| Chang 昌 |
|
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Reign | 1099 BC – 1050 BC (49 years) |
| Father | King Tai of Zhou |
| Born | 1152 BC |
| Died | 1056 BC (aged 96) |
| King Wen of Zhou | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 周文王 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
King Wen of Zhou (Chinese: 周文王; pinyin: Zhōu Wén Wáng; Wade–Giles: Chou Wen-wang) family name (姓): Ji (姬), Clan name (氏): Zhou Personal name: Chang, known as Zhou Chang (周昌)[1] or Xibo Chang (西伯昌) (1099–1050 BC) was the founder of the Zhou Dynasty and the first epic hero of Chinese history.[2]
Contents |
The Zhou state was located in the Wei River valley in present day Shaanxi Province. At one point, King Zhou of Shang, fearing Wen's growing power, imprisoned him in Youli (羑里 - present day Tangyin in Henan Province).[3] However, many officials respected Wen for his honourable governing. They gave King Zhou many gifts including gold, horses, women, and requested Wen's release. Zhou agreed and freed Wen.
King Wen planned to overthrow the dynasty in power, the Shang Dynasty, but he died before he could accomplish this.
He married Taisi (Chinese: 太姒; pinyin: Tàisì) and had at least ten sons, two of who were Zhou Gong Wu (Chinese: 周公武; pinyin: Zhōu Gōng Wǔ) and Zhou Gong Dan. His second son became King Wu of Zhou and completed his father's wishes by defeating the Shang army at their capital. He eventually became the first king of the new Zhou dynasty with his capital at Zhouyuan (Chinese: 周原; pinyin: Zhōuyuán) in present day Qishan County, Shaanxi Province. This he later relocated to Haojing (沣京/灃京) near present day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
King Wen is also known for his contributions to the Yi Jing, a manual of divination. King Wen is attributed with having stacked the eight trigrams in their various permutations, to create the sixty-four hexagrams. He is also said to have written the judgements which are appended to each hexagram (the line statements are attributed to his son, the Duke of Zhou. The most commonly used sequence of the sixty four hexagrams is attributed to King Wen and is usually referred to as the King Wen sequence.
Wives:
Sons:
|
King Wen of Zhou
Born: 1152 BC Died: 1056 BC |
||
| Chinese nobility | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Duke Ji of Zhou |
Duke of Zhou 1099 BC – c. 1050 BC |
Succeeded by King Wu of Zhou |