Was There a Xià Dynasty? - Sino-Platonic Papers

Victor H. Mair, “Was There a Xià Dynasty?”Sino-Platonic Papers, 238 (May 2013)Note that this paper was written before the following two important dictionaries of AxelSchuessler had come out:• ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press.2007.• Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese: A Companion to Grammata SericaRecensa. ABC Chinese Dictionary Series. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 2009.Despite the fact that, in 2002, I did not have the benefit of Schuessler’s dictionaries, I am pleasedto report that the basic findings described herein comport well with those in Schuessler’spublished work.In a very real sense, this paper is a work in progress. The chief purpose of the piece as itstands is to elicit discussion and further clarification.——VHM2