King Gong of Zhou (; died 900 BC), personal name Ji Yihu, was a
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of China's
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 ...
. Estimated dates of his reign are 922–900 BC or 917/15–900.
Biography
King Gong of Zhou ascended to the throne in the year 922 BC after his father
King Mu of Zhou
King Mu of Zhou (), personal name Ji Man, was the fifth Chinese sovereign, king of the Zhou dynasty of China. The dates of his reign are 976–922 BC or 956–918 BC.
Life
King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao of Zhou, King Zha ...
departed. Unlike some of his ancestors, he dedicated to developing economy and increasing his exchequer, instead of expanding territory or conquering others through wars.
According to one account carried by the
Records of the Grand Historian
The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...
, King Gong of Zhou once did initiate a war and destroyed the State of Mi. When he was touring in State of Mi, he saw three extremely beautiful women and commanded Mi's lord to find them out and send them to his own palace. But the lord of the state took the three extremely beautiful women as his own concubines, which irritated King Gong. So he invaded this state and sentenced that lord to death.
After 15 years reign, he passed the throne to his son
King Yì of Zhou and departed peacefully in his own palace.
Family
Queens
* Wang Gui, of the Gui clan ()
Sons
* Crown Prince Jian (; 899–892 BC), ruled as
King Yì of Zhou from 899–892 BC
See also
*
Family tree of Chinese monarchs (ancient)
Sources
900s BC deaths
Kings of the Zhou dynasty
10th-century BC Chinese monarchs
Year of birth unknown
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