Empress Daji
Legacy Name: Empress Daji

The Real Daji

In Chinese history, Daji was the most loved concubine by the last King of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou (also known as Di Xin, Shoude, or Shou). King Zhou had a noble reign and his kingdom prospered for the majority of his life, but Daji proved to be his Achilles' heel and led him to ruin. King Zhou was so infatuated with Daji, he did whatever he could in his power to ingratiate himself with her. His empire as well as his reputation went downhill from there.

Daji was a horrible woman. Because of her depravity, King Zhou once had three thousand guests at a single party and invited them to enjoy the "forest of meat" and "pond of wine" on his estate, encouraging them to play a game of cat and mouse in the nude among the trees, all so Daji could be amused. When the daughter of a lord could not bear the sight of this debauchery, King Zhou had the daughter slain, ground her father to a pulp, and he fed the man's flesh to his vassals.

Daji's depravity extended beyond these events. She derived her greatest joy from hearing people cry out in agony. She saw a farmer walking on ice barefoot and demanded his feet be cut off so she could study its resistance to cold temperatures. In another event, she cut the belly of a pregnant woman so she could see what happened within. There was another time she had the heart of a minister ripped out so she could verify the saying "a good man's heart has seven openings". These acts were partially driven by her own curiosities, but it is no argument the primary intention was to make others suffer for her amusement.

In addition to all of this, Daji created her own torture device, the Paolao. It was a large cylinder of bronze that would be heated like a furnace with charcoal and vast flames until it became unbearably hot. Sometimes, Daji would demand a victim be tied to the device to be baked to death. Other times, oil would be poured on top and the victim would be forced to walk on the heated cylinder. The oil and shape of the device would make it difficult for the victim to keep their balance and the searing heat would burn their feet. When the victim eventually lost their balance, they would fall into the flames.

An attack on King Zhou was launched by a man named Ji Fa, whose father, Ji Chang, was imprisoned and forced to eat the ground up, fleshy soup of Ji Fa's older brother, Boyi Kao, when the elder sibling was accused of having an affair with Daji. The long standing and deep rooted hatred from Ji Fa's large tribe at full force, as well as the kingdom's contempt for King Zhou in place, even the king's own warriors turned on the tyrant in this revolt and the attack was all the more successful.

Knowing his dynasty was coming to an end, but unwilling to watch it fall before his eyes --or get caught by those who despised him so-- Zhou set himself on fire and committed suicide. Daji, the woman ultimately responsible for Zhou's corruption, was later put to death by Ji Fa.

Even many years after the event of her death, Daji's reputation was still well known. Her atrocious reputation was so notorious, she was written as a powerful nine-tailed fox spirit that possessed a beautiful woman in the Ming dynasty epic novel, Feng Shen Yanyi. In this novel, she was sent by the goddess Nu Wa to bring King Zhou's empire to ruin. In exchange for her services, Nu Wa would give Daji the gift of immortality. When the deed was done, Nu Wa went back on her word and refused Daji the immortality she was promised. Nu Wa said that Daji was overzealous with the goal and destroyed the fox spirit for her horrible acts.