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Abby Gray
The Early History of China
The early history of China originally started with the Neolithic period, which began around
10,000 B.C. and evolved into the birth of the Chinese empire under the Qin Dynasty which helped
Ancient China become the largest superpower in all of Asia, despite its various geographical situations.
The geography of Ancient China consisted of various landforms that became important to China’s
developing societies. The west and southwest regions of China were mountainous and dangerous, and the
north was consumed by bone-dry desert. China’s diverse geography impacted the way they used their
surrounding environment. Its geographical diversity limited early intercultural connections. However, in
eastern China there were two rivers called the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers that helped irrigate and connect
the eastern region. Despite the harsh geographic environment, societies eventually settled in the North and
around the Yellow River. Farming first started near the Yellow River as early as 7,000 B.C.E. They grew
millet, wheat, and cabbage. They even had domesticated farm animals. Settled communities steadily
relied on farming, herding, forming villages, instituting religious rituals, bronze tools and weapons, and
the world’s finest cloth, silk. By the second millennium B.C.E., monarchs by the names of Fuxi,
Shennong, and Haungdi, (which reigned before the rise of several legendary Chinese dynasties), helped
establish towns and cities, social class structures, a centralized state, and even a writing system. China
was eventually split into several varying dynasties, ruling families, each with different aspects of life.
The first Chinese dynasty was the Xia dynasty, located in the capital of Erlitou. The Xia dynasty
rulers were Yu and his son, who became known as the first rulers. The rulers governed the Yellow River
area from about 2,200 to 1750 B.C.E. Erlitou had characteristics of stately palaces, paved roads,
