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territories and political groups and to a stratified society, still another step toward the first Chinese dynasty. Political power within the Longshan groups became more concentrated, and wealth varied considerably. Such differentiations ­presaged the social distinctions found at the early stages of Chinese culture.
    Although Longshan was associated principally with the province of Shandong, other sites sharing the same characteristics were widely dispersed in the third millennium BCE . Farther to the south, around the ­modern cities of Hangzhou and Shanghai and other centers along the Yangzi River, archeologists have excavated villages exhibiting the same ­cultural features as the prototypical sites in Shandong. To the west, some villages inthe provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Henan, associated with the Yangshao culture, gradually manifested traits of the Longshan, and their material ­culture and social differentiation resembled those of the Longshan. Even farther away, archeologists have uncovered Longshan-like sites as ­distant as Fujian and Guangdong in the south and the Liaodong peninsula in the north.
    These discoveries challenge the earlier view that Chinese civilization ­originated only along the bend of the Yellow River in north China. Archeological evidence now points to the existence of many regional cultures, which shared basic traits but differed sufficiently to be distinctive. This pattern of regional traits, which on occasion translated into regional autonomy, characterized China even after the creation of a so-called common culture and the establishment of a centralized government that, in theory, ruled the entire country. Historians have begun to question the concept of a monolithic China and to acknowledge the significance of regional variations, both culturally and politically. Evidence of there being many Chinas can be found for any given time in Chinese history, even this early stage of culture. Paucity of information, however, often limits knowledge and consideration to the central authorities and the reputed dominant culture.
X IA : T HE F IRST D YNASTY?
    Throughout the third millennium BCE , regional cultures were in touch with each other. Groups living along the bend of the Yellow River, in Shandong, and in the middle Yangzi River valley were the most significant. Some relations within and between these three groups were peaceful and resulted in rudimentary commerce, while others involved violent struggles for power. Absence of written records impedes precise knowledge of the causes of these conflicts, but control of land and water and clashes between ambitious leaders no doubt provoked some of this warfare. More powerful villages swallowed up weaker ones, although in the process they were influenced by the traits and practices of the vanquished. Indeed, interaction, whether peaceful or adversarial, among these regions inevitably affected the customs and beliefs of the various regions and brought them closer together into a peaceful Sinitic culture. By around 2000 BCE , the stage had been set for cohesion and the establishment of a state.
    Early Chinese legends traditionally attributed the founding of a state to a much earlier period and to a heroic man or god named Yu who, according to long-held beliefs, reputedly founded the Xia, the first dynasty. Yu was one of the last semidivine, semihuman figures who, mythical accounts claim, were responsible for vital technological and cultural advances, the origins of the state, and even the beginnings of the Earth. A divinity named Pangu is credited with the creation of the Earth. He divided Heaven and Earth and, after his demise, his body was transformed into the various features of the Earth’s environment. His blood flowed to create the lakes, rivers, and oceans; his eyes turned into the sun and moon, the brightest phenomena seen by mankind; his hair grew into the trees and plants; and even his body lice were changed – they formed human beings and