Zu Jia

Zu Jia (died in the middle of the 12th century BC) or Di Jia , personal name Zǐ Zǎi , was a Shang dynasty King of China. He was the third recorded son of Wu Ding, the first Chinese monarch verified by contemporary records. Having inherited a large realm built up by his father and brother, he led the Shang kingdom through its last brief period of stability. After his reign, Shang went into irreversible decline.

Zu Jia reigned during the first half of the 12th century BC, from the city of Yin, the ancient historical capital of the Shang. He is known to have started religious and succession reforms to solve previously concerning problems. His period marked the rise of Predynastic Zhou, which began to develop more complex relations with the Shang court after Wu Ding's death.

Early life

Little is known about Zu Jia's early life. He was a royal member of the Shang dynasty, which had been ruling the Yellow River valley since the 16th century BC. He was one of three male children of Wu Ding, born to Wu's principal queen consort, Fu Jing. He had two older brothers, Zu Geng and Zu Ji, and a sister, Xiao Chen Tao.

His father Wu Ding was one of the most notable rulers of the Shang dynasty. After over 59 years, starting around 1250 BC, Wu Ding transformed Shang from a declining country into a powerful state, expanding its influence beyond the Yellow River to reach the faraway lands of the Yangtze and modern Shaanxi. Zu Geng's eldest brother Zu Ji was titled "Xiaowang" (, "Expectant King") and appointed Wu Ding's successor. Zu Ji died early, and was replaced by Zi Yue, later known as Zu Geng. During Zu Geng's reign, the prince Zi Zai became the Expectant King.

Reign as king

Zu Jia succeeded his brother Zu Geng, resuming Shang's tradition of fraternal succession. The Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project places Zu Jia's reign between 1184 - 1177 BC. The Bamboo Annals gives another time frame, which David Nivison identified as 1177 - 1156 BC.

Succession rule alterations

In the 27th year of his reign, he named his twin sons as prince Zi Xiao and Zi Liang .

The Shang followed the rule of fraternal succession throughout many generations. The tradition was first practiced by Cheng Tang's offspring, who passed it down to subsequent rulers. Nivison claimed that this was done in order to prevent the risk of outside interference; he derived the theory from the Bamboo Annals, which contains an entry detailing Yi Yin's usurpation of the throne from Tai Jia. The convention continued to Wu Ding, who might have followed it if he had had living siblings or cousins. Wu Ding, however, due to his 59-year reign, had outlived all possible candidates for fraternal succession and instead had to rely on his children. Zu Ji predeceased his father, so Zu Ding and Zu Jia were the only two options. After Zu Geng, agnatic seniority was again applied to succession. That posed a new threat of fraternal usurpation.

Like his brother Zu Geng, Zu Jia was one of the first Shang kings to be buried in the cemetery's West zone. The section was founded by Wu Ding, aimed to separate Wu's successors from his ancestors. Zu Jia was interred in Tomb 1003, near his brother's tomb (1004). His tomb formed a cluster with that of Zu Ji and Zu Geng, and was positioned so that he could pay respect to his predecessors.