Wu Ding
13th-century BC king of the Shang dynasty
Summary
Wu Ding ; personal name Zi Zhao (子昭), was a king of the Chinese Shang dynasty who ruled the central Yellow River valley. He is the earliest figure in Chinese history mentioned in contemporary records. The annals of the Shang dynasty compiled by later historians were once thought to be little more than legends until oracle script inscriptions on bones dating from his reign were unearthed at the ruins of his capital Yin in 1899. Oracle bone inscriptions from his reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197 BC ±10 years, closely according with regnal dates derived by modern scholars from received texts, epigraphic evidence, and astronomical calculations.
Originally created by 195.92.168.173
8/7/2004, 1:20:09 PM
Modified
5/5/2026, 12:51:39 AM
Recent revisions
/* See also */ Useful
/* Life and reign */ Added various bronzeware images as visual aids to humanise his reign, and show what bronzes from his reign generally look like. It doesn't intrude on reading too much and can help give eyes a break whilst still learning about the ruler.
/* Women in government */ Bronze ding dedicated to his wife fu jing
/* Participation in Shang religious activities */
I'm being trolled by dead people dog
Sourcing my claim!
Fu Gui is listed on the other pages as the third of Wu Ding's three actual queens, so this seems to be relevant to note here. I'm looking to research more on her!
/* Honor and succession issues */Oracle bone img that describes sacrifice to Wu Ding
Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-17797-99|~2026-17797-99]] ([[User talk:~2026-17797-99|talk]]): [[WP:BMB]] [[WP:EVADE]] [[User:Legende Legende Legende]]
added link to [[Zheng (diviner)]]
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Impose consistent citation style (sfnp mostly used); restore page number; fix harv/sfn multiple-target error; {{pn}}
/* Relations with Predynastic Zhou */
language tags, square brackets
/* King of the Shang dynasty */
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