BT: [[history--China]] NT: [[Yu the Great]] --- # Xia dynasty (c. 2100–c. 1600 BCE) [[The Xia dynasty was the first of the ancient Chinese ruling houses. It’s unknown how much of the information we have about this dynasty is historical and how much is the stuff of myth and legend.]][^1] [[Yu the Great, first king of the legendary Xia dynasty, achieved the Mandate of Heaven by repairing the damages done by vast flooding.]][^2] [[While the story of Yu the Great and the flood is easily dismissed as a creation myth, archaeologists from the University of Peking have found evidence of large-scale flooding around the time of the Xia dynasty.]][^3] - see also: [[Yu the Great]] [^1]: ‘[[National Geographic, ‘Imperial China’s Dynasties’, 2023|Imperial China’s Dynasties]]’, National Geographic (online), last updated 19 October 2023, [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/). [^2]: ‘[[National Geographic, ‘Imperial China’s Dynasties’, 2023|Imperial China’s Dynasties]]’, National Geographic (online), last updated 19 October 2023, [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/). [^3]: ‘[[National Geographic, ‘Imperial China’s Dynasties’, 2023|Imperial China’s Dynasties]]’, National Geographic (online), last updated 19 October 2023, [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/).