Wang Gen of Shang
| Wang Gen 王亙 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruler of Predynastic Shang | |||||||||
| Predecessor | Wang Hai | ||||||||
| Successor | Shang Jia | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Father | Ming of Shang | ||||||||
| Wang Gen of Shang | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 王亙 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "King Gen" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wang Gen,[a] family name Zi (子), was a ruler of Predynastic Shang, succeeding his brother Wang Hai.[1] His existence is reflected in oracle bone inscriptions. He was succeeded by Shang Jia, Wang Hai's son.
Names
[edit]Wang Gen's name is written as ⿰弓亙[b] or 亙[c] in oracle bone inscriptions.
Transmitted texts such as the Bamboo Annals list Wang Gen's name as Wang Heng (王恆), which is not attested in oracle bone inscriptions at all. Similar scribal errors can be seen with Wang Hai. Heng 恆 has also been used in some transcriptions of Oracle Bones, but does not reflect Wang Gen's identity.[d][2]
Posthumous accounts
[edit]Wang Gen is mentioned in scant few oracle bones, much unlike his brother, Wang Hai. Some examples include a you sacrifice[3] and debates as to Wang Gen's trustworthiness.[4] Another text involves whether the sun will come out, but the last character is indecipherable.[5]
Examples include:
貞侑于王亙[3]
Test: Should we do a you sacrifice for Wang Gen?
貞王亙易孚[e][4]
Test: Has Wang Gen become trustworthy? or Could Wang Gen bestow trustworthiness upon us?
In the Bamboo Annals
[edit]In the Bamboo Annals, Wang Gen is mentioned as having been consulted by his brother Wang Hai regarding what to do with the overproduction of cattle in Shang. In the end, they decide to take the cattle to the neighbouring tribe of the Youyin (modern-day Yi County, Hebei), which would result in Wang Hai's assassination as a result of a love quarrel.[6] He is said to have reigned from the 12th year of Xie of Xia's reign until the 16th year.[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^ While many records format the name as Wang Heng 王恆 (héng or gèng), contemporary sources list the name as 王亙.
- ^ See Heji 14760(.1) and 英國所藏甲骨 01177正.1-3
- ^ See Heji 14762.1, 14763, 14764.3, 14766反.0, 14767正.1, 14768.2, and 14769
- ^ e.g. 先秦甲骨金文簡牘詞彙庫 - 貞勿侑于王恆 (甲骨文合集 Heji 14768.2) and 貞王恆易禦 (英國所藏甲骨01177正.3)
- ^ ⿰丨卩
References
[edit]- ^ Smith, Jonathan; Fan, Yuzhou (14 January 2021). "The Cultural and Historical Setting of the Shang". In Childs-Johnson, Elizabeth (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Early China. Page 252, note 3. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.12. ISBN 978-0-19-932836-9. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
- ^ Carr, Michael (1992). "Shamanic Heng 恒 "Constancy"". 小樽商科大学人文研究 [Review of Liberal Arts] (83): 93–107.
- ^ a b 甲骨文合集 Heji 14764.3
- ^ a b 英國所藏甲骨01177正.3
- ^ 甲骨文合集 Heji 14760: 貞王恆晹X
- ^ 《今本竹書紀年·夏紀·帝芒》:「三十三年，商侯遷於殷。」
- ^ 今本竹書紀年