Sunken Rites of Shang Land

Yu established Xia, and Qi founded Shang. The Xia and Shang clans rose in the same era, worked to control the floods in the same era, and assisted Shun. As the Shang clan first rose, it migrated in every direction and established itself in Bo. For generations, it served as Xia's regional overlord. After several generations of development, the tribe grew steadily stronger, subdued the tribes beyond its borders, expanded its territory, and established itself as a force in the east through military strength and sacrificial rites.

By the time of Tianyi Cheng Tang, the Xia Way had fallen into decline. Gui oppressed the people, killed and punished without restraint, and alienated the feudal lords. Following Yi Yin's strategy, Tang organized his troops, formed alliances with neighboring states, first attacked Ge, then Wei and Gu, defeated Kunwu, and brought the four quarters under control.

In the Battle of Mingtiao, the Xia army collapsed. Xia Gui fled, and the Xia sacrifices came to an end. Shang replaced Xia, established the state as Yin, and laid the foundations of royal power. The hereditary slave system prevailed: sacrifices came first, military might brought strength, and slaves were put to use.

The throne passed to Wai Bing, Zhong Ren, and Tai Jia, and later Pan Geng moved the capital to Yin. Wu Ding revived the state, but its fortunes rose and fell repeatedly. In the final age, Emperor Xin relied on brute force and ruled with arrogance and cruelty. He waged endless wars, abused his ministers and slaves, and provoked the people's resentment and the gods' wrath.

King Wu of Zhou marched east, and the decisive Battle of Muye saw the Yin army turn against its own side. Zhou fled to Lutai and burned himself to death. Shang's lands fell, and the Yin sacrifices faded into oblivion. From the Shang clan's rise in the age of Xia to the end of Yin and Shang, this work chronicles centuries of rise and decline, campaigns, migrations, shamanic rites, ministers and slaves, regional states, and changes in royal power. It follows in the footsteps of the pioneering Xia-era spy novel, The Ripple of Spies: The Biography of Nü Ai.