When it comes to the term China, I believe that every person in China will never feel unfamiliar with it.

But even though this word has been used by countless people for thousands of years, it is actually rare to truly understand its origin.

The so-called Huaxia, also known as Hua, Xia or Zhuxia, is the word first seen in the Book of Documents. The so-called "Huaxia is a barbarian, and it is always the only one that can be used to do so." is its earliest source.

According to legend, in ancient times, the Battle of Banquan broke out in the battle between Huangdi and Yandi to compete for the leader of the tribal alliance. The Yandi tribe was defeated and was merged into the Huangdi tribe since then. The Yandi alliance took shape.

Later, the Yanhuang Alliance fought against Chiyou. Because Chiyou was too powerful, they formed a stronger Huaxia Alliance. At this time, although the term Huaxia as clearly recorded did not appear, the origin of the Chinese tribe was basically fixed.

In later generations, the descendants of Emperor Xuanyuan successively established the Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty, and the dynasties began to change from the Xia Dynasty.

This means that Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were all descendants of the Chinese tribes.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this reason that the Xia Dynasty simply took the name of Xia. During the Zhou Dynasty, it began to call itself China. The Zhou Dynasty territory during the Western Zhou Dynasty was China, and the world was divided into four barbarians.

As the saying goes, the people will live, the country will prosper, the government will be far away, the king will be famous, and the people will benefit. Therefore, the land of China will still call itself China after the Zhou Dynasty and is proud of it.

Just as I thought of this, I shook my head with a sarcasm.

It is obvious that the origin of the term "Huaxia" is not the focus we should pay attention to. The only direction we are now to start is the Xia Dynasty that Zhulong just mentioned.

If we follow Sima Qian's records, then the so-called "Xia" is actually the tribal name composed of twelve clans headed by Xia Hou.

As we all know, the Xia Dynasty was the first hereditary dynasty recorded in the historical books of Shenzhou. Generally speaking, it is generally believed that the Xia Dynasty had been passed down for 14 generations, and seventeen emperors were successively produced. After about 471 years, it was eventually destroyed by the Shang Dynasty.

However, if we want to mention when the beginning of the Xia Dynasty was, the public has never had a common opinion, but there are two completely different statements.

The first statement is that the beginning of the Xia Dynasty started with the legendary Dayu.

The second theory believes that the beginning of the Xia Dynasty should actually be calculated from Dayu's son Xia Qi.

According to legend, Dayu was appointed as the successor by Emperor Shun for his contribution to flood control. After Yu took office, he also arranged his successors according to convention.

Because in that era, the way to choose the throne was not to pass on the father and son in later generations, but to be called abdication.

According to records, during the Yao and Shun period, the highest leader of the tribal alliance had to be established through certain procedures and was elected by many tribal leaders representing clan members. This was the abdication system of democratic election leaders that was once quite popular in the later period of primitive society.

If you carefully interpret the word "Arcerer"? It means that the ruler gave the position of leader to others during his lifetime. The word "Zen" means strongly recommended in front of his ancestors? The word "Arcerer" refers to the throne of the emperor.

For example, Yao was the more famous leader of the tribal alliance after Huangdi. Before Yao passed away, he had already given up the position of leader of the tribal alliance Yu Shun and recommended Shun as emperor. This act of abdication was the so-called abdication.

Since Dayu was from that era, it would not violate this system, so Dayu also arranged the heir he chose? However, the heir designated by Dayu either died early or was not recognized by everyone. In the end, the throne fell on his son Xia Qi after a long journey.

After Xia Qi, Xia Qi passed the throne to his son? His son was passed to his grandson. The change of the throne in Shenzhou changed from abdication to a family hereditary system in later generations.

It is precisely because the Xia Dynasty changed the abdication system to a family hereditary system that many dynasties in later generations followed this template and never changed it.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this reason that the Xia Dynasty was the beginning of the dynasty recognized by scholars in China.

"Senior, Shenzhou has always used the Xia Dynasty as a dividing line. Before the Xia Dynasty, it was the ancient mythological period, and after the Xia Dynasty, it was undoubtedly the dynasty replacement period."

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look at Zhulong, and at the same time tentatively expressed my thoughts.

"If I'm not mistaken, then perhaps the reason why the Xia Dynasty was used as the dividing line was that the Xia Dynasty created the hereditary system. Because later dynasties followed this system without exception, the Xia Dynasty naturally became the beginning of the dynasty in China."

"That's right, this is indeed one of the reasons, but it's just one of them."

After hearing my guess, Zhulong's face once again showed some difficult deep meanings. He nodded to me and shook his head gently.

"Before the Xia Dynasty, there were many tribes in Shenzhou. If you want to become a leader, you must obtain the joint election of clan members and get the abdication of the previous leader. However, after the Xia Dynasty, the prerequisite for ascending the throne was no longer personal talent, but a family hereditary relying on blood and family affection."

"But this is not the most essential reason. If we want to discuss the real reason of this matter, we must first talk about the withering of the spiritual energy in China."

It seemed that he felt our confusion at this moment, Zhulong smiled slightly and asked another question.

"I wonder if you have noticed that in the ancient mythological era before the Xia Dynasty, there were many powerful people in China, moving mountains and filling seas, flying and hiding the earth. However, after the Xia Dynasty, there seemed to be no more legends of these powerful people except the Battle of the Gods. It seemed that China entered the Dharma-Ending Age overnight."

Over the years, whether it is myths or rumors in the world, Shen Lang must be the one who is most interested in it whenever he mentions such legendary stories.

As the saying goes, nature is difficult to change. Even though he is facing the legendary Zhulong, Shen Lang still maintains the same interest as before.

"Senior, I have indeed been curious about this."

Because of this, Shen Lang immediately became energetic when he heard Zhulong’s questioning, and spoke happily and responded to him.

"Senior, let's not talk about the authenticity of the story. Since I was a child, I have heard countless legends about the mythical era. Such as Jingwei filling the sea, Nuwa repairing the sky, Kuafu chasing the sun, Houyi shooting the sun, are all familiar stories."
Chapter completed!