Yin Shang

Sima Qian sensed the atmosphere congealing.

But he was somewhat puzzled. Though the Luo Clan was a great aristocratic clan bearing the Ji surname, and though Yin Shang had been destroyed by Zhou State itself, even Zhou State had fallen more than a hundred years ago. What harm was there in recording Yin Shang's history now?

Luo Bai asked gravely, "Grand Historian, how much do you know about the history of Yin Shang?"

Sima Qian had served as Grand Historian for many years, and the Sima Clan had a long tradition of family scholarship. He recited the genealogy of Yin Shang's ancestors one by one, then spoke of Tang of Shang's campaign against Jie of Xia, the Shang Dynasty's resurgence, and finally King Zhou's brutality, which had led to his overthrow by King Wu.

Luo Bai and Luo Qing exchanged a glance. Sima Qian's account fit the world's image of Yin Shang perfectly. Over the thousand years since the Sage King had trampled Yin Shang underfoot, people had come to believe there was little difference between Yin Shang and Zhou State, that it had merely been a change of royal clan.

But that was not the truth!

Luo Bai said gravely, "Grand Historian, the upheaval of Zhou's fall and Qin's rise is not far removed from your time, so you can see the drastic changes it brought.

"But you do not know that the upheaval between Yin Shang's destruction and Zhou State's rise far exceeded even that of Zhou's fall and Qin's rise!"

Sima Qian could not help feeling his scalp prickle.

In the upheaval between the fall of the Zhou Dynasty and the Qin-Han era, the Old Nobles had been almost utterly destroyed, the feudal system had survived in name only, commanderies and counties had spread everywhere, and royal