Daji has always been depicted as the worst woman that China has ever had in its long
history.
Daji, was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty
in ancient China. She was an evil, malevolent fox spirit in Chinese legends as well as novels.
Novels narrated that Daji is the incarnation of a silvery fox that assumed a human form
after a thousand years of self cultivation. She was summoned by Nü Wa, the celestial
sovereign, to corrupt the Di Xin, the tyrant of the powerful state of Shang so that his
people would eventually rise and overthrow him.
Note that In the Chinese history, Di Xin is known as Zhou.
In the novels, Daji knew her mission was no easy task and so, before her departure, Nü
Wa, the celestial Highness, promised her an immortal status after her mission was accomplished.
However, according to historical record, Daji was the beautiful daughter of a noble family
named Su in the state of You Su. Daji had wanted to learn the ways of a warrior and
maybe, just maybe, become strong enough to defend her family and the state of Su. Unfortunately,
there were no hopes for her dreams.
In 1047 B.C,
Zhou, the tyrant of Shang, conquered the state of Su and took Da Ji as his trophy. DaJi's
hope of becoming a warrior was dashed. Her father Su Hu had given her to King Zhou of
Shang as an appeasement offer.
One night before Daji was sent to the capital city of shaogae, she was possessed by an evil
nine-tailed fox spirit, (which is aThousand-Year-Old Vixen). When Daji arrived in Shaogae, she
became the center of attention of King Zhou and caused the king to be extremely obsessed
with her.
By then, the king was in his sixties and had been in his throne for forty years. He had
been known as strong, heroic, oratory and well versed in music. Under his reign, Shang
had become a powerful and prosperous state. But all these changed for the bad, the moment
Daji came into his life. Zhou was a bit known for his infatuated love for women. And Daji
was his bane. In a short while after Daji's arrival, she rose above the ranks from a minor
concubine to become the queen based on the king's favoritism towards her.
King Zhou became extremely infatuated with Daji and started to neglect state affairs
in order to keep her company. He used any means necessary to intergrate himself with
her and to please her. Daji liked animals so he built her a zoological Xanadu with several
rare species of birds and animals. Daji also liked singing and dancing, so he ordered artists
to compose lewd music and dances to satisfy her musical taste. He gathered 3000 guests
at one party to engage in his "pond of alcohol" and "forest of meat"which was cooked meat
strips hanging from a wood of trees.
. He allowed the guests to play a cat and mouse game, with the guests being nude in
the forest, just to amuse Daji.
When a maid of honor and one of King Zhou's concubines, the daughter of Lord Jiu, couldn't
bear it anymore and protested, King Zhou immediately had her executed. As if that wasn't enough,
her aged father was ground in pieces and his flesh fed to the King vassals.
Daji had eventually become a full blown brute herself. Her greatest joy was to hear people
cry in physical torment. Once, she saw a farmer walking barefoot on ice and ordered his feet
to be cut off, so she could study them and figure out why they were so resistant to cold
temperatures. There was another occasion when Daji saw a pregnant woman, and being curious
about what could possibly be inside the protruding belly, she had the pregnant woman's belly
cut open, so it satisfied her curiosity.
In another incident, just To verify an ancient saying that "a good man's heart has seven
apertures", the evil Daji even had the heart of the minister Bi Gan, (King Zhou's uncle),
dug out and subjected to her scrutiny.
Daji was popularly known for her invention of a method of torture known as Paolao. The
Paola is A bronze cylinder covered with oil, which was heated like a furnace with charcoal
beneath until its sides became extremely hot. The victim sentenced to this painful death
method, was made to walk on top of the slowly heating cylinder and he was forced to shift
his feet to avoid the burning. The oily surface made it difficult for the victim to maintain
his position and balance. If the victim fell into the charcoal below, he would be burnt
to death. The victim was forced to dance and scream in agony before dying. In a slightly
different version, the victim would be tied on the cylinder and baked to death. Daji took
great joy in the painful cries of the victims, she and the king laughing in delight all the
while the victim suffers in agony.
During the time king Zhou was occupied with making himself and Daji happy, a certain tribe
grew a deep-rooted hatred towards the king and began to plot his downfall. The las straw
which broke the camel's back was When Boyi Kao, eldest son of Ji Chang, leader of the
rebellious Zhou tribe, visited the capital. It is said that he had a love affair with
Daji. So the wrathful king Zhou had Kao killed and his body grounded. That not being enough,
the king made Ji Chang drink the soup of his son's flesh before jailing him. It was Only
after many rescue efforts that Ji Chang finally was released two years later. But shortly
after his release, ji chang died, heartbroken by the inhuman way his eldest son died.
Twelve years after Ji Chang’s death, his youngest son Ji Fa launched an attack against
Shang to avenge his family.
Fortunately for him, the whole kingdom and even neighbouring kingdoms, had developed
even more intense anger and hatred towards the tyrannical king Zhou and Daji. This made
it easier for Ji Fa to achieve his goal. Just as Ji fa began the attack, the better armed
and invincible army of Shang sided him and offered him their help. The soldiers betrayed
and turned their weapons against their tyrannical ruler, king Zhou.
Seeing his dynasty doomed, the king committed suicide by setting fire upon himself. Ji fa's
mission was successful, thus, he became the new king.
And what about Daji?
Daji, being powerless now, was mercilessly put to death by Ji Fa, king of the new Dynasty
of Zhou, following the advice of priest jiang zeya..
Jiang zeya, then exorcised the evil fox spirit, banishing it from the human world.
Having being banned from the human realm, Daji the fox tried returning to the celestial
realm, but she was denied entry.
And to her utter shock, Nü Wa sentenced Daji, the fox, to death instead of making her an
immortal as she had promised. This was because had been so carried away by the pleasure of
the human world, that she committed several atrocities deemed unacceptable by the celestial
beings. Daji had obviously been over zealous in doing what she had been asked to do. Alas,
DaJi paid for her crimes by being put to death in both worlds.
This, is the story of DaJi.