Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

DaKeler t1_iqz74wy wrote

Yes! Confucius descended from the second to last king of Shang, Di Yi (帝乙), whose youngest son succeeded and ruled (incompetently) until the Zhou famously, and rather dramatically, overthrew and killed him.

Di Yi's first and second sons successively were the ones granted land by the new Zhou government according to the "Two Crownings and Three Respects" system (二王三恪) to carry on the rites of Shang. The first son's line tapered off after a while, but second son's line was the one that gave rise to most of the remaining rulers of Song and, more importantly, was the one that ultimately produced Confucius.

5