The
Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project was a multi-disciplinary project commissioned by the
People's Republic of China in 1996 to determine with accuracy the location and time frame of the
Xia,
Shang, and
Zhou dynasties.
Tsinghua University professor
Li Xueqin was the director, and some 200 experts took part in the project, which correlated
radiocarbon dating,
archaeological dating methods, historical textual analysis, astronomy, and other methods to achieve greater temporal and geographic accuracy. Preliminary results of the project were released in November 2000. However, several of the project's methods and conclusions have been disputed by other scholars.