China's dynasties begin

Early Chinese civilization grew along the Huang He, the Yellow River, in the North China Plain -- a river nicknamed "China's Sorrow" for the catastrophic floods it has caused throughout history. The Shang Dynasty (about 1600-1046 BCE) is the first Chinese dynasty confirmed by solid archaeological and written evidence (an earlier Xia Dynasty appears in later Chinese histories, but with far less confirming evidence). Shang kings ruled from walled cities, commanded skilled artisans who cast elaborate bronze ritual vessels, and left behind oracle bones: the earliest confirmed Chinese writing, inscribed with questions for royal ancestors, then cracked with heat so that priests could interpret the resulting pattern as an answer.

Around 1046 BCE, the Zhou people overthrew the Shang and ruled for centuries afterward (1046-256 BCE, China's longest dynasty). To explain why it was right for them to replace the Shang, Zhou rulers introduced an idea called the Mandate of Heaven: the belief that Heaven granted a ruler the right to govern only as long as he ruled well, and that disasters, famine, or rebellion were signs Heaven had withdrawn that favor. This became a lasting pattern in Chinese political thought, used again and again across later centuries to explain why one dynasty rightfully fell and a new one rose to take its place.