Tai Wu () or Da Wu, personal name Zi Mi (), was a

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

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 ...

. 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 as the ninth Shang king, succeeding his brother Yong Ji (). He was enthroned with Bo () as his capital. He appointed Yishe () and Chenhu () as his higher officers. In the 7th year of his reign a

mulberry tree ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

() and

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets ...

() were found growing together in his palace. According to the

'','' surprisingly, they grew to very tall trees within 7 days. This young king was quite scared and turned to Yishe for explanation, which was in regard to the king's former incapable governance. Tai Wu listen to his intelligent ministers and worked diligently; then, those two unusual trees withered very soon after he became a good king. In the 11th year of his reign, he ordered Wu Xian () to pray at Shanchuan (). In the 26th year of his reign, the Queen of West Rong () sent an envoy to Shang, the king later sent Wangmeng () on a return visit. In the 31st year of his reign, he appointed Zhongyan () of Fei vassal () to the position of Chezheng (). In the 35th year of his reign, he wrote a poem called Yanche (). In the 46th year of his reign, there was a great harvest of crops. In the 58th year of his reign, he built the city of Pugu (). In the 61st year of his reign, the nine east Barbarians Yi tribes () sent envoys to Shang. He ruled for 75 years, was given the posthumous name Tai Wu and was succeeded by his son Zhong Ding ().

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 unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the seventh Shang king succeeding his uncle Xiao Jia, given the posthumous name Da Wu () and succeeded by his brother Lü Ji.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai Wu Shang dynasty kings