Wu Ding

Wu Ding (Chinese: 武丁) was a king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China, whose reign lasted from approximately 1250-1192 BC.
Wu Ding is the earliest figure in the history of the Chinese dynasties who has been confirmed by contemporary records. The annals of the Shang dynasty compiled by later historians were long thought to be little more than legends until oracle script inscriptions on bones dating from his reign were unearthed at the ruins of his capital Yin (near modern Anyang) in 1899.

History

In the sixth year of his father's reign, he was ordered to live at He (河) and study at Ganpan (甘盘). These early years spent among the common people allowed him to become familiar with their daily problems.

In the Records of the Grand Historian he was listed by Sima Qian as the twenty-second Shang king, succeeding his father Xiao Yi (小乙). He was enthroned in the year of Dingwei (丁未) with Gan Pan (甘盘) 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. His favoured consort Fu Hao entered the royal household through such a marriage and took advantage of the semi-matriarchal slave society to rise through the ranks to military general and high priestess.

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

In the twenty-ninth year of his reign, he conducted rituals in honour of his ancestor King Tang, 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 an article called Day of the Supplementary Sacrifice to Gao Zong (高宗肜日, presently in the Book of Documents [1]).

In 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) barbarians 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 (豕韦) in the 50th year of his reign.

He died in the fifty-ninth year of his reign according to all the sources available. Widely regarded as one of the best kings of the Shang dynasty, he was given the posthumous name Wu Ding (武丁) and was succeeded by his son Zu Geng (祖庚).

The oracle script inscriptions on the bones unearthed at Yinxu (Ruins of Yin) alternatively record that he was the twenty-first Shang king.