There are few credible sources about Yu (who could have been legendary), his time, and other rulers of the Xia dynasty. Yu(Da Yu) was the first ruler of this dynasty.
Some scholars think that about 4000 years ago, the Xia dynasty ruled China. A ruling class with kings and queens had come into society. By 2500 BC, the Bronze Age had come to China. They had started cultivating rice and possibly other types of grains. They also began to pick and gather fruits, eventually resulting in the Chinese learning to farm by 5000 BC. Later, about 65,000 years ago, modern human beings Homo sapiens reached China from Africa. About a few million years ago Homo erectus, an early human species, lived in China.
Even then, historians believe some facts about the China of that period. In such cases, it is very difficult to tell anything definite about the prehistory of China or any other country. Prehistory means the history of a time before any written record. Ancient China is one of the world's oldest civilizations.
