By
Clyde Winters
The first dynasty of China was Xia (She-ya). The Xia civilization of ancient China. lasted from 2205 to 1766 B.C. According to the Guben zhu Shu zhi Nien, the Xia dynasty "from Yu to Zhieh had seventeen kings... and lasted 471 years". (Chang 1987)
Archaeologists believe that the major Xia sites are located in Shanxi and Henan. According to Chang (1987) northern Henan towards the end of the Longshan period was the eastern part of the Xia culture.
Xia was probably situated in the Yihe and Luohe river valleys, and along the Yinghe and Ruhe rivers. The capital of Xia was located in the Sangshan mountains.
The origins of Xia go back to the Longshan period. During the Longshan period burial goods included a large number of weapons, including stone lanceheads and arrows. This suggests that intersocial conflict was at its height during the Longshan periods, and warfare may have played a role in the rise of Xia. The Longshan neolithic is characterized by wheel-made pottery, bronze working, ceramics, wheeled vehicles, writing, rich grave goods and furnishings.
The Chinese histories tell us much about Xia. According to Chinese tradition the Xia built their settlements near rivers, lakes and streams. The Xia Dynasty is mentioned in the oracle bone records.
The leaders of Xia were granted rule based on their Ssu (clan) membership. The Xia naming system employed the ten celestial stems the same as the Shang people. (Chang 1980,p.353)
The national tree of the Xia li min was the pine. This tree was used in the earth ritual.
Xia social organization, and life was based on the clan . The totems of the major Xia clans were aquatic animals: fish, tortoise, turtle and etc. This view is supported by the myth recorded in the Annals of the Bamboo Books, which claims that Yu's mother swallowed a spirits pearl before the birth of Di (Lord) Yu, founder of the Xia Dynasty. Moreover , the dragon motif is common at Xia sites. A pan vessel was found at Taosi, with a red painted dragon motif.
The Chinese histories make it clear that the Xia had writing and tortoise books. This view can be supported by the pottery marks on the Longshan and Erlitou pottery. (Chang 1987, p.265)
Erlitou pottery is often inscribed with various signs and symbols. Fish were incised on a piece of bone, but up to now, oracle bone inscriptions have not been found. (Chang 1987, p.314)
Today archaeologists believe that the Erlitou culture is the Xia Dynasty. This is supported by the fact that the historical text place Xia in Henan and southern Shanxi. These Chinese provinces are the main areas where Erlitou artifacts have been discovered. Chinese archaeologists have suggested that the Henan Lungshan culture and the Erlitou I-III periods are representative of the Xia Dynasty. (An 1986)
Xia is considered the first dynasty of the sandai (three Dynasties) of ancient China: Xia, Shang and Zhou. There are many references to the Xia people. The Xia people were recognized as westerners, because they settled the middle Yellow river region of China. As a result they were called the Hua Xia "the middle states people".
There are numerous textual references to Xia. Han Fei Tzu writing in the third century B.C., in his Shih Guo, observed that:
"Yu made the ritual vessels painting the interior black and the exterior in red."
The tradition recorded by Han, of the black-and-red ware for the Xia li min suggest some relationship of Xia to the Yangshao culture which also used BRW and analogous pottery signs.
Chang (1987) believes that the legendary sages and heroes of China, probably lived during the Lungshan culture period. The Lungshan culture had walled cities and evidence of rank and rituals. This clearly illustrates how archaeology can compliment textual history.
The artifacts of Erlitou include BRW, red,black and buff wares. These artifacts were made of stone, shell and bronze. The bronze instruments found by archaeologists at Erlitou sites correspond to the descriptions by Yuan Kang, in the Yueh Zhueh Shu, quoting the philosopher Feng Hu Tzu of the tools made by the Xia. Yuan Kang wrote that:
"In the Age of Yu, weapons were made of bronze, for build -ing canals...and..houses...."
The black-and-red ware (BRW) common to the Fertile African Crescent was also used in China. There is affinity between the BRW from Nubia, and the pottery from Yangshao sites in the Henan and Gansu sites of China.
The textual history of Xia is synthesized in the Chinese book Shih Zhi. This evidence from the Shih Zhi, was used by Hsu Husheng , of the Chinese Institute of Archaeology, to find the xu (ruins) of Xia: the Xia xu. Hsu Husheng using this source hypothesized that the center for traditional Xia Dynasty towns was the Loyang plains and the Dengfeng river valley. This coincides with the Erlitou sites of this area which date to 2100- 1800 B.C.
The Xia people were recognized as being different people from the mongoloid Chinese they politically dominate China today as a people that came from the west (i.e., Iran), before they settled the middle Yellow river. A Zhou saying observed that :
"The rituals [or rules of] the Three Dynasties [sandai] are one".
The early Xia lived on mounds, in houses made of grass and mud. Pounded earth walls surrounded Xia villages to protect the li mim from attack. The Xia probably spoke a Manding language. This view is supported by the earlier discussion of the analogy between ancient Chinese and Manding.
The major clan totem of the Xia as mentioned earlier was the dragon. The zu (clan) or tsu was the basic point of social organization for the li min.
In China the dragon was regarded as the deified serpent. (Andersson 1973, p.7) It also denoted the symbol of perfect man, the son of Heaven, the Emperor.
The clan emblem for the ancient Manding was the first lizard/dragon. A dragon is nothing more than a giant lizard. This dragon motif was also found in Iran and Babylonian Assyrian civilization and the Anau civilization in Russia, which had similar painted pottery to the pottery styles of Henan (Xia). (Winters 1983c)
The Xia li min built their settlements near rivers, lakes and streams. They are mentioned in the Oracle bone writing. The sacred tree of the Xia was the pine. The Xia naming system was the same as that used by the Shang.
The founder of the Xia Dynasty was Yu. His father was Gun. Myths about Gun are found throughout southwest Shanxi. Yu's son founded the Pa culture. The Pa culture was a megalithic culture. Great Yu was the regulator of the waters and builder of canals. He invented wetfield agriculture.
Yu was born in Shihnew. His mother was Sewege (Seuge). She is alleged to have become pregnant and swallowed a spirit's pearl.
Under the orders of Emperor Shun, Yu was to dredge the Yellow river. Yu traveled the empire for 10 years draining the land of water. One tradition claims that "but for Yu we should all have been fishes".
Beginning with Xia the fundamental political unit of this dynasty and succeeding dynasties of China was the yi or walled town. These yi were organized into small and large guo (states). Each guo, was known as a shih.
The administrator of the guo was a member of an agnati clan or xing. The xing, ruled over members of their own clan and non- related clans living in the various yi, forming the guo.
Emperor Shun, appears to have given Egeu, his son, the princi -pality of Shang, and Yu the principality of Xia. After the death of Shun, Yu became the leader of the confederation of Seihshin: the large guos of Xia and Shang. According to Gu Tsu Yu, in the Du Shih fang yu Zihiyao, written in the 1600's:
"It is traditionally stated that when Yu assembled the lords at Dushan there were ten thousand states [cities] that came carrying jades and silks".
The second great leader of the Xia Dynasty was Qi, the son of Di (Emperor) Yu. According to the Guben zhu Shu Zhi Nien, the Xia dynasty had seventeen kings and lasted 471 years.
The Xia Dynasty remained strong until the tyrant , Zhieh, came to power. In 1766 B.C., Zhieh was deposed and exiled by Zheng Dang, ruler of Shang.
There are thirty references to the capital of Xia in the Zo Zhuan, Guo Yu , and Guben zhu Shu Zhi Nien. Loyang plain in central Henan, especially the region of Dengfeng and Yuxien in the upper Ying river valley, and the area near the Fenhe river valley in southwestern Shanxi south of mount Ho are usually mentioned in these sources as the area where the Xia capital was established.
The first capital of Xia was Yangcheng. This city was in southwestern Shanxi. Archaeologist believe that Taosi and Wangchenggang may be Xia cities.
Taosi dates to 2500 to 1900 B.C. Here the people raised oxen, pigs and sheep. They grew millet. Their homes were built half-way below ground. They smelted copper . The coiled dragon motif is common at this site along with crocodile skin drums.
The Taosi site is important because the artifacts excavated from the more than 1,000 tombs, indicate that a hereditary system of chiefs and class was already established.
The dragon motif at Taos may have been the totem of the Xia dynasts at Taosi. This would correspond to Chinese legends of the Long (Dragon) ethnic group.Huan Long (Dragon Breeding Clan) and Yu Long (Defend the Dragon) clan. The dragon legends are associated with the Chinese sages Yan, Yao, Shun and Yu.
The capital of Xia Yangcheng is believed to be the city of Wangshenggang. As mentioned earlier the yi, or 'walled city', was the basic political unit of Xia. These walls were built layer upon layer and called hangtu. Chinese traditions allege that Yu's father, Gun, built the first hangtu.
Wangshenggang site is 10,000 sq. meters . It is situated near the Wudu river. This structure contains skeletons of all ages.
P>
Allan, S , "Sons of Suns:Myth and Totemism in Early China", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BSOAS) XLIV,(1981) pages 290-326.
Allan, S , "Drought, Human Sacrifice and the Mandate of Heaven in a Lost Text from the Shang Shu", BSOAS XLVII, (1984) pages 523-535.
An Jinhuai, "In Search of China's Oldest Capital", China Pictorial, (1986) pages 39-41.
An Jinhuai, "The Shang City at Cheng-chou and related Problems", In Studies of Shang Archaeology, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986) pages 15-48.
Chang, K C , "Prehistory and Early Historic Culture Horizon and Traditions in South China", Current Anthropology 5, no5
Chang, K C , The Archaeology of Ancient China, New Haven:Yale (1964), pages 359-375.
Chang, K C , Shang Civilization, New Haven:Yale University Press,1980.
Lacouperie, T de , The Languages of China before the Chinese, London:David Nutt, 1887.
Lacouperie, T de, "Origin from Babylon and Elam of the Early Chinese Civilization:A summary of the Proofs", Babylonian and Oriental Record 3, no5 (1989), pages 97-110
Ling Shun-Sheng , A Study of the Raft, Outrigger, Double and Deck Canoes of ancient China, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, Taipei:Nankang, 1970.
Winters, Clyde Ahmad, "A Note on the Unity of Black Civilizations in Africa, IndoChina, and China",PISAS 1979, Hong Kong :Asian Research Service,1980b.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Are Dravidians of African Origin", P.Second ISAS,1980,( Hong Kong:Asian Research Service, 1981b) pages 789- 807.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Further Thoughts on Japanese Dravidian Connection",Dravidian Language Association News 5, no9 (1981c) pages 1-4.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Blacks in Ancient China,Part 1:The Founders of Xia and Shang", Journal of Black Studies 1,no2 (1983c).
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Possible Relationship between the Manding and Japanese", Papers in Japanese Linguistics 9, (1983d) pages 151-158.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Further Notes on Japanese and Tamil" ,International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 13, no2 (June 1984c) pages 347-353.
Winters, Clyde Ahmad, "The Indus Valley Writing and related Scripts of the 3rd Millennium BC", India Past and Present 2, no1 ( 1985b), pages 13-19.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "The Far Eastern Origin of the Tamils", Journal of Tamil Studies , no27 (June 1985c), pages 65-92.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Dravidian Settlements in ancient Polynesia", India Past and Present 3, no2 (1986c)pages 225- 241.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad Winters ,"The Dravidian Origin of the Mountain and Water Toponyms in central Asia", Journal of Central Asia 9, no2 (1986d), pages 144-148.
Winters,Clyde Ahmad, "Review of Dr. Asko Parpolas' "The Coming of the Aryans". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 18, no2 (1989) , pages 98-127.
Winters, Clyde Ahmad, "The Dravido Harappan Colonization of Central Asia", Central Asiatic Journal 34, no1-2 (1990), pages 120-144.
