King Zhou of Shang
Chinese · mortal · shang · mortal
He is the standing Chinese example of the bad last king, the figure every subsequent dynasty's fall was written against, and his historicity is not in doubt even where the atrocities attached to him are. What the novel adds is a mechanism: he is not merely wicked, he is possessed by proxy, corrupted on a goddess's instruction, which relieves the Mandate of Heaven of the awkward implication that Heaven simply changed its mind. The registry held nothing of the Shang at all.
Domains
- kingship
- tyranny
Relations
- consort of: Daji
- enemy: King Wu of Zhou
- enemy: Jiang Ziya
Sources
- Reference treatments of the Fengshen Yanyi and of King Zhou's corruption.