Records

In the Records of the Grand Historian he was listed by Sima Qian as the nineteenth Shang king, succeeding his older brother Yang Jia. Oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively identify him as the eighteenth Shang king. He ruled for about 28 years according to both the Bamboo Annals and the Records of the Grand Historian.

The Bamboo Annals provide a brief summary of the major known events of his rule, which are as follows. He was enthroned in the year of Bingyin (丙寅) with Yan (奄) as his capital. In the seventh year of his regime, the Ying vassal (应侯) came to Yan to pay homage to him. In the fourteenth year of his reign he moved his capital to Beimeng (北蒙), renaming it Yin (殷). In the fifteenth year of his reign he reviewed his army at the new capital, and in the nineteenth year of his reign he assigned his minister Fen (邠侯) to Yayu (亚圉).

The Records of the Grand Historian provides a different account of the relocation of the capital. It states that Pán Gēng moved the capital from a location north of the Yellow River to Bo 亳, the capital of the Shang founder Tang, on the south side of the river. It further states that this move was initially opposed by the people of Yin, who were tired of being moved, but that they were eventually satisfied when the Tang system of government was adopted, and the move proved to be prosperous.

Upon his death, he was given the posthumous name Pán Gēng and was succeeded by his younger brother Xiao Xin.

In the Classic of History, there exists a chapter entitled "Pán Gēng", which tradition holds to have been a speech by this king; however, the language in it is so different from that of Pán Gēng's time that it is most likely not a product of his era.

Historical reference

Wang Anshi, in his response to Sima Guang's accusatory letter, cited the example of Pán Gēng's undaunted perseverance in pursuing his goal (movement of the capital) in the face of opposition of both government officials and the common people.

生平

商朝自中丁以來，國勢逐漸衰落。弟子爭相代立，諸侯不再來朝。

盤庚之父為帝祖丁。祖丁駕崩，其弟沃甲之子南庚立為王。南庚崩，祖丁之子陽甲即位。陽甲統治期間，商朝繼續衰落。

陽甲駕崩之後，盤庚作為其弟繼承王位。商朝此前已經五次遷都，朝廷居無定所。盤庚即位之初，國都位于奄（今山東曲阜）。盤庚力排眾議，遷都于殷（今河南安陽西北）（《史記》說遷都到亳，即今河南偃師），史稱「盤庚遷殷」。盤庚遷殷後，繼續「行湯之政，然後百姓由寧，殷道複興」，經歷了一段繁盛時期，故後世又稱商為「殷商」。他死後小辛繼位，「百姓思盤庚」，乃作盤庚三篇，即保存在今文《尚書》中的《盤庚》三篇。