An important reason for the existence of the Xia Dynasty is that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were many vassal states handed down from the Xia Dynasty. One of them was made a duke by Zhou Wuwang at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius personally studied Li Xia and even said, "I can speak Li Xia". More importantly, Oracle Bone Inscriptions really recorded this vassal state!
Xia Dynasty, surnamed Yu, was the first hereditary dynasty recorded in China history books. It is generally believed that the Xia Dynasty spread for 14 generations, and after 17 years (the ruler of Xia Dynasty called it "Hou" when he was in office and "Emperor" after his death), it lasted for about 47 1 year and was destroyed by Shang Dynasty.
About 1600 years ago, Tang, the leader of Shang tribe, led a crusade against Fang tribe. Shang Tang is so powerful that Xia Jie can't resist it. He fled and fought, and finally launched a Armageddon in Mingtiao, which was called "the Battle of Mingtiao" in history. After the war of Mingtiao, Shi Xia was destroyed, and Xia Jie was exiled by Shang Tang to Lishan, where he lived alone with the late Xi Shi, and finally died in Nanchao Mountain (now Chaohu Lake, Anhui Province).
After the demise of the Xia Dynasty, the clansmen were divided into three branches: first, the residual forces mainly stayed in the Central Plains; Second, Xia Jie moved many people south of Mount Li to the South Nest, which is the South Branch; Third, the northern branch entered the Mongolian plateau and merged with the local clans. Sima Qian believed that the ancestors of Xiongnu were Xia people, "Xiongnu, the descendant of their ancestor Xia Houshi, also known as Chunwei", but modern archaeology found that Xiongnu was not Xia people.
According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there are four most famous descendants of Xia Dynasty (except the theory of Xiongnu Xia people), namely Yue, Gui, Bao Guo and Qi.
1, "Historical Records" records: "Ju Jian, the king of Yue, is a descendant of Yu and the illegitimate son of Xia Emperor Shao Kang. It was sealed in the meeting to commemorate Yu's sacrifice. The monarch of Yue is one of the direct descendants of China's ancestor Dayu. Dayu traveled around the world and appeared before the princes in Huiji Mountain. It is said that he was buried here after his death. Therefore, Xia Shaokang sealed his illegitimate child in Huiji, nicknamed "Yu Yue", in order to continue the protection and sacrifice of Yu Tomb. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Gou Jian of the State of Yue finally defeated the State of Wu and became one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period.
2. Created a precedent for China's history biographies-"Shiben" records: "Zeng and Xia Shaokang sealed their youngest son Song as strong and strict." Archaeological findings show that the fief of Qu Lie Xia Dynasty was located in Bali Bridge in Fangcheng, Henan Province. The State of Shan originated from the feudal state of Qu Lie, the second son of Shao Kang in Xia Dynasty, and was named after the original fief named "Shan". After Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, they attacked each other for nearly two thousand years. Until the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Xiang of Lu was destroyed by Chu in the sixth year (567 BC).
But there may be two Zeng countries in history, one in Fangcheng, Henan, and the other in Suizhou, Hubei. A large number of Xia cultural relics have been unearthed in Fangcheng, Henan Province, especially the Baliqiao Xia cultural site, which is as famous as Erlitou Xia culture. The unearthed stone graupel is a symbol of power, and the earliest owner should be Qu Lie. The Zeng State of Hubei discovered in Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Yin Ruins is a good-neighborly and friendly military alliance with Shang Dynasty. At present, there is no conclusion about the origin of this Zeng State and whether it migrated from Fangcheng.
3, "Historical Records of Xia Benji": Yu "Later enfeoffment, using the country as the surname, so there are, Hu Zhi ... Bao's ..." Qing Jiaqing's "Hanzhong Fuzhi" contains: "Yu sealed his son as a treasure, and praised the country." The founding of the People's Republic of China and the present Hanzhong area in Shaanxi Province experienced the subjugation of the country in the Shang Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty and the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty for more than a thousand years. At the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period, after Qin expelled the dog from the customs, the praise people became more isolated and were destroyed by Qin people.
In 779 BC, Zhou Youwang attacked and praised the country's failure, so he gave a beautiful woman a compliment to beg for surrender. Zan can be said to be the most famous historical figure in Zan.
The existence of these three countries also shows that after Shang Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty, the royal families of the Xia Dynasty did not all perish, and many of them were scattered outside the Central Plains. Of course, whether the above three countries are descendants of Xia people is not sufficient. Without this link recorded in Shang Dynasty, the statement that Qi is descendants of Xia people is much more complete.
It is recorded in The Great Dai Li Story that Shang Tang defeated Xia Jie and destroyed Xia Hou, and some adherents of the Xia royal family moved to Qi State (now Qixian County, Henan Province), but the title of Qi State was abolished several times later.
"Historical Records Chen Qi Family" records that "Lou Gong, after, is also a Miao. Yin is either sealed or closed. In the second week, I planned to get the East Building and sealed it in Qi to worship. " . Zhou Wuwang seeks the descendants of Yu Xia, the founding monarch of Xia Dynasty. So, he found Donglou Gong, sealed him to Qi, continued the title of Qi, made Qi a duke, and was responsible for offering sacrifices to the monarch of Xia Dynasty.
At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, only Song Gong (descendants of Yin people), Yu, Guo and Qi were enfeoffed, while Jiang Ziya Qi and Lu, which we are familiar with, were just Marquis. Later, Qin Zhuanggong became a viscount, Chu also became a viscount, and Wu became an earl. Therefore, it is an extraordinary courtesy for the Zhou Dynasty to make Qi a duke, which shows Qi.
Zhou Wuwang's courtesy was very long, but after moving eastward, the Zhou royal family declined and the title of the country gradually declined. In historical books such as the Spring and Autumn Annals, the monarch of the State of Qi is sometimes called "Qi Hou", sometimes called "Qi Bo" and even called "Qi Zi", which shows that the title of the monarch of the State of Qi is getting lower and lower.
According to historical records, the State of Qi was founded in the early Shang Dynasty, and it was a vassal state established by the remnant royal family in Xia Dynasty. However, there is no record of Shang Dynasty in countries like Yue, Gui and Jian. So, does Qi exist in history?
Oracle Bone Inscriptions records that during the Wuding period of Shang Dynasty, the title of Qi State was an earl, and Wuding once married a woman of Qi State as a concubine, and was one of his more than 60 queens. Oracle bones in the Shang Zhouwang period are also recorded, "Ren Chenbu, Yu Qi, Zhen: Did you die today?" So far, there are six pieces of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins that mention Qi Hou or Tiqi. It can be seen that Qi did exist in Shang Dynasty, and the only thing that can't be 100% confirmed is the relationship between Qi and the royal family in Xia Dynasty, because there is no record in Oracle Bone Inscriptions.
However, although Oracle Bone Inscriptions did not say that Qi was descended from Xia people, it is not difficult to infer the relationship between Qi and Xia people by combining Zhou Wuwang's super-standard courtesy to Qi and China's political tradition of "two kings and three restrictions". More importantly, Confucius once believed that Qi was a descendant of Xia people.
During the period (878-842 BC), Qi was attacked by Song, Huai, Xu and other forces, and could not stand in Henan at all. The King of Qi sought a husband and moved Qi from Qixian to Shandong to take refuge, first in Zhu, near tengxian, Shandong, and then to Xintai. Later, under the invasion of foreign powers, Qi moved twice and finally settled in Chunyu (now Qicheng Village, Huangqibao Street, Fangzi District, Weifang City).
In a word, although Qi is a duchy, it is a small country. Often invaded and forced to wander around. "Historical Records" only describes Qi in more than 270 words, and especially says: "Qi is a small country, and its deeds are not worth remembering."
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, although Qi was small and insignificant, there were three things worth mentioning.
In 572 BC, Moon Hee, the son of Lu Zhengqing, became a matchmaker and married Qi, the daughter of Qi Huangong, to Ji Zhou, the overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, Qi's daughter gave birth to a son named Jin Pinggong, which made the State of Jin once again the overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Since Qi is a descendant of the Xia royal family, it is of great significance to have Xia rites. Therefore, Confucius went to Qi to inspect Xia Li. However, due to the loss of most Qi documents, Confucius said with emotion in The Analects: "I can say the ceremony of the Xia Dynasty, and the descendants of the Xia Dynasty are not enough to prove my words." Confucius' words can also prove the existence of Xia Dynasty.
The third thing is called "Worrying about the sky", which tells the story of worrying about the sky falling down. A wise man enlightened him from the composition of celestial bodies (the enlightened language is also the embodiment of ancient world outlook), and then both sides of the question and answer were relieved and smiled comfortably. Nowadays, worrying about the sky is an ironic idiom, but in fact there is an experience of worrying about the sky behind it, which is related to China people's sense of urgency.
In 445 BC, the State of Qi finally perished under the attack of King Hui of Chu, most likely the descendants of Xia Dynasty were wiped out.
By the time Qin Shihuang unified China, the governors of the six countries were all reduced to mortals, and the descendants of Xia Dynasty were even more insignificant and completely integrated into the people.