Jie of Xia
Encyclopedia
King Jie was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty
of China
. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty. Around 1600 BCE Jie was defeated by Shang Tang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty, that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang Dynasty
.
(壬辰). Initially, his capital was in Zhenxun (斟鄩). He lived there for three years and constructed his tilt palace (傾宮). About the same time, he destroyed the pyramid of Rong (容台), and quelled a rebellion by the Quanyi people (畎夷, aka Fei Barbarians) after they entered Qi (岐), near Fen (叛).
ü
In the sixth year of Jie's regime, he entertained envoys from vassals and neighbours. He received an envoy from the Qizhong barbarian (歧踵戎) people. In the 11th year, he summoned all his vassals to his court. The Youmin kingdom (有緡氏) did not come, so Jie attacked and conquered it.
In his 13th year of ruling, he moved his capital from Zhenxun to Henan
. About that time, he began using the Nian (輦), or sedan chair, on which he was carried by servants.
The next year, he led an army to Minshan (岷山). There, he found two of the King of Minshan's daughters, Wan (琬) and Yan (琰). They were unmarried and very beautiful, so he took them as his wives, renaming them Zhao (苕) and Hua (華). He abandoned his original wife Mo Xi (妹喜), and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.
's book Lienü zhuan
written much later, around 18 BCE, Jie was corrupted by his infatuation with his concubine Mo Xi (妹喜 or 末喜), who was beautiful, but completely lacking in virtue. Among other things, she liked to drink, enjoyed music, and also had a penchant for jugglers and sing-song girls. Apparently, she had King Jie order a lake of wine made. They both sailed about in the alcohol lake in an orgy
of drunken naked men and women bathing and drinking. She then commanded 3,000 men to drink the lake dry, only to laugh when they all drowned. This event was also recorded in the Han Ying's (韓嬰) book Han Shi Wai Zhuan (韓詩外傳).
that grew in the south, sea salt
had to come from the north. Several hundred people were employed just to supply Jie with his meals. Anyone that got his meal wrong was beheaded
.
Jie was also a known alcoholic, but he did not drink regular wine. He drank a type of pure alcohol wine (清醇). The people working for him who could not supply this drink were killed. Many people died because of this. And while he was drinking wine it was required that he ride on someone's back like a horse. In one incident Jie was riding the back of a top chancellor like. After a while the chancellor was tired to the point that he could no longer crawl or move. He asked King Jie to spare him. Jie immediately dragged him out to be executed. Another chancellor, Guan Long-Feng (關龍逢), told the king that he was losing the trust of his people along with the Xia dynasty's rivers and mountains (江山). After yelling at Guan, he too was dragged out to be killed.
over a number of kingdoms, one of which was the Kingdom of Shang
. During Jie's reign, Shang grew in power, initially at the expense of Xia's other vassals. A person by the name of Shang Tang was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms. Shang Tang recognized that Jie mistreated many of people
and used this as a way to convince other supporters. In one speech Shang Tang said that creating chaos is not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he has to follow the mandate of heaven
and use this opportunity to overthrow Xia. He also pointed out that even Jie's own military generals would not obey his orders.
In the 15th year of Jie's reign, Shang Tang began moving Lü (履) to the capital Bo (亳). 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 (溫). Two years later, Shang was attacked by Kunwu
(昆吾), and several years of war between Shang and Kunwu followed. Despite this setback, Shang continued to expand on a number of fronts, gathering vassal troops in Jingbo (景亳). The Shang army and allied forces conquered Mitxu (密須) (today's 密縣), Wei
(韋), and attacked Gu
(顧), which was also conquered the following year. Around the same time Zhong Gu (終古), chief historian of Jie, fled from the Xia to the Shang.
were seen in the sky in alignment and a meteor shower
occurred, followed by an earthquake.
In the 29th year of Jie's reign he tried to dig a water-tunnel through the Qu mountain (瞿山), but the next year the mountain collapsed with a landslide
. There was also a disaster at Linsui (聆隧) in the winter.
Records from the later Qin dynasty
say that during the last year of Jie's reign, ice formed during the summer mornings and frost occurred through July. Heavy rainfall toppled buildings, hot and cold weather arrived in disorder, and crops failed. Some scientists correlate this event with a volcanic winter
, possibly due to the Minoan eruption of Thera
circa 1628 BC.
while the Shang were becoming stronger.
The Shang army then fought Jie's forces in the Battle of Mingtiao
(鳴條), in a heavy thunder storm, and defeated the Xia army.
Jie himself escaped and fled to Sanzong (三朡). The Shang forces, under their general Wuzi
(戊子), pursued Jie to Cheng
(郕), captured him at Jiaomen (焦門) and deposed him, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end. Eventually, Jie was released in Nanchao (南巢). Jie eventually died of illness. Shang Tang succeeded as king by Tang, who inaugurated the Shang Dynasty
.
Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...
of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty. Around 1600 BCE Jie was defeated by Shang Tang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty, that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
.
Early years
Jie (桀) is generally known as Xia Jie (夏桀) or Jie of Xia. His given name was Lü Gui (履癸). Jie ascended to the throne in the year of RenchenDa Liu Ren
Da Liu Ren is a form of Chinese calendrical astrology dating from the later Warring States period.Along with the divination methods Qi Men Dun Jia 奇门遁甲 and Taiyi 太乙—collectively known as the "Three Styles" —Da Liu Ren is considered in China to be one of the highest forms of Chinese metaphysics.It...
(壬辰). Initially, his capital was in Zhenxun (斟鄩). He lived there for three years and constructed his tilt palace (傾宮). About the same time, he destroyed the pyramid of Rong (容台), and quelled a rebellion by the Quanyi people (畎夷, aka Fei Barbarians) after they entered Qi (岐), near Fen (叛).
ü
Ruling
Jie is known to have lived a lavish lifestyle with slaves and treat his people with extreme cruelty. His style of ruling was reckless and filled with sex, luxury and entertainment. He generally disliked people who criticized him, and many were indeed afraid of him.In the sixth year of Jie's regime, he entertained envoys from vassals and neighbours. He received an envoy from the Qizhong barbarian (歧踵戎) people. In the 11th year, he summoned all his vassals to his court. The Youmin kingdom (有緡氏) did not come, so Jie attacked and conquered it.
In his 13th year of ruling, he moved his capital from Zhenxun to Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
. About that time, he began using the Nian (輦), or sedan chair, on which he was carried by servants.
The next year, he led an army to Minshan (岷山). There, he found two of the King of Minshan's daughters, Wan (琬) and Yan (琰). They were unmarried and very beautiful, so he took them as his wives, renaming them Zhao (苕) and Hua (華). He abandoned his original wife Mo Xi (妹喜), and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.
Mo Xi alcohol lake
According to Liu XiangLiu Xiang
Liu Xiang is a Chinese 110 meter hurdler. Liu is an Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was the first in a men's track and field event for China....
's book Lienü zhuan
Lienü zhuan
The Lienü Zhuan is a ca. 18 BCE book compiled by the famous Han Dynasty scholar Liu Xiang. It includes 125 biographical accounts of women exemplars in early China, taken from Chinese histories like the Chun Qiu, Zuo Zhuan, and Shiji...
written much later, around 18 BCE, Jie was corrupted by his infatuation with his concubine Mo Xi (妹喜 or 末喜), who was beautiful, but completely lacking in virtue. Among other things, she liked to drink, enjoyed music, and also had a penchant for jugglers and sing-song girls. Apparently, she had King Jie order a lake of wine made. They both sailed about in the alcohol lake in an orgy
Orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party where guests engage in promiscuous or multifarious sexual activity or group sex. An orgy is similar to debauchery, which refers to excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures....
of drunken naked men and women bathing and drinking. She then commanded 3,000 men to drink the lake dry, only to laugh when they all drowned. This event was also recorded in the Han Ying's (韓嬰) book Han Shi Wai Zhuan (韓詩外傳).
Jie cuisine
A great deal of effort was spent on Jie's cuisine and his requirements. Vegetables had to come from the northwest, fish had to be from the East sea, seasonings and sauces had to come from gingerGinger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
that grew in the south, sea salt
Sea salt
Sea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...
had to come from the north. Several hundred people were employed just to supply Jie with his meals. Anyone that got his meal wrong was beheaded
Beheaded
Beheaded is a Death metal band from Malta. They were formed in 1991, by singer Marcel Scalpello, guitarist David Bugeja, and drummer Chris Brincat...
.
Jie was also a known alcoholic, but he did not drink regular wine. He drank a type of pure alcohol wine (清醇). The people working for him who could not supply this drink were killed. Many people died because of this. And while he was drinking wine it was required that he ride on someone's back like a horse. In one incident Jie was riding the back of a top chancellor like. After a while the chancellor was tired to the point that he could no longer crawl or move. He asked King Jie to spare him. Jie immediately dragged him out to be executed. Another chancellor, Guan Long-Feng (關龍逢), told the king that he was losing the trust of his people along with the Xia dynasty's rivers and mountains (江山). After yelling at Guan, he too was dragged out to be killed.
The rise of Shang
The Xia Dynasty held suzeraintySuzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over a number of kingdoms, one of which was the Kingdom of Shang
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
. During Jie's reign, Shang grew in power, initially at the expense of Xia's other vassals. A person by the name of Shang Tang was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms. Shang Tang recognized that Jie mistreated many of people
Baixing
Baixing or lao baixing in Chinese means "ordinary folks", "the people", or "commoners." The word Lao is used here as an adjective, which give it a warm and friendly touch....
and used this as a way to convince other supporters. In one speech Shang Tang said that creating chaos is not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he has to follow the mandate of heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
and use this opportunity to overthrow Xia. He also pointed out that even Jie's own military generals would not obey his orders.
In the 15th year of Jie's reign, Shang Tang began moving Lü (履) to the capital Bo (亳). 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 (溫). Two years later, Shang was attacked by Kunwu
Puyang
Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei in the east and north respectively....
(昆吾), and several years of war between Shang and Kunwu followed. Despite this setback, Shang continued to expand on a number of fronts, gathering vassal troops in Jingbo (景亳). The Shang army and allied forces conquered Mitxu (密須) (today's 密縣), Wei
Hua County, Henan
Hua County is a county under Anyang municipality, Henan, China.-Location:The Hua county is located in the southmost part of Anyang. To its north lies Neihuang County, also in Anyang; to its east Puyang County in Puyang; to its south the counties of Changyuan and Fengqiu, both in Xinxiang; to its...
(韋), and attacked Gu
Fan County
Fan County falls under the jurisdiction of Puyang, Henan Province....
(顧), which was also conquered the following year. Around the same time Zhong Gu (終古), chief historian of Jie, fled from the Xia to the Shang.
Natural disasters
As Jie's reign went on, the histories record unusual and increasingly dire natural phenomenon. These began in the 10th year of Jie's reign, when five starsPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
were seen in the sky in alignment and a meteor shower
Meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller...
occurred, followed by an earthquake.
In the 29th year of Jie's reign he tried to dig a water-tunnel through the Qu mountain (瞿山), but the next year the mountain collapsed with a landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
. There was also a disaster at Linsui (聆隧) in the winter.
Records from the later Qin dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
say that during the last year of Jie's reign, ice formed during the summer mornings and frost occurred through July. Heavy rainfall toppled buildings, hot and cold weather arrived in disorder, and crops failed. Some scientists correlate this event with a volcanic winter
Volcanic winter
A volcanic winter is the reduction in temperature caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscuring the sun and raising Earth's albedo after a large particularly explosive type of volcanic eruption...
, possibly due to the Minoan eruption of Thera
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
circa 1628 BC.
Battle of Mingtiao
In the 31st year of Jie's reign, Shang Tang dispatched troops from Er (陑) to simultaneously attack Xia and Kunwu. Kunwu was quickly defeated. By this time, the Xia were getting weaker near the Yellow riverYellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
while the Shang were becoming stronger.
The Shang army then fought Jie's forces in the Battle of Mingtiao
Battle of Mingtiao
The Battle of Mingtiao was a battle between the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty. This semi-mythological battle resulted in a Shang victory which created the circumstances for the elevation of the Duke of Shang to the throne of China.-Background:...
(鳴條), in a heavy thunder storm, and defeated the Xia army.
Jie himself escaped and fled to Sanzong (三朡). The Shang forces, under their general Wuzi
Wuzi
The Wuzi is a classic Chinese work on military strategy attributed to Wu Qi. It is considered one of China's Seven Military Classics.It is said there were two books on the art of war by Wu Qi, but one was lost, hence leaving the Wuzi as the only existing book carrying Wu Qi's military thoughts....
(戊子), pursued Jie to Cheng
Cheng
Cheng can be a transcription of one of several Chinese surnames. Since the syllable Cheng represents different sounds in Hanyu pinyin and the Wade-Giles systems of Chinese romanization, some ambiguity will exist as to which sound is represented by the letters "Cheng" if the romanisation and tone...
(郕), captured him at Jiaomen (焦門) and deposed him, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end. Eventually, Jie was released in Nanchao (南巢). Jie eventually died of illness. Shang Tang succeeded as king by Tang, who inaugurated the Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
.