Zhou Dynasty

周朝
Zhou Dynasty
Kingdom
Blank.png
1045 BC – 256 BC Blank.png
Location of Zhou
Boundaries of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050–771 BC) in China
Capital Haojing, Luoyang
Language(s) Chinese
Religion Chinese folk religion, Hundred Schools of Thought
Government Monarchy/Feudalism
History
 - Battle of Muye 1045 BC
 - Disestablished 256 BC
Currency Cash (Chinese coin), Chinese coin

The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: 周朝; pinyin: Zhōu Cháo; Wade-Giles: Chou Ch`ao; POJ: Chiu Tiau; 1045 BC to 256 BC) was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history—though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou. During the Zhou, the use of iron was introduced to China,[1] while this period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronze-ware making. The dynasty also spans the period in which the written script evolved from the ancient stage as seen in early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, to the beginnings of the modern stage, in the form of the archaic clerical script of the late Warring States period.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the origins of native Chinese philosophy developed, its initial stages beginning in the 6th century BC. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were Kong Fuzi (Latin: Confucius), founder of Confucianism, and Laozi, founder of Daoism. Other philosophers, theorists, and schools of thought in this era were Mozi (Latin: Micius), founder of Mohism, Mengzi (Latin: Mencius), a famous Confucian who expanded upon Kong Fuzi's legacy, Shang Yang and Han Feizi, responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism (the core philosophy of the Qin Dynasty), and Xunzi, who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time, even more so than iconic intellectual figures such as Mencius.[2]

Contents

Mandate of Heaven

History of China
History of China
ANCIENT
3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors
Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 BC
Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 BC
Zhou Dynasty 1122–256 BC
  Western Zhou
  Eastern Zhou
    Spring and Autumn Period
    Warring States Period
IMPERIAL
Qin Dynasty 221 BC–206 BC
Han Dynasty 206 BC–220 AD
  Western Han
  Xin Dynasty
  Eastern Han
Three Kingdoms 220–280
  Wei, Shu & Wu
Jin Dynasty 265–420
  Western Jin 16 Kingdoms 304–439
  Eastern Jin
Southern & Northern Dynasties 420–589
Sui Dynasty 581–618
Tang Dynasty 618–907
  ( Second Zhou 690–705 )
5 Dynasties &
10 Kingdoms

907–960
Liao Dynasty
907–1125
Song Dynasty
960–1279
  Northern Song W. Xia
  Southern Song Jin
Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368
Ming Dynasty 1368–1644
Qing Dynasty 1644–1911
MODERN
Republic of China 1912–1949
People's Republic
of China
(Mainland China) 1949–present

Republic of China
(Taiwan)
1945–present

A Western Zhou bronze gui vessel, c. 1000 BC

In the Chinese historical tradition, the Zhou defeated the Shang and oriented the Shang system of ancestor worship toward a universalized worship away from the worship of Di and to that of Tian or "heaven". They legitimized their rule by invoking the Mandate of Heaven, the notion that the ruler (the "Son of Heaven") governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate. Such things that proved the ruling family had lost the Mandate were natural disasters and rebellions. The doctrine explained and justified the demise of the Xia and Shang Dynasties and at the same time supported the legitimacy of present and future rulers. The Zhou dynasty was founded by the Ji family and had its capital at Hào (鎬, near the present-day city of Xi'an in the Wei River valley). Sharing the language and culture of the Shang, the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, established a large imperial territory where in states as far as Shandong acknowledged Zhou rulership and took part in elite culture. The spread of Zhou bronzes, though, was concurrent with the continued use of Shang style pottery in the distant regions and these states were the last to recede during the late Western war.

Zhou military

The early Western Zhou supported a strong military split into two major units: “The Six Armies of the West” and “The Eight Armies of Chengzhou”. The armies campaigned in the northern Loess Plateau, modern Ningxia and the Huanghe floodplain. The military prowess of Zhou peaked during the 19th year of King Zhao's reign, when the Six Armies were wiped out along with King Zhao on a campaign around the Han River. Early Zhou kings were true commanders-in-chief. They were in constant wars with barbarians on behalf of the fiefs called 'guo', namely, statelet or principality. Charles Hucker noted that Zhou had 14 standing royal armies, with 6 stationed in Haojing, near today's Xian, and 8 armies stationed in the east along with others in the west. Zhou Zhaowang (r. 1052–1001 BC) was famous for repeated campaigns in the Yangtze areas and died in his last action. Zhou Muwang (r. 1001–946 BC) was a legendary figure famous for fighting in the west and maybe today's Central Asia where he met on Kunlun Mountain with so-called Xi Wang Mu, namely, Queen Mother of the West, rumored by some western historians, including Charles Hucker, to be Queen of Sheba. (The actual place for Kunlun Mountains would be somewhere close to today's Jiuquan County, Gansu Province. Mt Kunlun, extending for almost 2000 miles from Kara-Kunlun bordering Tibet in the west to Qilian Mountain in the east, was a source of many Chinese myths and legends.) Later kings' campaigns were less effective. King Liwang (r. 878–7 BC) led 14 armies against barbarians in the south but failed to achieve any victory. King Xuanwang (r 827–782 BC) fought the Jiangrong nomads in vain. King Youwang was killed by Quanrong, and capital Haojing was sacked. Although chariots had been introduced to China since the Shang Dynasty,[3] the Zhou period saw the use of massed chariots in battle, a technology imported from Central Asia.[4]

A Western Zhou ceremonial bronze of cooking-vessel form inscribed to record that the King of Zhou gave a fiefdom to Shi You, ordering that he inherit the title as well as the land and people living there

Fengjian (Feudalism)

In the West, the Zhou period is often described as feudal because the Zhou's early rule invites comparison with medieval rule in Europe. However, historians debate whether or not this description is valid; the more appropriate term for the Zhou Dynasty's political arrangement would be from the Chinese language itself: the Fēngjiàn (封建) system. The Zhou amalgam of city-states became progressively centralized and established increasingly impersonal political and economic institutions. These developments, which probably occurred in the later Zhou period, were manifested in greater central control over local governments and a more routinized agrarian taxation. Zhou officials were not paid a salary but instead were given semi-regular gifts by the King, which often included land in the Wei River valley. Imperial stability was ensured through marriages between the Zhou court and local lords as well as the installment of Zhou lords into command over distant regions.

Western and Eastern Zhou

Western Zhou Dynasty musical bronze bell

Initially the Ji family was able to control the country firmly. In 771 BC, after King You had replaced his queen with a concubine Baosi, the capital was sacked by the joint force of the queen's father, who was the powerful Marquess of Shen, and a nomadic tribe, the Quanrong. The queen's son Ji Yijiu was proclaimed the new king by the nobles from the states of Zheng, Lü, Qin and the Marquess of Shen. The capital was moved eastward in 722 BC to Luoyang in present-day Henan Province. Because of this shift, historians divide the Zhou era into the Western Zhou (西周, pinyin Xī Zhōu), lasting up until 771 BC, and the Eastern Zhou (Traditional Chinese: 東周, Simplified Chinese: 东周, pinyin: Dōng Zhōu) from 770 up to 256 BC. The beginning year of the Western Zhou has been disputed — 1122 BC, 1027 BC and other years within the hundred years from late 12th century BC to late 11th century BC have been proposed. Chinese historians take 841 BC as the first year of consecutive annual dating of the history of China, based on the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. The Eastern Zhou corresponds roughly to two subperiods. The first, from 722 to 481 BC, is called the Spring and Autumn Period, after a famous historical chronicle of the time; the second is known as the Warring States Period (403 to 221 BC), after another famous chronicle and initiated by the partitioning of Jin. The Warring States Period extends slightly past the 256 BC end date of the Eastern Zhou; this discrepancy is due to the fact that the last Zhou king's reign ended in 256, 35 years before the beginning of the Qin dynasty which ended the Warring States period. The Eastern Zhou period is also designated as a period of a hundred schools. This is a reference to the different schools of historical Chinese intellectual thought. There were four main distinct schools which were the Ru, Mohist, Daoist, and Legalists. These schools of thought contributed to social, philosophical and political change which played a large part in the decline of the Zhou dynasty.[2] The ruling families of the Zhou, shang, Qin, and (possibly)Xia dynasties coexisted together as rulers of independent kingdoms until 286 BC, because that was up to when the Sung principality was conquered, which the shang ruling family ruled while the Zhou king ruled at his independent kingdom and the Kings of the state of Yue also claimed to be descended from Yu the Great of the Xia Dynasty[5], while the Kings of qin ruled over the State of Qin.

Decline

With the royal line broken, the power of the Zhou court gradually diminished, and the fragmentation of the kingdom accelerated. From Ping Wang onwards, the Zhou kings ruled in name only, with true power lying in the hands of powerful nobles. Towards the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the nobles did not even bother to acknowledge the Ji family symbolically, rebelled and declared themselves to be kings. The dynasty was ended in 256 BC, before Qin Shi Huang's unification of China in 221 BC, when the last king of Zhou died and his sons did not proclaim the nominal titles of King of China.

Agriculture

Zhou vase with glass inlays, 4th-3rd century BC, British Museum.

Agriculture in the Zhou Dynasty was very intensive and in many cases directed by the government. All farming lands were owned by nobles, who then gave their land to their serfs, a situation similar to European feudalism. For example, a piece of land was divided into nine squares in the shape of the character for "water well," jing (井), with the grain from the middle square taken by the government and that of surrounding squares kept by individual farmers. This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. Again, these industries were dominated by the nobility who directed the production of such materials.

China's first projects of hydraulic engineering were founded during the Zhou Dynasty, ultimately for means to aid agricultural irrigation. The Prime Minister of Wei, Sunshu Ao, who served King Zhuang of Chu (楚莊王) (died 591 BC) dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. For this Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao, who served Marquis Wen of Wei (文侯) (445 BC-396 BC), is the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. As the main focus of his grandiose project, his canal work eventually diverted the waters of the entire Zhang River to a spot further up the Huang He River.

Gallery of artwork

Zhou dynasty kings

Personal name Posthumous Name Reign years1 Name by which most commonly known
Ji Fa
姬發
Wuwang
武王
1046 BC-1043 BC1 Zhou Wuwang
(King Wu of Zhou)
Ji Song
姬誦
Chengwang
成王
1042 BC-1021 BC1 Zhou Chengwang
(King Cheng of Zhou)
Ji Zhao
姬釗
Kangwang
康王
1020 BC-996 BC1 Zhou Kangwang
(King Kang of Zhou)
Ji Xia
姬瑕
Zhaowang
昭王
995 BC-977 BC1 Zhou Zhaowang
(King Zhao of Zhou)
Ji Man
姬滿
Muwang
穆王
976 BC-922 BC1 Zhou Muwang
(King Mu of Zhou)
Ji Yihu
姬繄扈
Gongwang
共王/龔王
922 BC-900 BC1 Zhou Gongwang
(King Gong of Zhou)
Ji Jian
姬囏
Yiwang
懿王
899 BC-892 BC1 Zhou Yiwang
(King Yi of Zhou)
Ji Pifang
姬辟方
Xiaowang
孝王
891 BC-886 BC1 Zhou Xiaowang
(King Xiao of Zhou)
Ji Xie
姬燮
Yiwang
夷王
885 BC-878 BC1 Zhou Yiwang
(King Yi of Zhou)
Ji Hu
姬胡
Liwang
厲王/剌王
877 BC-841 BC1 Zhou Liwang
(King Li of Zhou)
  Gonghe (regency)
共和
841 BC-828 BC Gonghe
Ji Jing
姬靜
Xuanwang
宣王
827 BC-782 BC Zhou Xuanwang
(King Xuan of Zhou)
Ji Gongsheng
姬宮湦
Youwang
幽王
781 BC-771 BC Zhou Youwang
(King You of Zhou)
End of Western Zhou / Beginning of Eastern Zhou
Ji Yijiu
姬宜臼
Pingwang
平王
770 BC-720 BC Zhou Pingwang
(King Ping of Zhou)
Ji Lin
姬林
Huanwang
桓王
719 BC-697 BC Zhou Huanwang
(King Huan of Zhou)
Ji Tuo
姬佗
Zhuangwang
莊王
696 BC-682 BC Zhou Zhuangwang
(King Zhuang of Zhou)
Ji Huqi
姬胡齊
Xiwang
釐王
681 BC-677 BC Zhou Xiwang
(King Xi of Zhou)
Ji Lang
姬閬
Huiwang
惠王
676 BC-652 BC Zhou Huiwang
(King Hui of Zhou)
Ji Zheng
姬鄭
Xiangwang
襄王
651 BC-619 BC Zhou Xiangwang
(King Xiang of Zhou)
Ji Renchen
姬壬臣
Qingwang
頃王
618 BC-613 BC Zhou Qingwang
(King Qing of Zhou)
Ji Ban
姬班
Kuangwang
匡王
612 BC-607 BC Zhou Kuangwang
(King Kuang of Zhou)
Ji Yu
姬瑜
Dingwang
定王
606 BC-586 BC Zhou Dingwang
(King Ding of Zhou)
Ji Yi
姬夷
Jianwang
簡王
585 BC-572 BC Zhou Jianwang
(King Jian of Zhou)
Ji Xiexin
姬泄心
Lingwang
靈王
571 BC-545 BC Zhou Lingwang
(King Ling of Zhou)
Ji Gui
姬貴
Jingwang
景王
544 BC-521 BC Zhou Jingwang
(King Jing of Zhou)
Ji Meng
姬猛
Daowang
悼王
520 BC Zhou Daowang
(King Dao of Zhou)
Ji Gai
姬丐
Jingwang
敬王
519 BC-476 BC Zhou Jingwang
(King Jing of Zhou)
Ji Ren
姬仁
Yuanwang
元王
475 BC-469 BC Zhou Yuanwang
(King Yuan of Zhou)
Ji Jie
姬介
Zhendingwang
貞定王
468 BC-442 BC Zhou Zhendingwang
(King Zhending of Zhou)
Ji Quji
姬去疾
Aiwang
哀王
441 BC Zhou Aiwang
(King Ai of Zhou)
Ji Shu
姬叔
Siwang
思王
441 BC Zhou Siwang
(King Si of Zhou)
Ji Wei
姬嵬
Kaowang
考王
440 BC-426 BC Zhou Kaowang
(King Kao of Zhou)
Ji Wu
姬午
Weiliewang
威烈王
425 BC-402 BC Zhou Weiliewang
(King Weilie of Zhou)
Ji Jiao
姬驕
Anwang
安王
401 BC-376 BC Zhou Anwang
(King An of Zhou)
Ji Xi
姬喜
Liewang
烈王
375 BC-369 BC Zhou Liewang
(King Lie of Zhou)
Ji Bian
姬扁
Xianwang
顯王
368 BC-321 BC Zhou Xianwang
(King Xian of Zhou)
Ji Ding
姬定
Shenjingwang
慎靚王
320 BC-315 BC Zhou Shenjingwang
(King Shenjing of Zhou)
Ji Yan
姬延
Nanwang
赧王
314 BC-256 BC Zhou Nanwang
(King Nan of Zhou)
  Huiwang
惠王
255 BC-249 BC Zhou Huiwang²
(King Hui of Eastern Zhou)
2 Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed King Hui as King Nan's successor after their capital, Luoyang,
fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. However Zhou resistance did not last long in the face of the Qin
advance and so King Nan is widely considered to have been the last king of the Zhou dynasty.

See also

Ancient history
Prehistory

Ancient Near East

Sumer · Akkad · Egypt · Babylonia · Hittite Empire · Syro-Hittite states · Neo-Assyrian Empire · Urartu

Classical Antiquity

Archaic Greece · Achaemenid Empire · Classical Greece · Thrace · Scythia · Macedon · Hellenism · Roman Republic · Roman Empire · Parthia · Sassanid Empire · Late Antiquity

East Asia

Shang China · Zhou Dynasty · Qin Dynasty · Han Dynasty · Jin Dynasty

South Asia

Vedic India · Mahajanapadas · Mauryan India · Gupta India

Pre-Columbian Americas

Aztecs · Incas · Mayas · Olmecs · Teotihuacan
see also: World history · Ancient maritime history · Axial Age · Iron Age · Historiography · Ancient literature · Ancient warfare · Cradle of civilization
Middle Ages

Footnotes

  1. "EARFE".
  2. 2.0 2.1 Schirokauer & Brown 2006. "A Brief history of Chinese civilization: second edition". Wadsworth, Thomson Learning, pp. 25–47.
  3. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, James B. Palais (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4. Page 14.
  4. Shaughnessy, Edward L. Historical Perspectives on The Introduction of The Chariot Into China. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jun., 1988), pp. 189–237.
  5. The State of Yue

References

External links

Preceded by
Shang Dynasty
Dynasties in Chinese history
c.1045 – 256 BC
Succeeded by
Qin Dynasty