商汤 / Shang Tang
商汤 / Shang Tang appears in 《资治通鉴·周纪》49丨孟子曰：我教你治国 你却把我当花瓶 as 孟子 / Mencius’s positive conquest example. Mencius uses Tang to argue that punitive war can be legitimate when it removes a cruel ruler and relieves suffering people.
The episode uses the example to sharpen the contrast with 齐国 in 燕国. If an army claims to rescue people but then kills relatives, imprisons children, destroys institutions, and seizes treasure, it no longer resembles Tang’s moralized campaign. Shang Tang therefore supports the episode’s link between 孟子的民本合法性 and post-conquest conduct.
《资治通鉴·周纪》71丨荀子的性本恶论 reuses Shang Tang in a more Xunzian frame. The host pairs Tang with 周武王 as examples of rulers who can achieve kingly rule when state power is ordered by ritual and righteousness rather than by opportunistic force.