Wu Ding

Wu Ding (Chinese: 武丁, born Zi Zhao, Chinese: 子昭) was a Shang Dynasty King of China.

His is the first historically verifiable name in the history of Chinese dynasties. The records of later historians that recorded his reign were long thought to be little more than legends until contemporary records of his reign were discovered in oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at the ruins of his capital Yinxu in 1899.

History

In the Records of the Grand Historian he was listed by Sima Qian as the twenty-second Shang king, succeeding his father Xiao Yi (Chinese: 小乙). He was enthroned in the year of Dingwei (Chinese: 丁未) with Gan Pan (Chinese: 甘盘) as his prime minister and Yinxu (Chinese: 殷) as his capital.

He cultivated the allegiance of neighbouring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them. His favoured consort Fu Hao entered the royal household through such a marriage and took advantage of the semi-matriarchal slave society to rise through the ranks to military general and high priestess.

In the third year of his reign he had vivid dreams about the way to rule his kingdom. He went on to order his prime minister to edit the book of ruling in the sixth year of his reign. He also ordered that all the people must support their elders. In the twelfth year of his regime, he promoted Shangjiawei to a position of power to exercise control over the Qi (Chinese: 契) people.

In the twenty-fifth year of his reign, his son Zu Ji (Chinese: 祖己) died at a remote area after he exiled him. His mother died before and the new wife of Wu Ding does not like Zi Xiao.

In the twenty-ninth year of his reign, he conducted rituals in honour of his ancestor King Tang, the first king of the Shang Dynasty, at the Royal Temple. Angered by the presence of a wild chicken standing on one of the ceremonial bronze vessels, he condemned his vassals and wrote an article called Gao Zong Tong Day (Chinese: 高宗肜日).

In the thirty-second year of his reign, he sent troops to Guifang (Chinese: 鬼方) and after three years of fighting he conquered it. The Di (Chinese: 氐) and Qiang (Chinese: 羌) barbarians immediately sent envoys to Shang to negotiate. His armies went on to conquer Dapeng (Chinese: 大彭) in the forty-third year of his reign, and Tunwei (Chinese: 豕韦) in the 50th year of his reign.

He died in the fifty-ninth year of his reign according to all the sources available. Widely regarded one of best kings of the Shang Dynasty, he was given the posthumous name Wu Ding (Chinese: 武丁) and was succeeded by his son Zu Geng (Chinese: 祖庚).

The oracle script inscriptions on the bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the twenty-first Shang king.

See also

References

Category:Shang Dynasty kings Category:13th-century BC births Category:12th-century BC deaths