EMPEROR ZHOU AND DAJI
Daji (circa 1076 BC – 1046 BC) was the favorite concubine of Emperor Zhou of the Shang Dynasty in ancient China.
Daji came from a noble Yusu family. Emperor Zhou seized the lands of this family and took Daji as his concubine. According to legend, one night before Daji was sent to the capital of Zhaoge, she was possessed by the evil spirit of the nine-tailed fox (also known as the Millennial Fox). Therefore, it is believed that she committed her villainies in a state of obsession.
No other way than thanks to this evil spirit, Daji soon turned from a concubine into a mistress. Zhou lost his head in love with her. He began to neglect state affairs in order to spend more time with her. He indulged her in everything and used any means to please her. Daji loved animals, so Zhou built a zoological garden for her with several rare species of birds and animals. In addition, he ordered the musicians to compose obscene music to satisfy the musical tastes of his new passion. He also built a «pond of alcohol» and a «meat forest» especially for Daja. And then I arranged a large-scale celebration there. Emperor Zhou gathered 3,000 guests at his wine lake. He allowed the guests to get drunk from it first, and then play naked cat and mouse in the forest to entertain Daji. When one of the concubines of King Zhou, the daughter of Lord Jiu, did not want to run naked, Zhou executed her. And for the poor upbringing of a disobedient daughter, her father was torn to pieces, and his flesh was fed to animals in the imperial zoo.
Emperor Zhou and his consort Daji watch the execution.
Daji and Zhou were, as they say, from the same dough, or rather, as in the saying «husband and wife are one Satan.» Both of them were sadists at heart and loved nothing more than watching people suffer. And both tried to invent something new for their entertainment. So they left their mark on history with the executions they invented.
Emperor Zhou once noticed during a forest fire how ants fall into the fire from a burning branch. And after that, he invented a painful execution known as Paolao (炮烙). A bronze cylinder covered with oil was heated in a coal furnace until its sides became very hot. Then the man was forced to walk on a slowly heating cylinder, which caused him to quickly rearrange his legs to avoid a burn. But the greasy surface of the cylinder prevented the victim from maintaining balance. As a result, at first she practically danced on the cylinder, and then fell on the coals and burned alive. Emperor Zhou and Daji laughed with delight as they watched the victims screaming in agony.
And Daji came up with an even more sophisticated execution, which is called a «Bronze Brazier». People were tied with a chain to a large bronze pole, under which coal was burning.
And gradually dragged the chain closer and closer to the post «until their flesh, blood and bones turned into fetid smoke and disappeared.»
It is known that such an execution of a high-ranking official Mei Bo. He stood up for the imperial astrologer Du when he saw that he was arrested and the guards were leading him through the Noon Gate. Mei Bo obtained an audience with the emperor and asked him to release Du, who was a loyal astrologer who had served the kingdom for more than three generations. Mei Bo yi even figuratively told the tsar that the destruction of one of the most loyal officials was equivalent to the removal of a part of the royal body. After that, Emperor Zhou sentenced Mei Bo himself to death. And the emperor’s favorite concubine Daji figured out how to execute him. Actually, her «Bronze Brazier», just built, was tested on it.
Mei Bo
Before the execution, Mei Bo said, «Stupid Emperor! My death is as light as a feather. I have served three generations of emperors in this dynasty. What crime have I committed? I’m afraid that the glorious reign of the Shang Dynasty will end because of your stupidity and cruelty!».
However, his death was by no means «light as a feather.» His terrible screams during the execution struck terror into fellow officials.
Daja also had a snake pit 25 feet wide that was dug under the Belvedere. Venomous spiders and extremely venomous snakes were placed in the pit. When this pit was finally built, seventy-two unfortunate girls with shaved hair and undressed were tied up and thrown into the pit to feed snakes.
Eventually, the people rebelled, and in 1046 BC, Emperor Zhou was overthrown. After the complete defeat of his troops, he fled to the capital, put on an imperial robe decorated with precious stones, climbed the «Deer Tower», lit a fire in the tower and threw himself into it. And Daji was executed by order of Emperor Zhou Wu after the fall of the Shang Dynasty on the advice of Jiang Tzu. After her death, her head was put on a pole to symbolize how she became the destroyer of the dynasty.
At first, Daji became the heroine of the famous Chinese novel of the XVI century «Feng Sheng Bang» (封神榜), one of the main works in the Chinese language in the genre of gods and demons (shenmo), written during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). And now she has become a cult figure in China.
Oleg Loginov
*Translated using an electronic dictionary. The original text in Russian and much more on the criminal topic can be selected on the main page of the site — http://crimerecords.info/
