Royals › Empress / Consort

Da Ji

Favourite consort of the last Shang king, said in the Discourses of the States to have been given to him by the Yousu clan, and killed by King Wu of Zhou after the conquest

Also known as Ji Da · Su Daji

Da Ji was the favourite consort of Zhou, the last king of Shang. The Discourses of the States (Guoyu) says the king attacked the Yousu clan, who gave her to him, which is why later writers call her Su Da Ji. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says the king loved wine and pleasure, doted on her and did whatever she said; he had new, languid music composed, made a pool of wine and a forest of hanging meat, and introduced the punishment of the heated bronze pillar. The same chapter says that after defeating Shang at Muye, King Wu of Zhou cut off the head of the king, who had burned himself on the Deer Terrace, and put Da Ji to death. Liu Xiang's Biographies of Exemplary Women (Lienu zhuan) adds scenes of her laughing at the burning pillar and of Bi Gan's heart being cut out. The Ming novel Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi), in which a fox spirit possesses her, is later fiction.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornShangZhoulate Shang
  2. 1075 BCESongs of the Lutai BanquetTook partKing Zhou's favor toward Da Ji of Su fed lavish Lutai revelry; excess and cruelty estranged the people, culminating in King Wu's victory at Muye and Shang's fall.
    1. King Zhou Takes Consort Daji Suc. 1075 BCEAccording to the Guoyu, King Zhou (Di Xin) of Shang attacked the Su clan, which presented Da Ji (Daji) to him; the story became a starting point of later memories of the late-Shang palace.
    2. Lutai Treasury and Royal Revelryc. 1075 BCEThe Shiji says King Zhou raised taxes to fill the Lutai treasury and the Juqiao granary, and at Shaqiu held all-night revels with a pool of wine and a forest of hanging meat.
  3. 1046 BCEBattle of MuyeKing Wu's coalition defeated Shang at Muye as troops turned against their commanders, ending Shang and founding Western Zhou.
    1. King Zhou's Extravagance at Lutai1060 BCEKing Zhou built the immense Lutai treasure tower, amassing royal hoard and squandering state coffers in hedonistic excess.
    2. Fall of Shang at Muye BattleIn 1046 BCE, King Wu's coalition defeated Shang at Muye and the dynasty fell; later tradition says Di Xin burned himself at Lutai, making the terrace a symbol of the final collapse.
  4. UnknownDied

Family tree

  1. Direct kin
    Da Ji
    Husband (emperor)
    Di Xin

Connections

  1. Shared events1
    1. King Wu of Zhou (Ji Fa)Dates unknown; fo…