Cheng Tang (), personal name Zi Lü (), recorded on oracle bones as Da Yi (大乙), was the first

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

Chinese history The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

. Traditionally considered a virtuous ruler, he overthrew Jie, the last ruler of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...

Rise of Shang

Tang ruled Shang, one of the many kingdoms under the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...

of the Xia dynasty, for 17 years. During Jie's reign, Shang grew in power, initially at the expense of Xia's other vassals. He was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms.王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #1 遠古至春秋. 中華書局. . p 30. Tang recognized that Jie mistreated his people and used this to convince others. In one speech, Tang said that creating chaos was not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he had to follow the

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, '' Tian'') – which embodies the nat ...

and use this opportunity to overthrow Xia. As an advantage he pointed out that even Jie's own military generals would not obey his orders. In the 15th year of Jie's reign, Tang began moving Lü to the capital Bo.Bamboo annals Xia chapter on Xia Jie under the name Gui (癸).Virginia.edu.
Virginia.edu contents of Bamboo annal
" ''Xia chapter.'' Retrieved on 2010-10-03. About two years later Shang sent his minister Yi Yin as an envoy to Jie. Yi remained in the Xia capital for about three years, before returning to Shang. The Shang's power continued to grow. In the 26th year of Jie's reign, Shang conquered Wen. Two years later, Shang was attacked by Kunwu, and several years of war between Shang and Kunwu followed.高明士, 国真梁.

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

(2007). 中國通史. 五南圖書出版股份有限公司. , 9789571143125. p. 46. Despite this setback, Shang continued to expand on a number of fronts, gathering vassal troops in

Jingbo Jingpo Lake or Lake Jingpo (; ''Pinyin'': Jìng Pō Hú) is a lake located in the upper reaches of the Mudan River among the Wanda Mountains in Ningan County, Heilongjiang Province, in the People's Republic of China. Earlier names for the lake ...

. The Shang army and allied forces conquered Mitxu (today's

Xinmi Xinmi (), formerly Mi County (), is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. The archaeological Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic pe ...

in Henan),

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

, and attacked Gu, which too was conquered the following year. About this time Zhong Gu, chief historian of Jie, would flee from the Xia to the Shang.

Battle of Mingtiao

The Shang army fought against Jie's Xia forces at

Mingtiao Xia County or Xiaxian () is a county in the southwest of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan province to the southeast. It is under the jurisdiction of Yuncheng City. History In ancient China, it served as the previous c ...

(鳴條) in a heavy thunderstorm and defeated them. Jie himself escaped and fled to Sanzong. The Shang forces under their general Wuzi pursued Jie to Cheng, captured him at Jiaomen, and deposed him, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end. Eventually, Jie was exiled in Nanchao. Jie would eventually die of illness and Tang succeeded him as paramount King, inaugurating the

King of the Shang

Tang's reign was regarded as a good one by the Chinese. He lowered taxes and the conscription rate of soldiers. His influence spread to the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

, and many outlying tribes, such as Di and Qiang, became vassal states. He also established

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It ...

as the new capital of China. According to the

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history ...

, Tang built a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

called Xia She (夏社) to memorialize the Xia dynasty. In the first five years of his reign, there were several

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

s. Tang ordered golden

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

s to be made and distributed to poor families who had been forced to sell their children because of the drought. It was intended for them to use this

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

to buy their children back. According to the

, in the 9th year of his reign, he moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, made by

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures promine ...

, to the Shang Palace.

Rise of Shang

Battle of Mingtiao

King of the Shang

References

Further reading