Tai Kang

Also known as Si Taikang

Tai Kang, of the Si clan, was the son of Qi and is traditionally counted as the third ruler of the Xia. The *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*) says only that he succeeded his father and lost the realm, and that his five younger brothers waited for him at a bend of the Luo River, singing the *Song of the Five Sons*. The transmitted *Book of Documents* chapter of that name adds that he hunted south of the Luo for a hundred days, until Yi, lord of Youqiong, exploited the people's discontent and barred his way back at the Yellow River. The *Zuo Commentary* (*Zuozhuan*) under the fourth year of Duke Xiang records that Yi moved from Chu to Qiongshi and used the Xia people to take over the Xia government. The Documents chapter belongs to the 'old text' set presented by Mei Ze in the Eastern Jin, which Yan Ruoju exposed in the Qing as a forgery, so the hunting episode is best read as legend.