The Shang Dynasty was the second dynasty in Chinese history. According to legend, there were 17 generations and 31 kings, which lasted for more than 500 years. Who were the emperors? How did they bring the Shang Dynasty to its peak, and how did they bring the Shang Dynasty to its

The Shang Dynasty was the second dynasty in Chinese history. According to legend, there were 17 generations and 31 kings, which lasted for more than 500 years. Who were the emperors? How did they bring the Shang Dynasty to its peak, and how did they bring the Shang Dynasty to its demise step by step? , let’s take a look together.

Before introducing the emperors of the Shang Dynasty, we first understand the history of the Shang Dynasty.

The Shang Dynasty was the first dynasty with written records in Chinese history. It made great achievements in politics, economy, military and culture, laying the foundation for the development of ancient Chinese civilization . It was founded by Shang Tang after the Battle of Mingtiao, and was destroyed by King Wu of Zhou after the Battle of Makino. It lasted for more than 500 years from about 1600 BC to 1046 BC, and was passed down from generation to generation for 17 years. There were 31 kings in the world. Some people say that the Shang Dynasty lasted from about 1675 BC to 1029 BC and lasted for more than 600 years. Which one do you think it is?

Let’s put it this way, Shang Tang was born around 1670 BC and died in 1587 BC. In 1675 BC, Shang Tang was not yet born. Shang Tang was the monarch of the Shang Kingdom for 17 years and established the Shang Dynasty 13 years later. Dibeng, according to time estimates, should be the Shang Dynasty established in 1600 BC.

Nowadays, although many videos say that it is from 1600 BC to 1046 BC, but you should be careful and add up all the king's reign time they say, it is almost more than 600 years. In fact, this is normal. , after all, the succession to the throne does not have to wait until the death of the previous one to start counting the time.

Okay, let’s take a look at the kings of the Shang Dynasty, their reigns, and their deeds. How they brought the Shang Dynasty to its peak, and how they brought the Shang Dynasty to its demise step by step, which states The relationship between the kings is guaranteed to be understood at a glance.

With the assistance of Yi Yin , Zhong Hui and others, Shang Tang defeated Xia Jie in the Battle of Mingtiao, and finally established the Shang Dynasty and became the founding monarch of the Shang Dynasty. Shang Tang was a very talented person. Politeness, after the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, many vassal states came to congratulate him, and he treated each other with courtesy, so he gained the support of many vassal states. During the reign of Shang Tang, he established criminal laws internally, appeased the people, encouraged production, and expanded externally. The ruled area laid the foundation for the development of the Shang Dynasty. Because Shang Tang destroyed Xia by force and broke the idea that the king would be eternally settled, that is, the world belongs to the people of the world, and the virtuous live in it. Later dynasties changed in this way, so it was called the "Shang Tang Revolution" in history.

Shang Tang

Shang Tang was the monarch of the Shang Kingdom for 17 years. He established the Shang Dynasty and became king 13 years later. He died and reigned for 30 years.

The second king of the Shang Dynasty, King Taiding of the Shang Dynasty

The second king of the Shang Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty Dai Wang (Tai Ding), this dear man was rather miserable. The prince was originally his, but he failed to survive his father. He died first and did not inherit the throne, so many historians did not include him in the Shang Dynasty. Among the emperors.

The third king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Ai (Waibing)

The third king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Ai (Waibing), was the second son of Shang Tang. He reigned for 3 years and was not young when he came to the throne. His health wasn't very good either. He fell ill and died without doing anything.

The fourth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Yi (Zhong Ren)

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The fourth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Yi (Zhong Ren), was the third son of Shang Tang. He reigned for 4 years. This man was also very powerful. He managed to survive the second brother and finally came to the top. However, he was too old and died 4 years later.

The fifth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Taizong ( Taijia), Taijia was the second king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of the King of Shang Dynasty (Tai Ding). He reigned for 23 years. When he first succeeded to the throne, he was very ambitious. He wanted to be a good king, but in less than two years he couldn't keep going. He started to go his own way, giving orders arbitrarily and enjoying himself blindly. It was very unbearable. Although Yi Yin tried to persuade him in every possible way, he couldn't listen. Yi Yin was afraid of Shang Tang. The imperial estate was ruined in the hands of this unscrupulous descendant, so Taijia was exiled to Tonggong near Shangtang Cemetery. At this time, the only monarch in history who was exiled by a minister appeared. It is known in history as "Yi Yin released Taijia". For three years, Yi Yin and other ministers governed on their behalf, which was called "Republican Governance" in history. Three years later, Yi Yin saw that Taijia truly repented, so he personally went to welcome him back to Bodu , and this time he knew that Yi Yin was He couldn't afford to offend others, so he could only be a wise king, diligent and caring for the people. Due to his outstanding performance, Yi Yin even wrote an article "Tai Jia Xun" to praise him.

The sixth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhao (Woding) of Shang Dynasty, was the fifth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of Shang Taizong (Taijia). He reigned for 29 years. Yiyin passed away eight years after Woding succeeded to the throne, and he chose Jiu Shan assisted, and he also promoted the rule of business with virtue, which was quite satisfactory. The Shang Dynasty was also growing in power.

The seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, King Xuan of Shang (Tai Geng), he was the fifth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Shang Taizong (Taijia), the sixth king of the Shang Dynasty, and the younger brother of King Zhao (Woding) of Shang Dynasty. He reigned for 25 years. , there are very few records about him. I only know that his code of conduct was completely implemented in accordance with the Tang Law. If there are not many deeds in the following, I will only introduce the relationship between the characters and the length of his reign.

The eighth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Jing (Xiaojia), was the seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Xuan of Shang (Tai Geng). He reigned for 36 years. This man has great controversy. Some people say that he is Tai Geng. The son of Geng is also said to be the younger brother of Tai Geng. Some say he reigned for 36 years, while others say he reigned for 17 years.

The ninth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Yuan of Shang (Yongji), was the seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Xuan of Shang (Tai Geng), the eighth king of the Shang Dynasty, and the younger brother of King Jing of Shang (Xiaojia). He reigned for 12 years Years ago, this dear friend was a talented person. Under his governance, the Shang Dynasty gradually declined, which directly caused the princes to stop coming to the court. When he came to power, he began to waste his family business, neglect political affairs, and seemed to have failed to improve his skills in governing the country.

The Shang Dynasty society at that time had very obvious classes, which were mainly divided into slave owners, slaves and civilians. Slave owners were generally former tribal leaders, slaves were obtained from foreign wars, and civilians were the aborigines of the Shang Dynasty. In the eyes of slave owners, slaves are just "talking tools". They abuse all kinds of things and squeeze out the remaining value of slaves desperately. They don't care about the life and death of slaves. Sometimes they are used for sacrifices, while slave owners indulge in drinking and drinking all day long. Hunting, singing and dancing also paved the way for the subsequent demise of the Shang Dynasty.

The tenth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Zhongzong ( Taiwu ), the seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Xuan of Shang (Tai Geng), the ninth king of Shang Dynasty, the younger brother of King Yuan of Shang (Yong Ji), In the 75th year of his reign, Sima Qian commented on him: "The Yin Dynasty revived and the princes returned, so it was called Zhongzong." This shows that when he was in power, the Shang Dynasty began to develop in a good direction again, and the princes began to pay tribute again. His clever trick was to appoint Yi Zhi, the son of Yi Yin, as the prime minister of the country, and later appointed Wu Xian to assist in the government. He himself worked diligently and cultivated virtues, governed the country and benefited the people. The direct result was that the declining Shang Dynasty was able to flourish again, and the goods were received. It received a lot of praise from later generations.

The eleventh king of the Shang Dynasty, King Xiaocheng of Shang ( Zhongding), was the tenth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of Shang Zhongzong (Taiwu). He reigned for 13 years. During the reign of Zhongding, the barbarians in the southeast From time to time, the Shang Dynasty came to harass the Shang Dynasty, and finally they started fighting, but Zhongding sent troops to repel them. His own power was also seriously damaged. He found out that his younger brothers began to fight for power. For the sake of the stability of the country, Zhongding chose to move the capital. Moved the capital from Bo to Xiao. Unfortunately, it could not be avoided in the end. After Zhongding died, his brothers competed for the throne, thus kicking off the "Nine Generations Rebellion".

The twelfth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shangsi (Wairen), was the tenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Shang Zhongzong (Taiwu), the eleventh king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Xiaocheng (Zhongding) of Shang Dynasty Brother, after reigning for 15 years, this dear brother has become very powerful. He set the precedent that whoever has a bigger fist can become the king. Every king in the future will compete with each other before he succeeds, which directly disrupts the original brother's destiny. Brother and system.

The thirteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Ping of Shang Qian (He Danjia), was the tenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Zhongzong (Taiwu) of Shang Dynasty, the eleventh king of the Shang Dynasty, and the younger brother of King Xiaocheng (Zhongding) of Shang Dynasty. After reigning for 9 years, he was uneasy after taking office. It can be said that there were internal and external worries. Many people opposed his taking office, so he decided to move the capital, and moved the capital from Xiaohuo to Xiangxiang. After the capital move was completed, there was an attack on Lanyi. As a result of the war, Lan Yi fled to Banfang, and Banfang was finally defeated, laying the foundation for the subsequent revival of zuyi.

The fourteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Mu of the Shang Dynasty (Zu Yi), was the thirteenth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of King Ping (He Danjia) of Qian Shang Dynasty. He reigned for 19 years. This man was a little unlucky. He was the one who moved the capital. Kuangmo, after he came to power, wanted to move the capital, so he moved the capital from Xiang to Geng. However, it was washed away by floods the next year, so he started to move the capital again, this time from Geng to Xing. It didn't take long for him to live a stable life, and Xing was also affected. Due to the threat of floods, he moved the capital from Xing to Bi. During Zu Yi's reign, Lan Yi and Ban Fang often came out to act as monsters. Zu Yi sent troops several times to eliminate the threat to the Shang Dynasty from the Yi tribe in the southeast. , which made the Shang Dynasty's national situation improve again.

The fifteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Huan of Shang (Zu Xin), was the fourteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Mu of Shang (Zu Yi). He reigned for 16 years and suffered from constant civil strife, which caused the Shang Dynasty to begin to decline again.

The sixteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Xi of Shang (Wojia), was the fourteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Mu (zu Yi) of Shang Dynasty, and the fifteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Huan (zu Xin) of Shang Dynasty. The younger brother has been in office for 25 years.

The 17th king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shangzhuang (Zu Ding), was the 16th king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of King Shang Huan (Zu Xin). He reigned for 9 years, some say 32 years.

The eighteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shangqing ( Nan Geng), was the sixteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Xi (Wojia) of Shang Dynasty, the seventeenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shangzhuang (ancestor) Ding)'s cousin, who reigned for 25 years, the issue of inheritance broke out again, and the domestic turmoil finally became unbearable after so many years of backlog, so Nan Geng remembered the old method of his ancestors and continued to move the capital. Then he moved the capital from Bi to Yan.

The nineteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Mou ( Yangjia), was the seventeenth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of King Shangzhuang (Zuding). He reigned for 7 years. At this time, the Shang Dynasty was experiencing constant civil strife. The princes were not in power. In addition to competing for inheritance rights, the slave owners and nobles also killed each other. The Shang Dynasty continued to decline.

The twentieth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Shizu ( Pan Geng), was the seventeenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Shangzhuang (Zuding), the nineteenth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Miao (Yangjia) )'s younger brother, who reigned for 28 years, Pan Geng was considered a capable king. When he succeeded to the throne, there were killings in the country. Many vassal states still had the intention of rebellion and did not pay tribute. When he succeeded to the throne, Later, he moved the capital from Yan to Bo, euphemistically called it, following the footsteps of his ancestors. This was the land of Longxing, but it was still threatened by natural disasters, and finally had to move the capital again. Most nobles were greedy for comfort and did not want to move. He was willing to move, and it took a lot of effort to convince the nobles, so he moved the capital from Bo to Yin. After Pan Geng moved to Yin , he used strong methods to stop the nobles from trying to move back to the old capital. He also advocated frugality, improved customs, reduced exploitation, and finally stabilized the situation, and implemented the decrees of Shang Tang. From then on, the people were peaceful and the Shang Dynasty was once again revitalized. The capital of Shang has been here for more than 270 years. Therefore, later generations called the Shang Dynasty "Yin" or " Yin Shang ". The princely states also came to pay tribute one after another, and the power of the Shang Dynasty showed an upward trend.

The twenty-first king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang Zhang (Xiao Xin), was the seventeenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Shangzhuang (Zuding), the twentieth king of the Shang Dynasty, and the younger brother of Shang Shizu (Pangeng) After reigning for 21 years, he was very smart and felt that Pan Geng's strategy of governing the country was too backward, so he gave up. As a result, the Shang Dynasty, which had finally improved a little, began to decline again.

The twenty-second king of the Shang Dynasty, King Hui of Shang (小), was the seventeenth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Shangzhuang (Zuding), and the twenty-first king of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhang of Shang (little B). Xin)'s younger brother, who reigned for 21 years. Like his brother, this brother used his own methods to govern the country, which made the decline of the Shang Dynasty even more serious.

The twenty-third king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Gaozong ( Wu Ding), was the twenty-second king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of King Shang Hui (Xiao Yi). He reigned for 59 years and was the first person to succeed to the throne. The first thing is that the rule that non-nobles cannot hold important positions was abolished. Because of the civil strife at that time, there was a shortage of talents. Fu Shuo, Gan Pan and others who came from poor backgrounds had great influence on the politics, economy, military, culture, etc. of the Shang Dynasty. They all carried out reforms and the Shang Dynasty quickly restored its national strength. At this time, he wanted to resolve the civil strife. The solution was to concentrate all power on himself and form a ruling institution in which he controlled all military and political power. Therefore, in the future, There has been almost no civil strife for more than a hundred years, but externally, the vassal states will surrender with virtue, and those who disobey will be beaten until they obey. Therefore, the direct benefits are that the vassal states will surrender, pay tribute regularly, and expand the territory by ten years. times.

After Wu Ding's governance, the Shang Dynasty experienced an unprecedented prosperous age, with a prosperous economy, peaceful lives for the people, and strong national power. It was known in history as the "Wu Ding Prosperity".

The twenty-fourth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Ping after Shang (zugeng), was the twenty-third king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of Shang Gaozong (Wu Ding). He reigned for 7 years. He was the second son and eldest son of Wu Ding. He was framed by his stepmother, expelled from the capital by his father Wu Ding, and died unjustly. His younger brother did not want to compete with him for the throne, and did not want the "Rebellion of the Nine Generations" to happen again, so the throne came easily, but Wu Ding was originally I felt that he didn't have much talent, and that's exactly what happened. He didn't achieve much after taking office.

The twenty-fifth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Shizong (zujia), was the twenty-third king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of Shang Gaozong (Wu Ding). He reigned for 33 years. Wu Ding had been very optimistic about him before and wanted to The throne was passed directly to him. As a result, he was afraid that the "Nine Generations Rebellion" would happen again, so he left the royal capital and gave up his position to Zu Geng. During his reign, he conquered Xirong, and he was still able to take care of him in the early days of his reign. The people, the Shang Dynasty revived, and created the method of "Zhou Sacrifice", which became popular in the second half of the Shang Dynasty and gradually reached its peak.

The twenty-sixth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Jiazong (Lin Xin), was the twenty-fifth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Shang Shizong (zujia). He reigned for 6 years. During his reign, some tribes in the west harassed him. The Shang Dynasty decided to send troops to suppress the enemy, but the results were unsatisfactory. They were not captured and became a hidden danger.

The twenty-seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Kangzu ( Gengding), was the twenty-fifth king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Shang Shizong (ancestral Jia), the twenty-sixth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Jia Zong (Lin Xin)'s younger brother, who reigned for 1 year. During his reign, the Qiang Fang repeatedly invaded the Shang Dynasty . Geng Ding asked some tribes to send troops to suppress it. In the end, the war was won, the Qiang Fang Bo was captured and part of the Qiang Fang was occupied. land, but the Qiang side was not conquered and became a hidden danger.

The twenty-eighth king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Wuzu ( Wu Yi ), was the twenty-seventh king of the Shang Dynasty, the son of Shang Kangzu (Geng Ding). He reigned for 35 years. When Wu Yi was on the throne, The witchcraft was extremely powerful and often used God's will to suppress the actions of the Shang king. Wu Yi tried every means to attack the witchcraft power. At the same time, the tribes of the Western Fang Kingdom continued to harass the Shang Kingdom. Wu Yi gathered his troops and launched a war. Wu Yi often used troops in the Wei River Basin in his later years, and finally died in the battle to conquer the tribes of the Western Kingdom.

The twenty-ninth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Kuang of Shang (Taiding), was the twenty-eighth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of Shang Wuzu (Wu Yi). After reigning for 13 years, Taiding succeeded to the throne. In order to relieve the Zhou Dynasty, Human threats killed quarterly calendar . Why is this? It turned out that Wu Yi had granted Ji Li the power of conquest, and Ji Mu was a member of the Kingdom of Zhou, so many of the places he attacked had surrendered to the Kingdom of Zhou. Taiding was frightened by this and determined to suppress the development of Zhou. So Ji Li was killed, which intensified the conflict between the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty.

The thirtieth king of the Shang Dynasty, King Shang De ( Emperor Yi ), was the twenty-ninth king of the Shang Dynasty and the son of King Kuang of Shang (Tai Ding). During the reign of Emperor Yi, the Shang Dynasty had become more powerful. In decline.At that time, the Yi tribe between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River became strong again and prepared to attack the Shang Dynasty. In order to prevent the east and west from being attacked, Emperor Yi married a young daughter of Wen Ding to Ji Chang to apologize to the Zhou Kingdom. After easing the conflict with the Zhou people, he put down the rebellion of Dongyi , and moved the capital to Chaoge in his later years.

The thirty-first king of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang ( Emperor Xin), the thirtieth king of the Shang Dynasty, was the son of King Kuang of Shang (Emperor Yi). According to records, he was too cruel and lustful. Favoring Daji , he tortured the people, overhauled palaces, and excessive conquests, which made the people miserable. Some of the criminal laws used were so cruel that many vassal states rebelled. In the end, he was defeated in the Battle of Makino and died by self-immolation.

I think King Zhou was actually a very capable king, but the officials were all nobles. Let's put it this way, even a fool from a noble family can be an official. There are no Hanshis in the top class and no nobles in the bottom class. At that time, King Zhou wanted to be a When the decision was made, it would not only be opposed by the nobles, but also by the priests . In order to stabilize the government and appoint talented civilians as officials, there were also many external vassal states rebelling. King Zhou of Shang led his troops to attack and pushed him all the way. , good news came one after another, but the wars were too frequent, and many young and middle-aged people in the country were drafted, causing the family to lose its backbone and be destroyed. In addition, the criminal law of the Shang State at that time was too cruel, and the sacrifices were too inhumane. The final fuse was Shang Zhou Even if the king captured the King Wen of Zhou and put it back later, it would not be able to stop the people from rebelling. In addition, the priests and nobles were deprived of their power, and they had a grudge, so they took refuge in the Zhou Kingdom. The internal and external cooperation led to the collapse of the Shang Dynasty. Death shows that Emperor Xin is still a very talented monarch, and his cruelty is just to consolidate his dominance. If it was true as history said, how could the Shang Dynasty persist for so long?

Mao Zedong once said: It is wrong to regard King Zhou, Qin Shihuang , Cao Cao as bad people. In fact, King Zhou was a very capable, literary and military man. He managed the southeast and consolidated the unification of Dongyi and the Central Plains, which was historically meritorious. King Zhou conquered the barbarians in Xuzhou and won the battle, but the losses were heavy and there were too many captives to digest. King Wu of Zhou took advantage of the opportunity to attack, and a large number of captives defected, resulting in the fall of the Shang Dynasty. I think it makes sense. History is written by the victors. There must be a just reason to overthrow a dynasty, otherwise it will be called disloyal. The new king can only convince the public after he ascends the throne. This is called following the sky and responding to the people. Unfortunately, King Zhou became the worst scapegoat in history.

Although the Shang Dynasty perished, its politics, military, economy and culture had a profound impact on later generations. After the changes of dynasties, countless martyrs succeeded us, and we have the harmonious society we have now. So all we can do is cherish it present.

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