Dì Xīn (帝辛) was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. His given name was 紂 (Zhòu), thus he is also called Zhou Xin (紂辛 Zhòu Xīn) or Zhou Wang (紂王Zhòu Wáng). King Zhou could also referred to as adding Shang (商 Shāng) in front of any of his names.
In the Records of the Grand Historian (史記 ShiJi), Sima Qian 司馬遷 wrote that Di Xin in the early part of his reign had abilities which surpassed the ordinary man, quick witted and quick tempered. He was the younger brother of WeiZi 微子 and WeiZhong 微仲 (who were both born of a concubine) and father of WuGeng 武庚 and LuFu 祿父. His father Di Yi 帝乙 had two brothers, JiZi 箕子 and BiGan 比干. Di Xin added to the territory of Shang battling the tribes surrounding it, including the YiRen 夷人 to the east otherwise known as the East Yi Dongyi 東夷.
In his later years he was given over to drinking, women and a lack of morals, preferring these to the proper governance of the country. His brother WeiZi tried to persuade him to change, but got rebuked. His uncle Bigan similarly remonstrated with him, but Di Xin had his heart ripped out so he could see what the heart of a sage looked like. When his other uncle JiZi heard this, he went to remonstrate with the kingly nephew, and feigning madness, was imprisoned.
When Zhou defeated Shang, King Di Xin of the Shang set alight to his palace and committed suicide.
Shang dynasty endured roughly from 1700 to 1027 B.C. The Shang dynasty (also called the Yin dynasty in its later stages) is believed to found by a rebel leader who overthrew the last Xia ruler.
The Zhou dynasty had its capital at Hao, near the city of Xi'an, or Chang'an, as it was known in its heyday in the imperial period.
The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other, from 1027 to 221 B.C.Initially from Shang, there was the notion that the ruler (the "son of heaven”) governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate.
Shang emperors sent out armies to repulse invaders, and the Shang emperors went beyond their domains to plunder and to capture foreign peoples needed for sacrifice to their gods.
The Zhou and their allies saw the Shang emperor's troubles as an opportunity to move against him, and in 1045 BCE they overpowered him at the battle of Mu-ye and had him beheaded.
Zhou emperors told those they had conquered that they, the Zhou, had ousted the ancestors of Shang emperors from heaven and that heaven was occupied by their supreme god, a god they called "The Lord on High," who, they said, had commanded the downfall of the Shang emperors.
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