The Investiture of the Gods described the story of King Wu conquering King Zhou. Compared with the historical description, the evaluation of the Investiture of the Gods was
The Investiture of the Gods was an ancient novel that described the story of King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty conquering King Zhou. There were some differences between this novel and the historical description, the most obvious of which was the time and historical background of King Wu's conquest of Zhou. The novel portrayed the war as a just war, while history was regarded as a story of a tyrant being overthrown. In the novel, the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou, was depicted as the ruler of a country without any laws. He killed the people and imprisoned them to implement tyranny. King Wu of Zhou overthrew King Zhou's rule by waging war and established the Western Zhou Dynasty. Compared to the historical descriptions, the Investiture of the Gods beautified the images of King Zhou and King Wu of Zhou. The novel depicted the Shang Dynasty as a powerful empire and King Wu of Zhou as a heroic leader. These plots helped to shape the characters and plot development of the novel. The Investiture of the Gods was different from historical descriptions, but it successfully constructed an imaginative and attractive world by embellishing historical characters and plot development. Although this novel is somewhat different from historical records, it is still a very popular novel that is widely read and studied.