Neolithic China and the Legendary Xia
Millet and rice farming, Yangshao, Liangzhu and Longshan cultures, jade and early cities, the Xia dynasty in Sima Qian and the absence of Xia writing, Erlitou and the debate over identifying it with the Xia, and the sage-kings of tradition (Yao, Shun, Yu).
Archaeology and tradition
Chinese tradition begins with sage-kings (Yao, Shun) and Yu the Great, who controlled the floods and founded the Xia. These accounts were written down more than a thousand years later. Archaeology shows a long Neolithic with many regional cultures, not a single centre, and complex societies before any written record.
Sima Qian, Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian, c. 94 BCE); Li Liu and Xingcan Chen, The Archaeology of China (2012); Patricia Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (2nd ed., 2010); UNESCO nomination dossier for the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City (2019).