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Chapter 241 The Shang Dynasty Loved Sacrifices

Around 1990 BC, after Taikang was defeated, Houyi could only put Taikang's younger brother Zhongkang on the throne with the mediation of some Xia Dynasty officials.

During his reign, Zhongkang wanted to restore the glory of the Xia Dynasty and take back his own power. After accumulating enough capital for this purpose, he sent troops to compete with Houyi, but Zhongkang did not expect that he was no match for Houyi at all.

Under the blow of failure, Zhongkang died of depression after reigning for about 15 years, leaving his son to face Houyi, a strong rival. He ascended the throne after his father.

During his 30 years in office, Hou Yi made the same mistake as Tai Kang. He also became addicted to hunting, and around 1945 BC, history repeated itself, except that it was Hou Yi who was killed.

The one who took away the power was Hou Yi's general Han Zhuo. Unlike Hou Yi, Han Zhuo pursued a strategy of killing all the princes who stood in the camp of the Xia Dynasty and killed them all.

Han Xuan thought that he could rest easy after getting rid of Xiang, but he never expected that fate would play a huge joke on him. Xiang's wife was pregnant when he was killed. In the chaos, Xiang's wife quietly crawled out of the hole in the wall and later gave birth to Xiang's son Shaokang.

When Shaokang grew up, he was entrusted with the important task of his parents. He fled everywhere under the pursuit of Hanyue, and on the way he continued to recover the remaining forces of the Xia Dynasty. Later, Shaokang employed the first female spy in history - Nv Ai.

With the help of Nü Ai, he got rid of Hanyue's warlike son. When everything was ready, Shaokang formed an alliance with friendly countries, and with the help of other tribes with the same surname, he worked together with his old ministers to destroy Hanyue and restore the rule of the Xia Dynasty.

Around 1905 BC, Shao Kang regained the throne. Under his rule, the Xia Dynasty became prosperous and well-off, which is known in history as "Shao Kang's Restoration". After about 20 years in power, Shao Kang passed away.

Around 1885 BC, his son Ji Zhu succeeded to the throne. Ji Zhu was also a skilled warrior who invented armor and spears, which gradually gave Xia soldiers an advantage on the battlefield. He then launched a large-scale campaign against the Dongyi tribes, expanding the Xia Dynasty's sphere of influence.

Around 1868 BC, when Kong Jia, the eighth king of the Xia Dynasty, came to power, the Xia Dynasty entered its most glorious era.

The 9th and 10th kings of the Xia Dynasty, Gao and Fa, were both diligent monarchs in state affairs. After their death, around 1808 BC, the 11th monarch of the Xia Dynasty, Kong Jia, ascended the throne.

Kong Jia himself was a good monarch who worked hard to govern the country, but it was he who planted a time bomb for the Xia Dynasty. His son was eccentric and could not govern the country well, so Kong Jia decided to pass the throne to his younger brother.

Yinjia reigned for 21 years, and the Xia Dynasty was considered safe and prosperous, but this monarch also faced the same problems as his brother, and his son was also useless. However, he did not take extraordinary measures and still passed the throne to his son Lugui.

Around 1728 BC, when Lugui was in power, the Xia Dynasty began to decline, and it was also at this time that a small state began to rise. Who could have thought that the once glorious Xia Dynasty would be taken away by a newly rising small state?

Around 1707 BC, Lugui passed away, and the throne returned to Kongjia's son Kongren. Kongren was addicted to wine and sex, and committed all kinds of misconduct, which made him a tyrant.

During his reign, various tribal leaders rebelled against the Xia Dynasty. After Kong Ren passed away, his son Gao and grandson Fa were unable to save the fate of the Xia Dynasty. Just when the country's fortunes were declining, the Xia Dynasty welcomed its last monarch, Jie.

Around 1652 BC, Jie ascended the throne. It is said that he was tyrannical by nature and addicted to wine and women. In the already declining Xia Dynasty, his actions undoubtedly made the people alienated from him.

Like many dynasties in later generations, the tyrant Jie also had a beautiful concubine named Mei Xi. When Jie attacked the Youshi tribe, the Youshi tribe offered good horses, jades and beauties in exchange for peace, and Mei Xi was one of the beauties.

With the beautiful woman Mei Xi by his side, Jie became more addicted to sensual pleasures. The Bamboo Annals recorded: "Jie built the Yao Terrace, the Qiong Room, the Xiang Corridor and the Yumen Gate." Such actions, which spared no effort on the people, made the people's resentment towards the Xia Dynasty reach its peak.

Jie, however, did not care about this. He once said to the people: "The relationship between the people and me is like the relationship between the sun and the moon. If the moon does not perish, how can the sun perish?"

However, the people who could no longer tolerate the tyranny blurted out: "What harm can ten suns do? They will all perish with you." The general meaning is that if the sun is going to perish, then the people, the moon, are willing to perish with it. The idiom "Ten suns rise together" comes from this.

Around 1600 BC, the increasingly powerful Shang State, under the leadership of Tang, raised the banner of attacking the Xia Dynasty. The two sides of Xia and Shang fought a decisive battle at Mingtiao. The tyrannical Jie was naturally defeated. The Xia Dynasty was declared destroyed, and the history books turned a new page. The story of the Xia Dynasty also came to an end.

The Erlitou site spans more than 4000 years of history and tells us the glorious story of the Xia Dynasty.

Today, we are called the children of Huaxia. There are two ways of saying it: one is that "Hua" represents gorgeous clothes and "Xia" represents great etiquette. The so-called children of Huaxia are a nation that wears colorful clothes and pays attention to etiquette.

Another theory is that the descendants of Huangdi established the Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty successively. After the ethnic integration of the three dynasties, the Huaxia ethnic group was formally formed, so we are also called the children of Huaxia.

[Understand the history of the Shang Dynasty in one go]

This was a dynasty where sacrifice was more important than anything else. The human skulls split in half and the hanging corpses in the bronze steamer all spoke of the cruelty of the ancient people's sacrifices.

This was an era that advocated communication between humans and gods. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong alone, the number of human and animal sacrifices exceeded 9000, while the average population of a vassal state at the time was only more than 5000.

However, this dynasty had more than just sacrifices. It also had a king who could fight wild beasts with his bare hands. It is said that he was the last "99" in the world.

Around 1600 BC, the Xia Dynasty collapsed and the second dynasty in Chinese history emerged. Its name was Shang.

It is said that Jian Di swallowed a black bird egg. Unexpectedly, she became pregnant and gave birth to a child, who was Qi, the ancestor of the Shang Dynasty.

Later, Qi was granted the title of Shang for his contribution to flood control, and the Shang Dynasty was established. Later, Qi's descendants began to do business, and over time, people began to call people who did business "merchants."

In addition, there is another theory about the origin of the name of merchants, which is "immigration for business", but this story happened after the demise of the Shang Dynasty.

The Shang State was developing in an orderly manner. Through the efforts of generations, they had gradually expanded their influence to the lower reaches of the Yellow River, but at this time Shang was still a small country located to the east of the Xia Dynasty.

Originally, the tiny Shang State was vulnerable to the Xia Dynasty. However, no one expected that the destiny of the Xia Dynasty would go astray due to successive incompetent rulers.

After 1652 BC, when the 16th King Jie of Xia came to power, the Xia Dynasty had lost the support of the people. However, the Shang State was growing stronger and stronger and became a powerful country in the East. The strength of the country gave rise to the ambition of Tang, the king of Shang.

He decided to raise an army to destroy the Xia Dynasty. On the one hand, he reduced taxes and levies to win the hearts of the people, and on the other hand, he won over the princes to recruit troops. Around 1600 BC, Shang Tang, who had made sufficient preparations, launched an attack on the Xia Dynasty, and the Battle of Mingtiao officially broke out.

One side was well prepared, while the other side was deserted and had to fight hastily. The outcome seemed to be determined from the moment the war began.

The Xia Dynasty was defeated, and this defeat brought the Xia Dynasty to the end of its history. The first slave dynasty in Chinese history was declared extinct, and the second dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, rose to power.

However, not long after, a jaw-dropping event was about to happen. The ministers actually exiled the king, but instead of being condemned, he gained eternal fame because of it.

Around 1588 BC, Shang Tang passed away and his son Waibing ascended the throne. With the assistance of the capable minister Yi Yin, Waibing governed the Shang Dynasty in an orderly manner.

However, Waibing died not long after taking the throne. His younger brother Zhongren succeeded him as King of Shang, but Zhongren was not a long-lived person either.

After his death in 1582 BC, the throne passed to Taijia.

The demise of the Xia Dynasty apparently did not serve as a wake-up call for Taijia. After becoming the King of Shang, he began to act recklessly. As the saying goes, law is the foundation of a country, but Taijia did not agree. He even threw behind his back the laws formulated by Shang Tang, just like a replica of Jie.

The old minister Yi Yin tried to dissuade him in every possible way, but he still couldn't stop him from getting closer to the tyrant. In order to turn the tide, Yi Yin thought about it and finally made a difficult decision to exile the king.

Under Yi Yin's manipulation, Taijia was exiled to Tong Palace. The tomb of Shang Tang was nearby, and it was here that Taijia began to reflect on his own actions, and finally realized and changed his ways.

After three years in exile, he was welcomed back to the capital. As the king this time until his death, he worked diligently and cared for the people.

More than ten years after Taijia passed away, in 1550 BC, Yi Yin, a veteran of five dynasties, also died of illness. At this time, the one sitting on the throne was Taijia's younger brother Wo Ding.

Wo Ding and the two kings after the Shang Dynasty, He Dan Jia and Zu Yi, were all rulers who maintained the status quo. Their policies for governing the country were neither good nor bad.

Years of peace and stability made the Shang royal family begin to lose their ambition to make progress. Around 1487 BC, the monarch Zu Xin who succeeded Zu Yi's death was an absolute tyrant.

He ignored state affairs and was incompetent, which led to the decline of the Shang Dynasty. At the same time, after years of recuperation, the strength of the vassal states was also increasing, and they gradually became unwilling to pay tribute to the Shang Dynasty.

Fortunately, Zu Xin's younger brother Pan Geng was well versed in the ways of being a king. Although they were brothers, their personalities were completely opposite. Zu Xin was incompetent and harmed people, while Pan Geng was diligent in government and cultivated virtue.

Around 1476 BC, Pan Geng ascended the throne. At this moment, he appointed Wu Xian, the son of Yi Yin, and Fu Yue, a capable minister. At that time, the Shang Dynasty believed in ghosts and gods very much. Whether it was war or weddings and funerals, divination was often performed first. According to folk legends, Fu Yue was the inventor of divination.

With the dual assistance of Wu Xian and Fu Yue, Pan Geng could be said to have control over administrative, military and divine power. He worked diligently for 75 years, and the Shang Dynasty was able to go from its decline to its revival.

It is said that Pan Geng had sorted out the mess before his death, but why did the Shang Dynasty fall into chaos right after he left? The throne changed faster than the speed of the June change, so why did this chaos last for about 100 years?

The story begins with the death of Taiwu in 1401 BC. After Taiwu's death, his son Zhongding ascended the throne. As a young man with lofty ambitions in the Shang Dynasty, Zhongding also wanted to make great achievements.

So he first moved the capital of the Shang Dynasty from Bo to Xi, and then used his military advantage to attack the Southern Yi. Although he won beautifully on the battlefield, problems arose within the country.

The succession system of the Shang Dynasty at that time was a combination of the son inheriting the throne after the father's death and the younger brother inheriting the throne after the elder brother's death, which also led to confusion in the succession of the throne. The younger brother was unwilling to return the throne to his elder brother's son, but instead wanted his own son to be king.

Around 1388 BC, after Zhongding passed away, a war for the throne broke out. This chaos lasted for nearly a hundred years, from the rebellion of Zhongding to the rebellion of Wojia IX, and was not declared over until around 1300 BC. It is known in history as the "Nine Generations of Rebellion."

After Zhong Ding died, his younger brothers Wai Ren and He Dan Jia successively took the throne. At this time, due to the struggle for the throne, the Shang Dynasty was no longer as strong as it once was, but these two kings still repeatedly sent troops to conquer all directions, and the national strength of the Shang Dynasty continued to decline.

Things did not turn around until around 1364 BC, when He Danjia's son Pan Geng ascended the throne.

It took him only 19 years to conquer Lai Yiban Fang and other countries, eliminating the threat posed by the Yi people in the southeast to the Shang Dynasty. He also appointed the capable minister Fu Yue to help the Shang Dynasty prosper again.

However, around 1345 BC, after Pan Geng, the pillar of power, fell, his successors Zu Geng, Zu Jia, Lin Xin and Kang Ding were not wise rulers, and the fortunes of the Shang Dynasty went from bad to worse.

By the time of King Zhou of Shang, Di Xin, the Shang Dynasty was already in turmoil and the princes did not attend court. Logically, the Shang Dynasty should have come to an end, but the appearance of one person unexpectedly changed the fate of the entire dynasty.

When there were disputes over the throne and warlords outside, a man suddenly emerged: Wu Ding, the 19th king of the Shang Dynasty. Knowing that "to resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the country", he decided to reduce the various forces within the dynasty so that they would no longer have the opportunity to covet the throne.

He came up with a good idea: moving the capital. On the one hand, Wu Ding chose a new capital because the fertile land was conducive to agricultural development; on the other hand, after the capital was moved, the nobles would leave their homeland and their power would be weakened, which made it easier for Wu Ding to consolidate power.

This move around 1300 BC saved the Shang Dynasty, which was originally on the verge of collapse. For the next 270 years, the Shang Dynasty did not move its capital again, hence the name Yin Shang.

However, Wu Ding's excellent mind was not passed on to the next heir to the throne. After his death, his two younger brothers Zu Geng and Zu Jia successively succeeded to the throne. During their more than 40 years on the throne, the vitality of the Shang Dynasty declined again.

In 1250 BC, at this new critical moment, the Shang Dynasty was succeeded by its emperor Wu Ding. When he was young, his father sent him to the countryside to experience life. While observing the sufferings of the people, Wu Ding also met Gan Pan and Fu Yue, his future right-hand men.

With their help, Wu Ding once again raised the politics, economy and culture of the Shang Dynasty to a new level. In addition to these two capable ministers, Wu Ding also married a wife, Fu Hao, who was proficient in sacrifice.