6. From Antiquity to the Three Dynasties

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Yu of Xia, Tang of Shang, and King Wen of Zhou are called the Three Kings. With Xia, rule passed to sons and became hereditary.

“Family possession of the realm” marks a shift from abdication to dynastic succession.

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After about four hundred years, Xia’s altars passed away. Tang overthrew Xia and founded the state called Shang.

Dynastic change is presented in moral terms: loss of virtue brings collapse, renewed virtue brings rule.

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Shang lasted about six hundred years and ended with King Zhou. King Wu of Zhou rose and punished Zhou of Shang.

King Zhou is treated in traditional history as a tyrant, a figure used to explain the loss of the Mandate.

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Zhou lasted eight hundred years, the longest of the dynasties. When the Zhou court moved east, royal authority declined.

The eastward move marks the weakening of Zhou kingship and the rise of competing regional powers.

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Weapons were freely used, and persuasion by roaming advisers was prized. This period began with Spring and Autumn and ended with the Warring States.

The line sketches Eastern Zhou: warfare, diplomacy, and the weakening of older ritual order.

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The Five Hegemons grew powerful; the Seven Warring States emerged. The Qin house of Ying began to annex the others.

The sequence moves from rivalry among states toward Qin unification and centralized rule.

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Qin lasted only to its second emperor; then Chu and Han contended. Gaozu rose and founded the Han dynasty.

Behind the short line is the fall of Qin, rebellion, and the formation of a new imperial order.

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By Emperor Ping of Han, Wang Mang usurped the throne. Guangwu then rose and established the Eastern Han.

The line fixes the sequence: Western Han, Wang Mang’s Xin, and Eastern Han restoration.

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Han lasted about four hundred years and ended with Emperor Xian. Wei, Shu, and Wu contended for the Han realm.

“The Han tripod” means the political inheritance of Han. The Three Kingdoms embody the empire’s fragmentation.

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