Whether it means consulting inscriptions on animal bones or tortoiseshells (see the Shang Oracle Bone in Section 2, Traces of Ideas) during the Shang and Zhou periods or using ... China's Ming Dynasty ...

Development stages Before the Qin Dynasty (221-207BC), traditional values from the Zhou Dynasty gradually collapsed ... concepts and values waned; and, society experienced major turbulence.

The most ancient dynasty, the Xia Dynasty ... It was in this period that slave society appeared and the next two dynasties, Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1046-771 BC), saw it develop ...

However, the term Nian (‘year’) first appeared in the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC). It was during the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) when the date of the festival was fixed for the people.