96。    
夏 傳 子， 家 天 下。
xià chuán zǐ jiā tiān xià
(Xia handed down son, family heaven under)

Xia (Emporer Yu) was succeeded by his son and made the whole country his family. 1

97。    
四 百 載， 遷 夏 社。
sì bǎi zài qiān xià shè
(four hundred years changed Xia society)

After 400 years, the Xia dynasty ended.

98。    
湯 伐 夏， 國 號 商。
tāng fá xià guó hào shāng
(Tang cut down Xia, state name Shang)

Tang brought down the Xia dynasty and instituted the Shang dynasty . . .


99。    
六 百 載， 至 紂 亡。
liù bǎi zài zhì zhòu wáng
(six hundred years until Zhou lost)

. . . which lasted 600 years until it ended during the reign of Zhou.

100。    
周 武 王， 始 誅 紂。
zhōu wǔ wáng shǐ zhū zhòu
(Zhou Wu king start {put to death} Zhou)

King Wu, first of the Zhou dynasty, killed emperor Zhou.2  TL

101。    
八 百 載， 最 長 久。
bā bǎi zài zuì cháng jiǔ
(eight hundred years, most duration long)

His dynasty lasted the longest of all, 800 years.

102。   
周 轍 東， 王 綱 墜。
zhōu chè dōng wáng gāng zhuì
(Zhou {track of a wheel} east, king {key link} sank)

When the Zhou dynasty moved its capital to the east3 , they lost their ascendancy. TL


103。   
逞 干 戈， 尚 游 說。
chěng gān gē shàng yóu shuì
(flaunt shield spear, esteem roving persuade)

Feudal states adventured militarily and fell prey to the advice of wandering politicians.

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1 Thus was born the heriditary principle. Previously, succession was determined by merit.



2 The alert reader will have noticed that the two Chinese characters written as "Zhou" in English are in fact two different characters. The name of the new dynasty is not the same as the anme of the Emperor who was defeated.



3 This happened ahout 400 years after the foundation of the dynasty. It is referred to historically as the Western Zhou period. The move east starts the Eastern Zhou.