Zhu of Xia

The Xia dynasty ({{lang|zh-hant|夏朝}}; {{circa|2070–1600}} BCE) is the first dynasty of traditional Chinese historiography.{{sfn|Morton|Lewis|2004|p=14}} Founded by Yu the Great, both the dynasty and its rulers are of highly uncertain and controversial historicity.{{sfn|Morton|Lewis|2004|p=14}}{{sfn|Chang|1999|pp=71–73}}

There is some uncertainty as to the correct character for Zhu's name.{{sfn|SJ in Allen|1895|p=109}} Some sources refer to him as Yu ({{lang|zh-hant|予}}).{{sfn|Allan|1991|p=72}} According to Sima Zhen, his named is read "Zhù".

Extant sources offer little information on Zhu's reign.{{sfn|Imperial China|2020|p=315}} He was the son of Shao Kang.{{sfn|BA in Legge|1865|p=[https://archive.org/details/chineseclassics07legggoog/page/n138/mode/2up?view=theater 121]}}{{sfn|SJ in Allen|1895|p=108}} According to the Zuo Zhuan, Shao Kang's wife—and presumably Zhu's mother—was a {{ill|二姚|zh|lt=daughter}} of {{ill|虞思|zh|lt=Yu Si}}, a descendant of the legendary Yu dynasty.{{sfn|ZZ}} Shao Kang had been born during an interregnum in the Xia's history, when the region was ruled by the usurper Han Zhuo.{{sfn|Imperial China|2020|p=315}} During Shao Kang's attack to restore the throne, the Zuo Zhuan described Zhu as commanding a "diversionary force" at the rear.{{sfn|Wu|1982|pp=[https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku/page/124/mode/2up?view=theater 124], 144}} 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".{{sfn|Wu|1982|pp=[https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku/page/124/mode/2up?view=theater 125]–126}}

The Bamboo Annals gives a brief account of Zhu's reign. He ascended in the year of the ji si ({{lang|zh-hant|己巳}}) and resided in Yuan ({{lang|zh-hant|原}}; now Jiyuan), moving the capital to Laoqiu ({{lang|zh-hant|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 Huai.{{sfn|BA in Legge|1865|p=[https://archive.org/details/chineseclassics07legggoog/page/n138/mode/2up?view=theater 121]}}{{sfn|Imperial China|2020|p=315}}

Traditional accounts are generally interpreted as indicating the reigns of Shao Kang and Zhu as a "period of union and tranquillity".{{sfn|Wu|1982|p=[https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku/page/124/mode/2up?view=theater 125]}} 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."{{sfn|Ye|Fei|Wang|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA27 27]}} The Guoyu describes Zhu as following Yu the Great's example, a "further indication that this is in some sense a new beginning".{{sfn|Allan|1991|p=72}}

Zhu is traditionally held to have succeeded his father Shao Kang and been succeeded by his son Huai.{{sfn|SJ in Allen|1895|p=108}} Aside from this, all reign periods and lengths are speculative and unverifiable.

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

:Early

• {{cite book |script-title=zh:春秋左氏傳 |title=Zuǒ Zhuàn |trans-title=Zuo Zhuan |script-chapter=zh:吴许越成 |chapter-url=https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E5%90%B3%E8%A8%B1%E8%B6%8A%E6%88%90 |language=zh-hant |quote="（少康）逃奔有虞，为之庖正，以除其害。虞思于是妻以二姚。" |ref={{sfnRef|ZZ}}}}
• {{cite book |script-title=zh:竹書紀年 |title=Zhúshū Jìnián |trans-title=Bamboo Annals |script-chapter=zh:帝杼 |chapter=Dì Zhù |trans-chapter=Emperor Zhu |chapter-url=https://ctext.org/zhushu-jinian/di-zhu/zh |language=zh-hant }}
• {{cite book |translator-last=Legge |translator-first=James |translator-link=James Legge |year=1865 |title=The Chinese Classics: A Translation Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, And Copious Indexes |chapter=The Annals of the Bamboo Books |publisher=Trübner |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/chineseclassics07legggoog |ref={{sfnRef|BA in Legge|1865}} }}
• {{cite book |script-title=zh:史記 |title=Shǐjì |trans-title=Records of the Grand Historian |chapter=Juǎn Er Xià 卷二夏 |trans-chapter=Volume 2: Xia |language=zh-hant }}
• {{cite journal |translator-last=Allen |translator-first=Herbert J. |year=1895 |title=Ssŭma Ch'ien's Historical Records, Chapter II – The Hsia Dynasty |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=93–110 |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1895-03.htm |s2cid=250351018 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00022784 |ref={{sfnRef|SJ in Allen|1895}} }}

:Modern

• {{cite book |last=Allan |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Allan |year=1991 |title=The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=978-0-7914-0459-1 }}
• {{Cite Cambridge History of China |volume=ancient |year=1999 |last=Chang |first=Kwang-chih |author-link=Kwang-chih Chang |chapter=China on the Eve of the Historical Period }}
• {{cite book |last1=Morton |first1=W. Scott |last2=Lewis |first2=Charlton M. |year=2004 |title=China: Its History and Culture |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-146526-7 }}
• {{cite book |author=Wu Kuo-Chen |author-link=K. C. Wu |year=1982 |title=The Chinese Heritage |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-517-54475-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku |ref={{sfnRef|Wu|1982}} }}
• {{cite book |last1=Ye |first1=Lang |last2=Fei |first2=Zhenggang |last3=Wang |first3=Tianyou |year=1991 |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |location=Hong Kong |isbn=978-962-937-140-1 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=z-fAxn_9f8wC}} }}
• {{cite book |year=2020 |title=Imperial China: The Definitive Visual History |publisher=DK and Encyclopedia of China Publishing House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7440-2047-2 |ref={{sfnRef|Imperial China|2020}} }}

{{refend}}

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{{s-hou|Xia dynasty||||}}

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| before = Shao Kang

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| title = King of China

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| after = Huai

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{{Kings of Xia}}

{{portal bar|Biography|China|History}}

Category:Kings of the Xia dynasty