The Xia Dynasty (about 2070 BC – about 1600 BC) is the first hereditary dynasty recorded in Chinese history. It is generally believed that the Xia Dynasty was passed down to 14 and 17 generations in total (the ruler of the Xia Dynasty was called the “Empress” when he was in office and the “Emperor” after his death). The founder was Yu, and the capital was Yangcheng (now Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan).
Everyone knows the story of Dayu’s flood control. Before Dayu, the “common masters of the world” were all elected. At that time, the world was divided into many tribes. These tribes had their own leaders, who jointly respected the most powerful (virtuous) person as the leader of the tribal alliance. This system is more like a loose alliance system. This is mainly because the population in ancient society was relatively small, and most of them were tribes formed by blood relationship.

After the death of Dayu, this system was destroyed. At the time of Dayu, this system was actually challenged because a leader of other tribes was late for the meeting and Dayu killed him. This kind of behavior is actually to establish its own absolute authority in this loose alliance. After the death of Dayu, his son Qi inherited the position of Dayu. At that time, several tribes refused to accept him and wanted to challenge the position of the leader of the tribal alliance, but he was defeated by Qi.
Qi established the Xia Dynasty. Later, the power of the Xia Dynasty was taken away by Hou Yi. Shaokang regained the Xia Dynasty by relying on his grandfather’s power. Judging from the history of the Xia Dynasty, the political system of the Xia Dynasty was not a unified country, and there were very subtle relationships between various tribes. These tribes often came to court when the political and economic power of the Xia Dynasty was relatively strong, but when the power of the Xia Dynasty declined, these tribes no longer came to court.

The territory of the Xia Dynasty is also constantly changing, because the tribes attached to the Xia Dynasty are constantly changing at all times, but the territory of the Xia Dynasty is not very large. The territory of the Xia Dynasty is mainly within its own control area, because although other tribes are ostensibly subordinate to the Xia Dynasty, once the Xia Dynasty is in turmoil, or the Xia Dynasty is in decline, it is possible to destroy the Xia Dynasty, so they cannot really be regarded as the territory of the Xia Dynasty. Later, after the decline of the Xia Dynasty, the Shang tribes that were subordinate to the Xia Dynasty destroyed the Xia Dynasty.