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Written records of the history of China are available from as soon as BC 1500 under the Shang dynasty. Old historical texts, such as the Documents of the Grand Historian (ca., BC 100), and the Bamboo Annals (before BC 296), express a Xia dynasty (ca., BC 2070 - 1600), which acquired no system of writing over a durable medium, prior to the Shang. The Yellow River's Yellowish river civilization is said to be the cradle of Chinese civilization, although civilizations originated at various local centers along both Yellow River, and the Yangtze River's Yangtze civilization, millennia ago in the Neolithic era. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. Much of Chinese culture, literature, and viewpoint further developed through the Zhou dynasty (BC 1046 - 256). The Zhou dynasty commenced to bow to exterior and internal pressures in the eighth century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart into smaller says, beginning in the Springtime and Autumn period, and achieving full expression in the Warring Areas period. This is one of multiple cycles of failed statehood in Chinese history, the most recent being the Chinese Civil Battle that started in 1927. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or most of China; in a few eras control extended as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. In BC 221 Qin Shi Huang united the many warring kingdoms and designed for himself the name of "emperor" (huangdi) of the Qin dynasty, marking the start of imperial China. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that allowed the emperor to control vast territories directly. China's previous dynasty was the Qing (1644 - 1912), that was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949, leading to two de facto says claiming to be the reliable government of most China.
