Wu Ding

Because Wu Ding is the earliest Chinese ruler whose reign is confirmed by contemporary material, dating his reign is a matter of significant historical interest.

According to the traditional chronology, he reigned from 1324–1266 BC.[3] This has been shown to be an artifact of incorrect backdating due to misunderstanding of King Wen of Zhou's Mandate calendar.[4] Cambridge History gives 1189 BC as the end date of his reign.[5] The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project draft release (2000), sponsored by the Chinese government and disbanded without producing a final report, gives his reign as 1250–1192 BC.[6] Inscriptions from twenty-six oracle bone divinations of his reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197 BC±10 years.[2]

According to later tradition, in the sixth year of his father's reign, Wu Ding was ordered to live at He (河) and study under Gan Pan (甘盤). These early years spent among the common people allowed him to become familiar with their daily problems.

In the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) he was listed by Sima Qian as the twenty-second Shang king, succeeding his father Xiao Yi (小乙). The oracle bone script inscriptions unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the twenty-first Shang king.[7][8] The Shiji says that he was enthroned in the dingwei (丁未) year with Gan Pan (甘盤) as his prime minister and Yin (殷) as his capital.

He cultivated the allegiance of neighbouring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them. Oracle bone inscriptions mention no fewer than sixty-four of his wives.[9]^: 464 His favoured consort Fu Hao entered the royal household through such a marriage and served as military general and high priestess.[10]

According to the Bamboo Annals, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, his son Zu Ji (祖己) died at a remote area after being exiled.

According to the Book of Documents, in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, he conducted rituals in honour of his ancestor Da Yi (大乙), 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 a proclamation called "Day of the Supplementary Sacrifice of Gao Zong" (高宗肜日).[11][lower-alpha 1] The Book of Documents passage in question is attributed to Zu Ji, reflecting a different tradition of vital dates for that individual.

According to the Bamboo Annals, the thirty-second year of his reign, he sent troops to Guifang (鬼方) and after three years of fighting he conquered it. The Di (氐) and Qiang (羌) immediately sent envoys to Shang to negotiate. His armies went on to conquer Dapeng (大彭) in the forty-third year of his reign, and Tunwei (豕韋) in the fiftieth year of his reign. Exactly how this is related to the campaigns in the oracle bone divinations is unclear, where the Gui Fang appears once, but the Gong Fang and Tu Fang campaigns have hundreds of divinations.

The earliest version of Chinese writing, Oracle bone script (甲骨文; jiaguwen), found on tortoise plastrons and ox scapulae, was unearthed at the royal tombs in Yinxu. Wu Ding was the earliest monarch at that Shang capital. The contents are divinatory questions on war, human sacrifice, and national economy.

Wu Ding's reign is the latest point at which chariots entered China.[12] They were acquired as a mature technology through interactions with western nomadic tribes, and used for royal hunts and military commanders.

At the time of Wu Ding's accession to the throne, women had a greater role to play in the exercise of official power than in subsequent Chinese culture. Wu Ding's spouses participated in warfare and divination, worshipping the Shang celestial ancestor Shangdi (上帝), along with participation in managing the kingdom's agriculture.

Fu Hao, the queen consort, was recorded in oracle bones as a renowned military commander. She held campaigns against the western tribes Yi, Qiang, and Ba by organizing the earliest mass ambush in Chinease history.

At its peak, the forces of Fu Hao reached over 10,000 troops, headed by herself and subordinate generals. The force helped Shang dynasty conquer many opposing tribes and further expand their territory.

When Fu Hao died (c. 1200 BC), Wu Ding had a famous tomb built for her, the Tomb of Fu Hao, located at Yin. Inside the tomb lies numerous Shang vessels, mirrors, bronze artifacts , weapons, as well as 16 human sacrifices and 6 dogs. The size of the construction was that of a room, indicating the importance of the queen and showing Wu's favor towards her.[10]

Another of Wu Ding's wives, Fu Jing, was probably responsible for overseeing agricultural production, as this was the subject she divined about most frequently.[13]

• Father: Xiao Yi of Shang (小乙), 20th Shang king.

Wives:

• Fu Hao (婦好), died c. 1200 BC, posthumous temple name Mu Xin (母辛).
• Fu Jing (婦妌), known for overseeing millet farming.

Children:

• Zu Geng (祖庚), personal name Zi Yue, son by Fu Jing. 22nd Shang king
• Zu Jia (祖甲), personal name Zi Zai. 23rd Shang king
• Xiao Chen Tao (小臣妥); (died c.1100 BC). Wu Ding's daughter, being granted personal fief and ministerial power at the court.

Grandchildren:

• Geng Ding
• Lin Xin (son of Zu Jia)

He died in the fifty-ninth year of his reign according to all the sources available, none of which are contemporary. That results in debates about his exact year of death. Opinions vary from 1197 BC to 1180 BC, with the commonly accepted year being 1192 BC.

Widely regarded in later tradition as one of the best kings of the Shang dynasty, he was given the posthumous name Wu Ding (武丁) in accordance with the sexagenary cycle and was succeeded by his son Zu Geng (祖庚).

After Wu Ding's death, power of the Shang dynasty started to decline. In c.1190 BC, the vassal Zhou began to strengthen itself and eventually ended the dynasty 150 years after.