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| | Xia, Shang, Yin, Zhou, Qin, |
 | | The Shang dynasty is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader who overthrew the last (still legendary) Xia ruler. |
 | | Sharing the language and culture of the Shang (Yin), the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, gradually sinicized, that is, extended Shang (Yin) culture through much of China Proper north of the Yangtze River. |
 | | Much of what came to constitute China proper was unified for the first time in 221 B.C. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival states, putting an end to the Warring States Period. |
| www.crystalinks.com /chinadynasties.html (1203 words) |
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