China, one of the world’s most ancient civilizations, has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years. A fossil anthropoid unearthed in Yuanmou in Yunnan Province, “Yuanmou Man,” who lived approximately 1.7 million years ago, is China’s earliest primitive man known so far. “Peking Man,” who lived in the Zhoukoudian area near Beijing 600,000 years ago, was able to walk upright, make and use simple tools, and knew how to make fire. The Neolithic Age started in China about 10,000 years ago, and relics from this period can be found all over the country. Artificially grown rice and millet as well as farming tools have been found in the remains of Hemudu Site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, and Banpo Site, near Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, respectively. These relics date back some 6,000 - 7,000 years.
The Xia Dynasty was founded in 2070 BC. The center of its activities was the western section of modern Henan Province and the southern section of modern Shanxi Province, and its sphere of influence reached the northern and southern areas of the Yellow River. With the Xia Dynasty, China entered slave society. The following Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1046-771BC) dynasties saw further development of slave society. This era was followed by the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BC) and Warring States (475-221 BC) periods, characterized by the decline in power of the ruling house and struggles for power among regional powers, marking the transition from slave society to feudal society.
