King Ping of Zhou (; died 16 April 720 BC), personal name Ji Yijiu, was the thirteenth

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 ...

and the first 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 ...

dynasty.

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 ...

. ''

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 ...

'', "Zhou Dynasty Annals".

History

He was the son of

King You of Zhou King You of Zhou (795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was a king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the last from the Western Zhou dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC. History In 780 BC, a major earthquake struck Guanzhong. A soothsayer n ...

and

Queen Shen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

(申后). King You had exiled Queen Shen and Ji Yijiu after the king became enamoured with his

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

Bao Si Bao Si () was a consort of King You of Zhou. She was considered one of the most beautiful women of the ancient era. Life Legends record that during the last years of the Xia dynasty, two dragons entered the palace of the king. When they left, th ...

and made her

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

and his son

Bofu Bofu (779 BCE – 771 BCE) (), sometimes referred to as Bopan (伯盘), was the son of Chinese Zhou dynasty monarch King You of Zhou and his concubine Bao Si. After Baosi entered the royal palace, King You deposed Queen Shen (申后) and her son ...

his heir. As a result, Queen Shen’s father, the

Marquess of Shen The Marquis of Shen (Chinese: ; pinyin: ''Shēnhóu''; d. 771 BCE) was a Qiang ruler of the ancient Chinese state of Shen (also known as "West Shen", not to be confused with another Shen state near modern-day Nanyang, Henan Province also known ...

, teamed with 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 ...

nomads and local satellite

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

to overthrow King You. In the

Battle of Mount Li The Battle of Mount Li ''( Li Shan)'' was a decisive clash that occurred in Ancient China in 771 BC near the twin cities of Haojing and Fengjing, often referred to together as Fenghao. The battle was fought between the dynastic army of King Yo ...

King You and Bofu were killed, and Bao Si was captured. Ji Yijiu ascended the throne. At about the same time, Jī Hàn (姬翰), Duke of Guó (虢公), elevated Jī Yúchén (姬余臣) to the throne as

King Xie of Zhou King Xie of Zhou (died 750 BCE), personal name Ji Yuchen, was a pretender to the throne of the Chinese Zhou dynasty, in the final years of the Western Zhou. After King You replaced the then Queen Shen with his concubine Bao Si, whilst at the s ...

(周携王), and the Zhou Dynasty saw a period of two parallel kings until King Xie was killed by

Marquis Wen of Jin Marquis Wen of Jin (; 805–746 BC), personal name Ji Chou, was a marquis of the Jin state. He was also the first ruler of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period. In 805 BC, Marquis Mu battled the Tiaorong () tribe. During this time, his son, th ...

(晋文侯) in 750 BCE. The Xinian manuscript, however, has challenged this traditional narrative. It seems to indicate that King Xie (also known as King Hui, or the King at Xie) was originally accepted by many of the regional lords over King Ping. After Marquis Wen of Jin killed Xie, there was not an officially accepted King of Zhou for 9 years, until, in 741 BCE, Marquis Wen recognized Ping. Three years later, in 738 BCE, Wen helped Ping move to Chengzhou. King Ping moved the

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's capital east from

Haojing Hao or Haojing, also called Zongzhou (), was one of the two settlements comprising the capital of the Western Zhou dynasty (1066–770 BCE), the other being Fēng or Fēngjīng (). Together they were known as Fenghao and stood on opposite banks ...

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

, thus ending the

and the beginning of the Eastern Zhou dynasty and the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

. He is the first Zhou king to be mentioned in the chronological account of the ''

Zuo Zhuan The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

''. Over 14 centuries after King Ping’s death,

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

Empress regnant

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

claimed ancestry from King Ping through his son Prince Wu, and changed the dynastic name to Zhou, which was reverted to Tang after her death.Paludan, 101

Family

Sons

* First son, Crown Prince Xiefu (), the father of

King Huan of Zhou King Huan of Zhou (; died 697 BC), personal name Ji Lin (姬林), was the fourteenth king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the second of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. King Huan's father was King Ping's son, Crown Prince Xiefu (洩父). King Huan succ ...

* Second son, Prince Hu () ** Served as a hostage of

Duke Zhuang of Zheng Duke Zhuang of Zheng (; 757–701 BC) was the third ruler of the State of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. His ancestral name was Ji (姬), given name Wusheng (寤生), which means "difficult birth" with breech pre ...

* Youngest son, Prince Wu ()

References

720s BC deaths Kings of the Zhou dynasty 8th-century BC Chinese monarchs Year of birth unknown Founding monarchs in Asia {{China-royal-stub

History

Family

Sons

See also

References