The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow and Yangtze river basins, evolving into one of the world's oldest cradles of civilization. Traditional historiography views this past through the lens of the dynastic cycle. The earliest confirmed historical period begins with the Shang dynasty, which left the oldest surviving oracle bone inscriptions. It was followed by the Zhou dynasty, an era that introduced the Mandate of Heaven and laid the philosophical foundations for Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.