Hidden dynasty: earlier than Shang, not Xia,Year.
In the historical records, we know that the Shang Dynasty was preceded by the Xia Dynasty, and before the Xia Dynasty there was the legendary Yu Dynasty. And the three oldest dynasties in China, the Xia, Shang and Zhou, are also the "three generations" in the mouth of Confucian scholars.
However, the existence of the Yu Dynasty is unknown in the history books and needs to be further explored. In the pre-Qin literature, we find that there was a dynasty that lasted for half a century before the Shang Dynasty, but there is no mention of it in Sima Qian's historical records.
In all dynasties, the crisis of national founding has always been a common theme in Chinese history. It is like an insurmountable chasm, through which the country can continue for hundreds of years, and if it is not crossed, the country will face the danger of premature death.
The Xia Dynasty, as the first dynasty of China, was no exception, and it also experienced a statehood crisis. Dayu has made outstanding contributions to water control and is deeply admired by all the people, which laid the foundation for Xia Qi to usurp the position of Boyi.
According to the Zen concession system at that time, after the death of Dayu, the throne should have been ceded to Boyi, but the Xia Hou clan was unwilling to let go, so Xia Qi usurped the throne of Boyi, thus changing the situation of "public world" to "family world".
Regarding Xia Qi's usurpation, the historical records are quite touching, such as "Yizhi Zuoyu is shallow, the world has not been negotiated, so the princes all go to benefit and start the dynasty" and so on. However, it is also recorded in the history books that Boyi has been assisting Dayu to control the water, how to "Zuo Yu is shallow"?
This is undoubtedly Confucianism's behavior of beautifying Xia Qi's usurpation, and we know the real reason behind it.
The Xia Dynasty was established and faced many crises. First of all, Xia Qi severed the Zen concession system, which made some tribes dissatisfied, such as the Hu clan, which led to the "Gan War".
Secondly, Xia Qi usurped the position of Boyi, and Boyi represented the interests of the Dongyi tribe, which caused a strong ** of Dongyi forces. In addition, the succession system in the early Xia Dynasty was not perfect, and there were cases of princes competing for the throne, such as the "Wuguan Rebellion", which posed a threat to the rule of the Xia Dynasty.
The Xia Dynasty was interrupted for fifty years, and after Xia Qi's death, Taikang inherited the throne. On the surface, the Xia Dynasty seems to be calm, but in fact there is an undercurrent. Internally, the sons compete for internal friction; Externally, the forces dissatisfied with the Xia Hou clan are eyeing each other.
In the end, Taikang Tian was hunted by Hou Yi, the leader of the poor clan of Dongyi, to launch a coup d'état, and successfully controlled the government, which is recorded in the history books as "Taikang lost the country" or "Hou Yi Dai Xia". Modern archaeological discoveries have found that the Xinmi Xinqi site in Henan Province is probably the early Xia Dynasty, and many Dongyi cultural factors have been found, indicating that the Dongyi tribe is very likely to have occupied the Xinqi site, so there is a certain archaeological basis for the Xia of the Later Yi Dynasty.
Sima Qian's record of this history is intriguing, mentioning "Emperor Taikang's loss of the country", but does not tell who caused it and what the consequences were, etc., but immediately recorded the change of successors, as if the Xia Dynasty had been continuously inherited without interruption.
However, since "Taikang has lost the country", why can it still be inherited in an orderly manner? The truth behind this is finally revealed by the author.
The king of the Hou Yi Xia Dynasty was addicted to wine, ignoring government affairs, and making his power fall aside. At this time, a Dongyi man named Han Xun staged a coup d'état, successfully assassinated Hou Yi, became the monarch himself, and established a new dynasty.
Han Xun became the queen and began to pursue the remnants of the Xia Hou clan, among them, Xia Hou Xiang was killed. According to the Zuo Biography, the Xia Empress moved the capital to Diqiu (now the ruins of Gaocheng in Puyang) and was killed there, but his wife fled back to her mother's family, Youyi (in present-day Jinxiang, Jining, Shandong), and gave birth to a son named Shaokang.
After more than half a century of efforts, Shaokang formed a team to defeat the Han Xun dynasty and re-establish the Xia Dynasty, an event known as "Shaokang Zhongxing".
This history shows that during the reigns of Hou Yi and Han Xun, a new dynasty was actually born. The Xia Dynasty was interrupted and lasted for more than half a century. In Chinese history, only the Xia Dynasty was able to successfully restore after 50 years of annihilation.
Therefore, it can be said that the Xia Dynasty is different from other dynasties that have successfully survived the founding crisis, and the process it has undergone is the most special and bizarre.
The usurpation of Hou Yi and Han Xun was not orthodox in Sima Qian's view, so when describing the history of the Xia Dynasty, he chose to ignore the existence of these two rulers and pay more attention to the orthodox Xia monarchs such as Taikang, Zhongkang, Xia Houxiang, and Shaokang.
Sima Qian's approach reflected his "orthodox view", and he did not pay enough attention to rulers who did not follow the primogeniture system. The succession of King Xiao of Zhou and King Xi of Zhou also failed to conform to the primogeniture system, so they were succinctly brushed aside in Sima Qian's Historical Records.