Western Zhou
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (October 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Part of a series on the |
History of China |
---|
The Western Zhou (
The Western Zhou early state[a] was ascendant for about 75 years and then slowly lost power. The former Shang lands were divided into hereditary fiefs which became increasingly independent of the king. In 771 BC, the Zhou court was driven out of the Wei River valley; afterwards real power was in the hands of the king's nominal vassals. "Western" describes the geographical situation of the Zhou royal capitals, clustered near present-day Xi'an.
Civil war
Few records survive from this early period and accounts from the Western Zhou period cover little beyond a list of kings with uncertain dates. King Wu died two or three years after the conquest. Because his son, King Cheng of Zhou was young, his brother, the Duke of Zhou Ji Dan assisted the young and inexperienced king as regent. Wu's other brothers (Shu Du of Cai, Guan Shu, and Huo Shu), concerned about the Duke of Zhou's growing power, formed an alliance with Wu Geng and other regional rulers and Shang remnants in the rebellion of the Three Guards. The Duke of Zhou stamped out this rebellion and conquered more territory to bring other people under Zhou rule.[2][3]
The Duke formulated the Mandate of Heaven doctrine to counter Shang claims to a divine right of rule and founded Luoyang as an eastern capital.[4] With a feudal fengjian system, royal relatives and generals were given fiefs in the east,[2] including Luoyang, Jin, Ying, Lu, Qi and Yan. While this was designed to maintain Zhou authority as it expanded its rule over a larger amount of territory, many of these became major states when the dynasty weakened. When the Duke of Zhou stepped down as regent, the remainder of Cheng's reign and that of his son King Kang of Zhou seem to have been peaceful and prosperous.
Further kings
The fourth king,
The reigns of the next four kings (
-
Western Zhou jade figure
-
Bronze helmet, Zhou dynasty
-
An ancient sword dating back to the Western Zhou
-
Western Zhou daggers
Fall of the Western Zhou
The conflicts with nomadic tribes from the north and the northwest, variously known as the Xianyun, Guifang, or various "Rong" tribes, such as the Xirong, Shanrong or Quanrong, intensified towards the end of the Western Zhou period.[9] These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at the time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands, especially into the Wei River valley. Archaeologically, the Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture.[9]
The twelfth and last king of the Western Zhou period was
His killing resulted to beginning wars between local states which continued until
Kings
Posthumous name | Personal name | Reign (all dates BC)[c] | |
---|---|---|---|
Shaughnessy[13] | XSZ Project[14] | ||
King Wen of Zhou | Chang (昌) | 1099–1050[d] | |
King Wu of Zhou | Fa (發) | 1049–1043[d] | 1046–1043 |
King Cheng of Zhou | Song (誦) | 1042–1006 | 1042–1021 |
King Kang of Zhou | Zhao (釗) | 1005–978 | 1020–996 |
King Zhao of Zhou | Xia (瑕) | 977–957 | 995–977 |
King Mu of Zhou | Man (滿) | 956–918 | 976–922 |
King Gong of Zhou | Yihu (繄扈) | 917–900 | 922–900 |
King Yih of Zhou | Jian (囏) | 899–873 | 899–892 |
King Xiao of Zhou | Pifang (辟方) | 872–866 | 891–886 |
King Yi of Zhou | Xie (燮) | 865–858 | 885–878 |
King Li of Zhou | Hu (胡) | 857–842 | 877–841 |
Gonghe Regency | He (和) | 841–828 | 841–828 |
King Xuan of Zhou | Jing (靜) | 827–782 | 827–782 |
King You of Zhou | Gongnie (宮涅) | 782–771 | 781–771 |
Notes
- ^ "...these early states are best known from archaeology and history to have been ruled by the dynastic houses such as that of Shang (1554–1046 BC) and of Western Zhou (1045–771 BC). Therefore, they can be called the early 'royal states'."[1]
- ^ "...The collapse of the Western Zhou state in 771 BC and the lack of a true central authority thereafter opened ways to fierce inter-state warfare that continued over the next five hundred years until the Qin unification of China in 221 BC"[1]
- ^ The Han historian Sima Qian felt unable to extend his chronological table beyond 841 BC, the first year of the Gonghe Regency, and there is still no accepted chronology in Chinese history before that point.[11][12]
- ^ a b Shaughnessy dates the Zhou conquest of the Shang to 1045 BC. Earlier dates represent the pre-dynastic Zhou.[15]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Li (2013), p. 6.
- ^ a b Chinn (2007), p. 43.
- ^ Hucker (1978), p. 32.
- ^ Hucker (1978), p. 33.
- ^ Hucker (1978), p. 37.
- CASSChinese Academy of Social Sciences).
There is research on the ethnic image of the northern nomadic people of the Altaic language family. It may be that this is the image of the Xianyun tribe that once posed a serious military threat to the northern border of the Zhou Dynasty. They were called "Ghost people" (Guifang) because they looked different from the Chinese. 有考证系阿尔泰语系的北方游牧民族人种形象。可能是曾经对周朝北方边境构成严重军事威胁的猃狁部族,因相貌异于华夏,被称作"鬼方"。
- ^ "Standing deer China Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BCE)". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ISSN 1945-2926.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-315-53231-8.
- Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- ^ Shaughnessy (1999), p. 21.
- ^ Lee (2002), pp. 16–17.
- ^ Shaughnessy (1999), p. 25.
- ^ Lee (2002), p. 18.
- ^ Shaughnessy (1999), p. 23.
Works cited
- Chinn, Ann-ping (2007), The Authentic Confucius, Scribner, ISBN 978-0-7432-4618-7.
- Hucker, Charles O. (1978), China to 1850: A short history, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-0958-0.
- Lee, Yun Kuen (2002), "Building the chronology of early Chinese history", S2CID 67818363.
- ISBN 978-0-521-89552-1.
- ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
- JSTOR 25066693.
- —— (2006), Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-85272-2.