Read on for yourself and decide if they\u2019re fact or fiction.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Story 1: King Zhou Built the Wine Pool and Meat Forest<\/h3>\n
According to legend, Zhou was actually a pretty decent king for the early years of his rule. He did all the things kings are supposed to do, like beat other people in arguments and hunt beasts with his bare hands.<\/p>\n
Later in this reign, though, Zhou kind of just gave up. He stopped giving a sh*t about the affairs of his country and started caring a whole lot more about what he would do with his one wild and precious life. And what he wanted to do with his life was have a lot of really crazy parties.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n According to legend, Zhou decided to use his country\u2019s funds to build an \u201cAlcohol Pool and Meat Forest.\u201d Now, when I say pool, I mean a legit body of water wine that was big enough and deep enough for people to swim and canoes to float. Zhou would float with his friends and dip his head over the sides when he fancied a refreshment.<\/p>\n In the center of the pool as a small island, covered in trees. The trees all had branches, but they weren\u2019t the normal, leaf-bearing kind. Instead, they were covered in skewers of roasted meat.<\/p>\n Truly, King Zhou lived the dream.<\/p>\n Remember when I said King Zhou was a great leader at the beginning of his reign?<\/p>\n Yeah. The difference between the beginning and end of his rule was marked. In addition to using government money to build a forest of meat trees (I\u2019m definitely picturing something weird in my head right now), Zhou \u201cgave himself over to women and abandoned morals.\u201d<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n According to legend, he began hosting festive orgies, to which I say, at least they weren\u2019t depressing orgies. The orgy attendees would engage in \u201cimmoral behavior\u201d and compose songs with \u201ccrude lyrics and poor rhythm.\u201d Which, I mean, if you\u2019re going to give up on governing your country to write poetry, at least write good <\/i>poetry.<\/p>\n The change was so drastic that courtiers assumed there had to be a reason. And instead of saying, \u201cHey, Zhou\u2019s probably just going through a midlife crisis,\u201d the men and women of the court looked around, saw his wife Daji and thought, \u201cWhy blame him when we can blame a woman<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n And so Daji came to be known as Zhou\u2019s \u201cwicked wife,\u201d who, along with the demon fox that possessed her, convinced Zhou to do terrible things to himself, his body, and his country.<\/p>\n Until now, most stories about Zhou have been relatively harmless. This last one? Not so much.<\/p>\nStory 2: King Zhou Was Possessed By His Wife<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nStory 3: King Zhou Created a Terrible Punishment: The Cannon Burning Punishment<\/h3>\n