Wo Ding (, personal name Xuan, () is traditionally held to be a

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

King of China The Chinese sovereign was the ruler of a particular monarchical regime in the historical periods of ancient China and imperial China. Sovereigns ruling the same regime, and descended from the same paternal line, constituted a dynasty. Several t ...

but recent archaeological evidence has thrown this into doubt. In the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' he was listed by

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years be ...

as the fifth Shang king, succeeding his father

Tai Jia Tai Jia () or Da Jia, personal name Zǐ Zhì, was the son of Prince Da Ding and a king of the ancient Chinese Shang dynasty. Biography In the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' he was listed by Sima Qian as the fourth Shang king, succeeding his ...

. He was enthroned in the year of Guisi () with Qingshi () as his prime minister and Bo () as his capital. In the 8th year of his reign, he conducted ceremonies to honour

Yi Yin Yi Yin (, born Yī Zhì ( 伊挚), also known as A Heng ( 阿衡)), was a Chinese politician who served as a minister of the early Shang dynasty, and one of the honoured officials of the era. He helped Tang of Shang, the founder of the Shang dyna ...

, the previous prime minister. He ruled for 19 years (other sources say 29 years) before his death. He was given the posthumous name Wo Ding and was succeeded by his brother Tai Geng.

Oracle script Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest kno ...

inscriptions on

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

unearthed at

Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chin ...

do not list him as one of the Shang kings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wo Ding Shang dynasty kings