Question

Which of the following is a chronological order of the dynasties that ruled ancient China?
A) Qin dynasty, Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty
B) Shang dynasty, Zhou dynasty and Qin dynasty
C) Zhou dynasty, Shang dynasty and Qin dynasty
D) Zhou dynasty, Qin dynasty and Shang dynasty

Answer 1

Hint: Small villages and farms along the major rivers like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River were founded by early Chinese settlers.Dynasties were hereditary monarchical regimes in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, that ruled over China during much of its history.

Complete answer:
In China, the Shang Dynasty originated during the Bronze Age. Evidence of the Shang Dynasty, which ruled from around the $16^{th}$ to the $11^{th}$ century BC, is supported by thousands of archaeological discoveries in the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization. The Shang influence expanded beyond the boundaries of the state, and motifs of Shang art are found in artefacts from more distant regions. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the basis of the Shang culture. The Shang kings were the religious and political leaders of the region. By dynastic alliances, they governed. The Shang people were always at war with neighbouring populations and many times moved their capital. The land of Zhou was a Shang Dynasty vassal state. A strong Zhou leader named Wen Wang started plotting to overthrow the Shang Dynasty.
Ancient China was ruled by the Zhou Dynasty from 1045 BC to 256 BC. The Zhou Dynasty's early leaders introduced the "Mandate of Heaven" theory. This idea revealed that the rulers received their authority from the gods to govern. They claimed that this was because the Shang had been tyrants when the Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty and the gods allowed them to fall.
The Zhou government was based on a system of feudalism. The emperor divided the land into fiefs that his families traditionally controlled. Fundamentally, the nobles who ruled the fiefs controlled the farmers who worked their lands. The first dynasty of Imperial China was the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE). The period of near-constant warfare that resulted from the Zhou Dynasty's collapse. It was founded by Shi Huangdi, who recognised that the decentralised government policy of the Zhou had led to its downfall and thus formed a centralised state that reduced the aristocracy's control, abolished the boundaries between different states, and operated in accordance with the philosophy of Legalism.
Hence, Option ‘B) Shang dynasty, Zhou dynasty and Qin dynasty’, is the correct answer.

Note: The ancient Chinese civilization has its roots back in thousand of years, and the locale of china was dominantly ruled by varied dynasties at different zones like Zhou dynasty, Qin dynasty and Shang dynasty.