Eastern Zhou () was an ancient Chinese state during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

. Its capital was Gong (鞏), located just southwest of present-day

Gongyi Gongyi (), formerly Gong County (), is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. It has a population of 790,000 people and an area of . City Gongyi is lo ...

, a county-level city in

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the Nationa ...

Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Duke Hui of Western Zhou Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

(西周惠公) succeeded his father Duke Wei in 367 BC. His younger brother Prince Gen (公子根) occupied eastern part of the state and revolted against Duke Hui. With the armed assistance of Zhao and

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

, Eastern Zhou won independence from

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and 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 when the Quanrong no ...

. The two tiny duchies attacked on each other. The kings of

Zhou Zhou may refer to: Chinese history * King Zhou of Shang () (1105 BC–1046 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty * Predynastic Zhou (), 11th-century BC precursor to the Zhou dynasty * Zhou dynasty () (1046 BC–256 BC), a dynasty of China ** West ...

had lost almost all political and military power, even their remaining crown land was occupied by the two tiny duchies. Since 307 BC, Eastern Zhou became a vassal state of Qin. Kings of Zhou lived in the state of Eastern Zhou, however, during King Nan's reign, duke of Eastern Zhou refused to pay tribute to the king and deported him to Western Zhou. Eastern Zhou was annexed by Qin in 249 BC, the last ruler was killed by

Lü Buwei Lü Buwei (291–235 BCE) was a Chinese merchant and politician of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Originally an influential merchant from the Wei () state, Lü Buwei met and befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin, who was then a ...

due to his disloyalty to Qin.

List of rulers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern Zhou (state) Ancient Chinese states 4th-century BC establishments 3rd-century BC disestablishments States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC States and territories established in the 4th century BC