Sarah Allen (1991), The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art and Cosmos in Early China
Mythical Opposite of Shang:The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art and Cosmos in Early China, Sarah Allen noted that many aspects of the Xia are simply the opposite of traits held to be emblematic of the Shang. Classical Chinese historians such as Sima Qian had access to records going only as far back as the Western Zhou Dynasty. The implied dualism between the Shang and Xia, Allen argues, is that while the Shang represent fire or the sun, birds and the east, the Xia represent the west and water. The development of this mythical Xia, Allen argues, is a necessary act on the part of the Zhou Dynasty, who justify their conquest of the Shang by noting that the Shang had supplanted the Xia....
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