Dynasties of ChinaEarly China · The beginnings of civilization
12 Western Zhou kings · 1046–771 BCE · 11 generations of succession
King Wu defeated Shang, and the Duke of Zhou helped establish Zhou institutions. Enfeoffment and lineage shaped the ritual order; secure annual chronology begins in 841 BCE.
Dynastic color · Deep red
Western Zhou is the early stage of Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou clan arose in the Wei River Basin, and its ancestor Hou Ji is said to be good at farming. At the end of the Shang Dynasty, Gu Gongdanfu, the leader of the Zhou clan, led his people to move to Zhouyuan at the foot of Qishan Mountain. His grandson Ji Chang (Zhou Wenwang) cultivated virtue and prospered the country, forming a trend of "two out of three parts of the world". In 1046 BC, Zhou Wuwang Ji Fa united other countries to defeat King Zhou of Shang in the Battle of Muye, established the Zhou Dynasty, and made its capital Haojing (southwest of Xi'an, Shaanxi today).
King Wu died shortly after the Shang Dynasty was destroyed. The young King Cheng succeeded to the throne, and Duke of Zhou (Ji Dan) took the regency. He put down the rebellion of Sanjian and Wu Geng, built the eastern capital of Luoyi, enfeoffed the princes on a large scale, made rituals and music, and established a complete system of enfeoffment, patriarchal clan, rituals and music. The society was stable during the King Cheng and King Kang periods, which is known as the "Chengkang rule" in history. After that, King Zhao lost his troops in the Han River during the southern expedition, and King Mu went on an expedition against the Quanrong, and the royal family turned from prosperity to decline.
King Li patented tyranny. In 841 BC, the Chinese people rioted, King Li fled, Zhao Gong and Zhou Gong were in power together, and it was named "Republic". From then on, Chinese history had a precise chronology. After King Xuan came to the throne, the royal family was revived for a time, but King You sometimes dethroned and established a concubine. In 771 BC, Shen Hou united with Quan Rong to attack Haojing, King You was killed, and Western Zhou perished. The following year, King Ping moved east to Luoyi, and history entered the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
The king of Zhou enfeoffed his clan members, heroes, and ancestral nobles to various places to establish vassal states. The princes were required to guard the territory, fight with the king, pay tribute, and make regular pilgrimages to "feudal relatives to screen the Zhou Dynasty." This is how the states of Lu, Qi, Yan, Wei, Jin, and Song came to be.
Inheritance and rank are determined based on blood relationship. The eldest son inherited the ancestral lineage and main power, and was called the Dazong; the remaining sons established separate branches, called the Xiaozong. Patriarchal law and enfeoffment are mutually reinforcing, integrating the national political order and the family order into one.
According to legend, the Duke of Zhou "made rituals and music", using rituals to distinguish the high and the lowly, and using music to harmonize people's hearts. According to the ritual books of later generations, the emperor used nine tripods, the princes seven tripods, the officials five tripods, and the scholars three tripods. The Zhou rites became the ideal order advocated by later Confucians.
"Mencius" describes that the land is divided into nine pieces in the shape of a "well", with public land in the middle. Each of the eight families cultivates private land and shares the public land. This reflects the land occupation method of Western Zhou based on village communities, but its specific morphology is still debated in the academic circles.
Western Zhou bronzes were often cast with long inscriptions (inscriptions in gold), recording appointments, conquests, rewards, and lawsuits. Li Gui records that King Wu conquered the Shang Dynasty, and He Zunyou "resides in China". The inscription on Mao Gong's tripod is nearly 500 words, which is the longest existing inscription on a bronze vessel.
Most of the Songs of Zhou and Daya in the Book of Songs were written in the Western Zhou Dynasty. They praise the achievements of Hou Ji, Gong Liu, King Wen, and King Wu, and record the rituals of sacrifices and banquets in the ancestral temple. They are important documents for studying the history and culture of the Western Zhou.
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King Wu joined the princes in Mengjin, led 300 military chariots and 3,000 tiger warriors to march eastward. In the early morning of Jiazi day, the merchant army was defeated in Muye, and King Zhou set himself on fire. The Li Gui inscription unearthed in 1976 reads, "King Wu conquested business, only Jiazi Dynasty" is consistent with the documentary records.
King Wu and King Cheng enfeoffed on a large scale, granting Zhou Gong to Lu, Tai Gong to Qi, Zhao Gong to Yan, Kang Shu to Wei, Tang Shuyu to Jin, and Wei Zi to Song. The princes must guard the royal family, follow them in battle, and pay tribute, forming a world order with the King of Zhou as the co-leader.
King Cheng was young and Duke Zhou was regent. Uncle Guan, Uncle Cai, and Uncle Huo were dissatisfied and united with Wu Geng and the states of Yan and Bogu in the east to rebel, which was known as the "Three Prisons Rebellion" in history. Duke Zhou marched eastward for three years, executed Wu Geng and Guan Shu, exiled Cai Shu, and pacified the east.
In order to control the east, Duke Zhou presided over the construction of the eastern capital Luoyi (Chengzhou), moved the Yin survivors here, and stationed the "Eight Divisions of Chengzhou". The inscription of He Zun unearthed in Baoji records that King Cheng moved his residence to Zhou Dynasty. "Zhaizi Zhongguo" is the earliest written record of the word "China" so far.
According to legend, the Duke of Zhou was in charge of regent for six years and established rituals and music, and established the clan system, enfeoffment, hierarchy, sacrifices and other laws and regulations. Seven years later, he returned to King Cheng. Confucius praised "Yuyu is so literary, I follow Zhou", and Zhou rituals became the ideal order in the minds of Confucians.
King Cheng and King Kang came to power one after another, and the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Zhao assisted in the administration, creating stability in all directions. "Historical Records" states that "when Kang Kang was established, the world was at peace, and punishments for more than forty years were not used." This was the most prosperous period of Western Zhou.
King Zhao went south to conquer Jingchu twice. According to the "Bamboo Chronicles", King Zhao "lost six divisions in the Han Dynasty" in the 19th year, and King Zhao himself also died in the Han River. "Zuo Zhuan" states that "King Zhao conquered the south and never returned." Zhou's southern strategy suffered a heavy setback.
King Mu did not listen to Ji Gongmoufu's advice and went west to conquer the Quanrong army. He "returned four white wolves and four white deer." The "Biography of Emperor Mu" unearthed from Jizhong in the Western Jin Dynasty also interprets the story of him riding eight horses to the west and meeting the Queen Mother of the West.
"Bamboo Chronicles" records that "in the first year of King Yi, the sky dawned again in Zheng". Scholars believe that this was a total solar eclipse that occurred at sunrise. The sky was bright, then dark, and then bright again. Based on this, the dating project deduced that the first year of King Yi was 899 BC.
Fei Zi, whose surname was Ying, was good at raising horses. He herded horses between Lianshui and Weishui for King Xiao, and the horses multiplied in large numbers. King Xiao made him a vassal, granted the city to Qin, and called him "Qin Ying". This is how the Qin Kingdom began.
King Li appointed Rong Yigong to monopolize the interests of the mountains, forests, rivers and swamps, and ordered the guards to monitor the discussants. The people of the country "follow the road with their eyes". King Li refused to listen to Duke Zhao's advice: "It is better to guard against the people's mouths than against the rivers." In 841 BC, the Chinese rioted and King Li fled to Zhe.
After King Li ran away, Zhao Gong and Zhou Gong jointly ruled the country, named "Gonghe" (one theory is that Gong Bohe was the regent), which lasted for fourteen years. "Historical Records" began to chronicle the history year by year from the first year of the Republic of China, that is, 841 BC. From then on, Chinese history had an accurate chronology.
King Xuan came to the throne with the assistance of Zhao Mugong and others, and appointed Yin Jifu, Nan Zhong, Fang Shu and others to conquer the yang in the north and the Huaiyi and Jingman in the south. The royal family was revived for a time. However, he "doesn't belong to Qianmu". In his later years, he was defeated by Jiang's army in the battle of Qianmu, making it difficult for Zhongxing to continue.
King You doted on Bao Si, and after the rejection of the application, he married the Crown Prince. Yijiu left for Shen State, and Shen Hou united with Zhen State and Quan Rong to attack Zhou, and killed King You at the foot of Li Mountain, and Western Zhou perished. The following year King Ping moved east to Luoyi, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty began.
There is a daughter of the Xin family, the royal concubine of King Wen, who gave birth to ten sons including Boyikao, King Wufa, Duke of Zhou (Ji Dan), etc. She is known for her virtues. "The Book of Songs·Daya·Siqi" praises her as "the great concubine Huiyin is the son of Bai Si", and together with Taijiang and Tairen, she is called "the three mothers of the Zhou family".
His surname is Ji, his given name is Chang, and he is the son of Ji Li. At the end of the Shang Dynasty, he was the uncle of the West. He was a polite corporal, practiced virtue and did good deeds. He was once imprisoned in Youli by King Zhou. It is said that the "Book of Changes" was deduced here. After his release, he put an end to Yu Rui's lawsuit, attacked Chong and built Fengyi, creating a situation of "two out of three parts of the world".
Lord Guzhu's two sons gave up the throne to each other and fled one after another to join Xibo. When King Wu conquered Zhou, the two men knocked on their horses and remonstrated. After Zhou destroyed Shang, they "do not eat Zhou millet" because of their righteousness. They lived in seclusion in Shouyang Mountain to pick weeds and ate until they starved to death. They were regarded as a symbol of integrity by later generations.
Jiang's surname is Lu, his given name is Shang, his name is Taigongwang, and he is commonly known as Jiang Ziya. According to legend, he was fishing on the shores of the Wei River in his later years and was met by King Wen, who respected him as his teacher. Assisted King Wen and King Wu to destroy Shang, led the warriors to challenge in the Battle of Muye, was granted the title of Qi, and became the founder of Qi.
His surname is Ji, his given name is Fa, and he is the second son of King Wen. After succeeding to the throne, he took Jiang Shang as his teacher and Zhou Gong as his assistant. He allied with the princes in Mengjin, destroyed the Shang Dynasty in one fell swoop at the Battle of Muye, established the Zhou Dynasty, and made Haojing its capital. After destroying the Shang Dynasty, he enfeoffed the princes and brought peace to the world. He died of illness soon after.
His surname is Ji, his given name is Dan, he is the son of King Wen and the younger brother of King Wu. After King Wu's death, he assisted the young King Cheng as regent, put down the rebellion of the three prisons, built Luoyi, made rituals and music, and returned King Cheng to power seven years later. Confucius admired Duke Zhou throughout his life and once sighed, "It has been a long time since I dreamed of Duke Zhou anymore."
His surname is Ji, his given name is Xi, and he has the same clan as King Zhou. He assisted King Wu, King Cheng, and King Kang, and divided Shaanxi with Zhou Gong to rule. "From the west of Shaanxi, call the princess." When he was granted the title of Yan, the eldest son was granted the title. According to legend, he heard a lawsuit and was sentenced to prison under the Gantang tree. People wrote "Gantang" to commemorate him.
According to legend, he was a mathematician in the early years of Western Zhou. "Zhou Bi Suan Jing" records the questions and answers between Zhou Gong and Shang Gao. There is a saying that "three sentences are wide, four are repaired, and five are radial." It is an early record of a special case of the Pythagorean theorem. Therefore, the Pythagorean theorem is also called "Shang Gao's theorem".
Ji's surname is Man, the son of King Zhao, who reigned for fifty-five years. He did not listen to Ji Gongmoufu's advice to conquer the Quanrong in the west, and ordered Fuhou to write "Lu Xing". The "Biography of Emperor Mu" written during the Warring States period tells the story of his journey to the west with eight horses and a banquet with the Queen Mother of the West at the Yaochi, which has become a legend that has been passed down through the ages.
His surname is Ji, his given name is Hu, and he is the son of King Yi. Appoint Rong Yigong as a "patent" and use Wei Wu to monitor critics. "No countryman dares to speak out. The road is based on eyes." In 841 BC, when the Chinese rioted, he fled to Pig and died in Pig fourteen years later.
Minghu, descendant of Zhao Gongshi. He once advised King Li to "defend the people's mouth better than guarding the river." When the Chinese rioted, he replaced Crown Prince Jing with his own son to save him. During the Republic, he participated in the government and later assisted King Xuan and led the army to pacify Huaiyi.
King Xuan, a minister at the time, once led his army to conquer the yen in the north, "a thin attack on the yen reached the Great Plains." This event is recorded in the inscription on the Xi Jiapan handed down from generation to generation. "Song Gao" and "Hao Min" in "The Book of Songs·Daya" call themselves "Ji Fu Zuo Chan". He is one of the famous and testable authors in the "Book of Songs".
The woman presented by the complimentary country was deeply favored by King You and gave birth to a son. After King You canceled the application for her, she made peace with Crown Prince, causing Shen Hou to unite with the dog army to attack Zhou. "Historical Records" calls King You "playing with the princes with beacon fire" by making her smile. This statement is not found in the Qinghua bamboo slips "Xinian", and many scholars have doubts.