King Zhou of Shang, Di Xin was the younger brother of Zi Qi (who was said in legends to have ruled Gija Joseon in the 11th century BCE) and Zi Yan (子衍) (later rulers of Zhou's vassal state Song), father of Wu Geng.
After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the last ruler of Shang, marking the transition to the Zhou Dynasty, the victor was honor-bound by a stricture of feudal etiquette known as Er Wang San Ke [simple; zh] (二王三恪) to allow the defeated house of Shang to continue offering sacrifices to their ancestors. As a result, for a time Shang became a vassal state of Zhou, with the Shang heir Wu Geng allowed to continue ancestor worship at Yin (殷).
However, after King Wu's death, Wu Geng fomented a rebellion with an alliance of eastern states, and was killed by the Duke of Zhou. Another Shang royal family descendant, Weizi, was granted land at Shangqiu (商邱, "the hill of Shang"), where the capital of the new state of Song was built.
A sign of its descent from the Shang is that the state of Song in its early period followed the succession principle of agnatic seniority, rather than agnatic primogeniture like the Zhou.
History
In 701 BC, a political marriage between Lady Yong of Song (宋雍氏) and Duke Zhuang of Zheng (as well as the capture of Zhai Zhong (祭仲), a leading warrior) empowered Song to manipulate the administration of Zheng.
In 651 BC, Duke Huan of Song (宋桓公) died, leaving the district to be ruled by Duke Xiang, who reigned from 651 to 637BC. He was considered a Hegemon by some, but was unable to maintain that role. He eventually fell to the troops of Chu.
In 355BC, Dai Ticheng (戴剔成), a distant relative of the ruling royal line and once a minister of Duke Huan II, managed to usurp the throne. In 328BC, Dai Yan, a younger brother of Ticheng, took the throne and declared himself to be King Kang of Song, with Ticheng murdered or exiled. The king was ambitious and had succeeded in beating troops from Chu, Wei and Qi and annexing Teng. However, the kingdom was finally annexed by Qi in 286BC, with troops from Chu and Wei serving on behalf of Qi. Qin, which had been an ally of Song, refused to intervene for strategic and diplomatic reasons after being convinced by Su Dai from Wei. Su's predictions were proven correct and Qin benefited from the downfall of its former ally.
The philosopher Mozi references this state in the chapter "Obvious Existence of Ghosts", in which he mentions a number of Spring and Autumn Annals, including those of the Zhou, Yan, and Qi. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Song has not survived.
Rulers
Unless otherwise indicated, the ruler is the son of his predecessor.
Weizi 微子 (Qi 啟), brother of the last king of Shang, Di Xin
Confucius is traditionally considered to have been a descendant of the Dukes of Song. His descendants hold the honorary title Duke Yansheng.
The title of Duke of Song and "Duke Who Continues and Honours the Yin" (殷紹嘉公) were bestowed upon Kong An (孔安 (東漢)) by the Eastern Han dynasty because he was part of the Shang dynasty's legacy.[2][3] This branch of the Kong family is a separate branch from the line that held the title of Marquis of Fengsheng village and later Duke Yansheng.
^ abEno, Robert (2003). "The background of the Kong family of Lu and the origins of Ruism". Early China. 28. Cambridge University Press: 1–41. doi:10.1017/S0362502800000651. JSTOR23354229. Eno concludes of Confucius's ancestry that the descent from Song nobility has been constructed to serve an ideological purpose. However he rejects the stronger statement that Confucius's immediate parentage is also fabricated, as proposed by Creel and Jensen.Jensen, Lionel (1995). "Wise man of the wilds: fatherlessness, fertility, and the mythic exemplar Kongzi". Early China. 20. Cambridge University Press: 407–437. doi:10.1017/S0362502800004570. JSTOR23351776. p. 409Creel, Herlee G. (1949). Confucius: the Man and the Myth. New York City: John Day. pp. 297–298.Cited in Eno.
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