King Zhou of Shang conquers the state of Su in 1047 BCE and takes as his trophy Daji, who, according to historical record, is the beautiful daughter of a noble family named Su in the state of Yousu.

By now, the king is in his sixties and has been on his throne for forty years, known as strong and heroic, well-versed in oratory and in music.

Under his reign, Shang has become a powerful and prosperous state.

After Zhou takes Daji as his concubine, however, things take a rapid turn for the worse, at least according to Chinese legend.

He tries every means to ingratiate himself with her.

As Daji likes animals, he builds her a zoological garden with a large collection of rare birds and animals.

As she likes dancing and singing, he orders artists to compose lewd music and choreograph bawdy dances.

Ignoring state affairs, King Zhou begins to spend all his time with Daji, reportedly gathering three thousand guests at one party to enjoy his “pond of wine” and “forest of meat,” which is cooked meat strips hanging from a wood of trees.

Fior Daji’s amusement, King Zhou has the guests play a cat and mouse game in the nude among the trees.

When a young women of the court, daughter of Lord Jiu, protests against such debauchery, King Zhou has her slain, her father ground up, and his flesh fed to his vassals.

Daji soon becomes a brute herself.

It is said that her greatest joy is to hear people cry in physical sufferings.

Once, as she saw a farmer walking barefoot on the ice, she ordered his feet be cut off so that she could study it and figure out the cause of its resistance to cold temperature.

In another occasion, she had a pregnant woman’s belly cut open so that she could satisfy her curiosity of finding out what happened therein.

To verify the old saying that “a good man’s heart had seven openings,” she had the heart of Bi Gan, an honest minister, cut out and subjected it to her fertile scrutiny.

Daji is best known for her invention of a device of torture called Paolao: a bronze cylinder heated like a furnace with charcoal until the sides are extremely hot.

The victim is then bound on the cylinder and baked to death.

Daji reportedly takes great delight in the painful cries of the condemned.

Many call for the end of the Shang Dynasty but Di Xin pays very little attention to any of this, as he views himself as the rightful ruler of China, a position appointed by the heavens.