What triggered the fall of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou

 For Day 1 we saw that besides embracing moral values with which he interprets the meaning of events and the fates of the players, SQ suggests that prominent emperors of different dynasties upheld those values and thus benefited their states. For Day 2 we will find out if the opposite might be true: If decadence and decay followed neglecting the ways of the ancient kings. When talking about decadence in the chapter on Xia, p. 34b Shun recalls Tan-chu who “was fond of nothing but leisure and pleasure” and departed from his family tradition by engaging in ‘licentious behavior”. P.36b, emperor Ch’i destroys the Yu-Hu clan because of disregarding the pre-established order (“abused the 5 elements and neglected the 3 annuaries-note 155 suggests it could mean the governing forces of Heaven, Earth, and Man). On 37t the Hsia and the Ho are chastised for disregarding the seasons. On 37m, the Xia clan declines when emperor K’ung-chia engages in “licentious and disorderly actions” and on 38t, emperor Chieh neglects virtue and pursues military power instead. The result: T’ang Ch’eng cultivates virtue, defeats Xia and starts the Yin (Shang) dynasty. When Zhou is on the rise, on 66m SQ writes after king Kang proclaimed the values kings Wen and Wu as ideals of virtue, “the world was peaceful”. When Zhou declines, kings depart from the virtuous values of past ages and do not listen to their advisors. King Li loses the throne by ignoring Jui’s advice, monopolizing the profits, not sharing them with “those below”, and repressing criticism (70b-71). On 73t-74 king Yu loses his life by ignoring Po Yang’s warning that if the energy flow between Heaven and Earth is losing its proper order, Zhou is doomed. On 81b-83 the Lord of Zhou does not understand Pai Ch’s story about the virtue of knowing when to stop after a victory and not overreaching. To conclude, SQ suggests that ignoring the values, order, and virtue cultivation caused the end of the Xia, Yin, and Zhou dynasties. 

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