During Predynastic Shang Tang succeeded
Shi Gui as ruler of
Predynastic Shang, one of the many kingdoms under the
suzerainty of the
Xia dynasty, for 17 years. During
Jie's reign, Shang grew in power, initially at the expense of Xia's other vassals. At some point, he appointed a Minister of the Left,
Zhong Hui and enfeoffed him in
Xue (). Over various periods, Yi Yin continued to encourage Tang to go to war with Xia. However, simply conquering the Xia was not enough: Allies were needed first, and the vassal states of Xia must be weakened first. In the 21st year of Jie's reign, Tang began with capturing the Youluo () and forcing the Jing () to surrender. In the next year, Jie imprisoned Tang in Xiatai (), but later released him, to which many neighbouring clans began to revere Shang. Despite this setback, Shang continued to expand on a number of fronts, gathering vassal troops in
Jingpo. The Shang army and allied forces conquered Mixu (, today's
Xinmi in Henan),
Wei, and attacked
Gu, which too was conquered the following year. Tang recognized that Jie mistreated
his people and used this to convince others. According to legend, in one speech, Tang said that creating
chaos was not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he had to follow the
Mandate of Heaven and use this opportunity to overthrow Xia. ''The king said, 'Come, ye multitudes of the people, listen all to my words. It is not I, the little child, who dare to undertake a rebellious enterprise; but for the many crimes of the sovereign of Xia, Heaven has given the charge to destroy him. Now, ye multitudes, you are saying, "Our prince does not compassionate us, but (is calling us) away from our husbandry to attack and punish Xia." I have indeed heard (these) words of you all; (but) the sovereign of Xia is guilty, and as I fear God, I dare not but punish him. Now you are saying, "What are the crimes of Xia to us?" The king of Xia in every way exhausts the strength of his people, and exercises oppression in the cities of Xia. His multitudes are become entirely indifferent (to his service), and feel no bond of union'(to him). They are saying, "When wilt thou, O sun, expire? We will all perish with thee." Such is the course of (the sovereign) of Xia, and now I must go (and punish him).''
Assist, I pray you, me, the One man, to carry out the punishment appointed by Heaven. I will greatly reward you. On no account disbelieve me - I will not eat my words. If you do not obey the words which I have thus spoken to you, I will put your children to death with you - you shall find no forgiveness. - James Legge translation, 1865 ===Progenitor of the
Shang dynasty=== Tang's reign was regarded as a good time by the Chinese. According to the
Bamboo Annals, Tang built a
palace called Xia She () to memorialize the Xia dynasty. In the first five years of his reign, there was a constant
drought. Tang ordered golden
coins to be made and distributed to poor families who had been forced to sell their children because of the drought. It was intended for them to use this
money to buy their children back. The
Xinshu () by
Jia Yi notes that Tang had stockpiled around 10 years of resources during his reign over Predynastic Shang, which allowed his people to overcome the drought. In the 9th year of his reign, Tang moved the
Nine Tripod Cauldrons, made by
Yu the Great, to the Shang Palace. In
Records of the Grand Historian, Tang is recorded as going on punitive expeditions to ensure that sacrificial rituals as part of the
Shang state religion are upheld. The penalty for not upholding proper sacrifice, as shown in his dialogue with the chief of the State of Ge, was death; forgiveness was not on the table. ==Personal life==