dethroned the last descendant of the line of Hsia, and became the
founder of a new dynasty. We meet with him first at a considerable
distance from the ancestral fief (which, however, gave name to the
dynasty), having as his capital the southern Po, which seems correctly
referred to the present district of Shang-khiu, in the department of
Kwei-teh, Ho-nan. Among the twenty-seven sovereigns who followed Thang,
there were three especially distinguished:--Thai Kia, his grandson and
successor (B.C. 1753 to 1721), who received the title of Thai Zung; Thai
Mau (B.C. 1637 to 1563), canonized as Kung Zung; and Wu-ting (B.C. 1324
to 1266), known as Kao Zung. The shrines of these three sovereigns and
that of Thang retained their places in the ancestral temple ever after
they were first set up and if all the sacrificial odes of the dynasty
had been preserved, most of them would have been in praise of one or
other of the four. But it so happened that at least all the odes of
which Thai Zung was the subject were lost; and of the others we have
only the small portion that has been mentioned above.

Of how it is that we have even these, we have the following account in
the Narratives of the States, compiled, probably, by a contemporary of
Confucius. The count of Wei was made duke of Sung by king Wu of Kau, as
related in the Shu, V, viii, there to continue the sacrifices of the
House of Shang; but the government of Sung fell subsequently into
disorder, and the memorials of the dynasty were lost. In the time of
duke Tai (B.C. 799 to 766), one of his ministers, Kang-khao, an ancestor
of Confucius, received from the Grand Music-Master at the court of Kau
twelve of the sacrificial odes of Shang with which he returned to Sung,
where they were used in sacrificing to the old Shang kings. It is
supposed that seven of these were lost subsequently, before the
collection of the Shih was formed.