In the Records of the Grand Historian he was listed by Sima Qian as the fourth Shang king, succeeding his uncles Wai Bing and Zhong Ren.
Sima Qian says that following the exile Yi Yin ruled the country as regent for three years until he felt that the king had sufficiently changed and invited him back to the capital to reclaim his throne.
So that in the 10th year of his reign Yi Yin resigned from his post and retired, honoring the king, after his death, as Zhong Zong (中宗).
The Bamboo Annals however tell a very different story; claiming that after the exile Yi Yin seized the throne and ruled as king for seven years later until Tai Jia secretly returned to the palace and killed his former Prime Minister.
Since archaeological evidence shows that Yi Yin was still worshipped by the Shang people several hundred years after his death, the former account is widely considered the more reliable.