If you make a list of tyrants in the history of China, Yin ranks second, and it is estimated that no one can hold the top spot. A series of gods made Shang Zhouwang a household name, and Shang Zhouwang, together with Qin Shihuang and Yang Di, was called a synonym for tyrant. According to scholars' research on history, Qin Shihuang and Yang Di were not tyrants, but brilliant and accomplished emperors. Like the other two emperors, Shang Zhouwang was not a tyrant, but he was also a great emperor like Qin Shihuang and Yang Di.

Di Xin (1 105- 1046) was the last monarch of Shang Dynasty in China, and also a brutal monarch recorded in the history of China. After 30 years in office, he was later called Shang Zhouwang. Zi's surname, first name and virtue are called "Zhou Wang" and "Shouwang" in some literary novels. According to the dating project of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, he lived before 1 105- 1046, and his capital was Momo. After the death of Di Yi, the eldest son Qi Yingli. Although Qi and Xin are half-brothers, when Qi was born, his mother was a princess, but when Xin was born, it was already late. Therefore, the State of Qi could not be established, and the youngest son Xin became emperor.

Di Xin has been very clever since he was a child. "Xunzi Flying" said that Di Xin is "huge and beautiful, and it is also the best in the world; Super strength, the enemy of a hundred people. " "Historical Records Yin Benji" also said that "the emperor is very sensitive in distinguishing diseases, extremely talented and fierce in hand."

However, in historical books and literary works, Yin is a typical king of cruelty. He said that he likes to drink and have fun, build a meat forest wine pool, is a credit villain, listens to rumors and tortures loyalty. A Romance of the Gods made Zhou Wang dissolute and sadistic. In the battle of Makino, the Shang army was defeated by Ji Fa of Zhou Wuwang, and Di Xin ran to Lutai and set himself on fire. The Shang Dynasty lasted for 600 years, and the17th generation was 3 1, which was finally destroyed in the dust of the Star Tower fire.

From ancient times to the present, it is not that no one has put in a good word for Zhou Wang and overturned Zhou Wang's conviction. Objectively speaking, Zhou Wang, as the emperor who reigned for 52 years, could not be worthless. More than 2,000 years ago, Zi Gong, a student of Confucius, said: "It is better to be good than evil, and a gentleman lives in prostitution, and all the evil in the world comes to him" (The Analects of Confucius, Zhang Zi). He thought that Zhou Wang was not as bad as everyone said. Mencius also believed that Zhou Wang had "a legacy of family history, and he was good at courtesy and good at government" (see Mencius' On the Ugliness of Sun Yat-sen).

So is Zhou Wang really a cruel king? Actually, it is not.

Xunzi said that the fundamental reason why Valerian enjoys a very bad name is that they are all kings of national subjugation, and future generations should make fun of them and seize the negative examples instead of these two. Dare not pull others! Mr. Lu Xun summed it up, pointing out that emperors who died and appeared in the country often had a bad reputation in history, such as Qin Shihuang and Yang Di, because they all evaluated people in the "new era", not people in the Qin and Sui Dynasties.

The real Zhou Wang:

After Di Xin succeeded to the throne, he attached importance to agriculture and mulberry, developed social productive forces, and became strong in national strength. He continued to fight against Dongyi, repelled Dongyi's expansion to the Central Plains, and extended the influence of Shang Dynasty to Jianghuai area. Especially the victory of the crusade against Xu Yi expanded the territory of Shang Dynasty to the coastal areas of Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. Di Xin fought in the southeast to protect the security of Shang Dynasty.

Guo Moruo, a historian, wrote the poem "The Central Plains Reunited this Man" and wrote: "This man is a great talent and has made great contributions to the Chinese nation. Zhou Wang has contributed to the development of the Chinese nation to the south "(Pu Jian's Past and Present). Chairman Mao said of Di Xin: "In fact, Zhou Wang is a very capable person. He unified the southeast and consolidated the unity of Dongyi and the Central Plains, which was meritorious in history. "