Pangeng’s move to Yin was the thirteenth time that Shang moved the capital. From the ancestor of the merchant Qi to Tang, there were 14 generations, eight migrations during this period; from Tang to Pangeng, there were ten generations, five migrations. The migration of the Shang clan was seen thirteen times before and after the record.
Pan Geng moved to Yin is a turning point in the history of Shang Dynasty. After moving to Yin, the Shang Dynasty developed steadily, and Wuding Zhongxing appeared soon after. When the capital was moved frequently before, it was the mid-decline of the Shang Dynasty. It can be inferred that the several capital relocations in the early Shang period were related to the instability of the Shang Dynasty.
Let’s talk about the unstable situation in the early Shang Dynasty:
1. The imperial power is weak
I believe many people have heard of "Yi Yin "Release Taijia", of course, this is a good story. The business king Taijia, who was originally an innocent king, was exiled to Tonggong by Yi Yin to guard the mausoleum of his grandfather Shang Tang. Three years later, he reflected on his mistakes and was welcomed back by Yi Yin and became a generation of wise monarchs.
But this is enough to illustrate the weakness of the early Shang Dynasty. Yi Yin has a noble character. This is a good story. If you run into a treacherous minister, it may become a coup, or even chaos. After
, starting from the tenth generation of Shang King Zhongding, the royal house continued to fight for the throne, and the brothers and brothers and the throne succession system in the early Shang Dynasty were destroyed. When the successor to the throne died, the disciple's sons refused to return the throne to the brother's son, thus creating a chaotic situation where the abolition of the progeny and the disciples, disciples, or competing for generations. This situation lasted until the reign of Yang Jia, a total of five generations and nine kings, which was called the Ninth Rebellion in history.
By the end of the Ninth Rebellion, Shang Wang Yangjia was no longer able to control the aristocratic forces in the civil strife. Sima Qian’s "Records of the History" contained: "Being chaotic than the Ninth Rebellion, so the lords did not chaos". After Yang Jia died in despair, his younger brother Pan Geng came to the throne. Feeling the difficulty of the nobility, Pan Geng decided to move the capital.
Speaking of returning to Pan Geng to move to Yin, Pan Geng was greatly resisted by the nobles. Because after the capital is moved, everything has to be started from scratch, and the clan and noble forces will be restrained if they leave the long-running base camp. The relocation of the capital also enabled the king of Shang to avoid attacks by the rebel forces. No matter how difficult it is for the nobles to intervene in the royal power and intervene in politics. In the end, Pan Geng moved the capital by compulsory means, and the Shang Dynasty has since revived.
It can be seen that the location of the capital is closely related to the power of the nobility. The repeated capital movement before Pan Geng was due to the fierce competition for the throne and the sharp contradiction between the king of Shang and the nobles.
2. Production backward
Shang Dynasty was in the transitional period of my country's agriculture from migrating agriculture to settled agriculture.
What is "migration agriculture"? It is the extensive planting of slash-and-burn cultivation, where a piece of wasteland is cultivated first by axe chopping, fire and other methods, and then seeded at will, without special fertilizer. A few years later, the fertility of the soil declined and the output decreased, and another land was found for cultivation.
Shang Dynasty has already had a relatively advanced social form. Farming technology has been developed initially, but it was still very limited at the beginning of Shang Dynasty. This is the economic reason for the frequent migration of merchants.
By the mid-Shang Dynasty, where Pan Geng was located, merchants’ production techniques had improved significantly, including their understanding of agricultural production and the manufacture of farm tools. In short, with the intensive cultivation of agriculture, the settlement customs of merchants have been consolidated, and relocation of capital is no longer necessary and convenient. Therefore, Pan Geng Qian Yin also marked the progress of Shang Dynasty production mode.
Finally, let me talk about the geographical factors of moving the capital
The Shang Dynasty originated in the eastern part of North China, located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The flooding and diversions are extremely frequent.
For example: during the reign of King Zu Yi, the capital of the capital (now Neihuang, Henan) was flooded, Zu Yi moved the capital to Geng (now Hejin, Shanxi), the second year after Zu Yi moved to Geng, due to a river disaster , Gengcheng was destroyed and moved to Pi (now Yuncheng, Shandong).
After Pan Geng moved to Yin, the royal power was strengthened. The Shang Dynasty ended the ninth civil strife and entered a period of stable development. Forty years after Pan Geng's death, his nephew Wu Ding succeeded, and the Shang Dynasty reached its peak under his rule.
