HSIA DYNASTY

Pinyin Xia (22nd19th/18th century BC; traditional dates c. 2205c. 1766 BC), early Chinese dynasty, mentioned in legends but of undetermined historicity. According to legend, the founder was Y, who was credited with having engineered the draining of the waters of a great flood (and who was later identified as a deified lord of the harvest). Y allegedly made the rulership hereditary in his family, thereby founding the first (legendary) imperial dynasty in China. Tradition gives the names of the dynasty's successive rulers, ending with Chieh, who is said to have fallen in love with a beautiful but evil woman, who acted cruelly. Outraged, the people, so the story goes, rose in rebellion, led by T'ang, who tradition says founded the Shang (or Yin) dynasty.