????Since Sima Qian wrote Records of the Historian back in the Han Dynasty (BC206-220AD), the mystery long troubling Chinese civilization has finally been made clearer by the Chronology of Xia, Shang, and Zhou published Thursday with which China recalls its history more than 1200 years back starting from 841 B.C. in recording the rise and demise of the three ancient dynasties in China.

????As is made known by the new Chronology, the Xia Dynasty began at around BC2070 and ended at about BC1600, and around BC1300 Pan Geng, 10th-generation ruling monarch of Shang, moved to Yin, which had since been set as capital of the dynasty. In BC1046, Shang crumbled and Zhou followed. Concrete data were provided about the ruling periods of Western Zhou's 10 monarchs, as well as those of 12 monarchs from Pan Geng to Xin Zhou during the later period of Shang.

????Chronology of Xia, Shang and Zhou provides solutions to a number of knotty questions long left uncertain in Chinese annals to fill in blank in China's ancient history, said Li Xueqin, director of the project. He added that later Chinese generations will be helped by the Chronology with a good foundation for making a complete study of their history by shedding light on the origins of Chinese civilization.

(People's Daily 11/12/2000)