Material evidence
The object or site exists, with provenance and dating stated.
Sources define the boundary of a claim
Sources
A source label answers where a claim comes from. An evidence note states how far the available material can support it.
ARC
Archaeology
Excavated objects, sites, burials, inscriptions and remains with an evaluated date and context.
HIS
Historical records
Official histories, archives, gazetteers, biographies and writing close to the period under discussion.
FOL
Myth & folklore
Myth, oral accounts, local worship, community memory and later attribution.
PER
Drama & romance
Historical romance, opera, storytelling and staged or performed versions.
MED
Literature & media
Fiction, supernatural literature, film, animation, games and other authored adaptations.
WEB
Internet remix
Short-video claims, memes, viral explanations and reinterpretations whose circulation can be traced online.
Seven evidence conclusions
Evidence conclusions apply to individual claims. One entry may contain material evidence, disputed interpretation and fiction.
Multiple textual witnesses
Several records support the claim, with dependence between texts considered.
Single textual witness
One known text records the claim; later repetition does not create independent evidence.
Disputed
Sources or scholarly interpretations conflict.
Folklore
The claim belongs to oral, local or devotional tradition.
Literary fiction
An authored work created or fixed the episode.
Internet reinterpretation
The claim circulates online without an earlier reliable source.
Core Source Library
Explore the received texts, excavated writing, bronze inscriptions and archaeological sites used across the five volumes.
Classic of Mountains and Seas
A geographical, mythic and natural-history textual complex formed from pre-imperial through Han times
Preserves mountains, deities, creatures and traditions involving the Yellow Emperor, Gun and Yu. Its sections have different histories and do not form one contemporary mythic chronicle.
Huainanzi
A Western Han intellectual compilation associated with the court of Liu An
Preserves major material on Nüwa repairing the sky, Gonggong, Shennong and cosmology. Claims should be tied to a specific chapter and distinguished from later quotation and retelling.
Taiyi Sheng Shui from the Guodian Chu slips
An excavated mid-Warring States manuscript
Begins with Taiyi generating water and unfolds heaven, earth, spirits, yin–yang and the seasons, preserving a cosmology distinct from the Pangu narrative.
Yijing: Xici II
A layer of Yijing interpretation formed and transmitted from the Warring States into early imperial times
Uses successive sages including Fuxi and Shennong to explain trigrams, nets, agricultural tools and markets, making it fundamental to culture-hero traditions.
Shangshu
A collection of political documents and canonical chapters with varied transmission histories
Yao Dian, Yu Gong, the Speech at Gan and the Speech of Tang connect sage rulers, flood control, the Nine Provinces, early Xia and the Xia–Shang transition. Each chapter requires separate textual assessment.
Zuozhuan
A pre-imperial historical narrative centered on the Spring and Autumn period and preserving many older traditions
Preserves important material on Hou Yi of Qiong, Han Zhuo, Min, Shaokang and Shaohao’s bird-named offices. These retrospections serve arguments in their Spring and Autumn settings rather than contemporary Xia records.
Shiji: Basic Annals of the Five Emperors
Sima Qian’s Western Han synthesis of ancient rulers
Organizes the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao and Shun into an influential roster. The main site chronology uses Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao and Shun while preserving this source difference.
Shiji: Basic Annals of Xia
Sima Qian’s Western Han annals of the Xia
Joins Gun and Yu, succession, Gaoyao and Boyi, Qi, the Xia royal line and Jie into continuous history. It preserves earlier traditions through a Han historiographical arrangement.
Shiji: Basic Annals of Yin
Sima Qian’s Western Han annals of the Shang
Preserves the line from Xie to Tang, variant accounts of Yi Yin, Tang’s campaigns against Ge and Kunwu, Mingtiao and the Shang royal line, making it central to the transition beyond Volume V.
Inscription of the Sui Gong Xu
A bronze inscription of the middle-to-late Western Zhou
Begins with Yu spreading the lands and following mountains to dredge rivers, linking water control to moral rule. It is an early materially preserved witness to the Yu tradition.
Erlitou site and archaeological culture
A major Central Plains settlement and archaeological culture of the early second millennium BCE
Monumental buildings, roads, turquoise and bronze workshops reveal early urbanism and regional power. Direct identification with Xia remains a historical interpretation requiring argument.
Erligang culture
An expanding early Bronze Age culture of the mid-second millennium BCE
Its urban network, bronze production and regional interaction are central to early Shang formation and cannot be reduced to the result of one dynastic battle.