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Zhu of Xia

Zhu (Chinese: 杼, also 予, 宁, 佇, or 宇) was the seventh king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty. Along with the reign of his father Shao Kang, Zhu's rule was considered a peaceful and prosperous period of the Xia's history.

The Xia dynasty (夏朝) is the first dynasty of traditional Chinese historiography.^[1] Founded by Yu the Great, both the dynasty and its rulers are of highly uncertain and controversial historicity.^[1][2]

There is some uncertainty as to the correct character for Zhu's name.^[3] Some sources refer to him as Yu (予).^[4] According to Sima Zhen, his named is read "Zhù".

Extant sources offer little information on Zhu's reign.^[5] He was the son of Shao Kang.^[6][7] According to the Zuo Zhuan, Shao Kang's wife—and presumably Zhu's mother—was a daughter [zh]ofYu Si [zh], a descendant of the legendary Yu dynasty.^[8] Shao Kang had been born during an interregnum in the Xia's history, when the region was ruled by the usurper Han Zhuo.^[5] During Shao Kang's attack to restore the throne, the Zuo Zhuan described Zhu as commanding a "diversionary force" at the rear.^[9] Towards his reign's end, Shao Kang enfeoffed his son Wuyu with a fief near Kuaiji; the sinologist Wu Kuo-Chen speculates that a rivalry from Wuyu living under the heir Zhu "might have grown into bickering that could be resolved only by this settlement".^[10]

The Bamboo Annals gives a brief account of Zhu's reign. He ascended in the year of the ji si (己巳) and resided in Yuan (原; now Jiyuan), moving the capital to Laoqiu (老丘; now Kaifeng) after five years. During his reign's eighth year Zhu undertook a punitive expedition in the East China Sea, conquering as far as Sanshou. While hunting amid the exhibition, Zhu killed a nine-tailed fox. In the thirteenth year his Shang vassal Ming died at He. He died in the seventeenth year of his reign and was succeeded by his son was his son Huai.^[6][5]

Traditional accounts are generally interpreted as indicating the reigns of Shao Kang and Zhu as a "period of union and tranquillity".^[11] Amid the renewed peace and conquering of Eastern peoples, Zhu's reign has been described as "the most powerful and prosperous period of the Xia dynasty."^[12] The Guoyu describes Zhu as following Yu the Great's example, a "further indication that this is in some sense a new beginning".^[4]

Zhu is traditionally held to have succeeded his father Shao Kang and been succeeded by his son Huai.^[7] Aside from this, all reign periods and lengths are speculative and unverifiable.

• 吴许越成. Zuǒ Zhuàn 春秋左氏傳 [Zuo Zhuan] (in Traditional Chinese). （少康）逃奔有虞，为之庖正，以除其害。虞思于是妻以二姚。
• "Dì Zhù" 帝杼 [Emperor Zhu]. Zhúshū Jìnián 竹書紀年 [Bamboo Annals] (in Traditional Chinese).
• "The Annals of the Bamboo Books". The Chinese Classics: A Translation Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, And Copious Indexes. Translated by Legge, James. London: Trübner. 1865.
• "Juǎn Er Xià 卷二夏" [Volume 2: Xia]. Shǐjì 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian] (in Traditional Chinese).
• "Ssŭma Ch'ien's Historical Records, Chapter II – The Hsia Dynasty". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 27 (1). Translated by Allen, Herbert J.: 93–110 1895. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00022784. S2CID 250351018.

Modern

• Allan, Sarah (1991). The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0459-1.
• Chang, Kwang-chih (1999). "China on the Eve of the Historical Period". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
• Morton, W. Scott; Lewis, Charlton M. (2004). China: Its History and Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-146526-7.
• Wu Kuo-Chen (1982). The Chinese Heritage. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-517-54475-4.
• Ye, Lang; Fei, Zhenggang; Wang, Tianyou (1991). China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. ISBN 978-962-937-140-1.
• Imperial China: The Definitive Visual History. New York: DK and Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. 2020. ISBN 978-0-7440-2047-2.

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