Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (Chinese : 夏 朝 ; pinyin : Xià Cháo; Wade–Giles : Hsia-Ch'ao; IPA: [ɕiâ tʂʰɑ̌ ʊ̯] ; c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC) is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals , Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian . The dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun , the last of the Five Emperors , gave his throne to him. The Xia was later succeeded by theShang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). According to the traditional chronology based upon calculations by Liu Xin , the Xia ruled between 2205 and 1766 BC; according to the chronology based upon the Bamboo Annals , it ruled between 1989 and 1558 BC. The Xia– Shang–Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC. The tradition of tracing Chinese political history from heroic early emperors to the Xia to succeeding dynasties comes from the idea of the Mandate of Heaven , in which only one legitimate dynasty can exist at any given time, and was promoted by the Confucian school in the Eastern Zhou period, later becoming the basic position of imperial historiography and ideology. Although the Xia is an important element in early Chinese history, reliable information on the history of China before 13th century BC can only come from archaeological evidence since China's first established written system on a durable medium, the oracle bone script , did not exist until then. Thus the concrete existence of the Xia is yet to be proven, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link the Xia with Bronze Age Erlitou archaeological sites. Traditional history The Xia dynasty was described in classic texts such as the Classic of History (Shujing), the Bamboo Annals , and the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) bySima Qian . It has been documented that the tribe that founded the dynasty was the Huaxia , who were the ancestral people of the Han Chinese . Origins and early development According to ancient Chinese texts, before the Xia dynasty was established, battles were frequent between the Xia tribe and Chi You's tribe. The Xia tribe slowly developed around the time of Zhuanxu , one of the legendary Five Emperors . The Records of the Grand Historian and the Classic of Rites say that Yu the Great is the grandson of Zhuanxu, but there are also other records, like Ban Gu , that say Yu is the fifth generation of Zhuanxu. Based on this, it is possible that the people of the Xia clan are descendants of Zhuanxu. Xia dynasty (Hsia Dynasty) 夏朝 Kingdom c. 2070 BC–c. 1600 BC Proposed location of the Xia dynasty Capital Yangcheng Languanges Old Chinese Government Monarchy History  Establishing Xia Dynasty by Yu the Great c. 2070 BC  Qi of Xia succeedes the throne c. 2146 BC  Jie of Xia falls c. 1600 BC