Xia

According to legend, after Yu the Great tamed the floods, the throne passed to his son Qi, and power began to stay within one family. The Xia is remembered as China's first dynasty.

Most Xia stories were written down long after the events: Yu passing his own gate three times without stopping, the revival under Shaokang, the fall of the last king Jie. They read like a family tree passed on by word of mouth — details may waver, but the thread survived.

At Erlitou in Henan, archaeologists have uncovered wide palace foundations and bronzes from roughly the legendary Xia dates. Is it a Xia capital? Scholars still debate. Half of the Xia lies in books; the other half is still underground.