Zhu of Xia

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Zhu (Template:Zh, also , , , or ) was the seventh king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty (c. Template:Trim BCE) of Ancient China. Along with the reign of his father Shao Kang, Zhu's rule was considered a peaceful and prosperous period of the Xia's history.

Background

The Xia dynasty (; c. Template:Trim BCE) is the first dynasty of traditional Chinese historiography.Template:Sfn Founded by Yu the Great, both the dynasty and its rulers are of highly uncertain and controversial historicity.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

There is some uncertainty as to the correct character for Zhu's name.Template:Sfn Some sources refer to him as Yu ().Template:Sfn According to Sima Zhen, his named is read "Zhù".

Traditional narrative

Extant sources offer little information on Zhu's reign.Template:Sfn He was the son of Shao Kang.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to the Zuo Zhuan, Shao Kang's wife—and presumably Zhu's mother—was a Template:Ill of Template:Ill, a descendant of the legendary Yu dynasty.Template:Sfn Shao Kang had been born during an interregnum in the Xia's history, when the region was ruled by the usurper Han Zhuo.Template:Sfn During Shao Kang's attack to restore the throne, the Zuo Zhuan described Zhu as commanding a "diversionary force" at the rear.Template:Sfn 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".Template:Sfn

The Bamboo Annals gives a brief account of Zhu's reign. He ascended in the year of the ji si () and resided in Yuan (; now Jiyuan), moving the capital to Laoqiu (; 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Traditional accounts are generally interpreted as indicating the reigns of Shao Kang and Zhu as a "period of union and tranquillity".Template:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn The Guoyu describes Zhu as following Yu the Great's example, a "further indication that this is in some sense a new beginning".Template:Sfn

Chronology

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

Differing reign lengths of Zhu (BCE)

Source	Length	Speculative Years
Traditional	16	2057–2041Template:Sfn
Bamboo Annals	17	1851–1868Template:Sfn

References

Sources

Early

Modern

• Template:Cite Cambridge History of China