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상 왕조의 기반은 일단 탕왕의 어진 정치로 탄탄해졌다. 그러나 흥망성쇠는 자연의 이치라 누가 막으랴. 상 왕조도 10대 중정仲丁 이후로 왕위 계승을 둘러싼 내분이 자주 일어난데다가 자연재해까지 겹치며 국력이 나날이 하강했다.
19대 반경盤庚이 국력을 상승시켜 보려 도읍지를 은허殷墟로 옮겼다.
이때부터 상나라를 은나라라고도 부른다. 반경의 바람대로 천도후 얼마간 안정을 되찾았다. 하지만 22대 무정武丁에 이르러 또 왕실에 내분이 발생한다.
무정은 장자 조경祖庚에게 왕위를 물려주고 똑똑하고 야심이 큰 둘째 아들 조갑祖甲을 먼 고을로 내쫓았다. 그곳에서 숨어 지내던 조갑이 반란을 일으켜 24대 왕이 되었다.
그후 조갑은 천신天神, 황하신黃河神 등을 섬기는 제례를 폐지하고 오직 자기의 조상신에게만 제사하도록 했다. 이때부터 제사 지낼 때면 왕이 제주 역할을 맡았다. 또한 국가적 중대사, 자연재해, 수렵 등을 앞두면 꼭 하늘의 뜻을 물었는데, 짐승의 뼈나 귀갑을 불로 지져 생기는 빛깔, 균열 형태나 금이 간 숫자로 점을 쳤다.
은나라 마지막 왕은 30대 주왕紂王으로 이름이 제신祭辛이다. 외모가 준수했고 기골도 장대해 하나라 걸왕처럼 영웅호걸의 풍모였다. 맨손으로 호랑이를 때려잡고 황소 여러 마리의 꼬리를 붙잡아 당기도 했다.
이처럼 많은 것을 골고루 갖추었지만 달기妲己에게 휘둘리며 끝내 폭군의 길로 가게된다.
주왕이 달기를 얻게 된 과정도 하나라 걸왕과 흡사했다. 전쟁에서 전리품으로 얻은 달기가 말희와 같은 역할을 한 것이다.
주왕도 달기를 만나는 순간부터 넋이 나간다.
“지금까지 많은 여자를 겪어봤으나 달기에 비하면 목석에 불과했다. 달기야말로 하늘이 내려준 여자이니라.”
그런 주왕을 달기가 어떻게 농락했을까? <계속>
 ▲ 필자/이동연 작가. ©브레이크뉴스 |
<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.>
[Novel The Art of War 21]
A king who was fooled by a woman and fell into ruin.
The foundation of the Shang Dynasty was solidified by the virtuous politics of King Tang. However, rise and fall are the natural law of nature, so who can stop them? The Shang Dynasty also suffered frequent internal conflicts over the succession to the throne after the 10th king, Zhongding, and natural disasters also occurred, causing the national power to decline day by day. The 19th king, Pan Geng, moved the capital to Yin Ruins in an attempt to increase the national power.
From this time on, the Shang Dynasty was also called the Yin Dynasty. After moving the capital as Ban Geng had hoped, stability was restored for a while. However, during the 22nd king, Wu Ding, internal conflict broke out in the royal family again. Wu Ding gave the throne to his eldest son, Zuo Geng, and banished his second son, Zuo Jia, who was smart and ambitious, to a distant province. Zuo Jia, who was hiding there, rebelled and became the 24th king.
After that, Jo Gap abolished the rites of worshipping the gods of heaven, the gods of the Yellow River, etc. and only offered sacrifices to his own ancestral gods. From then on, the king took on the role of the god of the heavens when offering sacrifices. Also, before important national events, natural disasters, hunting, etc., he would always ask the will of heaven, and fortune telling was done by burning the bones or tortoise shells of animals with fire and looking at the color, cracks, and number of cracks. The last king of the Yin Dynasty was the 30th King of Zhou, whose name was Jesin. He had a handsome appearance and a large physique, and he had the appearance of a hero like King Jie of Xia. He could catch a tiger with his bare hands and pull the tails of several bulls. Despite having many qualities, he was manipulated by Dal-gi and eventually became a tyrant.
The process by which King Zhou obtained Dal-gi was also similar to King Jie of Xia. The spoils of war that Dalgi got played the same role as Malhee. The moment King Zhou met Dalgi, he was also captivated.
“I have experienced many women so far, but compared to Dalgi, they were nothing more than wood and stone. Dalgi was a woman given by heaven.”
So how did Dalgi fool King Zhou?
