King Mu of Zhou (), personal name Ji Man, was the fifth

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 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 ...

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’s death during the Zhou-Chu war. King Mu was perhaps the most pivotal king of the Zhou dynasty, reigning nearly 55 years, from ca. 976 BC to ca. 922 BC. Mu was more ambitious than wise, yet he was able to introduce reforms that changed the nature of the Zhou government, transforming it from a hereditary system to one that was based on merit and knowledge of administrative skills. Mu tried to stamp out invaders in the western part of China and ultimately expand Zhou’s influence to the east. In the height of his passion for conquests, he led an immense army against 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 ...

, who inhabited the western part of China. His travels allowed him to contact many tribes and swayed them to either join under the Zhou banner or be conquered in war with his army. This expedition may have been more of a failure than a success, judging by the fact that he brought back only four white wolves and four white deer. Unintentionally and inadvertently, he thus sowed the seeds of hatred which culminated in an invasion of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

by the same tribes in 771 BC. In his thirteenth year the Xu Rong, probably the

state of Xu Xu (), also called Xu Rong () or Xu Yi () by its enemies, was an independent Dongyi, Huaiyi ancient Chinese states, state of the Bronze Age#China, Chinese Bronze Age that was ruled by the Yíng, Ying family () and controlled much of the Huai Rive ...

in the southeast, raided near the eastern capital of

Chengzhou Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River (Henan), Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial ...

. The war seems to have ended in a truce in which the state of Xu gained land and power in return for nominal submission. However, despite his success, traditional historiography viewed him with controversy. While some praise his victories against the Quanrong, others criticized him for from his time, the fourth border state no longer entered into a relationship with the Zhou dynasty. Even still, the Shang Shu credited him with establishing the first systematic legal code in China. Mu was reputed in narratives to have lived until the age of 105 and to have traveled to the mythical mountain known as

Kunlun The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kunlu ...

- a popular later work is the ''

Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven The ''Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven'' ()Literally "Mu(,) Heaven('s) Son('s) Tale". "Son of Heaven" is a designation for a sovereign of China, and the word used for tale is often a biography or history. is a fantasy version of the travels of Kin ...

''. His successor was his son

King Gong of Zhou King Gong of Zhou (; died 900 BC), personal name Ji Yihu, was a king of China's Zhou dynasty. 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 ...

In mythology

One

Chinese myth Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

tells a story about Mu, who dreamed of becoming an

immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

. He was determined to visit the divine paradise of Kunlun and taste the

Peaches of Immortality In Chinese mythology, Peaches of Immortality ( or ) are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them. Peaches symbolizing immortality (or the wish for a long and healthy life) are a common symbo ...

. A brave charioteer named

Zaofu Zaofu (), formerly romanized Tsao Fu, was an exceptionally-skilled charioteer who is said to have lived around 950 BC. He was counted as a member of the House of Ying, the founder of Zhao and a relative of two generations removed to Feizi, the fou ...

used his chariot to carry the king to his destination. The ''Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven'', a fourth-century BC romance, describes Mu’s visit to the Queen Mother of the West. Late Tang dynasty poet

Li Shangyin Li Shangyin ( zh, c=李商隱, p=Lǐ Shāngyǐn, 813858), courtesy name Yishan ( zh, c=義山), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for his imagist and "n ...

retold the story in a poem of four lines.

Automaton

In the 3rd century BC text of the ''

Liezi The ''Liezi'' () is a Taoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, a c. 5th century BC Hundred Schools of Thought philosopher. Although there were references to Lie's ''Liezi'' from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, a number of Chinese and Western scholar ...

'', there is a curious account on automata involving a much earlier encounter between Mu of Zhou and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical 'handiwork':

The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time... As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih (Yan Shi) executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, adhesive and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial... The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted.Needham, Volume 2, 53.

Family

Queens

* Wang Zu Jiang, of the Jiang clan ()

Concubines

* Sheng Ji, of the Ji clan of Cheng (), a royal of Cheng by birth; buried with queenly honours

Sons

* Crown Prince Yihu (; d. 900 BC), ruled as

from 921–900 BC * Prince Bifang (; d. 886 BC), ruled as

King Xiao of Zhou King Xiao of Zhou (), personal name Ji Bifang, was a king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 891–886 BC or 872–866 BC. He was a son of King Mu and brother of King Gong. His reign is poorly documented. He was pr ...

from 891–886 BC * Prince Baozong (), ruled as the Viscount of Xu

Daughters

* A daughter whose personal name was Shuqie ()

Notes

References

*Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 2''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mu of Zhou, King Kings of the Zhou dynasty 10th-century BC Chinese monarchs 10th-century BC deaths