Jie of Xia

桀 Jié
Jie with a halberd, representing oppression, and sitting on two ladies, symbolizing his abuse of power. Rubbing of a relief from a Wu family shrine, Jiaxiang, Shandong.
Title	King of China
Spouse(s)	Mo Xi Zhao Hua
Parent(s)	Fa of Xia Consort of Fa

King Jie (Chinese: 桀; traditionally 1728 – 1675 BCE) was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty.

Around 1600 BCE, Jie was defeated by Tang of Shang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang Dynasty.

Jie is generally known as Xia Jie (夏桀) or Jie of Xia. His given name was Lü Gui (履癸). Jie ascended to the throne in the year of Renchen (壬辰). Initially, his capital was in Zhenxun. He lived there for three years and constructed his tilt palace. About the same time, he destroyed the pyramid of Rong (容台), and quelled a rebellion by the Quanyi people (aka Fei Barbarians) after they entered Qi, near Fen.

His parents were Fa of Xia and his wife.

Jie is known to have lived a lavish lifestyle with slaves and treated his people with extreme cruelty. His style of ruling was reckless and filled with sex, luxury and entertainment. He generally disliked people who criticized him, and many were indeed afraid of him.

In the sixth year of Jie's regime, he entertained envoys from vassals and neighbours. He received an envoy from the Qizhong barbarian people. In the 11th year, he summoned all his vassals to his court. The Youmin kingdom did not come, so Jie attacked and conquered it.

In his 13th year of ruling, he moved his capital from Zhenxun to Henan. About that time, he began using the Nian (輦), or sedan chair, on which he was carried by servants.

The next year, he led an army to Minshan. There, he found two of the King of Minshan's daughters, Wan and Yan. They were unmarried and very beautiful, so he took them as his wives, renaming them Zhao (苕) and Hua. He abandoned his original wife Mo Xi (妹喜) and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.