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Pan Geng

Shang king, brother of Yang Jia, whose move of the capital across the Yellow River is recorded in the Pan Geng chapters of the Book of Documents

Also known as Zi Pangeng

Pan Geng was a Shang king of the Zi clan who, according to the Basic Annals of Yin in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), succeeded his elder brother Yang Jia. The capital had moved several times, and when he resolved to move it across the Yellow River many of his people objected; the three Pan Geng chapters of the Book of Documents (Shangshu) preserve his addresses urging them to go. The sources disagree on the destination: the Shiji says he returned south of the river to Cheng Tang's old seat at Bo, while the ancient text of the Bamboo Annals (Zhushu jinian) says he moved from Yan to Beimeng, called Yin, where the capital then stayed until the dynasty fell. The Shiji adds that he restored the ways of Cheng Tang and that the lords came to court again. His younger brother Xiao Xin followed him, and the dynasty came to be called Yin or Yin-Shang.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornShangmid-Shang king
  2. 1300 BCEPan Geng Moves Capital to YinTook partPan Geng overcame noble resistance and moved the Shang capital to Yin, ending repeated relocations and stabilizing late Shang rule.
    1. Pan Geng Relocating to Yinc. 1300 BCEAround 1300 BCE, Pan Geng moved the Shang capital to Yin, establishing the late Shang political, economic, and ritual center for roughly 255 years.
    2. Pan Geng Relocates Capital to YinKing Pan Geng overcame aristocratic resistance to move the capital north of the Yellow River to Yin (modern Anyang), ending dynastic instability.
  3. UnknownDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose1
    1. Book of Documents: Pangeng IShang