Ancient Chinese Dynasties

Yangzi River (Chang Jiang)

Yellow River (Huang He)

As in India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, early societies in China arose along river systems, in this case the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys. Historians have identified agricultural settlements in these valleys dating back to 7,000 BCE, and by the middle of the third century BCE regional kingdoms had emerged throughout China.

Political Organization in Early China

Huang He

The Yellow River

The Yellow River is violent and fast-flowing. It emerges in the Himalayan mountains and flows almost 3,000 miles into the Yellow Sea, carrying large amounts of yellow-colored silt along the way. The river’s violent floods have a positive effect. The silt deposited as a result is quite fertile. Agricultural surpluses produced as a result of natural irrigation/fertilization allowed for the rise of increasingly complex societies that required political organization.