Editing China (section)

=== Early dynastic rule ===
{{Further|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors|Xia dynasty|Shang dynasty|Zhou dynasty|Spring and Autumn period|Warring States period}}
[[File:甲骨文发现地 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Yinxu]], the ruins of the capital of the late [[Shang dynasty]] (14th century BCE)]]

According to traditional [[Chinese historiography]], the [[Xia dynasty]] was established during the late 3rd millennium&nbsp;BCE, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era, the Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the [[Erlitou culture]] that existed during the early [[Bronze Age]]; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tanner |first=Harold M. |title=China: A History |year=2009 |publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0-8722-0915-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VIWC9wCX2c8C&pg=PA35 35–36]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bronze Age China |date=19 September 1999 |url=http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725062916/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm |archive-date=25 July 2013 |access-date=11 July 2013 |publisher=National Gallery of Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |year=2007 |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA25 25]}}</ref> The [[Shang dynasty]] that traditionally succeeded the Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |title=The History of China |year=2011 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-6153-0181-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A1nwvKNPMWkC&pg=PA35 35]}}</ref> The Shang ruled much of the [[Yellow River]] valley until the 11th century&nbsp;BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dated {{circa|1300&nbsp;BCE}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Jeaneane D. |title=Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices |last2=Fowler |first2=Merv |year=2008 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-8451-9172-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rpJNfIAZltoC&pg=PA17 17]}}</ref> The [[oracle bone script]], attested from {{circa|1250&nbsp;BCE|lk=no}} but generally assumed to be considerably older,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boltz |first=William G. |author-link=William G. Boltz |date=February 1986 |title=Early Chinese Writing |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3  |page=436 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979980 |jstor=124705}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keightley |first=David N. |author-link=David Keightley |date=Autumn 1996 |title=Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China |journal=Representations |volume=56 |issue=Special Issue: The New Erudition |pages=68–95 |doi=10.2307/2928708 |jstor=2928708 |s2cid=145426302}}</ref> represents the oldest known form of [[written Chinese]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Zhengzhou |encyclopedia=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |last=Hollister |first=Pam |year=1996 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul E. |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA904 904] |isbn=978-1-8849-6404-6 |editor2-first=Robert M. |editor2-last=Salkin}}</ref> and is the direct ancestor of modern [[Chinese characters]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allan |first=Keith |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1995-8584-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BzfRFmlN2ZAC&pg=PA4 4]}}</ref>

The Shang were overthrown by the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]], who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries&nbsp;BCE, though the centralized authority of [[Son of Heaven]] was slowly eroded by ''[[fengjian]]'' lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year [[Spring and Autumn period]]. By the time of the [[Warring States period]] of the 5th–3rd centuries&nbsp;BCE, there were seven major powerful states left.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Warring States |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |access-date=28 March 2024 |date=15 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119202928/https://www.britannica.com/event/Warring-States |archive-date=19 January 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>