King Zhou of Shang
Chinese · mortal · shang · Recorded classification
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: DajiHis concubine, and in the novel his ruin.Reference treatment of Da Ji as King Zhou's concubine. (secondary)
- enemy: King Wu of ZhouThe king who replaced him.Reference treatment of the campaigns between King Zhou of Shang and the Zhou founders. (secondary)
- enemy: Jiang ZiyaReference treatment of Jiang Ziya as tactician of the rebellion against King Zhou. (secondary)
Sources
- King Zhou, Di Xin, is the last king of the Shang and the tyrant of the Fengshen Yanyi, corrupted by the fox spirit Daji whom Nüwa had sent, and overthrown by King Wu and Jiang Ziya.: Reference treatments of the Fengshen Yanyi and of King Zhou's corruption. (secondary)