She was the favored concubine of King Zhou of Shang, known for her brutal nature and role in the downfall of the Shang dynasty.
Daji was a woman from the Yousu family, a rival clan to the Shang, whom the King fell in love with when he defeated the Yousu family and then took as his wife.
Thereafter, the emperor was completely captivated by her beauty, and it is said that he granted her whatever she wished for. For her sake, he held feasts and banquets and amassed numerous treasures, which caused the people to suffer heavy taxes.
In addition, she is said to have created the punishment of "paolao", in which an oiled copper pole is placed over a blazing fire and the criminal is forced to walk across it. The slipperiness of the oil and the heat of the seared copper would cause the criminal to fall into the flames and die, which she is said to have thoroughly relished.
As a result of the king's actions, brought about by Daji's seduction, the public's hearts drifted away, allowing foreign enemies to invade, leading to the Shang dynasty's downfall.
According to the Ming dynasty book "The Investiture of the Gods", she was the incarnation of a fox, and her true nature was discovered by Taigong Wang, who buried her by his own hand.
However, in Sima Qian's "Records of the Great Historian", it is only mentioned that King Zhou loved and obeyed her, and that the Shang Dynasty was destroyed, her actions weren't known at all. Therefore, the image of Daji as a cruel and evil woman was probably created by later generations.
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