 |
This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the article's layout. (April 2009) |
King Jie (Chinese: 桀; pinyin: Jié; Wade-Giles: Chieh, given name Gui 癸) 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 his dynasty. Records from the time of the Qin dynasty say that during the last year of Jie's reign, ice formed during the summer mornings and frosts 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 c. 1628 BC.[1]
Around 1600 BC, Jie was defeated by King Tang of Shang, bringing the Xia Dynasty to an end. It was followed by the Shang Dynasty.
The historian Sima Qian traces the origin of the Xiongnu people to Chun Wei (淳維; Ch'un Wei), who was possibly a son of Jie. This account in Sima Qian's Shiji has also been interpreted as symbolic of the "barbarians" prominently represented by Xiongnu incursions into the civilization of Chinese empirical domains.
A recent (18 c.AD) Lienü Zhuan biography of Mo Xi (妺喜; Mo Hsi), a concubine of King Jie, claims he was corrupted by his infatuation for her. Mo Xi 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. Once it was finished, she commanded 3000 men to drink the lake dry, only to laugh when they all drowned.
He got his throne in the year of Renchen (壬辰). Initially, he held court in Zhenxun (斟鄩), where Tai Kang, the third King of the Xia Dynasty, had lived. Early in his reign, he constructed his Tilt Palace (倾宫). About the same time, he destroyed the pyramid of Rong (容台), and quelled a rebellion of the Quanyi (畎夷) people after they entered Qi (岐), near Fen (邠).
Jie entertained envoys from vassals and neighbours. In his sixth year, he received an envoy from the Qizhong Barbarian (歧踵戎) people. In his 11th year, he summoned all his vassals to his court. Youmin (有缗氏) did not come, so he attacked and conquered that Kingdom.
In his thirteenth year, he moved his capital from Zhenxun to Henan (河南). About this time, he began using the Nian (辇), or sedan chair, on which he was carried by servants, as shown in the picture. 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 (华). He abandoned his original wife Moxi (妹喜), and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.
As Jie's reign went on, the histories record unusual and increasingly dire portents. These began in the 10th year of his reign, when five planets were seen in the sky together and a meteor shower occurred. In his 29th year, there was an earthquake, and the Yi and Luo rivers dried up. He also tried to dig a water-tunnel through the mountain Qu (瞿山), but the next year the mountain collapsed. There was also a disaster at Linsui (聆隧) in the winter.
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, but finally challenging and defeating Jie himself.
In the 15th year of Jie's reign, the King of Shang moved his capital from Lü (履) to Bo (亳). About two years later, the King of Shang sent his minister Yinyi as an envoy to Jie. Yinyi remained in the Xia capital for about three years, before returning to Shang. In the 21st year of Jie's reign, the Kingdom of Shang conquered their weak Youluo (有洛) neighbours with an army led by Tang. Shortly afterwards, Shang conquered another vassal kingdom, Jing (荆). Tang bestowed cattle upon the people of Jing for their surrender.
The next year, Tang came to pay homage to Jie, but Jie imprisoned him at the Xia Pyramid (夏台). Tang was set free the following year, and many of Jie's vassals came to visit and comfort Tang.
Tang's power continued to grow. In the 26th year of Jie's reign, Shang conquered Wen (温). Two years later, Shang were 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 Wei (韦), and attacked Gu (顾), which too was conquered the following year. About this time, Zhong Gu (终古), Chief Historian to Jie, fled from the Kingdom of Xia to Shang.
Finally, in the 31st year of Jie's reign, Shang dispatched troops from Er (陑) to simultaneously attack Xia and Kunwu. Kunwu was quickly defeated. The Shang army then brought Jie's forces to battle at Mingtiao (鸣条), in a heavy thunder storm. The Xia army was defeated. Jie himself escaped and fled to Sanzong (三朡). He was pursued by Shang forces, under their general Wuzi (戊子), to Cheng (郕), and was captured at Jiaomen (焦门) and deposed, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end. Eventually, he was released in Nanchao (南巢).
He was succeeded as paramount King by Tang, who inaugurated the Shang Dynasty.
|
Jie of Xia
|
||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fa |
King of China 1728 BC – 1675 BC |
Succeeded by Tang |
|
|||||
References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
