Polities

Xia dynasty

Chinese Dynasties

Citation Formats

General Reference

History Atlas. "Xia dynasty." Accessed September 2, 2026. https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/xia-dynasty.

APA Style

History Atlas. (n.d.). Xia dynasty. Retrieved September 2, 2026, from https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/xia-dynasty

BibTeX

@misc{historyatlas-xia-dynasty,
  author = {History Atlas},
  title = {Xia dynasty},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/xia-dynasty},
  note = {Accessed September 2, 2026}
}

The Xia dynasty is traditionally dated from about 2070 to 1600 BC and described in Chinese historiography as the first dynasty, said to have been founded by Yu the Great after he received the throne from Shun, the last of the legendary Five Emperors. Its traditional capitals include Yangzhai, Yangcheng, Zhenxun and Shangqiu, and it is said to have controlled nine provinces across ancient China, though the dynasty's exact boundaries remain debated and no records survive from the period itself. Its historical existence is therefore contested: most Chinese archaeologists identify the Xia with the Erlitou culture, dated to roughly 1900 to 1500 BC, while many Western scholars regard it as legendary or at least unsubstantiated pending firmer archaeological confirmation. Tradition holds that the dynasty ended when its final king, Jie, was overthrown by Tang, who founded the succeeding Shang dynasty.

Facts

Disputed

Government Type

Monarchy (per traditional account; historicity of the dynasty itself is contested) 1

Recorded as the traditional account's own government form; the dynasty's historicity itself is disputed (see start-year), so this describes what the tradition claims, not a verified fact about a verified state.

Start Year

2070 BCE 1

There are no contemporaneous records of the Xia dynasty and it is not mentioned in the oldest Chinese texts; some Western historians and Sinologists consider it legendary or unsubstantiated, while most Chinese archaeologists identify it with the Erlitou culture (c. 1900-1500 BC). c. 2070 BC is the traditional date given in Chinese historiography, recorded here as the traditional account, not as settled fact.

End Year

1600 BCE 1

Same historicity caveat as start-year: c. 1600 BC is the traditional end date, not a settled fact given the absence of contemporaneous records.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Succeeded By

Shang dynasty

Why this is disputed. Recorded per traditional Chinese historiography; the Xia dynasty's own historical existence is contested (see its own start-year StatusNote).

Source Wikipedia: Xia dynasty

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Xia dynasty

WikipediaIntroduction, infobox

Quote, Introduction, infobox