HuangDi Forefather of China

Huangdi fighted against Chiyou and winned the battle

China is a large nation in the world with one fifth of the world's population. Who is the father of this large country? It is Huangdi that laid the foundation of Chinese civilization and from whom everyone can find the merits of Chinese people living since ancient times. Under Huangdi's leadership, prehistoric Chinese tribal life was transformed and presented a new civilized image to the world.

Huangdi's family lived on Xuanyuan Hill in Xinzheng County, Henan Province, Huang's family name is Gongsun and his first name is Xuanyuan. Because he had a special attachment to the yellow earth, he was called Huangdi by the people ('Huang' in Chinese means yellow symbolizing the yellow earth and 'Di', emperor).
It is recorded that, in the Prehistoric Times, there lived many clans and tribes around the Yellow River and the Yangtze River and Huangdi was the most renowned tribal leader at that time. When the tribe lead by Yandi (Huangdi's close relative) began to decline, Huangdi's tribe was flourishing. During this period, Chiyou often lead his stronger tribe to invade other tribes, and invaded Yandi's tribe. With the help of Huangdi, Chiyou was defeated. Afterward war between Huangdi and Yandi began and when the war ended Huangdi had become the leader of many tribes.

Many outstanding achievements were made during the reign of Huangdi in architecture, science and culture. Palaces and boats were devised, and arithmetic and medicine also began to appear. Huangdi instructed his people to plant corn, and invented tools for guiding the direction of travel. With the help of Huangdi's wife, people began to feed silkworms and spin thread into silk. In addition, characters and musical instruments were invented by his officials. All in all, many creations came from the Huangdi period.

Huangdi was buried on the Mt. Qiao (Bridge) in Huangling County, Shaanxi Province, and nowadays Huangdi Mausoleum known as 'The First Mausoleum in China' has been visited by numerous people home and abroad especially on the day of Qingming Festival (April 4th or 5th).

As Huangdi was the first leader with the great moral and superior wisdom that developed early Chinese civilization, the people regard him as the forefather of the Chinese nation and call themselves the offspring of Huangdi.

Yu The Great

Yu the Great

Yu the Great, ancient hero in prehistoric times is known for controlling floods. Because of his contribution, people call him Dayu in Chinese with Da means great.

In prehistoric times people suffered from torrential flood. The situation became worse while Shun was the leader. Under Shun, Gun (the father of Yu) got the problem under control. He adopted a method of building banks with soil and blocking the holes. However, after nine years of hard work, this traditional way no longer worked well. Yu was then ordered to succeed his father trying to control the flooding. Drawing from his father's experiences, he found a way of digging channels to conduct water to the sea. After thirteen years of fighting against the billowy flood, he finally handled the problem.
After controlling the floodwater, Dayu organized people to develop agriculture by fully utilizing water and soil. He let his son teach people how to plant rice and other crops. In addition, fish, ducks, and geese were bred under the guidance of Dayu. With his help, people lived happy lives.

What makes Yu the Great more remarkable is that just four days after his marriage he left home to control the water. And for thirteen years, he never went into his home although passing it three times. Even though his son was born during this period, he didn't return. Since at that time, the ruler was usually chosen according to ability, Yu the Great was supported by the people and recommended by Shun to succeed him. In 2070 BC, Yu established the Xia Dynasty (21st - 16th century BC) with his capital in Yangcheng (Dengfeng, Henan Province). That opened a new era in Chinese history.

Yu the Great is admired not only for his unremitting endeavors to fight against nature but also for forgetting about his own interests in order to help other people.

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 people during the Xia Dynasty period probably inhabited the western area of Henan Province and southern Shanxi Province.

Political History
It is Yu the Great who first set up the Xia Dynasty under the Abdication System (choosing the leader according to their ability). After he died, his son Qi broke up this system and made himself the Xia emperor. From that time onwards, the Abdication System gave way to the Hereditary System.
Following the system of hereditary, 15 offspring of Qi succeeded him after his death. Among them, emperors like Shaokang, and Huai made great contributions to the development of Chinese society. However, there were also many tyrannical emperors during this period such as Taikang, Kongjia, and Jie.

 Economy and Crafts
During the Xia Dynasty, many achievements were made. People lived mainly through agriculture using tools made of stone or bone. The Jade ware at that time was quite delicate and bronze vessels were well smelted. Craftwork made of bronze embedded with jade also appeared. Commodity exchanges developed. A calendar system was devised which used both lunar and solar movements.

 Decline
The Xia Dynasty ended under the reign of Jie, a very notorious tyrannical emperor in Chinese history. After he succeeded to the throne, he lived an extravagant life day and night without any thought for his country or its people. In addition, he killed the patriotic ministers who presented him with good advice. All of his actions enraged the people so much that at last they rose up under the leadership of Tang (the chief of the Shang tribe and latter set up Shang Dynasty (17th - 11th century BC) and overthrew the Xia Dynasty.

Chu Shu Chi Nien an chonical book written in wei state in warring states perion. It provided detailed infomation about xia dynasty which is very diffent from the traditional confusion record about xia dynasty	Wine Vessel in Xia Dynasty

Emperors of the Xia Dynasty

Order	Name	Notes	Reign Time (years)
1	Xiayu	Also called DaYu; Family name: Si; Given name: Wenming; The great-great-grandson of HuangDi. Known for solving the flood problem for the people.	45
2	Qi	son of Xiayu; He broke up the Abdication System and set the Hereditary System.	29
3	Taikang	son of Qi	29
4	Zhongkang	younger brother of Taikang	13
5	Xiang	son of Zhongkang	28
6	Shaokang	posthumous child of Xiang	21
7	Zhu	son of Shaokang	17
8	Huai	son of Zhu	44
9	Mang	son of Huai	18
10	Xie	son of Mang	21
11	Bujiang	son of Xie	59
12	Jiong	younger brother of Bujiang	21
13	Jin	son of Jiong	21
14	Kongjia	son of Bujiang	31
15	Gao	son of Kongjia	11
16	Fa	son of Gao	11
17	Jie	son of Fa; the tyrannical emperor that ended the Xia Dynasty	52