- for the village in Comoros see Daji, Comoros
Daji is a village on the island of Anjouan in the Comoros. According to the 1991 census, the village had a population of 1,664. The current estimate for 2009 is 2,929 people-References:...
Daji (妲己;
PinyinPinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin , is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu means the Chinese language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"...
: Dájǐ) was a favorite concubine of
King Zhou of ShangDi Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang , born Zi Shou was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative nickname Zhòu Di Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang (Chinese: 帝辛), born Zi Shou (Chinese: 子受) was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He...
, the last king of the
Shang DynastyThe Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley...
in
ancient ChinaChinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. The written history of China begins with the Shang Dynasty . Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to as early as 1500 BCE...
. She is a classic example of how a beauty causes the downfall of an empire/dynasty in Chinese culture. She is portrayed as an evil fox spirit in the Chinese novel
Fengshen YanyiFengshen Yanyi , also known as Fengshen Bang , is one of the major vernacular Chinese epic fantasy novels written in the Ming Dynasty....
.
Daji was from a noble family called Su (蘇) from the state of Yousu (有蘇).
- for the village in Comoros see Daji, Comoros
Daji is a village on the island of Anjouan in the Comoros. According to the 1991 census, the village had a population of 1,664. The current estimate for 2009 is 2,929 people-References:...
Daji (妲己;
PinyinPinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin , is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu means the Chinese language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"...
: Dájǐ) was a favorite concubine of
King Zhou of ShangDi Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang , born Zi Shou was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative nickname Zhòu Di Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang (Chinese: 帝辛), born Zi Shou (Chinese: 子受) was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He...
, the last king of the
Shang DynastyThe Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley...
in
ancient ChinaChinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. The written history of China begins with the Shang Dynasty . Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to as early as 1500 BCE...
. She is a classic example of how a beauty causes the downfall of an empire/dynasty in Chinese culture. She is portrayed as an evil fox spirit in the Chinese novel
Fengshen YanyiFengshen Yanyi , also known as Fengshen Bang , is one of the major vernacular Chinese epic fantasy novels written in the Ming Dynasty....
.
Biography
Daji was from a noble family called Su (蘇) from the state of Yousu (有蘇). Hence, she was also known as "Su Daji" since her family name was "Su". In 1047 BC,
King Zhou of ShangDi Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang , born Zi Shou was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative nickname Zhòu Di Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang (Chinese: 帝辛), born Zi Shou (Chinese: 子受) was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He...
conquered Yousu and took Daji as his prize.
King Zhou became extremely obsessed and infatuated with Daji and started to neglect state affairs in order to keep her company. He used any means necessary to ingratiate himself with her and to please her. Daji liked animals so he built her a zoological
XanaduXanadu, or more accurately Shàngdū , was the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty in China, after he decided to move the capital of the Yuan Dynasty to Dadu, present-day Beijing. The city was located in what is now called Inner Mongolia, north of Beijing, about northwest of the modern...
with several rare species of birds and animals. He also ordered artists to compose leud music and choreograph bawdy dances to satisfy her musical taste. He gathered 3000 guests at one party to indulge in his "pond of wine" and "forest of meat". He allowed the guests to play a
cat and mouseCat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom dating back to 1675 that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes." The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mouse", who despite not being able to...
game in the nude in the forest to amuse Daji. When one of King Zhou's concubines, the daughter of Lord Jiu, protested at the sight of debauchery, King Zhou had her executed. Her father was grounded in pieces and his flesh fed to King Zhou's vassals.
Daji said that her greatest joy was to hear people cry in physical torment. Once, she saw a farmer walking barefoot on ice and ordered his feet cut off so she could study them and figure out why they were so resistant to low temperatures. On another occasion, she had a pregnant woman's belly cut open so it satisfied her curiosity to find out what happened inside. To verify an ancient saying that "a good man's heart has seven apertures", she even had the heart of the minister
Bi GanCai Shen is the Chinese god of prosperity. He can be referred to as Zhao Gongming or Bi Gan...
(King Zhou's uncle) dug out and subjected to her fertile scrutiny.
Daji was best known for her invention of a method of torture known as
Paolao (炮烙). A bronze cylinder covered with oil was heated like a furnace with charcoal beneath until its sides became extremely hot. The victim was made to walk on top of the slowly heating cylinder and he was forced to shift his feet to avoid the burning. The oily surface made it difficult for the victim to maintain his position and balance. If the victim falls into the charcoal below, he would be burnt to death. The victim was forced to "dance" and scream in agony before dying eventually while the observing King Zhou and Daji would laugh in delight.
Daji was executed on the orders of King Zhou after the fall of the Shang Dynasty on the advice of
Jiang ZiyaJiang Ziya was a Chinese historical and legendary figure who resided next to the Weishui River about 3,000 years ago...
.
In literature
Daji is featured in the Chinese novel
Fengshen YanyiFengshen Yanyi , also known as Fengshen Bang , is one of the major vernacular Chinese epic fantasy novels written in the Ming Dynasty....
as a major antagonist. She was the first featured corrupter of the declining
Shang DynastyThe Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley...
in the novel. Her father Su Hu gave her in to
King Zhou of ShangDi Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang , born Zi Shou was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative nickname Zhòu Di Xin, or Emperor Xin of Shang (Chinese: 帝辛), born Zi Shou (Chinese: 子受) was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He...
as an appeasement offer after armed conflict broke out between Su's and Shang military forces.
One night before Daji was sent to the capital city of
ZhaogeZhaoge was the capital of Shang Dynasty, and later capital of State of Wei . It is located in current Qi County, Hebi, Henan....
, she was possessed by an evil nine-tailed fox spirit (aka Thousand-Year-Old Vixen). When Daji arrived in Zhaoge, she became the centre of attention of King Zhou and caused the king to be extremely obsessed with her. King Zhou neglected state affairs to keep her company and ignored the advice of his subjects.
YunzhongziYunzhongzi is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi.Yunzhongzi is a renowned immortal of the Jade Column Cave atop Mount South End. After the sinister Daji had taken her grasp over King Zhou of Shang, Yunzhongzi would be the first immortal to see the injustice...
was the first man to act against Daji by giving the king a magical peach-wood sword which would make Daji ill and kill her eventually. She rose above the ranks from a minor concubine to become the queen based on the king's favouritism towards her.
Daji was blamed for the fall of the Shang Dynasty by corrupting King Zhou and causing him to neglect state affairs and rule with tyranny and despotism. This ultimately led to the dynasty's decline and widespread chaos. King Zhou's tyranny incurred the anger and resentment of the common people, who eventually rose up in revolt against him under
King Wu of ZhouKing Wu of Zhou or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his brothers....
's leadership. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, Daji was exorcised by
Jiang ZiyaJiang Ziya was a Chinese historical and legendary figure who resided next to the Weishui River about 3,000 years ago...
(aka Taigong Wang) and died eventually.
Modern references
- The primary antagonist of Ryu Fujisaki
is a Japanese mangaka born in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture.He won the 39th and the 40th Tezuka Award. He made his professional manga debut with WORLDS in 1990....
's MangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
series Hoshin Engi (based on Fengshen Yanyi), Dakki, is based on Daji. She is a "yokai sennin" said to have been originally a fox monster. In both anime and Manga, Dakki declared that Taikoubou (Taigong Wang) is her rival.
- Daji appears in Koei's video game Warriors Orochi
Warriors Orochi, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 hack and slash video game developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of two of Koei's popular video game series, Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors...
as "Da Ji," Orochi's strategist and right-hand woman. Her personality is deadly and cruel, usually deceiving and then betraying her allies for personal pleasure. Her design incorporates pointed, fuzzy ears and vulpine feet, alluding to the legend that she is a fox spirit. In Warriors Orochi 2is a video game developed by Koei and Omega Force for the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to Warriors Orochi, a crossover video game of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series, and the most recent entry in the Warriors franchise. The game was released on September 23 in North America...
she is a strong rival of Taigong Wang, who is the one who can easily see through her strategies. She is also the one who had originally released Orochi the Serpent King from confinement because she sympathised with him.
See also
- Bo Yi Kao
Bo Yi Kao is a character in the Ming Dynasty Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi . In the book, Bo Yi Kao is the eldest son of the Grand Duke of the West, Ji Chang.-Role in plot:...
- Jade Pipa
- Jiutou Zhiji Jing
Jiutou Zhiji Jing is a yaojing changed from a pheasant with nine heads. She is a character featured within the famed ancient Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods....
- Nu Wa
- Jiang Ziya
Jiang Ziya was a Chinese historical and legendary figure who resided next to the Weishui River about 3,000 years ago...
(aka Taigong Wang)