Shangqiu - History

History

The history of Shangqiu is closely related to the very beginning of Chinese history. Dates back to the Three August Ones and Five Emperors periods (c. 25th century BC), Emperor Shennong, Emperor Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku were living in the present Shangqiu area. The son of Emperor Ku, Qi (契), who helped Yu the Great (禹) to control floods, was enfeoffed the area of Shang (which is the current day Shangqiu area), who also became the ancestor of the ancient nationality of Shang. It is said that the Shang people first started trading with neighboring countries by shipping the goods with ox wagens. Since then, people doing business are called Shang people (Shāng Rén 商人, means businessman), which is still the case now, although people are not likely to know the origin of the words. The thirteenth generation grandson of Qi (契), Tang overthrew the ruling Xia Dynasty and founded the Shang Dynasty, with its first capital at Nanbo (南亳, currently south of Shangqiu). Around the 11th century BC, the Shang Dynasty was replaced by the Zhou Dynasty. The royal descendants of Shang Dynasty were enfeoffed the area of Shangqiu, which later became the state of Song.

The city was the southern capital of the Northern Song dynasty under the name Nanjing.