King Zhou of Shang

Shang Zhouredirects here. For geographical locations, lowed for the entire pool to be lled with alcohol. A small
see Shangzhou (disambiguation).
island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where
trees were planted, which had branches made of roasted
King Zhou (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhu Wng) was the meat skewers hanging over the pool. This allowed Zhou
and his friends and concubines to drift on canoes in the
pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin (Chinese:
; pinyin: D Xn), the last king of the Shang dynasty pool. When they thirsted, they reached down into the
pool with their hands and drank the wine. When they
of ancient China.* [1] He is also called Zhou Xin (;
Zhu Xn). He may also be referred to by addingShang hungered, they reached up with their hands to eat the
( Shng) in front of any of his names. In Chinese, roasted meat. This was considered one of the most faalso refers to a horse crupper,* [2] the part of a saddle or mous examples of decadence and corruption of a ruler in
Chinese history.
harness that is most likely to be soiled by the horse.
In order to please Daji, he created the Cannon Burning Punishment(). One large hollow bronze
cylinder was stued with burning charcoal and allowed to
1 Early reign
burn until red-hot, then prisoners were made to literally
hug the cylinder, which resulted in a painful and unsightly
In the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian wrote death.
that Di Xin, in the early part of his reign, had abiliZhou and Daji were known to get highly aroused after
ties which surpassed those of the ordinary man, and was
watching such torture. Victims ranged from ordinary
quick-witted and quick-tempered. According to legend,
people and prisoners to high government ocials, such
he was intelligent enough to win all of his arguments,
as Mei Bo.* [5]
and he was strong enough to hunt wild beasts with his
bare hands.* [3] He was the younger brother of Zi Qi ( In order to fund Zhou's heavy daily expenses, extremely
) and Zi Yan () (later rulers of Zhou's client state heavy taxes were implemented. The people suered
Song)* [4] and father of Wu Geng. His father Di Yi had greatly, and lost all hope for the Shang dynasty. Zhou's
two brothers, Ji Zi and Bi Gan. Di Xin added to the ter- brother Wei Zi tried to persuade him to change, but was
ritory of Shang by battling the tribes surrounding it, in- rebuked. His uncle Bi Gan similarly remonstrated with
him, but Di Xin had his heart ripped out so he could see
cluding the Dongyi to the east.
what the heart of a sage looked like. When his other uncle Ji Zi heard this, he went to remonstrate with the kingly
nephew and, feigning madness, was imprisoned.

Late reign

In his later years, Di Xin gave himself over to drinking,

women and abandoned morals, preferring these to the
proper governance of the country, and ignored almost all
aairs of state. According to Sima Qian, he even hosted
festive orgies where many people engaged in immoral
things at the same time with his concubines and created
songs with crude (erotic) lyrics and poor rhythm. In legends, he is depicted as having come under the inuence of
his wicked wife Daji, and committing all manner of evil
and cruel deeds with her. In ctionalizations, including
the novel Fengshen Yanyi, she was said to be possessed
by a malevolent fox spirit.

3 Fall
When Zhou dynasty's army, led by the famous Jiang Ziya,
defeated the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye in 1046
BC, Di Xin gathered all his treasures around himself in
the Palace, and then set re to his palace and committed
suicide.
The name Zhouactually appeared after the death of
King Zhou, a posthumous name (although perhaps used
furtively by his contemporaries). This name was a representation of his actions, both dishonorable and coldhearted. King Zhou would go down in history as one of
the worst examples of a corrupted king in China.

One of the most famous forms of entertainment Zhou enjoyed was the Wine Pool and Meat Forest(
). A large pool, big enough for several canoes, was
constructed on the Palace grounds, with inner linings of
polished oval shaped stones from the sea shores. This al1

Mentions in literature and legend 7 References

Zhou is mentioned in the Confucian Analects (19 "

");* [6] and also in the Three Character Classic.* [7]
Zhou is also one of the main subjects of Fengshen Yanyi
and its various derivations in popular media. Thus,
Di Xin, also known as Zhou, has served as a (negative) exemplar of Confucian principles (presented as the
wicked ruler who justies regime change according to the
Mandate of Heaven), as well as becoming an icon of popular culture. This makes for a biographically interesting
gure, but one challenging a clear distinction between history, legend, and philosophical point-making.
In Fengshen Yanyi, Zhou visited the Goddess Nwa's temple and oended the Goddess with his lustful comments
towards her beauty. In response, Nwa decided that the
Shang dynasty should end and sent her three subordinates
to become three beautiful women (including Daji) to bewitch Zhou. Under the inuence of these women, Zhou
becomes a ruthless king, losing the support of people and
triggering his downfall.

As God of Sodomy

According to folklore, after his death, King Zhou begged

the gods and goddesses for mercy. The gods decide to deify him, but since there was nothing suitable, they created
a post specially for him: God of Sodomy.* [8] A temple
was built for him in Weihui, Henan.* [9]

REFERENCES

Notes

[1] Wu, 220.

[2] U+7D02
[3] Wu, 220-221, referencing Sima Qian's Yin Benji chapter
().
[4] Lshi Chunqiu ()
[5] See, for example, Qu Yuan, Tian Wen (). "
".
[6] http://ctext.org/analects/zi-zhang#n1593
[7] http://ctext.org/three-character-classic#n90610
[8] Brian Grith (18 October 2013). A Galaxy of Immortal
Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization. Exterminating Angel Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-935259-15-2.
[9] http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/
chinese-mythology.php?deity=ZHOU-WANG

Wu, K. C. (1982). The Chinese Heritage. New York:

Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54475-X.

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King Zhou of Shang Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Zhou_of_Shang?oldid=730125634 Contributors: Delirium, Nanshu,

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