Chinese History: Ancient Times and Xia Dynasty

According to the Outlines of Chinese History by Beijing University Press, Modern Homo sapiens remains appeared in China about 40,000 years ago. Jiangxi province in southeast China is the first place in the world to domesticate rice around 12,000 years ago. About 6,000--7,000 years ago, larger regional cultures began to emerge. 4,500 years ago China was divided into three major regions in terms of cultural characteristics: the northeast (the north China plain) controlled by Gongsun clan, the Yangzi valley controlled by Nine Li clan, the northwest controlled by Shenrong clan. Shenrong clan and Nine Li clan were long settled agricultural societies, Gongsun clan were less sophisticated nomads and militarily stronger. The climate was much warmer then, and China's Yellow River valley was an ideal place for settlement: it was warm and fertile but not too hot or too humid. With the rapid population growth, more and more conflicts could be seen in this area.

At that time, the leader in north China plain was Gongsun Xuanyuan, in northwest China was the Red Emperor, in south China was Ciyou. First, Gongsun Xuanyuan defeated the Red emperor through three large scale wars fought in Banquan (in Hebei province) then formed a coalition with him. After that Gongsun defeated Ciyou in a decisive battle fought in Zhuolu (near Banquan) which involved several hundred thousand troops. Gongsun captured and beheaded Ciyou and drove southerners back into the Yangzi valley, this began a 2,000-year-long assimilation and southward movement of ancient south Asians in south China who were ancestors of contemporary Viets, Malays, Thais and Burmese.