Guan Shu Xian () was the first and only ruler of the Chinese state of
Guan and was the younger brother of
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou (; died ), personal name Ji Fa, was the founding king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BCE and ended with his death three years later.
Ki ...
. He was the third son of
King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou ( zh, c=周文王, p=Zhōu Wén Wáng; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was the posthumous title given to Ji Chang ( zh, c=姬昌), the patriarch of the Zhou state during the final years of Shang dynasty in ancient China. J ...
, and one of the
Three Guards responsible for overseeing the eastern lands of the newly-founded
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 ...
. Three years into the first reign, King Wu died of an illness and left his underage son,
Song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
, as king. Thus Dan, the
Duke of Zhou
Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou, commonly known as the Duke of Zhou, was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting as ...
- who was the fourth son of King Wen - fearing that the kingdom might fall apart under an inexperienced king, took over government affairs as regent. This angered Guanshu Xian and the other two guards, who felt the Duke of Zhou had usurped the throne, and thus they joined
Zi Wugeng, the son of the last king of Shang and nominal ruler of Yin, the old Shang capital, and began a rebellion against the regent. This was known as the
Rebellion of the Three Guards. Following three years of war, the rebellion was crushed and Guanshu Xian, considered its main leader, was executed and the state of Guan was extinguished.
['']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 ...
''
"Annals of Zhou - King Cheng"
/ref>[''Records of the Grand Historian'']
"Hereditary Houses of Guan and Cai"
/ref>
Even though Sima Qian
Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...
's ''Shiji
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 cen ...
'' states that Guan state was extinguished because Shu Xian left no descendants,Guan Zhong
Guan Zhong (; c. 720–645 BC) was a Chinese philosopher and politician. He served as chancellor and was a reformer of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. His given name was Yiwu (). ''Zhong'' was his courtes ...
(born Yiwu) descended from Shu Xian, and Guan Zhong's 7th-generation-descendant Xiu, became grandee of Yin (隂大夫) and adopted the lineage surname Yin (隂).[''Yuanhe Xingzuan']
"Vol. 5 隂 (Yin)"
quote: "周文王弟三子管叔鮮之後管夷吾七代孫脩適楚為隂大夫因氏焉"
References
Zhou dynasty nobility
11th-century BC Chinese monarchs
Executed Zhou dynasty people
11th-century BC rebels
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