Author: Yoon-Ngan CHUNG (---.uwa.edu.au)
Date: 06-19-02 19:22
59. Fu Shuo Became The Prime Minister
傅 說 作 了 宰 相
Wu Ding (武丁reigned 1324BC to 1319BC ) became the twentieth King of the Shang Dynasty (商朝 1783BC to 1122BC). King Wu Ding appointed Gan Pan
(甘盤), a very experienced and capable administrator, as his Prime Minister.
The aristocrats during this period were extravagant, showy, corrupted and
debauched. The harsh feudal system reduced the population to mere slaves.
Lands were tilled and harvested to fill the aristocracy's coffers and provide
them with luxuries, with very little was left for the people. As a result constant conflicts between the rulers and subjects erupted and plunged the country into turmoil. Yet King Wu Ding did nothing to resolve the situation and had left the running of the government to his Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Gan Pan was already a feeble old man and was becoming ineffective.
King Wu Ding had actually been hunting for a clever and capable person to
replace the ageing Prime Minister. For almost three years he secretly sought
far and wide for the right candidate. Finally, he found the right man, a genius,
but he was a slave. King Wu Ding could not overtly appoint him Prime Minister without raising the ire of the aristocracy and his subjects. During that time the
people of Shang were a very superstitious race who worshipped spirits and
believed in ghosts.
One morning King Wu Ding woke up with a bright idea. He lied to his officials
that he had a dream last night. In his dream a spirit told him to locate a sage by
the name of A Shuo (阿說) who would help him to run the country. He immediately summoned an artist to draw a sketch of A Shuo from descriptions given by him.
The King sent his officials out with the sketch to look for A Shuo. An exhaustive search was made and, finally, a man of exact likeness to the sketch was found.
He was not called A Shuo but Fu Shuo (傅說) whom the King had in mind all
along. Indeed he was a slave. Since it was a direction given by the spirit in the King's dream no one would dare to disagree with his choice of Fu Shuo as his
new Prime Minister. Thus Fu Shou the slave became the Prime Minister in place
of the now retired Gan Pan.
Within a year Fu Shuo settled the conflicts between the aristocrats and the subjects. Fu Shuo also introduced reforms and rejuvenated the country.
Chapter three from the book entitled Shi Ji (史記)
by Si-Ma Qian (司-馬遷145BC to 86BC)
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