King Jie (Chinese: 桀; traditionally 1728–1675 BCE) was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty.
Around 1600 BCE, Jie was defeated by Tang of Shang, bringing an end to the Xia dynasty that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang dynasty.
A tyrant (from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) 'absolute ruler'), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means. The original Greek term meant an absolute sovereign who came to power without constitutional right, yet the word had a neutral connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods. However, Greek philosopher Plato saw tyrannos as a negative form of government, and on account of the decisive influence of philosophy on politics, deemed tyranny the "fourth and worst disorder of a state."
The philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined a tyrant as a person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others. The Encyclopédie defined the term as a usurper of sovereign power who makes "his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws".In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant, one who had the support of the military, arose – specifically in Sicily.
Cheng Tang (born Zi Lü), recorded on oracle bones as Tai Yi or Da Yi, was the first king of the Shang dynasty. Tang is traditionally considered a virtuous ruler, as signified by his common nickname Tang the Perfect. According to legend, as the last leader of the Predynastic Shang he overthrew Jie, the last king of the Xia dynasty.
Predynastic Shang or Proto-Shang (/ʃæŋ/; Chinese: 先商) refers to the state of Shang that is believed to have existed during the Xia dynasty in ancient China, before its conquest of the Xia in approximately 1600 BC that led to the establishment of the Shang dynasty. The Predynastic Shang started from Xie, a son of Emperor Ku and the first known Shang ancestor. Xie is said to have helped Yu the Great, the founder of the Xia dynasty, to control the Great Flood and for his service to have been granted a place called Shang as a fief. The period would last until Tang defeated Jie of Xia in the Battle of Mingtiao, eventually overthrowing the Xia dynasty.
During the period of the 14 predynastic Shang rulers before Tang, the capital changed eight times. The area where early forms of Predynastic Shang culture are found include the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei and the area around the city of Weihui in Henan, north of the Yellow River. These sites are close to places traditionally considered Xia dynasty sites, including the area of the Erlitou culture in Yanshi, although there are differences between the two cultures.