Tang of Shang：At the end of the Xia Dynasty, the Shang tribe became powerful gradually. Witnessing tyrannical activities of Jie, and the alienation of the popular will, Tang was determined to overthrow Xia.

商汤:夏朝末年，商族逐渐强大，眼见夏桀暴虐，失去民心，汤决心灭夏。

Meanwhile, Jie feared that the might iness of Shang might be a threat, so he summoned Tang to the capital and imprisoned him in Xiatai.

同时，桀担心汤势力壮大而威胁自己，便将汤召人夏都，囚禁在夏台。

The Shang tribe immediately sent a lot of money to Jie and bribed his favorites as well. Therefore, Tang was released.

商族又送桀以重金，并贿赂桀的亲信，使汤获释归商。

After this, he tried to win people’s support with benevolent policies.

汤以仁厚收揽人心，争取人民的支持。

First，heenumeratedJie，simmoraty, calling on vassal states to desert Jie and submit to his authority. Then，to those who refused to follow his advice, he launched successive wars to eliminate Jie's power.

其一，汤历数夏桀的暴虐无道，号召夏的附属小国背弃桀，归附商;其二，对不听他劝告者，就先后出兵攻灭，以剪除桀的羽翼。

The more he fought, the stronger he was, while Jie became isolated.

商汤越战越强，夏桀陷于孤立的境地。

Later, Tang moved the capital to Bo, and the preparation to attack the Xia Dynasty was finally made.

汤还迁都于亳，以此为前进的据点，准备最后攻灭夏朝。

Tang adopted Yi Yin’s suggestions to stop paying tribute to the Xia Dynasty in order to sound out the strength of Jie.

汤还采纳伊尹的建议，停止朝贡夏朝以试夏桀的实力。

Soon, Jie ordered Jiuyi tribes to dispatch troops to go on a punitive expedition on Tang. This indicated that Jie was able to maneuver the army of Jiuyi, so Tang and Yi Yin apologized to Jie at once, and resumed paying tribute.

桀命令九夷族发兵征讨商，这说明桀还能调动九夷族的兵力，汤和伊尹就马上请罪,恢复向夏桀的进贡。

A year later, Jiuyi tribes could not bear the inhumane control of Jie and rebelled one after another; Jie’s power was greatly weakened.

一年后，九夷族忍受不了桀的残暴统治，纷纷叛离，使桀的力量大为减弱。

Tang and Yi Yin took the opportunity of it, calling on all tribes to crusade against Jie. Consequently ,Jie was defeated at the battle of Mingtiao (East of the present-day Fengqiu in Henan). Tang established the second slave dynasty—the Shang Dynasty, and the capital was Bo.

汤和伊尹见时机成熟，就由汤召集部众，出兵伐夏，在鸣条（今河南封丘东）一举攻灭了夏桀，建立了中国历史上第二个奴隶制王朝——商朝，定都亳。

During his reign, Tang lightened taxes and encouraged production to appease the morale.

汤建立商朝后，减轻征赋，鼓励生产，安抚民心。

His influence spread to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and many outlying tribes became vassal states.

商的势力扩展至黄河上游，许多部落成为其属国。

The Shang Dynasty became another powerful dynasty.

商最终成为又一个强大的奴隶制王朝。

Tang had been the tribe leader for 17 years and the king of the Shang Dynasty for 13 years after he founded it.

汤为部落首领17年，建商后称王13年。

He died of illness.

后病故。

Yi Yin：The establishment of the Shang Dynasty had a close connection with the assistance of Yi Yin.

伊尹:商汤建朝与伊尹的辅佐是分不开的。

Yi Yin, the prime minister, had been a dowry slave of Tang’s wife working in the kitchen.

伊尹，宰相，曾是汤的妻子陪嫁奴隶，在厨房干活。

He was very capable. In order to have Tang notice his ability, he sometimes cooked the meal delicious, sometimes salty or tasteless deliberately.

伊尹很有才能，为了让汤发现自己，故意有时把菜做得很可口，有时却或咸或淡。

When Tang blamed him for this, Yi Yin took the opportunity to utter his opinion about administration, and Tang was shocked. Realizing his talent, Tang freed Yi Yin and assigned him as the prime minister.

有一次，汤就此事责问他，他就乘机向汤谈论了自己对治理国政的见解。汤大为惊奇，知道他是一个贤才，就免除他奴隶的身份，任为右相。

Since then，under the design of Yi Yin, Tang made an active preparation to overthrow the Xia Dynasty.

自此，在伊尹的谋划下，汤积极准备灭夏。

After the death of Tang, Yi Yin assisted Tang’three children ruling the country.

汤死后,伊尹辅佐汤的3个孩子为天子。

King Tai Jia did not obey the decree made by Tang in his three-year reign, and Yi Yin persuaded him for many times, but failed. Consequently, Yi Yin shut him in Tonggong Palace, hoping him to have a self-reflection, and governed the state himself.

太甲在位3年期间，不遵守商汤立下的法令，伊尹多次劝告无效，于是,伊尹把太甲关进桐宫，希望他反省，自己亲自执政。

Living in the Tonggong Palace for three years, Tai Jia eventually regretted and went straight. Then, Yi Yin restored him.

太甲在桐宫住了3年，终于悔过自新，伊尹又把政权交给他。

TaiJia became benevolent and diligent, so the people began to live a stable life, and all vassal states admired him very much.

太甲改恶从善， 勤政修德，人民生活安定，各属国都很钦佩。

Living for more than a hundred years, Yi Yin had been the prime minister for twenty years, laying a solid foundation for the stabilization of the Shang Dynasty. He became the first capable official in Chinese history.

伊尹活了100多岁，当了20年国相，为商王朝的稳定打下了坚实的基础，成为我国历史上第一个著名的贤相。

Pan Geng： After the establishment, the Shang Dynasty moved five times in three hundred years due to the deluge of the Yellow River, or civil strifes.

盘庚：商朝建立后的300多年中共搬迁5次,或避黄河泛滥之天灾，或避内乱之人祸。

Among them，the most famous one was Pan Geng’s move to Yin (the present-day Anyang in Henan). Once settled, the Shang Dynasty had never moved, so it is also called Yin Shang.Pan Geng was the nineteenth king.

其中最著名的是盘庚迁都。商定都殷(今河南安阳）后，再未迁移过，故商朝亦盘庚是商朝的第19任君主。

He removed the capital to Yin after a fierce struggle.

一番激烈斗争后，他迁都于殷。

Kings succeeded Tai Jia all lived a decayed life. They were superstitious and paid little attention to state affairs.

太甲后的历代君, 王生活逐渐腐化，迷信鬼神,不知发展生产。

With the internal struggle for power and conflicts among the nobility intensified，arms were frequently appealed to.

王室内部争权夺利,矛盾日趋尖锐，经常兵戈相见。

At the same time, some vassal states did not obey the command, each going his own way and fighting with each other.

与此同时，一些属国也不再听从商朝的指挥，各行其道，相互争斗。

Pan Geng succeeded in peril.

危难之际，盘庚继位。

He was a sagacious and virtuous ruler. When analyzing the situation，he believed that the capital should be moved to Yin, but the notion offended the interest of the majority of nobles, and encountered strong objection.Meanwhile, the common people were in dread of migration, and reluctant to leave their hometown.

他是个贤明有德之君，分析形势后，他认为应迁都于殷。可是这一打算却触犯了大多数贵族奴隶主的利益，遭到了强烈的反对;而百姓因畏惧迁徙之苦，亦不愿离开故土。

Determined, Pan Geng finally led his officials and civilians to trudge from the north of the Yellow River to Yin, in the south of the Yellow River.

但是盘庚决心已下，终率领官民经过艰难跋涉，从黄河北迁都至黄河南面的殷地。

When settled, the state began to practice Tang’s policy, so that the political situation tended to be stabilized, the declination held back, the goal to make the country strong was achieved, and a new economic and cultural prospect also came forth.

迁殷以后，“行汤之政”，政治局势趋于稳定，遏制了商的衰亡之势，达到了迁都图强的目的,社会经济和文化也随着出现了一个新的发展局面。

Wu Ding：Wu Ding, the best ruler after Pan Geng, left behind him a much-told story in history.

武丁:武丁是盘庚以后最好的国王，历史上曾留下他借梦求贤相的佳话。

He is supposed to have spent his early years among the common people, being familiar with their hardship；therefore, he formed a simple living habit. Additionally, he made friend with a slave, Fu Yue, who was twenty years older than he was.

武丁儿时曾在平民中生活过，不仅养成了简朴的生活习惯，还同一个比他大20岁，名叫傅说的奴隶交上了朋友。

Though a slave, Fu Yue was bright and capable.

傅说虽是奴隶，但聪明能干，文武全才。

When he became the king, Wu Ding intended to have Fu Yue as prime minister, but feared that the other officials would not agree because of Fu Yue's identity.

武丁即位后想请傅说做宰相,但碍于其身份，又恐大臣不答应。

It is said that Wu1 Ding had not uttered a word for three years. One day, he suddenly said that in the dream the forefather Tang had asked him to invite Fu Yue to be the prime minister.

相传武丁三年不说话，后自称先祖汤托梦给他，让他请傅说为相。

Then he described the appearance and locality of Fu Yue, ordering officials to look for him. Fu Yue was found among the criminals eventually.

说出傅说的面貌和所在后，令百官到处去寻找，终于在罪徒中找着了。

Since the Shang people trusted ghost, the nobility dared not to object when Fu Yue was appointed as prime minister.

殷人信鬼，傅说做宰相，贵族们不敢反对。

Thereafter, there were some innovations in politics, the state became stable, and the Shang Dynasty restored.

其后，商在政治上进行改革，国家日趋安定,商朝因而复兴起来。

King Zhou of Shang ：King Di Xin, the last king of the Shang Dynasty is called Zhou, one of the notorious despots in Chinese history.

商纣:商朝最后一个国王帝辛，叫做纣,是历史上有名的暴君。

Quick-witted and Quick-tempered ,Shang Zhou in his early reign showed the abilities which surpassed the ordinary man.

他机智敏捷，却又脾气暴躁。早年间，其统治能力超乎常人。

He headed the troops to fight a long time war with the Dongyi tribe, during which he won the battle frequently.

他曾亲自率兵与东夷进行了一场持久战，在战争中屡屡获胜。

After the victory over Dongyi, he spread the advanced technology and culture of Shang to the Huaishui River and the Yangtze River valley, so he was a king who had made achievements and contributions.

平定东夷后,他把商朝先进的生产技术和文化传播到淮水和长江流域一带，是个有成就、有贡献的君主。

However, the constant war exhausted the state power, and tadded to the people’s burden.

但是，长期的战争消耗了商朝的国力，加重了人民的负担。

Meanwhile, the triumph developed Shang Zhou’thought of being proud and seeking for enjoyment, which made him become another notorious tyranny after Xia Jie.

而战争的胜利，又滋长了商纣居功自傲和贪图享乐的思想，使他成为我国历史上继夏桀之后的又一个臭名昭著的暴君。

In the later years, he was given over to drinking and women, preferring these to the proper governance of the country, and ignoring almost all the state affairs. His viciousness was beyond measures.

在其统治后期,商纣沉湎酒色，荒淫无度，置朝政于不顾。

Apart from this, he tried every means to extort money form people, so that countless jewellery and treasure piled up in Lu tai (Shang Zhou’s palace).

大肆搜刮民财，无数珍宝堆满了鹿台。

Shang Zhou favored a beautiful consort Daji, and committed all manners of e-vil and cruel deeds with her.

宠信美女妲己，与她一起行凶作恶。

His brother Wei Zi tried to persuade him to change， but got rebuked.

他的哥哥微子前来进谏，却反遭指责。

His uncle Bi Gan similarly remonstrated with him, but Shang Zhou had his heart ripped out so he could see what the heart of a sage looked like.

他的叔叔比干来劝他，商纣却把他的心挖出来看看是什么样子。

When his other brother Ji Zi heard this，feigning madness，he went to remonstrate with the kingly brother but，was imprisoned.

他另一哥哥箕子虽然装疯指责他，也没能免遭囚禁。

At that time，the Shang Dynasty was in imminent,danger.

此时的商王朝已是岌岌可危。

When King Wu of the Zhou launched a punitive expedition on Zhou, he was utterly isolated.

武王伐封时，商王朝众叛亲离，军队倒戈。

With his army changing the side in the war，Shang Zhou fled to the capital，set light to Lutai and committed suicide by burning himself.

商纣逃回商都，在鹿台自焚而死。