Archaeological Discoveries In Research, With The Xia And Shang Origin

Most Chinese scholars agree with the idea that the Xia Dynasty is the first Dynasty in Chinese history. Yu is known as both the hero who had controlled the flood in ancient China, and the one who actually founded the Xia Dynasty. However, it has been a controversy in Chinese history as far as the origin place of the Xia tribe concerned. Today there are mainly three viewpoints among scholars: the Xia tribe originated in the southern Shanxi, in the western Henan or in the Yellow River and the Ji River basin.There are also other controversies which focus on the Shang tribe and the Shang Dynasty. Where did the Shang tribe originate? Had there been the Pre-Shang culture and the early Shang culture in the Shandong area? How did the Shang culture expand eastward to the Shandong area? Did the culture arrive at the Jiaodong area? Is it true that the Shang culture was a foreign culture for the Shandong area, as some scholars mentioned, following the eastward outspread of the Shang Dynasty?In my dissertation, I propose to give a thorough study on the origin of the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, based on the combination of archaeological finds and document records.There are six parts in the dissertation: (1) An introduction of the reason to carry out my research, the definition of basic concepts such as the southwestern Shandong area, the three ancient Chinese dynasties and the preliminary Shang culture, and the history of relevant academic study; (2)A summary on the archaeological history in the southwestern Shandong area since the third decade of the 20th century; (3) The archaeological finds in the southwestern Shandong area and the research on the age of Yao and Shun, mainly about the topography, landscape and natural environment of the southwestern Shandong area four thousand years ago, as well as a archaeological study on the age of Yao and Shun; (4) An archaeological study on the southwestern Shandong area and the origin of the Xia tribe, including a few disquisitions on the origin of the Xia tribe, the water controlling history of Yu and the early political centers in the Xia Dynasty; (5) An archaeological study on the Southwestern Shandong area and the origin of the Shang tribe, focusing on the origin of the Shang tribe, the current location...