Tai Kang () was the third king of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

. He was the son of the king Qi of Xia and paternal grandson of

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

and his queen Nu Jiao.

Biography

Tai Kang loved to

hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and did not rule well. According to the ''

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' ( zh, t=竹書紀年, p=Zhúshū Jìnián), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' ( zh, t=汲冢紀年, p=Jí Zhǒng Jìnián), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow E ...

'', Tai Kang took the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...

in the year of ''Guiwei''. His capital was in Zhenxun (斟鄩). In his first year, while he went hunting beyond the Luo River, Houyi came and occupied Zhenxin. Tai Kang died 4 years later, or according to the book Lushi, 10 years later. According to ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'', he ruled about 19 years and lost his regime. "Taiping Yulan" claims he was a tyrant who ruled for 29 years, then lost his regime and vanished. He was succeeded by his brother Zhong Kang and nephew

Xiang of Xia Xiang () is the name of a king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty who is said to have reigned during the 3rd millennium BC. He was the fifth king of the Xia dynasty. Biography Xiang was preceded on the throne of Xia by his father Zhong Kang, and ...

. In some sources, Tai Kang was drowned in a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

In literature

The ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, a ...

'' features ''Songs of the Five Sons'' () among the documents of Xia (Chapter 8). According to the introductory note, the document contains the pieces composed by Tai Kang's five younger brothers when he lost the country. Yongbieocheonga mentions the king as a person that should not be imitated.Chapter 125, "Your highness,you should know. Would you just rely on the care of your ancestors following the footsteps of tai kang who went on a picnic at the luo river because he believed his ancestors will take care of him?" ()

Commemoration

Taikang County in

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

was named after him, and his mausoleum is also inside his county.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Tai Kings of the Xia dynasty

Biography

See also

In literature

Commemoration

Sources