Balzac once said: "There are two parts of history: one is a history of deception, which is used as a textbook; the other is a secret history, which can be seen as the real cause of the great events of the country, and is a shameful history." It can be seen from this that a truly comprehensive history is not only the correct history that is recorded in detail in the history books, but also the unknown wild history and secret history.
From the origin of mankind to the birth of tribes and civilizations, from the primitive society to the establishment of feudal dynasties, from the alternation of civilizations to the cruel modern wars, the land of China and China has only experienced five thousand years of history. Compared with the huge world map and the vast cosmic flood, the Chinese civilization is as small as dust.
The "Twenty-Four Histories" is the sum of the historical books written by successive dynasties, with a total of 3213 volumes, about 40 million words, which began in the Yellow Emperor period and ended with the Ming Chongzhen Emperor. However, the Twenty-Four Histories are mostly political histories, and rarely social, economic, and popular issues. In addition, most of the early history books were official and private, and in addition to the historical officials of the current dynasty who could compile, private histories were also allowed, and the "Twenty-Four Histories" was no exception.
However, neither the canonical history nor the wild history can record all the characters and events in history in great detail, and there must be omissions, as well as excessive fiction and fabrication. In fact, there is a gap period of 1500 years in history, without any historical records, leaving unlimited reverie for posterity, what really happened during this period? What is the reason why there is no written record?
The history of our country can be divided into four eras, namely, the age of myths, the age of legends, the era of semi-faith history, and the era of history of faith. The "Age of Mythology" is a period preserved in human memory, and since there is no written record of this period, the events and characters that appear during this period are mythological.
The "Legend Era" refers to the history before the Xia Dynasty, and Fuxi, Nuwa, and the Three Emperors and Five Emperors all belong to the category of the Legendary Era. The "Half-Faith History Era" refers to the half-believed history between Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou, and although there are some written records, it cannot be proved that this history actually existed. The "Xinshi Era" refers to the era in 841 BC when King Li of Zhou was expelled and the Zhou royal family entered the period of "republican administration".
It was also from 841 BC that Chinese history had accurate chronology. The 1500-year gap in history is the semi-xinshi era of the Xia-Shang-Zhou period, which includes 500 years, about 1500 years, which existed with Xia, Shang, and Zhou. There are very few records of these three gaps in historical documents, and china has not yet unearthed cultural relics and ancient books that can support the existence of this period of history.
There are records of Xia, Shang, and Zhou that are limited to the founding and successors, but after the founding of the state, there are almost no detailed records of events. Therefore, later generations often use mythological stories to fill this gap period. According to legend, the protagonist of the ancient myth and legend "Houyi Shooting Day" Houyi did have his own person in history, and his archery skills were extraordinary, almost a hundred shots.
Because Taikang indulged in the sound and color of dogs and horses all day long, and disregarded the political affairs of the DPRK and China in the world, the people of the Xia Dynasty were not happy about life, and they were worried about internal and external troubles. Later, Hou Yi fired a bow and killed Shao Kang with an arrow, and usurped the throne successfully. However, posterity still doubts the identity of Houyi, after all, there is no real historical data to verify.
The reason why there was a historical gap of nearly 1500 years is not unrelated to the way the ancients recorded history at that time. The story of this gap period can only rely on the oral transmission of the ancestors, so it is inevitable that it is mixed with personal ideas or exaggerations, which also leads to the legends and stories that have been handed down to be more mythical. It was not until the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty that the accurate chronology began and the Shang Zhou oracle bones were excavated that the once mysterious blank period history was further proved.
Western scholars have questioned the 5,000-year history of our country and believe that the Shang Dynasty was the first dynasty in China, and the Xia Dynasty only existed in legends, because there is no conclusive evidence to prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty. However, many history books retain traces of the Xia Dynasty, and the Warring States Policy and the History of History mention four different areas of rule during the reign of the Xia Dynasty.
They are northern Henan, western Henan, eastern Henan, and later northern Shandong and southern Shanxi, which shows that the xia dynasty's ruling range is very chaotic. In addition, the only historical records also spend a lot of time describing Dayu, and a small number of them write about Qi, and there are almost no stories after Qi. Later scholars summarized the major events of the Xia Dynasty and divided the Xia Dynasty into four important periods.
First, around 2070 BC, Dayu established the Xia Dynasty, the first son of the Xia Dynasty, and was also known as Xia Yu in later generations. Subsequently, Yu's son Qi succeeded to the throne, and from then on, the Zen concession system became a hereditary system, and the public world became a family world. After Qi's death, his son Taikang took the throne, and Taikang did not repair the government affairs, and spent all day wandering around, resulting in a lot of internal crises in the Xia Dynasty, and was taken advantage of by Hou Yi, the leader of the Poor Clan, to seize the power of the Xia Dynasty in one fell swoop.
Later, Hou Yi worshiped Han Hun as a photo, and at the same time Hou Yi abandoned the government and liked to parade and hunt, and was eventually killed by Han Hun. Xiang's son Shaokang, with the help of his mother's family, Youyu, actively recruited the remnants of the Xia Dynasty to praise and promote Xia Yu's exploits to the people of the world. Gathered all the surviving officials of the Xia Dynasty and the people of the Xia Dynasty who had been driven away by the Cold Huns, and formed and trained a sophisticated restoration army.
After destroying the Han hun clique and all the remnants of the Han hun, the rule of the Xia Dynasty was finally restored, known in history as "Shaokang Zhongxing". In the last years of the Xia Dynasty, the internal and external troubles in the royal family were constant, the class struggle was fierce, and after Xia Jie took the throne, he was desolate day and night, spending a lot of money and manpower to build palaces and Yaotai, ignoring the people in the depths of the water, and the princes turned their heads and betrayed.
When Shang Tang saw that the time was ripe, he raised an army to punish Xia, and took the slogan "There are many sins in Xia, and the destiny of heaven is destroyed". In the end, Xia Jie died in Nanchao, the Xia Dynasty fell, and the Shang Dynasty was established. According to the "Bamboo Book Chronicle", since Dayu, the Xia Dynasty has been passed down for 14 generations, through 17 kings, and has existed for 471 years, about 500 years of history. There are also very few historical materials of the Shang Dynasty, before the destruction of Xia, the Shang was only a Fang state in the east, because the Shang leader Tang Qinzheng loved the people, which formed a situation of "the world returns to the Shang".
After the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, the rulers frequently moved the capital to resist the flooding of the Yellow River, and eventually set the capital at Yin. After Wu Ding ascended the throne, he exerted great efforts to govern and fought everywhere, appointing talents such as Fu Shu and Zu Ji, conquering small surrounding countries and expanding the territory of the country. Therefore, the reign of Wuding was also known as the "Prosperous Era of Wuding" by later generations. The bronze industry of the Wuding period made breakthroughs, and the emergence of sub-casting technology greatly increased the number of bronzes.
After Wu Ding's death, the shang dynasty's national strength was declining day by day, and by the time of the shang king's reign, the shang dynasty was in crisis. The King of Sui was absurd and cruel, and his crimes were uncountable, and he fled after a major defeat in the Battle of Makino, and finally Shang was destroyed by King Wu of Zhou. In addition to Xia and Shang, Western Zhou also has a history of four hundred years, but after entering the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the Zhou Dynasty almost existed in name only.
In summary, the history of the three dynasties of Xia and Shang is about 1500 years, but there are very few historical materials that have been recorded, perhaps related to the too old age and the way of recording is too primitive. Or perhaps the ancestors at that time did not have the consciousness of recording history, which led to the inability to pass on this long history. However, there is no doubt about the existence of Xia Shang Zhou, and perhaps there will be more direct and powerful archaeological evidence in the future, so that this 1500-year history will be made public.