Thursday, September 4, 2008

Huai

Another name is Fen.



He got his throne in the year of Wuzi.



In the 3rd year of his regime, nine barbarians came to his capital.



In the 16th year of his regime, the minister Luobo fought with minister Fengyi at He.



In the 33rd year of his regime, he assigned the son of Kunwu as minister in Yousu.



In the 36th year of his regime, he created the poem and music of Huantu.



According to the Records of the Grand Historian, he ruled 26 years, but 44 years according to the Bamboo Annals.

Xie

He ascended the throne in the year Xinwei.



In the 12 years of his regime, the Shang vassal Zihai traveled to and lived in Youyi, Zihai was dissolute so the leader of Youyi, Mianchen, killed him.



In the 16th year of his regime, Shang minister Wei led troops from Hebo, invaded Youyi and killed Mianchen.



According to the Bamboo Annals, on the 21st year of his regime, Xie fought with the surrounding barbarians of Fei, Bai, Chi, , Feng, and Yang. He won the war and all of the tribes obeyed his orders.

Bu Jiang

According to Bamboo Annals, on the 6th year of his regime, he fought with Jiuyuan .



In the 35th years of his regime, his vassal state of Shang defeated Pi .



In the 59th year of his regime he passed his throne to his younger brother . 10 years later, Bu Jiang died.



Bu Jiang is widely regarded as one of the wisest kings of Xia.

Jiong

He got his throne in the year of Wuxu.



In the 10th year of his regime, Bu Jiang died.



According to Bamboo Annals, he ruled about 18 years, while the Record of The Grand Historian says 21 years.

Jin

Jin was the 13th ruler of the legendary Xia Dynasty. His other name is Yinjia , He probably ruled for about 21 years. According to Bamboo Annals, he moved the capital to West River . In the fourth year of Jin's reign, he missed his former hometown and made the music of West Sound . In the eighth year of his regime, there was a very serious drought.



One of his vassals, surname Ji , given name Fan , was the leader of Kunwu . Originally he was assigned to the land of Wei , but he moved his capital from Wei to Xu .

Kong Jia

According to the Bamboo Annals, he lived in the Xia capital of West River .



In the third year of his regime, he hunted at the Fu Mountains in Dongyang .



In the fifth year of his regime, he composed the song "Eastern Sound" , which is also called "Song of Broken Axe" .



He was said to have been very superstitious, and all he cared about was alcohol and beautiful women. From his time on, the power of Xia started to decline and the vassal kings of Xia grew more powerful.



During his regime, he fired one of his heads of state, Tunwei .



His vassal, Shang, moved their capital back to Shangqiu from Yin .

Fa

Fa was the ruler of the Xia Dynasty before . He was the second to last ruler of the Xia Dynasty. His given name was Houjin . During his inaugural celebration, all of his vassals gathered at his palace. An earthquake happened near Mount Tai in Shandong during his reign.

Jie

King Jie was the last ruler of the Xia Dynasty of China, and is blamed for its fall. He reputedly mistreated his people and became a tyrant. Records from the later 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 c. 1628 BC.



Around 1600 BC, King Tang of Shang succeeded in defeating Jie, bringing an end to the Xia dynasty and founding the Shang Dynasty.



The historian Sima Qian traces the origin of the Xiongnu people to Chun Wei , who was possibly a son of Jie. This theory has never been proven or disproven.



The Lienü zhuan of Mo Xi , a concubine of King Jie, claims she corrupted the king with her sexual prowess. 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 , and his capital was in Zhenxun , same place where Tai Kang lived.



In the 3rd year of his regime, he built a tilt palace .



He destroyed the pyramid of Rong . There were a rebellion from the Quanyi people after they entered Qi , which is close to Fen .



In the 6th year of his regime, the Qizhong Barbarian people sent envoy to Xia.



In the 10th year of his regime, the five planets shown on the sky together, there was also a Meteor Shower.



Earthquake happened, and the river of and dried.



In the 11th year of his regime, he called all his vassals, but Youmin did not come, so he sent army and conquered Youmin.



In the 13th year of his regime, he moved his capital from Zhenxun to Henan .



This is the first time he invented Nian , as shown in the picture, as he was carried by people.



In the 14th year of his regime, he sent troops to Minshan .



He found two daughters of the King in Minshan, called Wan and Yan , not married, very beautiful, so he renamed them as Zhao and Hua . He abandoned his original wife Moxi , and built a pyramid on top of the tilt palace for them to live.



In the 15th year of his regime, the Shang vassal moved their capital from Lü to Bo .



In the 17th year of his regime, Shang sent their minister Yinyi as envoy to Jie.



In the 20th year of his regime, Yinyi returned to Shang and met Rujiu and Rufang at the North Gate .



In the 21th year of his regime, the Youluo people had a corrupted king and their power declined. The army of Shang defeated Youluo, led by . Shang then attacked Jing , and later the Jing people surrendered, Tang awarded them with cattle.



In the 22th year of his regime, Tang of Shang came to worship Xia, Jie Imprisoned him at Xia pyramid .



In the 23rd year of his regime, Tang was released, and most other vassals of Xia came to visit and comfort Tang.



In the 26th year of his regime, Shang conquered Wen.



In the 28th year of his regime, Kunwu attacked Shang. Shang gathered other vassals in Jingbo . Then Shang conquered Wei , and then sent army to Gu .



The Grand Historian of Xia, Zhong Gu , Escaped Xia and ran to Shang.



In the 29th year of his regime, Shang army conquered Gu .



In October, winter, Jie dug a river to pass through the mountain of Qu .



In the 30th year of his regime, the mountain of Qu collapsed.



He killed his minister Guan Longfeng .



Nature Disaster happed at Linsui in winter.



In the 31st year of his regime, Shang sent troops from Er , to attack Xia and Kunwu at same time. Shang conquered Kunwu.



The big battle happened at Mingtiao between Xia and Shang, in heavy thunder storm.



Xia Army was defeated, Jie escaped and fled to Sanzong .



Shang followed Jie to Cheng led by the general Wuzi , and captured Jie at Jiaomen . Later Jie was release in Nanchao .



Xia dynasty ended.

Gao

Gao was the 15th ruler of the legendary Xia Dynasty. He possibly ruled 11 years. On the 3rd year of his regime, he restored the power of Tunwei the Head of State who was fired by the previous king .

Yu the Great

, often regarded with legendary status as Yu the Great , was the first ruler and founder of the Xia Dynasty. He was born the year 2059 B.C., said to be on the Year of the Tiger. Occasionally identified as one of The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he is best remembered for teaching the people flood control techniques to tame China's rivers and lakes.



Yu established his capital at Yang City . According to the Bamboo Annals, in the second year of his reign, the prime minister of the previous king of Shun died. In the 5th year, he held the first meeting with all the leaders of the states at Tushan . In the 8th year, he held a second meeting with all the leaders of states at Kuaiji , and in order to reinforce his hold on the throne, killed one of northern leaders, Fangfeng .



Birth and ancestry



Traditionally, Yu is regarded as a descendant of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. Yu's father, Gun , was enfeoffed at Shiniu of Mount Wen, in modern day Beichuan County, Sichuan province. Yu was born there, but moved at a young age with his family to Chong, which is modern-day Mount Songshan.



Yu and the flood



During , Yu's father, , was assigned by King to tame the raging waters. Gun built earthen dikes all over the land in the hope of containing the waters. But the earthen dikes collapsed everywhere and the project failed miserably. Gun was executed by King , to whom Yao had handed the rulership. Shun recruited Yu as successor to his father's flood-control efforts. Instead of building more dikes, Yu began to dredge new river channels, to serve both as outlets for the torrential waters, and as irrigation conduits to distant farm lands. Yu spent a backbreaking thirteen years at this task, with the help of some 20,000 workers.



"Passing his own door 3 times" is a tale of Yu's dedication. It is said that when Yu was given the task of fighting the flood, he had been married only 5 days. He then said good bye to his wife, saying that he does not know when he will return. His wife then asked him what name to give if a son is born. Yu replied, Qi , a character meaning 5 days in ancient Chinese. Then in his 13 years of fighting the flood, Yu passed by his own family doorstep 3 times. The 1st time, he passed by, hearing that his wife was in child labor pain. The 2nd time, he passed by, his wife was holding his son's hand as he was learning his first steps. The 3rd time, he passed by, his son greeted him and employed him to come in for rest. Each time, Yu refused to go in the door, saying that the flood was rendering countless people homeless, he could not rest in his own.



For this engineering feat, Yu has been remembered as an examplar of perseverance and determination and revered as the perfect civil servant. Stories continue to dwell on his single-minded dedication. In spite of passing his own house three times during those thirteen years, he never once stopped in for a family visit, reasoning that a personal reunion would distract him from dealing with the public crisis at hand.



King Shun was so impressed by Yu's engineering work and diligence that he passed the throne to Yu instead of to his own son, following King Yao's example in rewarding merit. At the end of Great Yu's life, however, his ministers favoured passing the throne to Yu's son, Qi , instituting a hereditary monarchy. This created China's first hereditary dynasty, the Xia Dynasty .



Death



According to historical texts, Yu died at Mount Kuaiji while on a hunting tour on the southern frontier of his empire, and was buried there. A mausoleum was built in his honor. A number of emperors in imperial times have travelled there to perform ceremonies in his honour, notably Qin Shi Huang. A temple, Dayu Ling , has been built on the traditional site where the ceremonies are performed. He ruled China for 45 years according to the Bamboo Annals.



Yu the Mythology Figure



In many versions of the Flood mythology, Yu seems to be in possession of god-like characteristics. For example, his brilliant engineering idea was, according to some, caused by the "Divine Favour" of the "responding dragon and turtle."



Yu is further mythologized when it is claimed that he was born from the corpse of his father, Gun .

Qi

According to legend, Yu married Nu Jiao and stayed at home for only three days before going back to stop a flood. While Yu was stopping the flood, Yu's wife had a son. He named the boy Qi. After nine years, Yu had finished stopping the flood. When he finally went home, little Qi was very happy and rushed into his father's arms.



Yu died 45 years into his reign. According to the historian Sima Qian, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Boyi. But due to Yu's great influence, all the leaders of the Xia states came to admire Qi instead of Boyi, so Yu had no choice but to pass the throne to Qi. Qi then succeeded Yu.



According to the ''Bamboo Annals'', however, Boyi took the throne and became the king of China, but later Qi assassinated him and abducted the throne.



After Qi's rule, Tai Kang succeeded him as king.



Qi got his throne in the year of Guihai, and he celebrated his inauguration with all his vassals at Juntai.



In the second year of his regime, Prime Minister Boyi controlled the power.



Qi led his army fought Youhu at Gan.



In the sixth year of his regime, Boyi died, and Qi built a temple to memorize him.



In the eighth year of his regime, Qi sent Mengtu, one of his minister to .



In the tenth year of his regime, he created a dance named ''Nine Shao'' in Damu.



In the 11th year of his regime, Qi banished his son Wuguan to Xihe.



In the 15th year of his regime, Wuguan rebelled at Westriver. Qi sent one of his ministers, Shou to lead an army to fight Wuguan, so Wuguan surrendered.



He died sixteen years after he got the throne. Some source say 10 years or 29 years.


Tai Kang

Tai Kang was the third sovereign of the legendary Xia Dynasty. He was the son of .



He loved to hunt and did not rule well. Tai Kang drowned in a lake.



He took the throne in the year of Guiwei.



His capital was in Zhenxun.



Houyi, one of the leaders of his vassals also moved to Zhunxun.



He ruled about 19 years and lost his regime, dying 10 years later according to the Record of the Grand Historian, or 4 years later according to the Bamboo Annals.



He was succeeded by .

Zhong Kang

He took the throne in the year of Jichou.



His capital was at Zhenxun.



On the day of Gengwu, September in the 5th year of his regime, there was a sun eclipse.



He ordered one of his generals, Zeng, to lead troops to conquer Yihe, for the king of Yihe indulged in wine and beauty and his citizens lived bad lives.



In the 6th year of his regime, he appointed Kunwu as his prime minister.



His son, named , left him and lived in Shangqiu with another minister named Pi.

Xiang

He got his throne in the year of Wuxu and set his capital in Shangqiu.



In the first year of his regime, he sent troops to the Huai Barbarians and Fei Barbarians.



In the second year of his regime, he sent troops to the Feng Barbarians and Huang Barbarians.



In the 7th year of his regime, the Yu tribe sent an envoy to Xia.



In the 8th year of his rigime, Han Zhuo killed Houyi, with his son Jiao.



In the 9th year of his regime, he lived in Zhenguan.



In the 15th year of his regime, the duke of his vassal Shang, Xiangshi started fighting on horseback. Xiang moved his capital to Shangqiu.



In the 20th year of his regime, Han Zhuo conquered Ge.



In the 26th year of his regime, Han Zhuo ordered his son to fight in Zhenguan.



In the 27th year of his regime, Jiao attacked Xia at Wei in Zhenxun, capsized their boat and conquered them.



In the 28th year of his regime, Han Zhuo ordered his son Jiao to kill Xiang. At that time, Xiang's wife, queen Ji was pregnant. She escaped from Du, and hid in Youren. The minister of Xia, Mi fled to Youge. Later, Ji gave birth to a boy, named Shao Kang..



Then Shao Kang went to Yu from Youren.



Minister Mi and Shao Kang led Zhenxun and Zhenguan to fight Han Zhuo.



Shao Kang sent Ru Ai to fight Jiao in Guo, Jiao was killed.



Xia's minister Zishu led troops, fought and conquered Ge.



Xia's minister Mi, killed Han Zhuo.



Shao Kang returned to the Xia capital from Lun.



Including Han Zhuo and Houyi, they ruled about 40 years.



All the vassals of previous Xia came to worship Shao Kang.

Shao Kang

Si Shao Kang was the sixth ruler of the Xia Dynasty of China. He was the son of and was Succeeded by King Zhu of Xia. His father Xiang was killed in a battle against Han Zhuo's two sons, Han Jiao and Han Yi ; Shao Kang's mother managed to escape and had him after a few months. In 2079 BC Si Shao Kang and his followers engaged in a battle against Han Zhuo, defeated and killed him, and restored the Xia Dynasty.



Shao Kang's restoration of Xia is considered as a significant early Chinese legend/story. Prior to Shao Kang, the Xia royal family had become corrupt, squandered away the family fortune, and lost the good will of the people. Shao Kang's father, Xiang, was on the run, and only held the title of King in name. When Xiang was killed, Shao Kang's mother supposedly escaped by crawling through a hole dug by dogs at the foot of a wall. She escaped to her parents' holding, and secretly gave birth to Shao Kang. Because the world did not know about Shao Kang, most presumed that the last of the Xia family had died.



Under the protection of his maternal grandfather, Shao Kang grew up. From an early age, his mother taught Shao Kang his birthright, the failing of his family in corruption, and the need to restore Xia rule. Under his mother and grandfather's watchful eyes, Shao Kang learned history, literature and the art of war, for the eventual goal of overthrowing Han Zhuo and restoring Xia.



By the time Shao Kang turned 16, the rumor of his existence as the last heir of Xia had reached Han Zhuo. Soon Han Zhuo dispatched his two sons to find and kill Shao Kang and he was forced to flee from his grandfather's estate.



He managed to find safety in the Kingdom of a Northern Tribe. The tribal leader had some past ties to the Xia family, and resented the rule of Han Zhuo and his tyrannical ways. He saw potential in the young exiled prince of Xia. So he decided to grant Shao Kang his daughter's hand in marriage, and 100 sq. "li" of rich farm land as his own county. This gave Shao Kang a base of operation, from which he could learn the art of state management and build his own population center to prepare.







Coincidentally, to the good fortune of Shao Kang in his marriage and his land grant, a former minister of the Xia royal family had hidden away a vast sum of fortune and had been buying arms and building an army in secret preparation for revenge on Han Zhuo. This minister, upon hearing that the heir of Xia had survived, rejoiced and immediately joined his forces with Shao Kang, thus renewing his loyalty to Xia. With his base secure and his army building and training, Shao Kang continued to build his estate under the old banner of Xia, preaching and reminding people of the benevolence of old Xia rule.



Han Zhou, in the mean time, grew increasingly tyrannical and imposed heavy taxes upon the people of the old Xia Kingdom. Many people fled from his rule. When Shao Kang's new Xia Kingdom grew in size and fortune, so spread the rumor of Shao Kang's benevolence. People began to compare Shao Kang to the 1st benevolent kings of Xia. Many fled to settle in Shao Kang's estate. Shao Kang's estate multiplied in people and resources.



Han Zhou became fearful that Xia had survived and now rivaled his power in size and strength. He despatched his 2 sons in the largest expedition force he could muster to destroy Shao Kang. Shao Kang by this time has become a seasoned leader. He gathered up his forces to meet Han Zhuo's army. He won the battle decisively and killed Han Zhuo's 2 sons. Then Shao Kang's army swept to the door step of the old Xia capital, where the Xia people greeted him as a liberator by opening the door to the citadel. Han Zhuo, sensing defeat, committed suicide.



Shao Kang entered the Xia capital, once again as the King of Xia. He ordered his army to protect the people and their possessions, and help them restore peace and allow Xia to prosper.



With Xia's ancestral home secured, Shao Kang, King of Xia, paid homage to his ancestors, and received the homage of surrounding tributary kingdoms.











Annother name for Shao Kang is Ning.



He took the throne in the year of Bingwu. All his vassals came to worship him.



In the second year of his regime, the Fang barbarians send an envoy to Xia.



In the third year of his regime, he began to distribute the land to his vassals, so that the position of vassal could be inherited by their sons. One of his vassals became the Zhou people, later the Zhou Dynasty.



In the 11th year of his regime, he ordered his vassal to manage the river for irrigation and flood control.



In the 18th year of his regime, he moved his capital to Yuan.



He ruled about 21 years according to both the Bamboo Annals and The Record of the Grand Historian.

Zhu

Zhu took the throne in the year of Yiji and lived in Yuan.



In the 5th year of his regime he moved his capital from Yuan to Laoqiu.



In the 8th year of his regime he hunted in the East Sea and invaded Sanshou.



In the 13th year of his regime his Shang vassal Ming died at He.



He died in the 17th year of his regin.