what exactly happened to the XIA dynasty?

Question

How come people know so little about it? I just heard part of what my dad was talking about on the phone, and I got interested lol. I'm part Chinese so I like to learn of my culture.

Answer 1

The Xia were the first of the dynasties in recorded Chinese history, so no contemporary documents exist. The location of the Xia capitol has never been found, and the Xia may not have used writing, so archaeological evidence is also sketchy - ancient settlements from this period have been excavated, but whether these settlements were under the Xia dynasty can't really be determined. Some very old palaces excavated in the modern city of Yanshi have been associated with the Xia, but the evidence is uncertain. Therefore nothing is really known about the Xia except for legends that were written down much later and may not be reliable.

According to the official histories, the Xia fell because the last Xia emperor was a tyrant corrupted by his beautiful concubine, Mo Xi. This is a traditional explanation for the collapse of dynasties - the collapse of the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou are all blamed in the historical records on beautiful concubines. This is still popular today - the Cultural Revolution is blamed on Mao's wife, Chiang Ching, although everybody knows it was really instigated by Mao.

Answer 2

For many years, the Xia Dynasty was thought to be a part of a myth that the Chinese tell as part of their history. The Xia Dynasty was in oral histories, but no archaeological evidence was found of it until 1959. Excavations at Erlitous, in the city of Yanshi, uncovered what was most likely a capital of the Xia Dynasty. The site showed that the people were direct ancestors of the Lungshan and were predecessors of the Shang. Radiocarbon dates from this site indicate that they existed from 2100 to 1800 B.C. Despite this new archaeological evidence of the Xia, they are not universally accepted as a true dynasty.

The Xia were agrarian people, with bronze weapons and pottery. The ruling families used elaborate and dramatic rituals to confirm their power to govern. The rulers often acted as shamans, communicating with spirits for help and guidance.