Ancient Chinese Governments

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, with written records going back as far as 1,500 BC. Consequently, some form of Chinese government has been present before written records; and this paper covers the different Chinese systems of government from 2,100 BC - 200 AD. China, all the way from the beginning of its recorded existence, has been under the control of dynasties. These dynasties were controlled by the central family and were the ruling of the country. Famous dynasties include the Xia, Shang, Qin, and Zhou.

The first known dynasty of Ancient China is under much speculation, as a lack of written records makes the Xia Dynasty poorly understood. In fact, so much remains controversial about the Xia Dynasty that many people question its existence. The Xia Dynasty was founded when the leader of China, Yu, passed the throne to his son soon before his death. By refusing to give the throne to the person most capable of ruling, and passing it to his son, Yu began the dynastyic rule. Thus, the first Dynasty had been born; its traditions set for later families to rise to power. During the Xia families ruling, a civilian government was founded. Here we can see the first recorded form of Chinese order. Protection was offered to civilians, punishment for legal transgressions was strictly enforced, and early forms of legal codes came into existence.

The Shang people overthrew the last Xia leader in about 1,600 BC. The Shangs were a very spiritual ruling family. The Shang were the first of the Chinese dynasties to develop writing. The majority of the writing has decayed; the Shang mostly wrote on bamboo strips. However, they also used some bronze and stone, and that's how we know they actually invented a form of writing. We don't know exactly how the common people were treated during the Shang dynasty. Public works were implemented by the Shang King... such as public restrooms, and a 27 foot wall built around the city for protection. Many experts speculate that some sort of forced labor was used to build these... Perhaps, the Shang forced the public to work on them... Sort of like a tax; the public enjoys their benefits, but must also build them. Others speculate that slaves were used. No one knows for sure.

In about 1040 BC, the Shang were overthrown by the Zhou. What's interesting about the Zhou is how they validated their violent takeover. They created a "Mandate of Heaven", which basically says that Heaven places a mandate to rule on any family that is morally worthy of responsibility. The only way to know if it was removed was to overthrow the family; after the ruling family is overthrown, the victors had the Mandate of Heaven. The government was very strict... people could not make human sacrifices. Their religion, the cult of Heaven, was forced upon everyone who wished to liveÐ' in Xi'an. There was a lot of culture in this dynasty, as Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism sprung from this