Did Early Chinese Villages Voluntarily Merge into States?

Historical and archaeological evidence does not support the idea that early Chinese villages "joined together into states" by collective choice. State formation in the Yellow and Yangtze valleys (Erlitou, Shang, Zhou) emerged through conquest, coercion, and elite consolidation—warfare, tribute systems, bronze monopolies, and ancestor-worship hierarchies—not voluntary federation. Villages were incorporated into expanding polities, often by force. The "mandate of heaven" ideology later legitimized centralized rule.