The Shang Dynasty lasted for nearly five hundred years from its founding in the 16th century BC to its demise in the 11th century. From the establishment of the Tang Dynasty to the fall of the kingdom, a total of 31 emperors reigned. Wu Ding was the 23rd monarch of these, reigning for 59 years. Under his unremitting efforts, the Shang Dynasty achieved a comprehensive revitalization, known in history as "Wuding Zhongxing".
Wu Ding was the son of Xiao Yi, the 22nd Shang king, who reigned from about the mid-13th century BC to the early 12th century BC. Before he ascended the throne, the Shang Dynasty, which had gone through more than three hundred years of long years, accumulated a mountain of shortcomings and scattered people's hearts. Before Wu Ding ascended the throne, the Shang Dynasty was troubled internally and externally, and the people's grievances boiled over, falling into a state of turmoil. At that time, the Shang Kingdom was surrounded by strong enemies and came to harass. There is a ghost side in the north, a tiger side in the south, a Yi side in the east, and a Qiang side in the west. These tribes are very fierce and barbaric, often waging wars, killing and looting, and doing all kinds of evil. Some even invaded the Shang Dynasty's Wang Qi region for a time, posing an extremely serious threat to the shang's ruling center.
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The previous Shang kings were incompetent and helpless, and could only let them ravage and go. For a long time, the royal nobles in the upper echelons of the Shang Dynasty lived a life of extravagance and lavishness, drunken dreams and death, surrendering to the outside world and violently conquering the inside. It made the people unhappy and complained. The contradictions between the upper and lower levels are very acute, and the broad masses of the people are in dire straits, and large-scale riots or uprisings may break out at any time.
Because of his special life, Wu Ding grew up in the folk, lived with the most grass-roots people, participated in many years of heavy manual labor, and was well aware of the difficulties of folk crops. Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he was very disgusted with the extravagant atmosphere of the royal family and nobles, and was determined to fundamentally reverse the atmosphere. He led by example and was very frugal. Contrary to the slack and lazy style of previous generations of Shang kings, they are diligent in government affairs, sympathetic to their feelings, and are very concerned about people's livelihood issues. During his reign, the people's lives improved, their burdens eased, and the social contradictions that were originally extremely acute were eased, and he himself was admired and loved by the people of the whole country.
In addition, after Wu Ding took the throne, he actively rectified internal affairs, severely restrained the royal family and nobles, and strictly prohibited them from acting recklessly, especially not allowing them to interfere in political affairs. At the same time, we should vigorously develop agricultural production and strengthen the military. Whether in the field of civil rule or martial arts, extraordinary achievements have been made.
Internally, Wu Ding selected the best and the best to govern. He promptly discovered and selected a number of talents such as Gan Pan and Fu Shuo, and introduced them as the country's stock ministers. He honored the sage Ganpan as his teacher and humbly listened to his opinions. He also selected Fu Shu among the prisoners and exerted his outstanding administrative skills.
According to records, after Wu Ding succeeded to the throne, he was helpless in the face of this mess in front of him. He wanted to revive Seiyu's inheritance, but he was suffering from the lack of competent ministers to assist him, so he kept silent for his father Obi for three years under the pretext of keeping the funeral for his father, Xiao B. Although he seems to be silent, in fact, he is watching coldly over and over again, observing the national atmosphere and examining the country's accumulated shortcomings.
Once, Wu Ding went to bed at night and had a strange dream. The Emperor of Heaven gave him a sage named "Speaking", saying that this person could help him govern the country, and let Wu Ding clearly see the appearance of the saying. The next day, Wu Ding woke up and observed the courtiers and officials according to the appearance he saw in the dream, and found that none of them were the people he had seen in the dream. According to the memories in his dreams, he drew pictures and sent hundreds of officials to look around. After searching for a long time, I couldn't find it, and finally found this person named "Say" in a place called "Fu Danger". At that time, "saying" was that he was serving a sentence for committing a crime, and he was punished by building a road in Fu Qian. The officials found out and brought him to see Wu Ding, who was overjoyed at first sight: "It is him." ”
After talking to him, Wu Ding thought that he was indeed a wise man and appointed him as prime minister. Since then, this statement has really lived up to expectations, and assisted Wu Ding to govern the country well. In order to repay the saying, Wu Ding decided to give the surname to Shu, in order to find the place to say it- "Fu Qian" as the surname of the saying, and the world called "Fu Said".
With the strong assistance of Fu Shuo, Gan Pan and others, the Shang Dynasty finally came back to life and politics was back on the right track. Unprecedented achievements have been made in agricultural production, commerce and trade have developed, and culture and education have also made great progress in development compared with before, thus boosting the national strength of the decadent Shang Dynasty.
In order to solve the problem of external troubles, after careful preparations, Wu Ding mobilized a large number of troops and launched a counterattack against the tribes that had been harassing the four sides for many years, and the number of troops dispatched each time ranged from thousands to tens of thousands, and the most dispatched was more than 100,000 people. The duration of the war also varies, ranging from a few months to a protracted period. For example, the war against the ghost side lasted for nine years before it was completed.
According to the Oracle Bone Bu Ci, Wu Ding's wife, Lady Hao, was one of the most famous military generals at that time, and she was able to fight good battles and made many meritorious achievements, such as the war to quell the Qiang side, which she personally commanded. According to an oracle bone, at that time, Wu Ding wanted to fight the Qiang side, because the other side was very strong, and he had been hesitant to send the army under the control of The Woman Hao to go out on the battlefield. The army led by Nü Hao was more than 3,000 people, and in order to ensure victory, Wu Ding specially recruited 10,000 people to help her.
Good women stills
Wu Ding was very fond of her, and after the death of the woman, he was very sad and built a very luxurious large tomb for her. The burials in the tomb of Nühao are very rich, which fully shows the strength of the Shang Dynasty at that time. Judging from the records in the oracle bones, there are many deeds about women in the buci, and many of them are full of care and love for the good women, but from the current archaeological point of view, the status of the good women in the palace is not the highest.
This is the conclusion drawn from the location of the tomb of the woman and the regulation of its burial bronzes. According to research, Wu Ding had three wives, namely Yu Peng, Yu Xin, and Yu Xi, which is an alias for a good woman. Judging from the order of A, B, C, D, Noon, He, Geng, Xin, Nong, and 癸, the woman is in the second place among the three wives, below the concubine.
It can also be seen from the location of the tombs of the three wives that the tomb of the lady is located in the northwest of the Yin Xu Zongmiao District, not in a central position. The tomb of Yu Peng is located in the Wangling District, and its status is significantly more noble than that of it. Moreover, it is clearer than the size of the burials in the tombs of the two. A large number of bronzes excavated in the tomb of Nühao, the largest of which is called "Houmu Xinding".
Tomb of the Woman
The "Stepmother Xinding" is 80 centimeters tall, has a mouth length of 64 centimeters, and weighs 128 kilograms. Although this specification is already very high, it is not the highest grade of the Shang Dynasty. If it encounters Simu Pengding (also known as "Houmu Pengding"), it is "Little Witch Seeing Big Witch", which is the funerary of Wu Ding's chief wife, Fei Peng. It weighs 875 kilograms, which is the largest bronze ding unearthed in Chinese history and even in the history of the world. It can be seen from this that although Shehao is very famous and has outstanding military achievements, her status among Wuding's wives is not the highest, and her status is below that of Yu Peng.
As an emperor, Wu Ding's harem had many wives and concubines, which was beyond reproach. The reason why Nühao has been famous for thousands of years is not because of her position in the palace, the reason why she is loved by Wu Ding and admired by the world is because she has made great achievements for the Shang Dynasty in opening up the territory.
Under the leadership of a large number of fierce generals such as Women Hao, the Shang army was invincible and indestructible, and opened up a large area of land around it. In addition to the Ghost Fang and Qiang Fang, there were also large and small fang states such as the Dragon Fang, Li Fang, Gen, Yin Fang, Ren Fang, Tu Fang, Ma Fang, and Wei Fang, all of which were conquered by the Shang Dynasty. This series of brilliant military victories greatly expanded the territory of the Shang Dynasty, from Hetao in the north to Jianghuai in the south, to the Luowei region bordering the Qiangfang in the west, and to the northeast of the Shandong Peninsula in the east.
After the end of the war to pacify the four sides, the security threat around the Shang Dynasty was lifted, and the space and time for development were obtained, and a new period of peaceful development was entered. Under wu ding's rule, the economy developed unprecedentedly, cultural and educational undertakings made progress, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the territory expanded unprecedentedly. Under the rule of this great sage, the national strength of the Shang Dynasty once again reached its peak, and the eight parties were served, and all the countries came to the dynasty. Literature records that there has been a good situation of "the revival of the world and the salty and happy business road".
It is precisely because Wu Ding turned the tide and realized the comprehensive revival of the Shang Dynasty, so his Wenzhi martial arts were very prominent among the emperors of the late Shang Dynasty, and his historical status was second only to that of the founding monarch Tang. After his death, he was not only revered as Emperor Gaozong, but also became a great sage recognized by the world, and was repeatedly mentioned and praised in Confucian texts.
For example, Mencius said: "From tang to Wuding, the sages and saints are six or seven works, and the world belongs to Yin for a long time, and it is difficult to change for a long time." The princes of the Wuding Dynasty have the world, and the palm of Judah is also. (Mencius Gongsun Ugly)
The great prosperity that Wu Ding re-created lasted until the time of his sons Zu Geng and Zu Jia. According to the "Shang Shu Wuyi" record, like his father, Zu Jia also lived in the folk for many years due to the dispute over the throne, and he was also well aware of the suffering of the people. After his accession to the throne, especially in the early period of his reign, he was able to maintain Wuding's policy, rest with the people, and exert favors on the people, and the society continued to maintain a stable situation for about thirty years. The hand of time has crossed 3200 years, and Wu Ding's name is no longer well known, but that once prosperous world is an eternal history chapter, which has become an eternal good story.