You're correct. There are no primary documents to support the existence of the Xia, which is why the Quizmaster wrote the disclaimer that older dynasties are legendary.
I don't think Li Zicheng really had enough consolidated power for it to be considered a real dynasty, especially since remnants of the Ming were still fighting. Plus, according to Wikipedia Li never went by the title 皇帝 (emperor).
A dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers. Empress Wu was the only person in the Second Zhou dynasty. Therefore, she did not establish a line of rulers, and so did not create a dynasty. Wu failed to establish a succession.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't China the oldest continuous/still going civilisation trought history? Dynasties so old there isn't even archeological evidence.It's crazy to think about really
Not necessarily Western part. As far as I am aware, what happened was that some empires were forced to move their imperial capitals because they fell to foreign powers. The cardinal direction generally states the relative location of their capital at the time.
One suggestion: Zhou should be accepted for Wu Zhou. When Wu Zetian seized the throne, she renamed the empire to Zhou, and it's only known as Wu Zhou nowadays to avoid confusion.
I feel like the interregna should be excluded or already entered. By definition, can it really be considered a dynasty if there was only one ruler? Not according to the OED entry for dynasty: "A succession of rulers of the same line or family." I dunno, maybe I'm just salty because whilst I knew those years referred to the reigns of Wang Mang and Wu Zetian, I had no idea what dynastic names they chose.
This quiz reminded me of Rush Hour II, where Chris Tucker says to Jackie Chan, "I'll slap you so hard, you'll end up in the Ming Dynasty," and later in the movie, Jackie Chan tells Tucker, "I'll b**** slap you back to Africa."
I wish Chinese history was taught more in American schools, as I got most of these from guessing random combinations of Chinese syllables that sounded familiar.
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Sui, Tang, Song
Sui, Tang, Song
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Mao Ze Dong
Northern Zhou was a thing too
That's one confusing aspect of Chinese history, historical states have so many repeated names