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China’s First (Maybe) Dynasty: the Xia
China's first dynasty began with a flood and ended in drowning.
Today we’ll be talking about the Xia Dynasty (夏朝), China’s first real real dynasty. The first written records in Chinese history were started in the Shang Dynasty, which started in 1500BC. So anything before that is essentially based on legend. So while there’s little that we can actually nail down about the Xia, the legends are interesting, so let’s get into them.
So, when did the Xia Dynasty start? There are a lot of conflicting accounts, but generally speaking, the dynasty ruled from around 2000 to 1600BC, in and around the provinces of Henan and Shanxi. Around 2000BC, China was facing major floods that threatened to make the country uninhabitable. China’s leader at the time, a man named Gun (鯀) gǔn, tried repeatedly to make headway against the floods. But his son Yu (禹) proved much more adept. He started massive projects to irrigate the floodwaters out to the sea, and he worked together with the peasants doing the dredging, earning him the loyalty of people throughout the country. He also completely dedicated himself to the task. It was said that in the 13 years since he left his house to tackle flood control, he never returned once. The flood control was remarkably successful and sparked a burst in agricultural production that enabled the flourishing of civilization in China.
After successfully controlling the floods, Yu was massively popular throughout China, but technically he wasn’t the ruler. That title belonged to a man named Shun (舜) shùn, who had appointed him for the flood control job. But as Shun aged, he handed over the throne to Yu. Now what’s interesting is that when Yu himself was too old to rule, instead of handing the throne over to the country’s most capable person, which was the custom at the time, he decided to hand it over to his son, Qi (啟) qǐ. And this, my friends, was the start of the system of hereditary rule that marked China’s dynastic age.
Now, Qi was a pretty good ruler, but his son Tai Kang (太康) was a lazy and corrupt ruler, which left an opening for a neighboring tribe to come in and take over the dynasty. There was a period of internal chaos that lasted for generations until Yu’s family finally took over again.
The Xia Dynasty’s final ruler, Jie (桀) jié, was known for being a tyrant and a debauched alcoholic. He and his favorite concubine, Moxi (妺喜), would wile away the days while the country suffered, or engage in cruel and unusual practices. For instance, legend has it that they constructed a lake of wine and ordered three thousand men to drink until the lake went dry. The men would drink, drink, get completely drunk, and then slip into the river and drown. Jie and Moxi would sit by the lake, watching these deaths for sport.
Jie’s horrific behavior earned him enemies both internal and external, and soon the external forces began to gather. King Tang (成湯)of the Shang Kingdom began raising an army against him, and after winning battle after battle against the Xia, faced Jie in the Battle of Mingtiao (鳴條) míng tiáo. King Tang won overwhelmingly, and Jie was forced to flee for his life. King Tang took over, and thus marks the end of the Xia and the beginning of the Shang (商朝).
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Music Credits :
Darren Curtis - Ceremonial Dance
Aaron Kenny - Imperial Forces
Fabio Emma - ElectroChina
Yangkaiji - Emperor's Battle
Xia Dynasty: From FLOODING to DROWNING
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