This article challenges the longstanding convention of labeling the Xia and Shang dynasties as “slave societies” by tracing the origins of that notion to the Soviet five-stage model of social evolution. The author argues that this model, which treats slave, feudal, and other modes of production as strict historical inevitabilities, not only overlooks how ancient Chinese states actually operated but also fails to engage the growing body of archaeological evidence. While Chinese scholars have long debated the reality and scope of slavery in dynastic times, their discussions—heavily shaped by ideology and incomplete textual data—have seldom drawn on modern social science or anthropology. International research meanwhile suggests early complex societies can be better explained in terms of varied sociopolitical structures and religious ideologies rather than standardized phases of “slavery” or “feudalism”. The article cites Western scholarship showing that even pervasive human sacrifices and captives in early states do not necessarily point to a slave economy, nor do Sino-centric categories like “feudal society” align with more nuanced global models of state formation. Concluding that Chinese archaeology needs to move beyond proving or supplementing official narratives, the article calls for greater theoretical and data-driven inquity into the diverse political and economic realities of early dynasties.