* 1080 – 1081: The Chinese statesman and scientist Shen Kuo is put in command of the campaign against the Western Xia, and although he successfully halts their invasion route to Yanzhou ( modern Yan ' an ), another officer disobeys imperial orders and the campaign is ultimately a failure because of it.

* c. 2030 – 1556 BC — Xia Dynasty, first Chinese dynasty and government system established

* Jie, Legendary King of the supposed Xia dynasty ( existence disputed ) in China, r. c. 1728 – 1675 BC

Below dates are those published by the Xia – Shang – Zhou Chronology Project ( dates in Chinese history before the first year of the Gonghe Regency in 841 BC are contentious ).

The Xia Dynasty (; ; c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC ) is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian.

The Xia was later succeeded by the Shang Dynasty ( 1600 – 1046 BC ).

A number of books printed in Tangut script during the Western Xia ( 1038 – 1227 ) period are known, of which the Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union that was discovered in the ruins of Baisigou Square Pagoda in 1991 is believed to have been printed sometime during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Western Xia ( 1139 – 1193 ).

* 2040 BC – 1556 BC: Xia Dynasty in China, Olmec civilization ( Mesoamerica ).

Under the leadership of Ögedei Khan ( r. 1229 – 1241 ), both the Jin Dynasty and Western Xia Dynasty were conquered by Mongol forces.

During this period, the Mongol troops led by Genghis carried out six rounds of attacks against Western Xia over a period of twenty-two years ( 1202, 1207, 1209 – 10, 1211 – 13, 1214 – 19, 1225 – 26 ).

Due to the fierce resistance of the Xia against the Mongol attacks, especially in causing the death of Genghis, the Tanguts were initially suppressed in the Yuan Dynasty ( 1271 – 1368 ).

Sima Qian stated, based on preceding Chinese records ( Bamboo Annals ), that the Xiongnu's ruling clan were descendants of Chunwei ( 淳維 " Chun tribes "), possibly a son of Jie, the final ruler of the legendary Xia Dynasty ( c. 2070 – 1600 BC ).

Today the " Monguor " as known in the West and as “ Tu Zu ” in China may have descended from the Xianbei who were led by Tuyuhun Khan to migrate westward and establish the Tuyuhun Kingdom ( 284-670 ) in the third century and Western Xia ( 1038 – 1227 ) through the thirteenth century.

It is not known when the game of Liubo originated, although according to legend it was invented by Wu Cao ( 烏曹, called Wu Zhou 烏胄 in the early 2nd century CE Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ), a minister to King Jie, the last king of the Xia Dynasty, who according to traditional chronology reigned 1728 BCE – 1675 BCE.

* Xia Dynasty ( 2100 – 1600 BC )

The use of cataphracts was then revived in the Liao, Western Xia, and Jin dynasties – the super-heavy cataphracts of the Xia and Jin were especially effective and were known as " Iron Sparrowhawks " and " Iron Pagodas " respectively.

* Xia ( Sixteen Kingdoms ) ( 407 – 431 ), state of the Xiongnu Tiefu during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China

100 BC ) and Bamboo Annals assert the existence of a Xia Dynasty before the Shang.

With few clear records matching the Shang oracle bones or the Zhou bronze vessel writings, the Xia era remains poorly understood.

Hence, as some scholars of China suggest, the Xia and the Shang can possibly refer to political entities that existed concurrently, just as the early Zhou is known to have existed at the same time as the Shang.

*** The Classic of History is a collection of documents and speeches of the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou and period before.

* King Cheng Tang of Shang of China, first ruler of Shang Dynasty, ruled China for 29 years since 1600 BC according to the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project.

* c. 1600 BC: Jie of Xia is overthrown by Tang of Shang in the Battle of Mingtiao

* Jie, The last ruler of Xia Dynasty, ruled China for 52 years until 1600 BC according to the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project.

* 1766 BCE: Shang conquest of Xia Dynasty.

The doctrine explained and justified the demise of the Xia and Shang dynasties and, at the same time, supported the legitimacy of present and future rulers.

The Shang Dynasty ( Chinese: 商朝 ; pinyin: shāng cháo ) or Yin Dynasty ( 殷代 ; pinyin: yīn dài ), according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia Dynasty and followed by the Zhou Dynasty.

The results of the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project place them between 1600 BC and 1046 BC.

Chinese historians living in later periods were accustomed to the notion of one dynasty succeeding another, and readily identified the Zhengzhou and Erlitou sites with the early Shang and Xia Dynasty of traditional histories.

The actual political situation in early China may have been more complicated, with the Xia and Shang being political entities that existed concurrently, just as the early Zhou, who established the successor state of the Shang, are known to have existed at the same time as the Shang.

The Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC.

After the defeat of Xia by Shang, the imperial descendants scattered and were absorbed by the nearby clans, and some members of the royal family of Xia Dynasty survived as the Qi ( Henan ) state until 445 BC.

According to the Han Shu 21a, 973, for the moment of unification the Middle kingdoms had 6 different calendars: those of the mythological progenitors Yellow Emperor ( 黄帝曆 ) and Zhuanxu ( 顓頊曆 ); of the dynasties Xia ( 夏曆 ), Yin ( 殷曆 ), and Zhou ( 周曆 ), and of the Zhou Dynasty state of Lu ( 鲁曆 ).

The tradition of tracing Chinese political history from heroic early emperors to the Xia to succeeding dynasties comes from the idea of the Mandate of Heaven, in which only one legitimate dynasty can exist at any given time, and was promoted by the Confucian school in the Eastern Zhou period, later becoming the basic position of imperial historiography and ideology.

The development of this mythical Xia, Allan argues, is a necessary act on the part of the Zhou Dynasty, who justify their conquest of the Shang by noting that the Shang had supplanted the Xia.

In the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tuoba brought troops to suppress the Huang Chao Rebellion on behalf of the Tang court and took control of the Xia State, or Xia Zhou, in northern Shaanxi in 881.

In the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tuoba brought troops to suppress the Huangchao Rebellion on behalf of the Tang court and took control of the Xia State, or Xia Zhou, in northern Shaanxi in 881.

Founded in 1958, the Luoyang Museum features ancient relics dating back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties.

Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.

# 12 volumes of Benji ( 本紀 ), " Basic Annals " or " Imperial Biographies ", contain the biographies of all prominent rulers from the Yellow Emperor to Qin Shi Huang and the kings of Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.

The government of the People's Republic of China sponsored the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project, a multidisciplinary project that sought to give better estimates for dates prior to 841 BC, but the project's draft report, published in 2000, has been criticized by various scholars.