment of the Xia Dynasty (21st - 17th century BC) is an important milestone in the history of Chinese civilization and marks the end of the Primitive Society and the beginning of the Class Society. It is the first dynasty in Chinese history, and lasted nearly 500 years including the reigns of 17 emperors.
It is thought that most of the Xia people probably inhabited the western area of Henan Province and southern Shanxi Province.

Government The Xia Dynasty was a monarchy ruled by a king. Under the king, feudal lords ruled provinces and regions throughout the land. Each lord swore his loyalty to the king. Legend has it that Yu the Great divided the land into nine provinces.

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Xia Dynasty

The establishment of the Xia Dynasty (21st - 17th century BC) is an important milestone in the history of Chinese civilization and marks the end of the Primitive Society and the beginning of the Class Society. It is the first dynasty in Chinese history, and lasted nearly 500 years including the reigns of 17 emperors.
It is thought that most of the Xia people probably inhabited the western area of Henan Province and southern Shanxi Province.