What kind of dynasty was the Shang Dynasty, some people said that the Shang Dynasty people were extremely barbaric, often used to bury people alive, and the bad habit of cannibalism was more popular. It is also said that the Shang Dynasty was the first recorded dynasty in Chinese history, exploiting slavery to the extreme, with technology and productivity far exceeding that of any country on earth at the same time.
In this issue, we will read the 554-year history of the Shang Dynasty in one go.
In about 1600 BC, Cheng Tang led the Shang army to a decisive battle with the Xia Dynasty army in Mingtiao, which is known as the Battle of Mingtiao.
Xia Wei was defeated in this battle and died on the way to Nanchao, and after Cheng Tang destroyed Xia, he returned to Boyi and formally established the Shang Dynasty, becoming the second dynasty in Chinese history.
And Bo also became the first capital of the Shang Dynasty.
Under the leadership of Shang Tang, the Shang Dynasty inherited the slavery system of the Xia Dynasty and continued to carry it forward, even inheriting the martyrdom system of the Xia Dynasty.
He reigned for 12 years and died in 1588 BC, with the temple name Taizu.
But when he died, his eldest son, Taiding, had died of old age, and the throne was inherited by his second son, Wai Bing, and Yi Yin was regent.
However, Wai Bing reigned for only three years, and died in 1585 BC, and was succeeded by his younger brother Zhongren, and Yi Yin continued to be regent.
Under Yi Yin's assistance, the Shang Dynasty's national power continued to grow, but the system of slavery and human martyrdom also became more and more stringent.
In 1582 B.C., Zhong Ren, who had reigned for just three years, died.
With the support of Yi Yin, the founding father, Taijia, the eldest grandson of Shang Taizu Chengtang, succeeded to the throne.
Yi Yin is dedicated to the country, and by the time Taijia succeeded to the throne, he was already a veteran of the Four Dynasties, and Taijia was born to jump out, although in the first three years, he could still follow Yi Yin's teachings and stick to the rules left by his grandparents.
Yi Yin also wrote many articles in a row such as "Wanton Life" and "Ancestral Queen" to spur Taijia, hoping that he could become a Ming Jun.
But three years later, Taijia could no longer stand this slave-born patriarch of the Four Dynasties.
He believed that he was the monarch of the Shang Dynasty and should not be controlled by anyone, so he ignored Yi Yin's persuasion and began to blindly enjoy himself and tyrannize the people.
Under his misdeeds, the Shang Dynasty's government was unconscious, and Yi Yin persuaded him many times, and finally could only exile Taijia to the Tong Palace near the Chengtang cemetery of Shang Taizu, hoping that he would reflect on it, while Yi Yin continued to be regent.
The history is called Yi Yin Fang Taijia.
In 1576 B.C., Taijia was imprisoned in Tonggong for three years, and every day he was accompanied by the old man who guarded the tomb, listening to him tell the hardships of Chengtang's entrepreneurship and the story behind each rule.
He began to reflect deeply on himself and decided to change his ways.
Yi Yin was very happy when he saw Taijia's repentance, and led hundreds of civil and military officials to Tonggong to pick up Taijia and return power to him.
After taking power, Taijia was extremely diligent, he helped the old and weak in the country, and he was more stable in his work, abiding by the laws of the ancestral system.
Under his rule, the originally somewhat dishonest princes all obeyed the rule of the Shang Dynasty, and the people became more peaceful.
In 1570 BC, Taijia, who reigned for 12 years, died, and the temple name was Taizong.
His son Wodin succeeded to the throne, and Yi Yin continued to assist and became the patriarch of the Five Dynasties.
For 20 years, Yi Yin served his duties faithfully, and in 1550 BC, Yi Yin died. Woding buried Yi Yin in Bodu with the gift of the Son of Heaven, regarded him as the "Shang Yuan Sage", and paid tribute to Shang Taizu together.
It can be said that without Yi Yin's 50 years of assistance, the Shang Dynasty would not have been able to prosper and become rich and strong.
In 1541 BC, after reigning for 29 years, Wodin died and was succeeded by his younger brother Tai Geng.
Although without Yi Yin's assistance, Tai Geng completely copied the legal system and ancestral system of Taizu Chengtang, and the Shang Dynasty was able to continue to be strong.
In 1516 BC, Tai Geng, who had reigned for 25 years, died and was succeeded by his son Xiao Jia.
Xiao Jia is not a capable monarch, but fortunately, he is not fooling around, he only cares about his own entertainment every day, and lets his ministers take charge of the Shang Dynasty according to his father's practice, although there is no progress, but there is no big disaster.
In 1499 BC, Xiao Jia, who had reigned for 17 years, died and was succeeded by his younger brother Yongji.
Unlike Xiao Jia, Yongji is not only incompetent, but also likes to command blindly.
During his reign, he was greedy for pleasure, and all kinds of stupid decrees made the nobles and princes under his command very disgusted, and since then, many princes have broken away from the rule of the Shang Dynasty, and even the tribute on the surface is deliberately not come.
Fortunately, Yongji only reigned for 12 years, and died in 1487 BC, and was succeeded by his younger brother Taiwu.
Taiwu originally had the same virtue as his brother, but one day after he succeeded to the throne, he found that another tree had grown under the mulberry tree in his backyard.
He thought that this was a warning from God to him to ignore the government, and since then, Taiwu has changed his appearance, he appointed Yi Yin's son Yi Zhi as the prime minister, and then used Wu Xian to assist him.
Even the princes who had previously broken away from the rule of the Shang Dynasty were forced by the national strength of the Shang Dynasty to return to the rule of the Shang Dynasty, known as Taiwu Zhongxing in history.
The most commendable thing is that Taiwu has been in power for 75 years in one go, not only for a long standby, but also almost without error.
This also allowed Taiwu to get the temple number of Shang Zhongzong.
In 1412 BC, Taiwu died and was succeeded by his son Zhongding.
Zhongding is average, but he has a heart to do big things, but he really can't think of what to do, so he simply made a big move.
He moved the capital of the Shang Dynasty to Huan, which is now Zhengzhou, Henan.
Six years later, in 1406 BC, the southern Lanyi attacked the Shang Dynasty, and although they were defeated by Zhongding, they also suffered heavy casualties among the noble ministers who supported Zhongding, and Zhongding's brothers began to covet the throne.
Although Zhongding firmly held the throne, he was unable to pass it on to his son.
Before he died, several of his brothers were already fighting each other for the throne, and in 1399 BC, Zhongding, who had reigned for 13 years, died. His younger brother Wairen subdued the other brothers by force and succeeded to the throne.
However, the procedures for the succession to the throne were not legal, and they were completely snatched by force.
This seizure of power also made other nobles think about joining the army to seize the throne by force.
For more than 100 years, the Shang Dynasty was mired in wars among the nobility. Known in history as the Ninth Rebellion, the Shang Dynasty, which had just completed its revival, fell into decline again.
It didn't take long for the two vassal states of Ji and Pi to launch a rebellion, and although the rebellion was eventually put down, the Shang Dynasty's national power was weaker.
In 1384 B.C., Wairen, who had reigned for 15 years, died, and was succeeded by his younger brother Hejia.
At that time, the Shang Dynasty was already worried about internal and external troubles, not only the major domestic forces were ready to move, but the ethnic minorities in the south were also constantly attacking.
He Jiajia could only move the capital north, on the one hand, to avoid the major forces in the capital, and on the other hand, to stay away from the attacks of the ethnic minorities in the south.
He moved the capital to Xiang, which is now Anyang, Henan.
In order to divert the contradictions of the major domestic forces, He Jiajia aimed the spearhead at the external forces, integrated the major nobles, and sent troops to attack Lanyi in the southeast defense line.
In 1375 B.C., after only 9 years of reign, he died and was succeeded by his son Zu Yi.
Due to the relative haste in choosing the capital of Hejia, located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, floods may occur at any time, and Zu Yi had to move the capital to Geng, which is now Hejin, Shanxi.
But only 1 year later, Gengdu was washed away by floods, and Zu Yi could only move the capital again and came to Xing, which is now Xingtai, Hebei.
But Xingdu was washed away by the flood again, and Zu Yi had to move the capital to Bei again, which is now the big platform of Guangzong County, Hebei.
The three relocations of the capital did not interrupt the national fortunes of the Shang Dynasty, and after coming to the capital, Zu Yi built a temple and a shrine, which made the political center of the Shang Dynasty quickly rich, and the Shang Dynasty also flourished again.
In 1356 BC, Zu Yi, who had reigned for 19 years, died and was succeeded by his son Zu Xin.
However, starting from Zu Xin, several Shang kings died early and did not have any political achievements, and the Shang dynasty continued to weaken.
It was not until more than 50 years later, in 1300 BC, that a majestic emperor Pangeng was born, and the Shang Dynasty changed its decline.
Pan Geng saw at a glance the root cause of the Shang Dynasty's continuous decline, that is, the internal contradictions could not be alleviated. The aristocracy divided the fertile land near the capital, and slavery caused the gap between the rich and the poor in society to be too large.
In order to change this situation, Pan Geng ignored the opposition of the nobles, and first moved the capital to Bo, that is, Shangqiu, Henan, and then moved the capital to Yin, which is now Anyang, Henan.
The two relocations of the capital completely liberated the land divided by the aristocracy, and the poor families were allocated fertile land again, and the gap between the rich and the poor was eased.
The nobles who had just arrived in the new capital had lost their inherent power and could only obey the king's orders.
Pangeng also implemented the decree and ancestral system of Shang Taizu Chengtang, implemented benevolent government, let the people live a good life, and the national strength of the Shang Dynasty was also enhanced, and the nobles and princes who had previously separated from the rule of the Shang Dynasty came to worship again, and the Shang Dynasty achieved revitalization again.
In 1272 BC, Pan Geng, who had reigned for 28 years, died, and his outstanding political achievements also earned him the temple name of Shang Shizu.
But when his younger brother Xiao Xin succeeded to the throne, he immediately overthrew Pan Geng's statecraft, and the Shang Dynasty declined again.
Although Xiao Xin reigned for only 10 years, Xiao Yi, who succeeded him, also inherited Xiao Xin's misdeeds.
Under the premise of the continuous decline of the Shang Dynasty, he still sent troops to conquer the ethnic minority tribes in the east, and formulated a more stringent sacrificial system, so that the Shang Dynasty was on the verge of extinction several times.
And the most correct thing he did was to let his son, the crown prince Wuding, go to work in the fields, eat and live with the people at the bottom of society, and experience the hardships of the people.
In 1250 BC, Xiao Yi, who had reigned for only 12 years, died, and was succeeded by his son Wu Ding.
Wu Ding is definitely more than Pan Geng's generation of male lords, not only diligent, but also a large number of idlers from the bottom, such as Fu Shuo, Gan Pan, Zu Ji and other talents, under the hard work of the monarch and ministers, the Shang Dynasty has achieved unprecedented development in the economy, military and culture, but also repeatedly repelled foreign invasions from the southeast and the west, and later generations called it Wu Ding Zhongxing.
The most important thing is that Wu Ding reigned for 58 years, and the Shang Dynasty almost reached the height of Shang Taizu's reign under a long period of stable and reasonable rule.
In 1185 B.C., Wu Ding died, and his descendants posthumously named him Shang Gaozong, and his son Zu Geng succeeded him, he inherited Wu Ding's legacy, bringing the Shang Dynasty to an unprecedented level of strength.
Unfortunately, Zu Geng died after only 7 years of reign, and his younger brother Zu Jia succeeded him in 1185 BC, but he was a tiger-headed king.
At the beginning of his reign, he was able to sympathize with the people's feelings and continue the momentum of Wuding Zhongxing, but it did not take long for the government to be abandoned, resulting in the gradual decline of the Shang Dynasty.
And Zu Geng's reign was not short, reaching 23 years, he died in 1162 BC, at this time the Shang Dynasty was declining, and his son Di Xin succeeded to the throne and was invaded by the Qiang people in the north.
Although the Shang Dynasty defeated the Qiang after several battles, it was unable to pursue them and had to expel them.
In 1150 B.C., when Di Xin died, his brother Kang Ding succeeded to the throne and was invaded by the Qiang again, but the result was still the same, and the Shang Dynasty drove the Qiang people out of the country after the damage to the national strength.
The successive Shang kings almost all focused their talents on military affairs, and they all used their military strength, of course, there was also the decline of the Shang Dynasty's national strength and the helplessness of foreign invasions.
But for a full 200 years, the Shang Dynasty continued to fight all the dishonest minority tribes in the surrounding area, but all of them failed to achieve the goal of conquest, but instead made the empire's national strength decline day by day.
In 1076 B.C., the well-known Shang king Di Xin succeeded to the throne.
Di Xin also inherited the martial arts tradition of the previous emperors, he not only can fight himself, the history records that the Shang Dynasty King has extraordinary arm strength, can be one enemy ten, and is also very intelligent, in the early stage of the succession to attack the Yi tribe in the east, directly subdued them, and spread the culture of the Shang Dynasty to the east of China.
However, the 200-year campaign completely crushed the foundation of the Shang Dynasty's rule, and the Shang Dynasty could only increase taxes and implement severe laws.
Coupled with the emergence of Daji, it exacerbated the demise of the Shang Dynasty.
The king favored Daji and built a large number of buildings, making the overwhelmed people of the Shang Dynasty even worse.
Finally, in 1046 BC, King Wu of Zhou led a coalition of princes and ethnic minorities, including the Qiang people who had been beaten by the Shang Dynasty, to march eastward and fight with the Shang Dynasty in Muye, known as the Battle of Muye.
In the end, the Shang army was defeated, and the Shang king was defeated**, which also marked the complete destruction of the Shang Dynasty after the founding of the country in 554.
And what kind of dynasty was the Zhou Dynasty, which succeeded the Shang Dynasty? We'll reveal it in the next issue!