Shāng Dynasty Monarchs (shāng yīn cháo 商殷朝) 1766 to 1123 bce (or, perhaps 1556 to 1046 bce instead, according to the Bamboo Annals) – 30 kings
Ruler Name | Chinese Characters | Dates of Rule | Length of Reign |
1. Chéng Tāng | 成湯/成汤 (ruled as Tiān Yǐ 天乙) | r. 1675 to 1646 bce | ruled 29 years |
2. Wài Bǐng | 外丙 | r. 1646 to 1644 bce | ruled 2 years |
3. Zhòng Rèn | 仲任/中壬 | r. 1644 to 1640 bce | ruled 4 years |
4. Tài Jiǎ | 太甲 | r. 1535 to1523 bce | ruled 12 years |
5. Wò Dīng | 沃丁 | r. 1523 to 1504 bce | ruled 19 years |
6. Tài Gēng | 太庚 | r. 1504 to 1479 bce | ruled 25 years |
7. Xiǎo Jiǎ | 小甲 | r. 1479 to 1462 bce | ruled 17 years |
8. Yōng Jǐ | 雍己 | r. 1462 to 1450 bce | ruled 12 years |
9. Tài Wù | 太戊 | r. 1450 to 1375 bce | ruled 75 years |
10. Zhòng Dīng | 仲丁/中丁 | r. 1375 to 1364 bce | ruled 11 years |
11. Wài Rèn | 外壬 | r. 1364 to 1349 bce | ruled 15 years |
12. Hé Dǎn Jiǎ | 河亶甲 | r. 1349 to 1340 bce | ruled 9 years |
13. Zǔ Yǐ | 祖乙 | r. 1340 to 1321 bce | ruled 19 years |
14. Zǔ Xīn | 祖辛 | r. 1321 to 1305 bce | ruled 16 years |
15. Wò Jiǎ | 沃甲 | r. 1305 to 1280 bce | ruled 25 years |
16. Zǔ Dīng | 祖丁 | r. 1306 to 1336 bce | ruled 30 years |
17. Nán Gēng | 南庚 | r. 1336 to 1307 bce | ruled 29 years |
18. Yáng Jiǎ | 陽甲/阳甲 | r. 1307 to 1290 bce | ruled 17 years |
19. Pán Gēng | 盤庚/盘庚 | r. 1290 to 1262 bce | ruled 28 years |
20. Xiǎo Xīn | 小辛 | r. 1262 to 1259 bce | ruled 3 years |
21. Xiǎo Yǐ | 小乙 | r. 1259 to 1250 bce | ruled 9 years |
22. Wǔ Dīng | 武丁 | r. 1250 to 1192 bce | ruled 58 years |
23. Zǔ Gēng | 祖庚 | r. 1192 to 1165 bce | ruled 27 years |
24. Zǔ Jiǎ | 祖甲 | r. 1165 to 1138 bce | ruled 27 years |
25. Lǐn Xīn |
廩辛/廪辛 | r. 1138 to 1134 bce | ruled 4 years |
26. Kāng Dīng | 康丁 or st. Gēng Dīng 庚丁 | r. 1134 to 1126 bce | ruled 8 years |
27. Wǔ Yǐ | 武乙 | r. 1147 to 1112 bce | ruled 35 years |
28. Wén Dīng | 文丁 | r. 1112 to 1102 bce | ruled 10 years |
29. Dì Yǐ | 帝乙 | r. 1101 to 1076 bce | ruled 25 years |
30. Dì Xīn | 帝辛 Defeated at the Battle of Mùyě (牧野之戰/牧野之战 mù yě zhī zhàn) in 1046 bce by King Wu of Zhou (周武王 zhōu wǔ wáng) ending the dynasty. | r. 1075 to 1046 bce | ruled 29 years |
Press your browser’s ‘back’ button to return to the Dynasty listings.
Go to Page 2
(!) | Simplified character is completely different from the Traditional character |
A.C. | ancient Chinese |
ab. | abbreviation |
acctg. | accounting |
adj. | adjective or adjectival phrase (in Chinese an adj. is often simply a v. or n. to which de5 [的] is added: the 的 is usually omitted in this dictionary) |
adv. | adverb or adverbial phrase |
aka | also known as |
alt. pron. | alternate or non-standard pronunciation |
Am. | American; American usage |
anat. | anatomy |
anc. | ancient |
arch. | archaic character, use or meaning |
Arch. | Architecture; referring to Architecture or having to do with Architecture |
ast. | astronomy |
aux. | auxiliary verb |
b. | born |
bce. | Before the Common Era (=BC: Before Christ) |
Bei.pron. | Beijing-style pronunciation |
bf. | bound form |
bib. | biblical |
bot. | botany |
Br. | British; British usage |
Cant. | Cantonese |
CCP | Chinese Communist Party |
CE | Church of England |
ce. | Common Era (=AD: Anno Domini) |
cf. | compare |
Ch.id. | Chinese idiom |
char. | Chinese character |
Chin. | China; Chinese |
Chr. | Christianity (including both Protestantism and Catholicism) |
coll. | colloquial expression or usage |
conj. | conjunction |
contemp. | contempuous |
court. | courteous |
d. | died |
derog. | used as a derogatory term |
dial. | dialect |
dipl. | diplomacy; diplomatic |
dist. | distinguished from; as distinguished from |
econ. | economics |
Eng.id. | English idiom |
Eng.ph. | English phrase |
env. | environment; environmental |
ex. | exclamation |
expr. | expression |
fam. | familiar usage |
fig. | figurative usage |
fmr. | former or formerly |
fr. | from |
Fr. | France; French |
fv. | functive verb |
geol. | geology |
geom. | geometry |
gr. | grammar |
gr.str. | grammatical structure or construction |
gya | billion years ago |
hist. | history; historical |
id. | idiom |
imp. | impolite |
interch. | interchangeable with |
intj. | interjection |
Isl. | Islam |
Jp. | Japan; Japanese; Japanese variant (of a character) |
KXR | Kangxi Radical |
L. | Latin, from Latin or having a Latin root |
L.ph. | translation of Latin phrase (as used in English) |
leg. | legal terminology |
lg. | language |
lit. | literal (ie. word-for-word) translation |
M. | measure word (used as a numerary adjunct for nouns) |
mach. | machines; machinery |
math. | mathematics |
ME | Middle East; Middle Eastern |
mech. | mechanics |
med. | medicine; medical terminology; as used in the practice of, etc. |
met. | metaphorical usage |
mil. | military terminology |
mod. | modern usage |
mus. | music or musical notation |
mya | million years ago |
n. | noun |
na. | name or title |
naut. | nautical, marine or maritime |
NGOs | Non-Governmental Organizations |
nph. | noun phrase; compound noun |
nu. | number |
obs. | obsolete |
oft. | often |
on. | onomatopoeia (as, a sound's written representation of how it sounds) |
opp. | opposite or as opposed to |
part. | particle |
pat. | pattern |
ph. | phrase |
phil. | philosophy |
phy. | physics |
pl. | plural |
pn. | place name, geographic location or geographic feature |
pol. | polite form of address |
pol.sl. | political slogan |
pop. | popular speech; popularly used; common speech |
pop.wr. | popularly written |
pp. | past participle |
pr. | pronoun |
PRC | People's Republic of China; as used in the PRC |
pre. | prefix |
pref. | preferred |
prep. | preposition |
pron. | pronounced; pronunciation |
pw. | place word |
qs. | question sentence |
qw. | question word |
r. | reigned |
rad. | radical- used as a part of Chinese characters |
RC | Roman Catholic |
regl.var. | regional variant |
rve. | resultative verb ending |
sa. | saying |
sb. | somebody |
se. | sentence |
sf. | sentence fragment |
sh. | short form or shortened form |
sl. | slang |
so. | someone |
so.s | someone's |
soc. | sociology |
sp. | specialized language used in technical situations or by specialists (eg.: medical, legal, etc.) |
Sp. | Spanish |
sp.pron. | special or unusual pronunciation |
sport. | as used in sports; sports terminology |
ss. | sample sentence |
st. | sometimes |
st.pron. | sometimes pronounced |
st.wr. | sometimes written |
stat. | statistics |
sth. | something |
suf. | suffix |
sv. | stative verb (an adj. which includes 'be' as in 'be (x)', often simply labeled as 'adj.') |
sw. | somewhat |
Switz. | Switzerland |
T.S. | Tone Sandhi |
tax. | taxonomy (as, scientific naming system); taxonomic name |
TCM | Traditional Chinese Medicine; Chinese herbal medicine |
tm. | trademark |
topo. | topolect (some part of the word has been phonically transliterated from English into Chinese) (aka loanword) |
tr.na. | trade name, business name or product name |
trans. | translation |
tslt. | transliteration |
TW | Taiwan; as used in Taiwan |
u.f. | used for |
undef. | undefined |
usu. | usually |
v. | verb |
var. | various; variety; variant |
vern. | vernacular |
vo. | separable verb-object combination |
vph. | verb phrase; compound verb |
vul. | vulgar |
wr. | written or literary use |
A01 | Agriculture: Soil, Crops and Tools |
A02 | Livestock and Animal Husbandry |
A03 | Nomadism and Pastoralism |
A04 | Sericulture and Silk |
A05 | Trees and Forestry |
A06 | Wood Products, Carpentry and Woodworking |
A07 | Other Misc. Wooden Articles and Furniture |
A08 | Plants and Botany |
A09 | Flowers |
A10 | Fruits and Melons |
A11 | Beans, Nuts, Seeds, Oils and Tubers |
A12 | Molds, Mushrooms and Other Fungi |
A13 | Smells, Aromas and Fragrances |
A14 | Fibers, Textiles and Dyeing |
B01 | Rarity, Precision, Value and Excellence |
B02 | Beauty, Aesthetics, Art and the Fine Arts |
B03 | Colors |
B04 | Pattern, Design, Appearance and Decoration |
B05 | Architecture, Structures and Construction |
B06 | Handicrafts |
B07 | Porcelain and Pottery |
B08 | Clarity, Darkness and Gloom |
C01 | Books, Poetry, Literature and Publishing |
C02 | Myths, Legends, Stories and Reading |
C03 | Documents, Correspondence, Paper and Printing |
C04 | Journalism, News, Newspapers and Media |
C05 | Acting, Theater, Video and Cinematography |
C06 | Voice, Sound, Music and Dance |
C07 | The Eye, Vision and Photography |
C08 | Radio, Television, and Broadcasting |
D01 | Science and Scientific Ideas |
D02 | Biology, Microbiology, Taxonomy and Genetics |
D03 | Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology and Bioelectronics |
D04 | Land Animals |
D05 | Insects and Spiders |
D06 | Rivers, the Littoral, the Ocean, Fish, Amphibians, Aquatic Animals and Oceanography |
D07 | Birds and Flying Mammals |
D08 | The Environment, Conservation, Ecology, Pollution and Garbage |
E01 | Chemistry |
E02 | Communication and Humor |
E03 | Technology, Computers, Electronics and the Internet |
E04 | Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry |
E05 | Batteries, Electricity and Light |
E06 | Geology and the Earth Sciences |
E07 | Petroleum, Minerals, Mining and Metallurgy |
E08 | Jade, Gemstones and Jewelry |
F01 | Individual Character Definitions |
F02 | Chinese Culture, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture |
F03 | Chinese Dynasties and the Dynastic Period |
F04 | Ancient Chinese Warfare and Weapons |
F05 | Chinese Language: Measure Words, Negatives and RVEs |
F06 | Nature and Natural Resources |
F07 | Names, Proper Names and Trade Names |
F08 | Chinese Books, Writing and Characters |
G01 | Diplomacy and International Relations |
G02 | Nationality, Ethnicity, Nations and Peoples |
G03 | Bureaucracy, Government and NGOs |
G04 | Geography and Maps |
G05 | Places and Place Names |
G06 | Topography and Geographic Features |
G07 | Politics |
G08 | Cities |
H01 | Economics and Markets |
H02 | Business, Enterprise, Commerce and Ownership |
H03 | Accounting |
H04 | Sales, Marketing and Service |
H05 | Negotiation, Labor and Management |
H06 | Money and Banking, Finance, Insurance and Investing |
H07 | Products, Companies, Manufacturing and Manufactured Goods |
H08 | Skill, Standards and Quality |
I01 | Education |
I02 | Mathematics, Statistics, Quantities, Series, Progression and Size |
I03 | Prehistory, Protohistory and World History |
I04 | Chinese History and Historical Mythology |
I05 | Japan and Japanese History |
I06 | Sanitation and Hygiene |
I07 | Materials |
I08 | Actions |
I09 | Shapes, Forms and Models |
I10 | Textures, Rough and Smooth Surfaces, and Flexibility |
J01 | The Kitchen, Cooking Techniques, Utensils and Nutrition |
J02 | Foods and Ingredients, Tea and Other Beverages, Spices, Sauces and Seasonings |
J03 | Alcohol, Wines and Spirits |
J04 | Restaurants and Entertaining, Menu Items, Chinese (and Other) Food and Recipe Names |
J05 | Absorb, Inhale, Assimilate and Include |
J06 | Easy, Difficult, Similarities and Differences |
J07 | New, Old, More, Less |
J08 | Instructions, Directions, Opportunity, Problems and Mistakes |
K01 | Language |
K02 | Grammar and Grammatical Constructions |
K03 | Phonetics |
K04 | Exclamations, Expressions, Phrases, Proverbs, Sayings, Slang and Idioms |
K05 | Descriptions |
K06 | Order and Disorder, Methods and Meetings |
K07 | Sources, Results, Solutions, Beginnings, Endings and Waste |
K08 | Comparisons, Combinations, Connections, Distribution and Containers |
L01 | Rules, Law, Courts, Justice and Criminology |
L02 | Threats, Safety and Security |
L03 | Winning, Losing, Success, Failure, Luck, Fame and Fortune |
L04 | Hide, Conceal, Secrets, Questions and Answers |
L05 | Seek, Barriers, Limits and Restrictions |
L06 | Help, Strong and Weak |
L07 | Change, Plan, Functioning and Usefulness |
L08 | Groups, Unity, Decision, Agreement and Harmony |
M01 | Logic, Intellect, Talent and Ability |
M02 | Philosophy, Ideas, Knowledge and Inventions |
M03 | Medicine, Health and Pharmacology |
M04 | Memory, the Mind, Psychology and Emotion |
M05 | Human Characteristics and Responsibilities |
M06 | Corruption in Society, Sex and Pornography |
M07 | Public and Private, Manners and Civility, Respect and Honor |
M08 | Real, Counterfeit, Substitutes and Copies; Cheap and Expensive |
N01 | Military Affairs and Intelligence, Weapons, Strategy, War and Peace |
N02 | Protest, Violence, Rebellion, Civil War, Terrorism and Guerilla Warfare |
N03 | Engineering |
N04 | Time and Tides |
N05 | Organization, Competence, Aspiration and Obligation |
N06 | Childhood, Maturation, Adulthood and Old Age |
N07 | Sleep |
N08 | Life, Death, Living and Dying |
O01 | General Physics |
O02 | Space, Optics, Astronomy and Astrophysics |
O03 | Atoms, Atomic Energy and Particle Physics |
O04 | Aeronautics, Aviation, Air Power and Spaceflight |
O05 | Weights, Measures, Flow, Positioning and Distance |
O06 | Fire, Water and Ice |
O07 | Weather, Meteorology and Conditions |
O08 | Float, Wave, Rise in the Air, Spin, Revolve and Other Motions |
P01 | Faith, Religion, Morals and Ethics |
P02 | Great Religious Writings |
P03 | The Zodiac, Astrology and Other Symbols |
P04 | Hope, Fate, Belief and Superstition |
P05 | Women and Women's Things |
P06 | Permission, Acceptance and Rejection |
P07 | Opposites, Categories and Kinds |
P08 | Collect, Assemble, Give and Receive |
Q01 | Sociology, Society and Culture |
Q02 | Relationships |
Q03 | Clothing, Fashion and Style |
Q04 | Behavior, Habits and Addictions |
Q05 | Home, Furniture, Household Appliances, Housewares and Household Activities |
Q06 | Work, Jobs and Careers |
Q07 | Sports, Athletics and Exercise |
Q08 | Toys, Games, Gambling, Entertainment and Leisure Activities |
R01 | Gifts, Prizes, Ceremonies, Achievements and Philanthropy |
R02 | Ships, Shipping, Sailing, Naval Forces and Maritime Affairs |
R03 | Rope, Bind, Tie, Packaging and Packages |
R04 | Travel, Transportation, Air Travel and Tourism |
R05 | the Science of Mechanics, Mechanisms, Instruments, Devices, Machines and Engines |
R06 | Vehicles, Driving and Speed |
R07 | Breakage, Accidents and Disasters |
R08 | Machine Parts, Tools and Their Use |