Fenghao () is the modern name for the twin city comprising the capitals of the Chinese

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 77 ...

dynasty (771 BCE), Feng and Hao. The cities were located on opposite banks of the Feng River near its confluence with the Wei, corresponding to modern

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, Shaanxi.

History

As King Wen (ruled –1050 BCE) expanded the territory of the

Predynastic Zhou The Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou (; ) refers to the ancient Chinese state ruled by the Ji (surname 姬), Ji clan that existed in the Guanzhong region (modern central Shaanxi province) during the Shang dynasty, before its rebellion and subsequen ...

east into

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

in preparation for an assault on his nominal Shang overlords, he constructed a new capital on the west bank of the Feng about downstream from Zhou's original capital on the Wei River below Mount Qi. This city was called Feng, Fengxi, or Fengjing (, ''Fēngjīng''). After his son Fa defeated the Shang at

Muye Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China. History The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang hegemony over the Wei and Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in Ch ...

and ascended the throne as King Wu (ruled –1043 BCE) of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

, the capital was moved to a new establishment on the east bank called Hao or Haojing. The two formed a twin capital, with Feng continuing to serve the rituals of the Zhou

ancestral shrine An ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , ; Chữ Hán: ; ), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely li ...

and gardens and Hao containing the royal palace and government administration. Both were abandoned in 771 BC during the

Quanrong The Quanrong () or Dog Rong were an ethnic group, classified by the ancient Chinese as " Qiang", active in the northwestern part of China during and after the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE). Their language or languages are considered to have been ...

invasion that drove the Zhou out of the Wei River Valley and brought an end to its Western dynasty. The capital of the

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter two-thirds of the Zhou dynasty. The period follows the Western Zhou era and is named due to the Zhou royal court relocating the capital eastward from Fenghao ...

was located at Chengzhou.

Ruins

The ruins of Fenghao lie in present-day southwest

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

. The site was declared an important national cultural heritage site by the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

in 1961.

References

Ancient Chinese capitals History of Xi'an 11th-century BC establishments Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shaanxi {{Shaanxi-geo-stub

History

Ruins

See also

References