Zu Jia

Zu Jia (祖甲) (died in the middle of the 12th century BC) or Di Jia (帝甲), personal name Zǐ Zǎi (子載), was a Shang dynasty King of China. He was the third recorded son of Wu Ding, the first Chinese monarch verified by contemporary records. Having inherited a large area of lands conquered by his father and brother, he led the Shang kingdom through the last brief period of stability. After his reign, Shang went into irreversible decline.

Zu Jia reigned during the first half of the 12th century BC, from the city of Yin, the ancient historical capital of Shang. He is known to have started religious and successive reforms to solve previously concerned problems. His period marked the rise of Predynastic Zhou, which began to develop more complex relations with the Shang court after Wu Ding's death.^[2]