Editing Han Chinese (section)

=== Early history ===
{{Main|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors}}
Early ancient Chinese history is largely legendary, consisting of mythical tales intertwined with sporadic annals written centuries to millennia later. Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' recorded a period following the Battle of Zhuolu, during the reign of successive generations of confederate overlords ({{lang-zh|t=共主}}) known as the [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]] (c. 2852–2070 BCE), who, allegedly, were elected to power among the tribes.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} This is a period for which scant reliable archaeological evidence exists – these sovereigns are largely regarded as [[cultural hero]]es.

==== Xia dynasty ====
{{Main|Xia dynasty}}
The first dynasty to be described in Chinese historical records is the Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BCE), established by [[Yu the Great]] after [[Emperor Shun]] abdicated leadership to reward Yu's work in taming the [[Great Flood (China)|Great Flood]]. Yu's son, [[Qi of Xia|Qi]], managed to not only install himself as the next ruler, but also dictated his sons as heirs by default, making the Xia dynasty the first in recorded history where [[order of succession|genealogical succession]] was the norm. The civilizational prosperity of the Xia dynasty at this time is thought to have given rise to the name "Huaxia" ({{lang-zh|s=华夏|t=華夏|p=Huá Xià}}, "the magnificent Xia"), a term that was used ubiquitously throughout history to define the Chinese nation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |last= Guo |first= Rongxing |publisher= Wiley |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0-470-82604-1 |page=10}}</ref>

Conclusive archaeological evidence predating the 16th century BCE is, however, rarely available. Recent efforts of the [[Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project]] drew the connection between the [[Erlitou culture]] and the Xia dynasty, but scholars could not reach a consensus regarding the reliability of such history.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Shang dynasty ====
{{Main|Shang dynasty}}
The Xia dynasty was overthrown after the [[Battle of Mingtiao]], around 1600 BCE, by [[Tang of Shang|Cheng Tang]], who established the Shang dynasty ({{Circa|1600}}–1046 BCE). The earliest archaeological examples of Chinese writing date back to this period – from characters inscribed on [[oracle bone]]s used for divination – but the well-developed characters hint at a much earlier origin of writing in China.

During the Shang dynasty, people of the [[Wu (region)|Wu area]] in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] were considered a different tribe, and described as being scantily dressed, tattooed and speaking a distinct language. Later, [[Taibo of Wu|Taibo]], elder uncle of [[King Wen of Zhou|Ji Chang]] – on realising that his younger brother, Jili, was wiser and deserved to inherit the throne – fled to Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|title=The Feudal State of Wu 吳 (www.chinaknowledge.de)|first=Ulrich|last=Theobald|website=Chinaknowledge.de|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108110807/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and settled there. Three generations later, [[King Wu of Zhou|King Wu]] of the Zhou dynasty defeated [[King Zhou of Shang|King Zhou]] (the last Shang king), and [[Feoffment|enfeoffed]] the descendants of Taibo in Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de"/> – mirroring the later history of [[Nanyue]], where a Chinese king and his soldiers ruled a non-Han population and mixed with locals, who were [[sinicization|sinicized]] over time.

==== Zhou dynasty ====
{{Main|Zhou dynasty}}
After the [[Battle of Muye]], the Shang dynasty was overthrown by [[Predynastic Zhou|Zhou]] (led by [[Ji Fa]]), which had emerged as a western state along the [[Wei River]] in the 2nd millennium BCE. The [[Zhou dynasty]] shared the language and culture of the Shang people, and extended their reach to encompass much of the area north of the [[Yangtze River]].<ref name="China The Zhou Period">{{cite web|title= China The Zhou Period|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0015)|website= Lcweb2.loc.gov|access-date= 12 December 2017|archive-date= 21 December 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161221082054/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cn0015%29|url-status= live}}</ref> Through conquest and colonization, much of this area came under the influence of sinicization and this culture extended south. However, the power of the Zhou kings fragmented not long afterwards, and many autonomous vassal states emerged. This dynasty is traditionally divided into two eras – the Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and the [[Eastern Zhou]] (770–256 BCE) – with the latter further divided into the [[Spring and Autumn period|Spring and Autumn]] (770–476 BCE) and the [[Warring States period|Warring States]] (476–221 BCE) periods. It was a period of significant cultural and philosophical diversification (known as the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]]) and [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]] and [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]] are among the most important surviving philosophies from this era.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}