The Xia Dynasty (Possibly Mythical)

The Xia dynasty started around 2150 BC. The first emperor, the legendary, Yu the Great, was given the throne by Shun, the last of the Five Emperors. The capital at the time was Anyi (安义), Yangcheng (Modern Gaocheng) (阳城),then Zhenxun (Modern Gongyi) (振勋) during Tai Kang's reign, and Shangqiu (商丘) during Xiang's reign

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Yu the Great

Yu was highly trusted by Shun, so Shun appointed him to finish his father's work, which was to stop the flooding. Yu's method was different from his father's: he organized people from different tribes and ordered them to help him build canals in all the major rivers that were flooding and lead the water out to the sea. Yu was dedicated to his work. The populace praised his perseverance and were inspired, so much so that other tribes joined in the work. Legend says that in the 13 years it took him to successfully complete the work to stop the floods, he never went back to his home village to stop and rest, even though he passed by his house three times.

### Establishment

Yu's success in stopping the flooding increased agricultural production (since the floods were destructive). The Xia tribe's power increased and Yu became the leader of the surrounding tribes. Soon afterwards Shun sent Yu to lead an army to suppress the Sanmiao tribe, which continuously abused the border tribes. After defeating them, he exiled them south to the Han River area. This victory strengthened the Xia tribe's power even more. As Shun aged, he thought of a successor and relinquished the throne to Yu, whom he deemed worthy. Yu's succession marks the start of the Xia dynasty. As Yu neared death he passed the throne to his son, Qi, instead of passing it to the most capable candidate, thus setting the precedent for dynastic rule or the Hereditary System. The Xia dynasty began a period of family or clan control. It is believed that Zhenxun (modern Gongyi) and Yangcheng (modern Gaocheng) were two of the capitals of the dynasty.

Qi of Xia

### Family

Qi's father, Yu the Great, also the founder of the Xia dynasty, married Nu Jiao and had Qi. Qi was not to be the next king but due to public pressure Qi was chosen as Yu's successor, starting the dynastic tradition. Later, Qi had a son named Tài Kāng who also became the next king.

### Reign

Yu died 45 years into his reign. After Qi's rule, Qi's son Tai Kang succeeded him as king.

According to the historian Sima Qian, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Gao Yao, his Minister of Justice, but when Gao died Yu designated as his heir Yi (also known as Boyi), his former companion for thirteen years fighting the flood and his current Minister of Animal Husbandry. But due to Yu's great influence, all the leaders of the Xia states came to admire Qi instead of Yi, so Yi had no choice but to pass up the throne to Qi at the end of three years of mourning for Yu.

The *Bamboo Annals* also mention that Yu appointed Yi as his successor, but mention nothing of Yi's reigning, stating only that Yu's son Qi took the throne of Xia after the 3 years of mourning for Yu. It relates that Boyi (Yi or Yih) died in Qi's 6th year and that Qi "appointed a sacrifice for him". However, in a footnote, translator James Legge observes: "This account does not agree with the account of the death of Yih, which is often attributed to the Annals, and which was no doubt in some of the Bamboo Books; viz. that 'Yih was aiming at the throne, and K'e [Qi] put him to death'."

Qi got his throne in the year of *Guihai* (癸亥), and he celebrated his inauguration with all his vassals (諸侯) at Juntai (鈞臺,a platform that used to be in Yuzhou city in Henan.). He died sixteen years after he got the throne (some source say 10 years or 29 years).

Kang (Tai)

**Tai Kang** (Chinese: 太康) was the third king of the Xia Dynasty. He was the son of the king Qi of Xia and paternal grandson of Yu the Great and queen Nu Jiao.

Biography

Tai Kang loved to hunt and did not rule well.

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Tai Kang took the throne in the year of *Guiwei*. His capital was in Zhenxun (斟鄩). In his first year, while he went hunting beyond the Luo river, Houyi came and occupied Zhenxin. Tai Kang died 4 years later, or according to the book Lushi, 10 years later.

According to *Records of the Grand Historian*, he ruled about 19 years and lost his regime. "Taiping Yulan" claims he was a tyrant who ruled for 29 years, then lost his regime and vanished.

He was succeeded by his brother Zhong Kang and nephew Xiang of Xia.

In some sources, Tai Kang was drowned in a lake.

In literature

The *Book of Documents* features *Songs of the Five Sons* (五子之歌) among the documents of Xia (Chapter 8). According to the introductory note, the document contains the pieces composed by Tai Kang's five younger brothers when he lost the country. Yongbieocheonga mentions the king as a person that should not be imitated.

Zhong Kang

**Zhong Kang** (Chinese: 仲康) was the fourth king of the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in traditional Chinese history.

## Family

Zhong Kang was a son of king Qi of Xia and thus the younger brother of Tai Kang. He was the father of Xiang of Xia.

## Reign

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Zhong Kang took the throne in the year of *Jichou* (*己丑*). His capital was at Zhenxun.

On the day of *gengwu(庚戌)*, the 9th month in the 5th year of his reign, there was a solar eclipse. Since the royal astronomers at that time were licentious and drunk, they failed to predict this eclipse, resulting in confusion and panic among the common people. Zhong Kang sent the nobleman Yin to punish the Ministers of Astronomy for thus neglecting their duties. This is described more fully in the document known as the *Punitive Expedition of Yin(胤征)* in the Book of Documents. In the Bamboo Annals, this was reflected as nobleman Yin conquering Xihe, which is the god of astronomy.

In the 6th year of Zhong Kang's reign, he appointed the prince of Kunwu (*昆吾*) as his prime minister.

In his 7th year he died, and his son, named Xiang, declared a new capital at Shangqiu, supported by the prince of Pi (邳).

## Biography

Xiang had been preceded on the throne of Xia by his father Zhong Kang, and before that by his uncle Tai Kang.

### Reign according to the *Bamboo Annals*

Xiang got his throne in the year of Wuxu and set his capital in Shangqiu.

In the first year of his reign, he sent troops against the Huai Barbarians and Fei Barbarians (畎夷, aka *Quanyi*). In the third year, he sent troops to the Feng Barbarians and Huang Barbarians.

In his 7th year, "the hordes of Yu came to make their submission", while in the 8th year, the warlord Han Zhuo killed Hou Yi. Han Zhuo also sent his son Jiao against Ge.

In his 9th year, Xiang moved his court to Zhenguan.

In the 15th year, Xiang's vassal, Xiangshi duke of Shang, "prepared carriages and horses, and removed to Shangqiu".

In the 20th year, Han Zhuo conquered Ge. In the 26th year, Han Zhuo ordered his son Jiao to fight in Zhenguan. In the 27th year of Xiang's reign, Jiao attacked Xia at Wei in Zhenxun.

### 28th year of reign

In the 28th year of Xiang's reign, Han Zhuo ordered his son Jiao to kill King Xiang. At that time, Xiang's wife, Queen Ji was pregnant. She escaped and hid in Youren. The prime minister of Xia, Mi, fled to Youge. Later, Ji gave birth to a boy named Shao Kang.

19 years later, Shao Kang, heir to the throne of Xia, went from Youren to Yu. In the following years, Shao Kang and Mi led the forces of Zhenxun and Zhenguan to fight against the renegade Han Zhuo. Shao Kang sent Ru Ai to fight Jiao in Guo, and Jiao was killed. He also sent his son Zishu to recover Ge. Finally, forty years after Xiang's death, Mi executed Han Zhuo.

Shao Kang returned in triumph to the Xia capital and took the throne, and all the former Xia vassals came to do homage.

### Kang (Shao)

**Shao Kang** (Chinese: 少康; pinyin: *Shào Kāng*, his surname was Sì 姒) was the sixth king of the Xia dynasty of ancient China. He was the son of Xiang. His father was killed in a battle against Han Zhuo's two sons, Han Jiao and Han Yi; Shao Kang's mother Ji managed to escape and had him after a few months. After he grew up, Shao Kang and his followers engaged in a battle against Han Zhuo, defeated and killed him, and restored the Xia Dynasty.

He was succeeded as king by his son Zhu; another son Wuyu was traditionally credited with civilizing the Yue of Zhejiang and establishing the state of Yue at Kuaiji.

Shao Kang is sometimes identified with Du Kang, the legendary inventor of wine in Chinese mythology.

## Early history

Shao Kang's restoration of Xia is considered as a significant Chinese legend. Prior to Shao Kang, the Xia kings had become corrupt, squandered away the family fortune, and lost the good will of the people. Shao Kang's father was on the run, and only held the title of Emperor in name. When Xiang was killed, Shao Kang's mother supposedly escaped by crawling through a hole dug by dogs at the foot of a wall. She escaped to her parents' holding, and secretly gave birth to Shao Kang. Because the world did not know about Shao Kang, most presumed that the last of the Xia family had died.

Under the protection of his maternal grandfather, Shao Kang grew up. From an early age, his mother taught Shao Kang his birthright, the failing of his family in corruption, and the need to restore rule. Under his mother and grandfather's watchful eyes, Shao Kang learned history, literature and the art of war, for the eventual goal of overthrowing Han Zhuo and restoring Xia.

By the time Shao Kang turned 16, the rumor of his existence as the last heir of Xia had reached Han Zhuo. Soon Han Zhuo dispatched his two sons to find and kill Shao Kang and he was forced to flee from his grandfather's estate.

## Restoration

He managed to find safety in a northern tribe. The tribal leader had some past ties to the Xia royal family, and resented the rule of Han Zhuo and his tyrannical ways. He saw potential in the young exiled prince of Xia, so he decided to grant Shao Kang his daughter's hand in marriage, and 100 sq. "li" (about 25 sq. miles) of rich farm land as his own fief. This gave Shao Kang a base of operation, from which he could learn the art of state management and build his own population center to prepare.

In the first three dynasties of China, most of China was sparsely populated wilderness. It was often the case that secondary heirs of noble and royal families were given land grants over vast, empty regions, where they were expected to build their own population centers, attract migrant populations to settle in their regions, and thus build their own fortunes. Eldest sons were expected to inherit the primary estate of their fathers, and continue to build the existing population centers. Younger sons, secondary heirs, were given the opportunity to prove their worth by the land grants. Successful leaders could build their own city states and eventually their own Kingdoms.

Coincidentally, to the good fortune of Shao Kang in his marriage and his land grant, a former minister of Xia had hidden away a vast sum of treasure and had been buying arms and building an army in secret preparation for revenge on Han Zhuo. This minister, upon hearing that the heir of Xia had survived, rejoiced and immediately joined his forces with Shao Kang, thus renewing his loyalty to Xia. With his base secure and his army building and training, Shao Kang continued to build his estate under the old banner of Xia, preaching and reminding people of the benevolence of old Xia rule.

Han Zhuo, in the meantime, grew increasingly tyrannical and imposed heavy taxes upon the people of Xia. Many people fled from his rule. When Shao Kang's new Xia Kingdom grew in size and fortune, so spread the word of Shao Kang's benevolence. People began to compare Shao Kang to the 1st benevolent Emperors of Xia. Many fled to settle in Shao Kang's estate.

## Victory

Han Zhuo became fearful that Xia had survived and now rivaled his power in size. He despatched his sons in the largest expedition force he could muster to destroy Shao Kang. Shao Kang by this time had become a seasoned leader. He gathered up his forces to meet Han Zhuo's army. He won the battle decisively and killed Han Zhuo's sons. Then Shao Kang's army swept to the door step of the old Xia capital, where the Xia people greeted him as a liberator by opening the door to the citadel. Han Zhuo, sensing defeat, committed suicide.

Shao Kang entered the Xia capital as the king of Xia. He ordered his army to protect the people and their possessions, and to restore peace, allowing Xia to prosper.

## As kin

With Xia's ancestral home secured, Shao Kang paid homage to his ancestors, and received the homage of surrounding tributary kingdoms, cementing his reclamation of his regal birthright.

This highly political and symbolic ritual grew into the official ancestor veneration religion of China. Each kingdom was essentially one clan. As the heads of their respective clans, royal families were protectors of the clan ancestors' bones, and were responsible for officiating religious ceremonies as a state function, thereby enhancing their prestige. A kingdom that was too poor to conduct its ceremonies with sufficient splendor was considered weak enough to be destroyed.

Zengzi was a descendant of Shao Kang.

### Zhu of Xia

**Zhu** (Chinese: 杼, also 予, 宁, 佇, or 宇, but read "Zhù" according to Sima Zhen) was the seventh king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty who took the throne in the year of *ji si* (己巳) and lived in Yuan (now Jiyuan). His father was king Shao Kang and his mother was a daughter of the Chief of Northern Tribe.

In the fifth year of his regime he moved his capital from Yuan to Laoqiu (now Kaifeng); in the eighth year he hunted in the East China Sea and invaded Sanshou; in the thirteenth year his Shang vassal Ming died at He. He was also the inventor of armor in Chinese history.

He died in the seventeenth year of his reign. His successor was his son Huai.

### Huai of Xia

**Huai** (Chinese: 槐; read **Hui** according to Sima Zhen) was the eighth king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty of ancient China, who possibly ruled 44 years. His other name is **Fen** (芬).

 Predecessor
 Successor
 Dynasty
 Father
 Religion

Huai ascended the throne in the year of *Wuzi* (*戊子*), after his father Zhu had died.

In the 3rd year of his reign, nine barbarian(九夷)s came to his capital.

In the 16th year of his regime, the minister Luobo (洛伯) fought with minister Fengyi (冯夷) at He(河). In the 33rd year of his regime, he assigned the son of Kunwu as minister in Yousu (有苏).

He created the poem and music of Huantu(圜土) in the 36th year of his reign.

According to the *Records of the Grand Historian*, he ruled 26 years, but 44 years according to the *Bamboo Annals*.

He was succeeded by his son Mang.

### Mang of Xia

**Máng** (芒, read **Wáng** according to Sima Zhen) was the ninth king of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty. He possibly ruled 18 years. He was also known as **Huang** (荒).

Emperor Si Mang established a Sinking Sacrifice Ceremony (沉祭 Chen Ji) in which three common livestock animals (a cow, a pig & a sheep) & a memorial jade were sunk into the Yellow River as offerings to water spirits for peace & safety. Sinking sacrifices have since found widespread importance throughout China & its history.

## Family

Máng's father was king Huai of Xia, son of the king Zhu of Xia.

Mother of Máng was an unknown lady, consort of Huai.

He had a consort who bore him a son Xie. Máng's grandsons were Jiong of Xia and wise Bu Jiang.

## Biography

Máng took the throne after his father's death, in the year of *Renshen* (壬申). He celebrated his inauguration by giving precious jades to all his vassals.

In the 33rd year of his regime, the Shang vassal Zihai (*子亥*) moved his capital from Shangqiu (商丘) to Yin (*殷*) for the very first time.

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Máng caught a big fish when he was sailing in the East China Sea.

His was succeeded by his son Xie.

### Xie of Xia

**Xie** (Chinese: 泄, *Xiè*) was the tenth king of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty. The son of Mang, Xie ascended the throne in the "Xinwei" (辛未) year. He possibly ruled 25 years.

 Predecessor
 Successor
 Dynasty
 Father
 Religion

According to the Bamboo Annals, in the 12th year of Xie's reign, the prince of Yin (殷), Zihai (子亥), while a guest in Youyi (有易) , was "guilty of licentious conduct" and killed by the leader of the place, Mianchen (綿臣), who also sent away his retinue. Four years later, Zihai’s successor, Wei (微), allied with the forces of the baron of Ho (河伯), and invaded Youyi, killing Mianchen.

In the 21st year of his reign, Xie "conferred regular dignities" on the chiefs of the surrounding barbarians.

He was succeeded by his sons Bu Jiang and Jiong.

### Jiang of Xia

**Bu Jiang** (不降) was the eleventh king of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty. He ruled for 59 years.

## Family

Bu Jiang was a son of Xie of Xia and his consort and thus a grandson of Mang of Xia and brother of Jiong of Xia.

His consort is unknown, and it is possible that he had concubines. His son was Kong Jia and his nephew was Jin of Xia.

## Biography

Bu Jiang is widely regarded as one of the wisest Emperors of Xia.

According to *Bamboo Annals*, on the 6th year of his regime, he fought with Jiuyuan(九苑) .

In the 35th year of his reign, his vassal state of Shang defeated Pi (皮氏).

In the 59th year of his regime he passed his throne to his younger brother Jiong. 10 years later, Bu Jiang died.

### Jiong of Xia

**Jiong** (Chinese: 扃; pinyin: *Jiōng*) was the twelfth king of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty.

## Family

Jiōng was a son of Xie of Xia and his spouse and thus a grandson of Máng and brother of Bu Jiang.

His own consort is unknown. His son was Jǐn and his nephew was Kong Jia.

## Biography

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Jiōng ruled about 18 years, while according to the *Records of the Grand Historian*, he ruled about 21 years.

He acceded to the throne in the Wuxu (戊戌) year.

In the 10th year of Jiōng's reign, Bu Jiang died.

### Jin of Xia

**Jǐn** (**廑**) was the 13th king of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty of China. His other name is **Yinjia** (**胤甲**).

## Reign

Jin probably ruled for about 21 years. His father was King Jiong of Xia and his name means "shack".

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Jin moved the capital to West River (西河). In the fourth year of Jin’s reign, he missed his former hometown and made the music of West Sound.

In the eighth year of his reign, it is recorded in the Bamboo Annals that ten suns rose in the sky causing a very serious drought.

One of his vassals, Ji Fan (己樊), was the leader of Kunwu (昆吾) clan. Originally he was assigned to the land of Wei, but he moved his capital from Wei to Xu.

### Kong Jia

**Kǒng Jiǎ** (孔甲) was a king of ancient China, family name Sì (姒), the 14th ruler of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty. He possibly ruled for 31 years.

## Family

Kong Jia was a son of King Bù Jiàng and an unknown woman and grandson of King Xie of Xia.

His uncle was King Jiong of Xia and his cousin was King Jǐn.

He had many beautiful concubines. He fathered Gāo and was a grandfather of King Houjin.

## Biography

In the Grand Historian, King Kong Jia didn't get the throne from his father, the 13th king of Xia Dynasty, because of him being superstitious and absurd. After his father died, his uncle and cousin became the 14th and 15th king of Xia kingdom. When they all died, Kong Jia finally ascended to the throne and became the 16th king of his country. He loved the supernatural, and, following his example, there were soon many so-called witches. The entire population turned to prayers and oracles instead of working.

Some years later, a celestial gave King Kong Jia two dragons; but they were torpid and ill looking. Kong Jia, in an effort to please them, had a pagoda and lake built for them, but sick they remained. At length there came a man who said he knew what to do. He had 28 men stand in the shapes of the constellations, and wave huge white flags to imitate the clouds. He set gun powder in place of thunder, and firecrackers for lightning. He also had men churn the water of the lake, so the waves leapt high.

When he gave his signal, the thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, clouds waved, and water foamed. The dragons, fancying themselves in the heavens again, jumped into the water.

However, he accidentally killed one dragon; and didn't know how to deal with the dragon's body, so he made it a delicious meal and provided to Kong Jia. After this horrible behavior was found out, this person ran away with his whole family.

The second dragon keeper was very straight-forward and displeased Kong Jia many times; so he was sentenced to death and poorly buried outside of the capital city. After this there were terrible storms and fires, which Kong Jia believed to be caused by the spirit of the dead keeper. He and his witches made many magics and prayers; but on the way home Kong Jia was so scared he actually died of fear.

After King Kong Jia departed, his son King Gao ascended to the throne.

According to the *Bamboo Annals*, Kong Jia lived in the Xia capital of Xi River (西河).

In the third year of his reign, he hunted at the Fu Mountains (萯山) in Dongyang (东阳).

He composed a song called *Eastern Sound* (*东音*), which is also called *Song of Broken Axe* (*破斧之歌*).

Kong Jia was very superstitious and all he cared about was alcohol. From his time on, the power of Xia started to decline, and the vassal kings (诸侯) of Xia grew more powerful. During his reign, he stripped power from one of the nobles, Shiwei (*豕韦*).

### Gao of Xia

**Gāo** (Chinese: 皋) was an ancient king of China, the 15th ruler of the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty. He possibly ruled for 11 years.

In the 3rd year of his regime, Gao restored the power of Shiwei(豕韋) , the nobleman deposed by Kong Jia, the father of Gao.

### Fa of Xia

**Fa** (Chinese: 發, Fā) was the 16th ruler of the Xia Dynasty, father of the infamous Jie who brought the dynasty to its end.

His given name was **Houjing** (后敬).

## Reign

Fa was a son of the King Gao of Xia and thus a grandson of Kong Jia.

During his inaugural celebration, all of his vassals gathered at his palace.

The first earthquake ever recorded took place at Mount Tai in modern Shandong during his reign. The event has been dated to 1731 BC as the Mount Tai earthquake.

The earthquake was mentioned briefly in the *Bamboo Annals*.

### Jie of Xia

**King Jie** (Chinese: 桀; traditionally 1728–1675 BC) 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 BC, Jie was defeated by Tang of Shang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang Dynasty.

## Early years

Jie 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 *Renchen* (壬辰). Initially, his capital was in Zhenxun. He lived there for three years and constructed his tilt palace. About the same time, he destroyed the pyramid of Rong (容台), and quelled a rebellion by the Quanyi people (aka *Fei Barbarians*) after they entered Qi, near Fen.

His parents were Fa of Xia and his wife.
The tyrant, Jie.

## King of Xia

### Ruling

Jie is known to have lived a lavish lifestyle with slaves and treated 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 neighbors. He received an envoy from the Qizhong barbarian people (歧踵戎). In the 11th year, he summoned all his vassals to his court. The Youmin Kingdom (有緡) did not come, so Jie attacked and conquered it.

In his 13th year of the 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. There, he found two of the King of Minshan's daughters, Wan and Yan. They were unmarried and very beautiful, so he took them as his wives, renaming them Zhao (*苕*) and Hua. He abandoned his original wife Mo Xi (*妹喜*) and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.

### Alcohol lake

According to Liu Xiang's book *Lienü zhuan* written much later, around 18 BC, Jie was corrupted by his infatuation with his concubine Mo Xi (妺喜 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 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 Han Ying's book *Han shi waizhuan*.

### Jie's 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 ginger 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 a horse. After a while the chancellor was tired to the point that he could no longer crawl or move. He asked Emperor Jie to spare him. Jie immediately dragged him out to be executed. Another chancellor, Guan Longfeng (關龍逢), told the emperor 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.

## Collapse of the Xia Dynasty

### The rise of Shang

The Xia Dynasty held suzerainty 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 Zi Lü was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms. Tang of Shang recognized that Jie mistreated the people and used this as a way to convince other supporters. In one speech Tang of Shang 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, Tang of Shang began moving Lü (履) to the capital Bo. 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 (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 Mixu (密須) (today's 密縣), Wei, and attacked Gu (顧), which was also conquered the following year. Around the same time Zhong Gu, 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 phenomena. These began in the 10th year of Jie's reign, when five stars 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, 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 at around 1600 BC.

### Battle of Mingtiao

Main article: Battle of Mingtiao

In the 32nd year of Jie's reign, Tang of Shang 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 River while the Shang were becoming stronger.

The Jie's forces fought with the Shang forces at Mingtiao in a heavy thunder storm and were defeated.

Jie himself escaped and fled to Sanzong. The Shang forces, under their general Wuzi (戊子), pursued Jie to Cheng, captured him at Jiaomen and deposed him, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end. Eventually, Jie was released in Nanchao. Jie eventually died of illness. Tang of Shang succeeded as king by Tang, who inaugurated the Shang Dynasty.

## Family

King Jie had a wife named Mo Xi (妹喜) who was blamed for the fall of the Xia Dynasty, but he later abandoned her for the King of Minshan's daughters Wan and Yan whom Jie renamed Zhao and Hua. King Jie had no known children with his wives. It is alleged that Chunwei, the possible ancestor of the Xiongnu ruling elite, was his son.