xia

Xia (夏) is most commonly used to denote the Xia Dynasty, traditionally regarded as the first dynasty in Chinese historiography. According to ancient records, it was founded by Yu the Great after the legendary Great Flood, and it is said to have established hereditary rule and a centralized government that bridged the era of sage-kings and later dynasties. The Xia is central to debates about the origins of Chinese statehood and early bronze-age complexity.

The historicity of the Xia is a matter of scholarly debate. While classical texts present the Xia as a real political entity, modern archaeology has not produced unanimous evidence of a single, continuous Xia-state. The best-known candidate among archaeological cultures is the Erlitou culture (c. 1900–1500 BCE) in the Yellow River valley, which some researchers associate with the Xia capital, while others regard Erlitou as representing a broader regional culture. Consequently, many scholars treat Xia as a partly legendary foundation of Chinese historiography, rather than a definitively proven historic dynasty.

According to tradition, the Xia ended when the tyrannical last ruler Jie was overthrown by Tang, who founded the Shang Dynasty around the 17th century BCE. The Xia narrative has shaped later Chinese concepts of legitimacy, including the Mandate of Heaven, used to justify dynastic change and political authority in subsequent eras.

In addition to the dynasty, Xia also appears as a Chinese surname ( 夏) and is linked to the character for summer in Chinese. The term remains a source of cultural and historical reference in literature and education.