Bronze Age Period
Xià Dynasty Monarchs (xià cháo 夏朝) {~2205 to 1766 bce} – before written records – 17 kings
Ruler Name | Rel. to prior ruler | Dates of Rule | Length of Reign |
1. XiàYú (Yú shùn 虞舜) aka Yú the Great (Dà yú 大虞) |
r. ~2205 to 2160 bce st. said to be 2255 to 2208 bce –born, Sì Wénmìng (姒文命) | ruled 45 years | |
-traditionally credited with having built a flood-control system for the Yellow River during the (immediately preceding) Dì shùn (帝舜) Emperor period which succeeded in stopping the annual flooding and allowed for the increase in agricultural production leading to prosperity, whereupon he was made emperor by a grateful people -wanted to pass the kingdom to Gāo yáo (皋陶/臯陶), his Minister of Justice, but Gāo yáo died, and rule passed to his son Qǐ, instead. |
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2. Qǐ (啟/启) | son of Yǔ the Great | r. ~2146 to 2117 bce | ruled about 10 years |
-Overthrew the Abdication System established by Yǔ the Great and re-established the Hereditary System. After Qǐ, all Xià Kings received the kingdom by right of inheritance. | |||
3. Tài Kāng (太康) | son of King Qǐ | r. ~2117 to 2088 bce | ruled 29 years |
4. Zhòng Kāng (仲康) | son of King Qǐ, the younger brother of Tài Kāng | r. ~2088 to 2075 bce | ruled 13 years |
5. Xiāng (相) | son of Zhòng Kāng | r. ~2075 to 2047 bce | ruled 28 years |
In the 28th year of his reign killed in battle by the two sons of the rebel Hán Zhuó (寒浞), who then ruled the Xià lands as Emperor for a short period. After an interregnum of 32 years Shào Kāng (少康), son of Xiāng, defeated Hán Zhuó in battle and restored the Xià dynasty. | |||
6. Shào Kāng (少康) | son of Xiāng | r. ~2007 to 1985 bce | ruled 21 years |
7. Zhù (杼) | son of Shào Kāng | r. ~1985 to 1968 bce | ruled 17 years |
8. Huái (槐) | son of Zhù | r. ~1968 to 1924 bce | ruled 44 years |
9. Máng (芒) | son of Huái | r. ~1924 to 1906 bce | ruled 18 years |
10. Xiè (泄) | son of Máng | r. ~1906 to 1890 bce | ruled 21 years |
11. Bù jiàng (不降) | son of Xiè | r. ~1890 to 1831 bce | ruled 59 years |
12. Jiōng (扃) | younger brother of Bù jiàng | r. ~1831 to 1810 bce | ruled 21 years |
13. Jǐn (廑) | son of Jiōng | r. ~1810 to 1789 bce | ruled 21 years |
14. Kǒng Jiǎ (孔甲) | son of Bù jiàng | r. ~1789 to 1758 bce | ruled 31 years |
15. Gāo (皋) | son of Kǒng Jiǎ | r. ~1758 to 1747 bce | ruled 11 years |
16. Fā (發/发) | son of Gāo | r. ~1747 to 1728 bce | ruled 19 years |
17. Jié (桀) | son of Fā | r. ~1728 to 1675 bce | ruled 52 years -last of the Xià emperors |
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(!) | Simplified character is completely different from the Traditional character |
A.C. | ancient Chinese |
ab. | abbreviation |
acctg. | accounting |
adj. | adjective or adjectival phrase (in Chinese an adj. is often simply a v. or n. to which de5 [的] is added: the 的 is usually omitted in this dictionary) |
adv. | adverb or adverbial phrase |
aka | also known as |
alt. pron. | alternate or non-standard pronunciation |
Am. | American; American usage |
anat. | anatomy |
anc. | ancient |
arch. | archaic character, use or meaning |
Arch. | Architecture; referring to Architecture or having to do with Architecture |
ast. | astronomy |
aux. | auxiliary verb |
b. | born |
bce. | Before the Common Era (=BC: Before Christ) |
Bei.pron. | Beijing-style pronunciation |
bf. | bound form |
bib. | biblical |
bot. | botany |
Br. | British; British usage |
Cant. | Cantonese |
CCP | Chinese Communist Party |
CE | Church of England |
ce. | Common Era (=AD: Anno Domini) |
cf. | compare |
Ch.id. | Chinese idiom |
char. | Chinese character |
Chin. | China; Chinese |
Chr. | Christianity (including both Protestantism and Catholicism) |
coll. | colloquial expression or usage |
conj. | conjunction |
contemp. | contempuous |
court. | courteous |
d. | died |
derog. | used as a derogatory term |
dial. | dialect |
dipl. | diplomacy; diplomatic |
dist. | distinguished from; as distinguished from |
econ. | economics |
Eng.id. | English idiom |
Eng.ph. | English phrase |
env. | environment; environmental |
ex. | exclamation |
expr. | expression |
fam. | familiar usage |
fig. | figurative usage |
fmr. | former or formerly |
fr. | from |
Fr. | France; French |
fv. | functive verb |
geol. | geology |
geom. | geometry |
gr. | grammar |
gr.str. | grammatical structure or construction |
gya | billion years ago |
hist. | history; historical |
id. | idiom |
imp. | impolite |
interch. | interchangeable with |
intj. | interjection |
Isl. | Islam |
Jp. | Japan; Japanese; Japanese variant (of a character) |
KXR | Kangxi Radical |
L. | Latin, from Latin or having a Latin root |
L.ph. | translation of Latin phrase (as used in English) |
leg. | legal terminology |
lg. | language |
lit. | literal (ie. word-for-word) translation |
M. | measure word (used as a numerary adjunct for nouns) |
mach. | machines; machinery |
math. | mathematics |
ME | Middle East; Middle Eastern |
mech. | mechanics |
med. | medicine; medical terminology; as used in the practice of, etc. |
met. | metaphorical usage |
mil. | military terminology |
mod. | modern usage |
mus. | music or musical notation |
mya | million years ago |
n. | noun |
na. | name or title |
naut. | nautical, marine or maritime |
NGOs | Non-Governmental Organizations |
nph. | noun phrase; compound noun |
nu. | number |
obs. | obsolete |
oft. | often |
on. | onomatopoeia (as, a sound's written representation of how it sounds) |
opp. | opposite or as opposed to |
part. | particle |
pat. | pattern |
ph. | phrase |
phil. | philosophy |
phy. | physics |
pl. | plural |
pn. | place name, geographic location or geographic feature |
pol. | polite form of address |
pol.sl. | political slogan |
pop. | popular speech; popularly used; common speech |
pop.wr. | popularly written |
pp. | past participle |
pr. | pronoun |
PRC | People's Republic of China; as used in the PRC |
pre. | prefix |
pref. | preferred |
prep. | preposition |
pron. | pronounced; pronunciation |
pw. | place word |
qs. | question sentence |
qw. | question word |
r. | reigned |
rad. | radical- used as a part of Chinese characters |
RC | Roman Catholic |
regl.var. | regional variant |
rve. | resultative verb ending |
sa. | saying |
sb. | somebody |
se. | sentence |
sf. | sentence fragment |
sh. | short form or shortened form |
sl. | slang |
so. | someone |
so.s | someone's |
soc. | sociology |
sp. | specialized language used in technical situations or by specialists (eg.: medical, legal, etc.) |
Sp. | Spanish |
sp.pron. | special or unusual pronunciation |
sport. | as used in sports; sports terminology |
ss. | sample sentence |
st. | sometimes |
st.pron. | sometimes pronounced |
st.wr. | sometimes written |
stat. | statistics |
sth. | something |
suf. | suffix |
sv. | stative verb (an adj. which includes 'be' as in 'be (x)', often simply labeled as 'adj.') |
sw. | somewhat |
Switz. | Switzerland |
T.S. | Tone Sandhi |
tax. | taxonomy (as, scientific naming system); taxonomic name |
TCM | Traditional Chinese Medicine; Chinese herbal medicine |
tm. | trademark |
topo. | topolect (some part of the word has been phonically transliterated from English into Chinese) (aka loanword) |
tr.na. | trade name, business name or product name |
trans. | translation |
tslt. | transliteration |
TW | Taiwan; as used in Taiwan |
u.f. | used for |
undef. | undefined |
usu. | usually |
v. | verb |
var. | various; variety; variant |
vern. | vernacular |
vo. | separable verb-object combination |
vph. | verb phrase; compound verb |
vul. | vulgar |
wr. | written or literary use |
A01 | Agriculture: Soil, Crops and Tools |
A02 | Livestock and Animal Husbandry |
A03 | Nomadism and Pastoralism |
A04 | Sericulture and Silk |
A05 | Trees and Forestry |
A06 | Wood Products, Carpentry and Woodworking |
A07 | Other Misc. Wooden Articles and Furniture |
A08 | Plants and Botany |
A09 | Flowers |
A10 | Fruits and Melons |
A11 | Beans, Nuts, Seeds, Oils and Tubers |
A12 | Molds, Mushrooms and Other Fungi |
A13 | Smells, Aromas and Fragrances |
A14 | Fibers, Textiles and Dyeing |
B01 | Rarity, Precision, Value and Excellence |
B02 | Beauty, Aesthetics, Art and the Fine Arts |
B03 | Colors |
B04 | Pattern, Design, Appearance and Decoration |
B05 | Architecture, Structures and Construction |
B06 | Handicrafts |
B07 | Porcelain and Pottery |
B08 | Clarity, Darkness and Gloom |
C01 | Books, Poetry, Literature and Publishing |
C02 | Myths, Legends, Stories and Reading |
C03 | Documents, Correspondence, Paper and Printing |
C04 | Journalism, News, Newspapers and Media |
C05 | Acting, Theater, Video and Cinematography |
C06 | Voice, Sound, Music and Dance |
C07 | The Eye, Vision and Photography |
C08 | Radio, Television, and Broadcasting |
D01 | Science and Scientific Ideas |
D02 | Biology, Microbiology, Taxonomy and Genetics |
D03 | Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology and Bioelectronics |
D04 | Land Animals |
D05 | Insects and Spiders |
D06 | Rivers, the Littoral, the Ocean, Fish, Amphibians, Aquatic Animals and Oceanography |
D07 | Birds and Flying Mammals |
D08 | The Environment, Conservation, Ecology, Pollution and Garbage |
E01 | Chemistry |
E02 | Communication and Humor |
E03 | Technology, Computers, Electronics and the Internet |
E04 | Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry |
E05 | Batteries, Electricity and Light |
E06 | Geology and the Earth Sciences |
E07 | Petroleum, Minerals, Mining and Metallurgy |
E08 | Jade, Gemstones and Jewelry |
F01 | Individual Character Definitions |
F02 | Chinese Culture, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture |
F03 | Chinese Dynasties and the Dynastic Period |
F04 | Ancient Chinese Warfare and Weapons |
F05 | Chinese Language: Measure Words, Negatives and RVEs |
F06 | Nature and Natural Resources |
F07 | Names, Proper Names and Trade Names |
F08 | Chinese Books, Writing and Characters |
G01 | Diplomacy and International Relations |
G02 | Nationality, Ethnicity, Nations and Peoples |
G03 | Bureaucracy, Government and NGOs |
G04 | Geography and Maps |
G05 | Places and Place Names |
G06 | Topography and Geographic Features |
G07 | Politics |
G08 | Cities |
H01 | Economics and Markets |
H02 | Business, Enterprise, Commerce and Ownership |
H03 | Accounting |
H04 | Sales, Marketing and Service |
H05 | Negotiation, Labor and Management |
H06 | Money and Banking, Finance, Insurance and Investing |
H07 | Products, Companies, Manufacturing and Manufactured Goods |
H08 | Skill, Standards and Quality |
I01 | Education |
I02 | Mathematics, Statistics, Quantities, Series, Progression and Size |
I03 | Prehistory, Protohistory and World History |
I04 | Chinese History and Historical Mythology |
I05 | Japan and Japanese History |
I06 | Sanitation and Hygiene |
I07 | Materials |
I08 | Actions |
I09 | Shapes, Forms and Models |
I10 | Textures, Rough and Smooth Surfaces, and Flexibility |
J01 | The Kitchen, Cooking Techniques, Utensils and Nutrition |
J02 | Foods and Ingredients, Tea and Other Beverages, Spices, Sauces and Seasonings |
J03 | Alcohol, Wines and Spirits |
J04 | Restaurants and Entertaining, Menu Items, Chinese (and Other) Food and Recipe Names |
J05 | Absorb, Inhale, Assimilate and Include |
J06 | Easy, Difficult, Similarities and Differences |
J07 | New, Old, More, Less |
J08 | Instructions, Directions, Opportunity, Problems and Mistakes |
K01 | Language |
K02 | Grammar and Grammatical Constructions |
K03 | Phonetics |
K04 | Exclamations, Expressions, Phrases, Proverbs, Sayings, Slang and Idioms |
K05 | Descriptions |
K06 | Order and Disorder, Methods and Meetings |
K07 | Sources, Results, Solutions, Beginnings, Endings and Waste |
K08 | Comparisons, Combinations, Connections, Distribution and Containers |
L01 | Rules, Law, Courts, Justice and Criminology |
L02 | Threats, Safety and Security |
L03 | Winning, Losing, Success, Failure, Luck, Fame and Fortune |
L04 | Hide, Conceal, Secrets, Questions and Answers |
L05 | Seek, Barriers, Limits and Restrictions |
L06 | Help, Strong and Weak |
L07 | Change, Plan, Functioning and Usefulness |
L08 | Groups, Unity, Decision, Agreement and Harmony |
M01 | Logic, Intellect, Talent and Ability |
M02 | Philosophy, Ideas, Knowledge and Inventions |
M03 | Medicine, Health and Pharmacology |
M04 | Memory, the Mind, Psychology and Emotion |
M05 | Human Characteristics and Responsibilities |
M06 | Corruption in Society, Sex and Pornography |
M07 | Public and Private, Manners and Civility, Respect and Honor |
M08 | Real, Counterfeit, Substitutes and Copies; Cheap and Expensive |
N01 | Military Affairs and Intelligence, Weapons, Strategy, War and Peace |
N02 | Protest, Violence, Rebellion, Civil War, Terrorism and Guerilla Warfare |
N03 | Engineering |
N04 | Time and Tides |
N05 | Organization, Competence, Aspiration and Obligation |
N06 | Childhood, Maturation, Adulthood and Old Age |
N07 | Sleep |
N08 | Life, Death, Living and Dying |
O01 | General Physics |
O02 | Space, Optics, Astronomy and Astrophysics |
O03 | Atoms, Atomic Energy and Particle Physics |
O04 | Aeronautics, Aviation, Air Power and Spaceflight |
O05 | Weights, Measures, Flow, Positioning and Distance |
O06 | Fire, Water and Ice |
O07 | Weather, Meteorology and Conditions |
O08 | Float, Wave, Rise in the Air, Spin, Revolve and Other Motions |
P01 | Faith, Religion, Morals and Ethics |
P02 | Great Religious Writings |
P03 | The Zodiac, Astrology and Other Symbols |
P04 | Hope, Fate, Belief and Superstition |
P05 | Women and Women's Things |
P06 | Permission, Acceptance and Rejection |
P07 | Opposites, Categories and Kinds |
P08 | Collect, Assemble, Give and Receive |
Q01 | Sociology, Society and Culture |
Q02 | Relationships |
Q03 | Clothing, Fashion and Style |
Q04 | Behavior, Habits and Addictions |
Q05 | Home, Furniture, Household Appliances, Housewares and Household Activities |
Q06 | Work, Jobs and Careers |
Q07 | Sports, Athletics and Exercise |
Q08 | Toys, Games, Gambling, Entertainment and Leisure Activities |
R01 | Gifts, Prizes, Ceremonies, Achievements and Philanthropy |
R02 | Ships, Shipping, Sailing, Naval Forces and Maritime Affairs |
R03 | Rope, Bind, Tie, Packaging and Packages |
R04 | Travel, Transportation, Air Travel and Tourism |
R05 | the Science of Mechanics, Mechanisms, Instruments, Devices, Machines and Engines |
R06 | Vehicles, Driving and Speed |
R07 | Breakage, Accidents and Disasters |
R08 | Machine Parts, Tools and Their Use |