Youyu-shi (), also called Youyu clan or the Yu dynasty (), is a proposed dynasty of China that could have existed prior to the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...

. The territory controlled by the Yu dynasty is hypothesized to have been located southwest of

Pinglu County Pinglu County () is a county in southern Shanxi province of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yuncheng and has a population of approximately 200,000. Pinglu is historically an agricultural county, producing appl ...

, in

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...

, China. Its last monarch is believed to be Emperor Shun.

Debate over existence

Evidence in favor

The Yu dynasty was mentioned alongside the

Xia Xia (Hsia in Wade–Giles) may refer to: Chinese history * Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC), the first orthodox dynasty in Chinese history * Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms) (407–431), a Xiongnu-led dynasty * Xia (617–621), a state founded by Dou Ji ...

, Shang and Zhou dynasties in numerous historical Chinese works, including the '' Zuo Zhuan'', '' Discourses of the States'', '' Mozi'', '' The Methods of the Sima'', '' Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'' and the ''

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...

''. Based on the available texts, some scholars believe that the Yu dynasty lasted much longer than the reign of the Emperor Shun, and could be comparable in length to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties that succeeded it. Numerous large-scale urban ruins have been uncovered at the

Taosi Taosi () is an archaeological site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi, China. Taosi is considered to be part of the late phase of the Longshan culture in southern Shanxi, also known as the Taosi phase (2300 BC to 1900 BC). Archaeology Taosi was surround ...

archaeological site, which is considered to be part of the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

Longshan culture The Longshan (or Lung-shan) culture, also sometimes referred to as the Black Pottery Culture, was a late Neolithic culture in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China from about 3000 to 1900 BC. The first archaeological fi ...

. In particular, palaces and royal tombs were also discovered at Taosi, further proving the possible existence of a dynastic regime based on tribal confederation. In 2002, Chinese historian Wang Shumin published an academic paper titled "''There was a Yu dynasty before Xia, Shang and Zhou''" which renewed public interest in the possible existence of a pre-Xia dynastic state in the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

basin.

Evidence against

Like the

, the existence of the Yu dynasty has been debated by historians and scholars. The lack of concrete evidence and archaeological findings in support of the Yu dynasty means that this pre-Xia regime remains a legend. As such, the Yu dynasty has yet to gain widespread acceptance as a factual part of Chinese history, both within China and among Western scholars. No accurate timeframe has yet been assigned to the Yu dynasty.

Lineage

From the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' by

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

official Sima Qian: *

Changyi Changyi (? – ?) was the second son of the legendary Yellow Emperor and the father of Zhuanxu. History According to the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' by Sima Qian, the Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow The ...

(昌意) –

Zhuanxu Zhuanxu ( Chinese: trad. , simp. , pinyin ''Zhuānxū''), also known as Gaoyang ( t , s , p ''Gāoyáng''), was a mythological emperor of ancient China. In the traditional account recorded by Sima Qian, ...

(颛顼) – Qiongchan (穷蝉) – Jingkang (敬康) – Gouwang (句望) – Qiaoniu (桥牛) – Gusou (瞽叟) – Chonghua, the Emperor Shun (帝舜重华)

Use in Vietnam

The Hồ dynasty of Vietnam claimed descent from the Emperor Shun, through

Duke Hu of Chen Duke Hu of Chen (; fl. 11th century BC) was the founding monarch of the ancient Chinese state of Chen (陳國), established in modern eastern Henan Province soon after his father-in-law, King Wu of Zhou, founded the Zhou dynasty in 1046/45 BC. ...

. The official name adopted by the Hồ state was ''Đại Ngu'' (大虞; lit. "Great Ngu"); "Ngu" is the Vietnamese variant of the Chinese character ''yú'' (虞).

References