King Jie (Chinese: 桀; traditionally 1728–1675 BCE) was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China.

[3][4] The rime dictionary Guangyun later associates this Xia king's name (or epithet) Jié 桀 with 磔 zhé "to dismember, to cut asunder".

[5] Kangxi dictionary states that 磔 (zhé) is synonymous with 疈辜 pìgū "to cut asunder and open up", in Rites of Zhou;[6] and that "the ancients asserted that the fierce and devious (桀黠 jiéxiá) ones are brutal and violent (凶暴 xiōngbào), as if they were cutting [things] asunder (磔 zhé).

"[7] Historian Pei Yin (裴骃) cites Rules for Posthumous Names (謚法/諡法 Shìfǎ) (attributed to the Duke of Zhou),[8] that Jié 桀 was meant for those who harmed and killed numerous people.

[12][13] 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.

He abandoned his original wife Mo Xi (妹喜) and built a pyramid on top of the Tilt Palace for them to live in.

[12][13] According to Liu Xiang's book Lienü zhuan written much later, around 18 BC, Jie was corrupted by his infatuation with his concubine Mo Xi (妺喜 or 末喜), who was beautiful, but completely lacking in virtue.

[11] Another chancellor, Guan Longfeng (關龍逢), told the king that he was losing the trust of his people along with the Xia dynasty's rivers and mountains (江山).

In one speech Tang of Shang said that creating chaos is not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he has to follow the Mandate of Heaven and use this opportunity to overthrow Xia.

[20] In the 15th year of Jie's reign, Tang of Shang began moving Lü (履) to the capital Bo.

These began in the 10th year of Jie's reign, when five stars were seen in the sky in alignment and a meteor shower occurred, followed by an earthquake.

[12][13] Records from the later Qin dynasty say that during the last year of Jie's reign, ice formed during the summer mornings and frost occurred through July.

Heavy rainfall toppled buildings, hot and cold weather arrived in disorder, and crops failed.

Some scientists correlate this event with a volcanic winter, possibly due to the Minoan eruption of Thera at around 1600 BC.

[22] In the 32nd year of Jie's reign, Tang of Shang dispatched troops from Er (陑) to simultaneously attack Xia and Kunwu.

[12][13] The Shang forces, under their general Wuzi (戊子), pursued Jie to Cheng, captured him at Jiaomen and deposed him, bringing the Xia dynasty to an end.