Did the Xia Dynasty really exist?
Eh, this is not a sensational statement, but a controversy that does exist in the field of historiography.
When we were young, the representatives of the historical years we memorized were "Xia Shang and Western Zhou, Eastern Zhou divided into two sections, Spring and Autumn and Warring States, unified Qin and Han..."
So the existence of the Xia Dynasty seems natural to us.
Since modern times, more and more people have maintained doubts about the existence of the Xia Dynasty, and some people even think that the Xia Dynasty is more like a country invented by later generations (after the Zhou Dynasty) and does not exist.
Today we will talk about whether the Xia Dynasty really existed.
First of all, why is there controversy?
In ancient times, there was no systematic archaeology, so everyone's understanding of history, mainly, will only come from the history books, what is written in the history books, what is true.
For example, if the Yellow Emperor is written in the "History", then there is really a Yellow Emperor. It is written that Dayu is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, then he is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Wrote about the emperors of the Xia Dynasty, that the Xia Dynasty has these emperors.
Granted.
But in modern times, with the emergence of new cultural movements, many new doctrines have also emerged.
Among them, a "skeptical school" was born.
Representative figures are very cattle, such as Gu Jiejiégang, a famous historian in modern China, and Qian Xuan, the father of Academician Qian Sanqiang, a famous thinker. Qian Xuantong even called his own number Suspicious Gu.
Many people, represented by Mr. Gu, believe that many of the history of the Xia Dynasty and some of its figures are likely to have been compiled by people after the Zhou Dynasty. It is called "the ancient history caused by layers".
First of all, Mr. Gu believes that the later the era goes, the longer the ancient history of the legend will be. For example, in the early Zhou Dynasty, the most ancient person in people's hearts was Yu, in the time of Confucius, there was Yao Shun, in the Warring States there was the Yellow Emperor and Shennong, to the Three Emperors of the Qin Dynasty also came out, and the Pangu Open Heaven and Earth legend that existed after the Han Dynasty. Secondly, the more the times go on, the more legendary characters will become more and more gods. For example, Shun's earliest image was only a saint who ruled without doing anything, and later he became a saint who ruled the country after his family, and then he was added a buff of filial piety.
According to this line of thinking, if you look back at the records of the Xia Dynasty in the historical materials, you will find that since the Shang Dynasty was inherited from the Xia Dynasty, why is there no record of the Xia Dynasty in the found Yin Shang Oracle, and even the word Xia may not be there. Second, those books such as the Book of Shang, which first recorded the relevant deeds of the Xia Dynasty, were also written in the Zhou Dynasty, and they were only sporadic fragments, but the stories developed into later generations became more and more abundant.
Based on this, some people suspect that the Xia Dynasty was invented by later generations, and it is not a particularly exaggerated idea. The most important thing is that there are no archaeological findings to support it.
Eh, don't worry, I know by archaeological discoveries, such as Erlitou, but not the same thing.
Why can we be sure that Yinshang is real? Because the genealogical table of the Yin Shang Emperors recorded in the "Records of History" and other documents, and the contents found on the excavated Yin Shang period oracle bones, can be correct. This is the "double evidence method" advocated by Mr. Wang Guowei.
But in the Xia Dynasty, there was no evidence like this to support it.
To put it more, Mr. Wang's own attitude toward the existence of the Xia Dynasty is also inclined to believe, and his reason is that between the Yin Shang hereditary table can be correct, then the hereditary table of the Xia Dynasty is obviously also credible.
This is the dispute between Gu Wang and His "Doubting the Ancients" and "Interpreting the Ancients".
At the same time, there is a third genre for the debate over the existence of the Xia Dynasty, that is, "archaeology".
Gu Jiejié also said in the face of doubts that the best way to solve this controversy is to dig up some evidence.
At present, the more mainstream view is that the late Longshan culture in Henan and the early Erlitou culture are the Xia culture.
In particular, Erlitou, whether in time or space, is in line with the time and activity area of the Xia Dynasty described in the literature.
This kind of evidence is obviously more in line with the double evidence method proposed by Mr. Wang Guowei than the theory that the Records of the Shang Dynasty should be true because the records of the Shang Dynasty should be true.
However, the debate over the existence of the "Xia Dynasty" continues.
For example, in 2002, the bronze ware Gongyu, which appeared in the world, had the inscription "Heavenly Destiny Yu Shi Tu, Fallen Mountains and Rivers", which pushed the story of Dayu Zhishui to the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
For those who believe in the existence of the Xia Dynasty, this is undoubtedly a needle in the arm, after all, the controversy over the existence of Yu is also a key point in the authenticity of the Xia Dynasty. However, some scholars believe that "Heavenly Destiny Yu", is this not still a mythical story, which is not enough to prove the existence of Yu as a person, or the existence of the Xia Dynasty.
This debate, to this day, is still alive.
For example, many foreign scholars argue that the Xia Dynasty is not credible, and some of them will think that the fact that Chinese is trying to prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty is itself a kind of nationalist ideology.
And this divergence of views between the East and the West has also become the main point of debate on the Internet today about the non-existence of the Xia Dynasty.
Let me say what I have to say, it's just a personal opinion, and I welcome everyone to discuss it.
According to current archaeological findings, before the Yin Shang, there was indeed a civilization with a national form.
This civilization and the Yin Shang civilization are continued in time, for example, some scholars believe that the late Period of the Erlitou Ruins already belongs to the Yin Shang culture; at the same time, it also overlaps with the Yin Shang in space. So there is a lineage between the two, which means that it is not a parallel evolution civilization in another space like Sanxingdui or Liangzhu.
At the same time, according to the description of the time and space of the Xia Dynasty in the historical data, it also happens to overlap with the remains of the civilization before the Yin Shang discovered by archaeology, at least it can be said that the records of the "Xia Dynasty" from the Zhou to the Han Dynasty will not be completely fabricated.
However, after all, we have not yet found the text of the Xia Dynasty, nor have we found more evidence to constitute the "double evidence" like Yin Shang to make the existence of the Xia Dynasty.
Therefore, we cannot say with certainty that the relics of Erlitou and Longshan are the "Xia" mentioned in the historical materials, nor can we assert the authenticity of the stories of the Xia Dynasty recorded in the historical materials, such as Dayu Zhishui, Taikang Lost Country, Shaokang Zhongxing, Shang Tang Destroying Xia, and so on.
But this does not affect us as a great people with a long history, nor does it erase the traces of civilization that existed in our land before the Merchants.
Today is a new pit. I've always wanted to do a general history series from Summer to Qing, but I've also been thinking about what to do to make it more interesting. In the end, it was decided that time would still go linearly, but the content would not be the kind of flowing show that talked about what happened to each emperor or every period. After all, there is already a lot of this content on the Internet, and you can search for it at any time.
Therefore, this series of general history will focus on the direction of "big history". The so-called big history, in the words of Mr. Huang Renyu, is to look at the big truth from small events; to observe the pulse of history from the long-term social and economic structure; and to suggest special problems in Chinese history from the comparison between China and the West.
For example, in the next step, you may see that the King of Lu really opens the "Sea and Sky Feast" every day?
What are the similarities and differences between the philosophers of ancient Greece and the sons and daughters of the pre-Qin Dynasty?
What did the Tang envoys of the Tang Dynasty learn from the Tang Dynasty?
How developed was the economy of the Song Dynasty?
What was the Xiaoice period of the Ming Dynasty?
Is it really because the equipment can't beat the great powers at night?
There are also the warriors of Wei and Jin, the warlords of Sui and Tang, the Wuhu of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the capital of Han and Tang, and so on.
And today's issue, whether the Xia Dynasty really exists.
While letting everyone sort out the general historical trend of the dynasties, we will re-look at those autumn moon spring breezes from many subtle, interesting and unexpected perspectives.
Of course, I am not a professional scholar, and everyone is welcome to correct me at any time.
For myself, doing this kind of content is also a very good self-improvement.
I hope you like it a lot, and I hope I can hold on.
In the next issue, we will talk about Dayu Zhishui.
What was the earliest water conservancy project in China? Did the world really have major floods at the same time? Like Noah's Ark or something.
How many things in ancient and modern times are in the process of laughter.
Here's the aftermath, we'll see you next time.