The 30th and last emperor of the Shang Dynasty.
King Zhou was the name given by later generations to the emperor, his given name was "Shòu", but could also be called "Di Xin". [Zhou refers to a horse crupper, the part of a horse's saddle most likely to be soiled.]
He had a keen mind, a sharp tongue, and a courageous spirit, but later, as emperor, he became known as a tyrant who committed all manner of vices and outrages that led to the downfall of the Shang.
Although King Zhou was a brilliant ruler in the beginning, he gradually became addicted to pleasure and began to rule without regard for the people around him.
Particularly after acquiring his favorite concubine, Daji, the both of them indulged in daily debauchery, which drove people away from him.
He had three talented retainers named Weizi, Bi Gan, and Jizi, who petitioned the king repeatedly, but the king would not listen to them. Consequently, Weizi left the country, Jizi was captured, and Bi Gan had his heart gouged out by the king's order.
In addition, he executed the Marquis of E, a member of the nine marquises, who studied under the three dukes, the highest rank of nobility outside of the emperor, and imprisoned Western Count Chang.
Western Count Chang would later be known as King Wen, who laid the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty that ruled China after the Shang Dynasty.
King Wen, liberated by tribute, established a benevolent regime in his lands and strengthened the nation's power, and his son, King Wu, raised an army to attack King Zhou.
After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of King Wu's forces at Muye, King Zhou fled back to the capital, where he is said to have died in flames.
Although King Zhou was famous as a tyrant among the emperors of his time, these anecdotes were invented during the later Zhou dynasty, and it seems that he was not such a bad emperor in reality.
On the contrary, it is said that King Zhou attempted to prevent decadence, all the while looking to expand to the east, at which point a western country, originally composed of nomadic tribes, is believed to have aimed for the moment King Zhou sent his armies westward to strike.
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