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 The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. During 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 ...

period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military control over territories centered on the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

valley and

North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...

. Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following

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 ...

period (771–256 BC), the political system created by the Zhou royal house survived in some form for several additional centuries. A date of 1046 BC for the Zhou's establishment is supported by the

Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project () was a multi-disciplinary project commissioned by the People's Republic of China in 1996 to determine with accuracy the location and time frame of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The project was d ...

and David Pankenier, but

David Nivison David Shepherd Nivison (January 17, 1923 – October 16, 2014) was an American sinologist known for his publications on late imperial and ancient Chinese history, philology, and philosophy, and his 40 years as a professor at Stanford Univer ...

and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC. The latter Eastern Zhou period is itself roughly subdivided into two parts. During 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 ...

(), power became increasingly decentralized as the authority of the royal house diminished. The

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(221 BC) that followed saw large-scale warfare and consolidation among what had formerly been Zhou client states, until the Zhou were formally extinguished by the

state of Qin Qin (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...

in 256 BC. The Qin ultimately founded the imperial

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

in 221 BC after conquering all of China. The Zhou period is often considered to be the zenith for the craft of Chinese bronzeware. The latter Zhou period is also famous for the advent of three major Chinese philosophies:

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

and Legalism. The Zhou dynasty also spans the period when the predominant form of

written Chinese Written Chinese is a writing system that uses Chinese characters and other symbols to represent the Chinese languages. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary. Rath ...

became

seal script Seal script or sigillary script () is a Chinese script styles, style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of bronze script during the Zhou dynasty (1 ...

, which evolved from the earlier

oracle bone Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, ''p ...

and

bronze script Chinese bronze inscriptions, also referred to as bronze script or bronzeware script, comprise Chinese writing made in several styles on ritual bronzes mainly during the Late Shang dynasty () and Western Zhou dynasty (771 BC). Types of bron ...

s. By the dynasty's end, an immature form of

clerical script The clerical script (), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing that evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty. It matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in active use through t ...

had also emerged.

History

Foundation

Traditional myth

According to

Chinese mythology 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 ...

, the Zhou lineage began when Jiang Yuan, a consort of the legendary

Emperor Ku Kù (, variant graph ), usually referred to as Dì Kù (), also known as Gaoxin or Gāoxīn Shì () or Qūn (), was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. He went by the name Gaoxin until receiving imperial authority, when he took the name Ku and t ...

, miraculously conceived a child, Qi "the Abandoned One", after stepping into the divine footprint of

Shangdi Shangdi (), also called simply Di (), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the Chinese theology, theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang dynasty, Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the lat ...

.'"Major Hymns - Decade of the Birth of Our People
Birth of Our People
"Hou Ji". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Qi was a

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (Culture, cultural, Ethnic group, ethnic, Religion, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or Discovery (observation), discovery. Although many culture heroes help with ...

credited with surviving abandonment by his mother three times, and with greatly improving agriculture, to the point where he was granted lordship over Tai, the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

Ji, and the title

Houji Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. His name trans ...

"Lord of

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

", by the

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 229 ...

. He even received sacrifice as a harvest god. The term ''Houji'' was probably a hereditary title attached to a lineage. Buzhu—Qi's son, or rather that of the ''Houji''—is said to have abandoned his position as Agrarian Master () in old age and either he or his son Ju abandoned their tradition, living in the manner of the

Xirong Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and Qinghai). They were known as early as the Shang dynasty (1765–1122 BCE), as one of the Four Barbarians that fr ...

and Rongdi (see

Hua–Yi distinction During the late Zhou dynasty, the inhabitants of the Central Plains began to distinguish between and ( zh, t=華夷秩序, p=huáyí zhìxù), referred to by some historians as the Sino–barbarian dichotomy. They defined themselves as part of ...

). Ju's son Liu, however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin, which his descendants ruled for generations. Tai later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the

valley (modern

Qishan County Qishan County () is a county in the west of Guanzhong, Shaanxi province, China, under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's ...

). The duke passed over his two elder sons

Taibo Taibo () (circa 1150 BCE), or Wu Taibo, was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou and the legendary founder of the State of Wu. His exact birth and death dates are unknown. Biography According to Sima Qian, Taibo was the founder of the State of W ...

and Zhongyong to favor the younger Jili, a warrior in his own right. As a vassal of the Shang kings Wu Yi and

Wen Ding Wen Wu Ding () or Wen Ding () or Tai Ding (太丁), personal name Zi Tuo (), was a king of the Shang dynasty of Ancient China. His reign was from 1116 to 1106 BC according to the Cambridge History, or 1112 to 1102/1 BC according to the Xia–Sha ...

, Jili went to conquer several

tribes before being treacherously killed by Shang forces. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly already fled to the Yangtze delta, where they established the

state of Wu Wu () was a state during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period, outside the Zhou cultural sphere. It was also known as Gouwu () or Gongwu () from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at the mouth of th ...

among the tribes there. Jili's son

Wen Wen, wen, or WEN may refer to: * One of several Chinese surnames: ** Wen (surname 文) ** Wen (surname 溫) ** Wen (surname 闻) * Wen, alternate spelling for Wynn (Ƿ ƿ), a letter of the Old English alphabet * Wen, common name for trichilemmal ...

bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to

Feng Feng may refer to: *List of surnames written Feng, several Chinese surnames as transliterated from Mandarin **Féng (surname) ( 冯 féng 2nd tone "gallop"), very common Chinese surname **Fèng (surname) ( 鳳 fèng 4th tone "phoenix"), relatively ...

(present-day

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

). Around 1046 BC, Wen's son Wu and his ally

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – 11th century BC), also known by several other names, also known by his posthumous name as the Duke Tai of Qi, was the founding monarch of the Qi state. He was a military general and strategist who as ...

led an army of 45,000 men and 300

chariots A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Ru ...

across the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

and defeated

King Zhou of Shang King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or Shou, King of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse ...

at the

Battle of Muye The Battle of Muye, Mu, or Muh () was fought between forces of the ancient Chinese Shang dynasty led by King Zhou of Shang and the rebel state of Zhou led by King Wu. The Zhou defeated the Shang at Muye and captured the Shang capital Yin, ...

, marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of

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 ...

, which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as .

Culture

According to Nicholas Bodman, the Zhou appear to have spoken a language largely similar in vocabulary and syntax to that of the Shang; a recent study by David McCraw, using lexical statistics, reached the same conclusion. The Zhou emulated Shang cultural practices, possibly to legitimize their own rule, and became the successors to Shang culture. At the same time, the Zhou may also have been connected to the

, a broadly defined cultural group to the west of the Shang, which the Shang regarded as tributaries. For example, the philosopher

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

(372–289 BC) acknowledged that

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 ...

had ancestry from among the Xirong, as King Wen's descendants, the Zhou kings, claimed descent from

Hou Ji Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of north and South China, northern China, prior to the introduction of ...

, a legendary

possibly related to the Xirong through his mother Jiang Yuan.Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)
"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organization of the Zhou Polity"
''Early China''. 25 p. 21–22 Additionally, the late 4th-century BC ''

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 '' ...

'' comments that the baron of Li Rong (), after being defeated by Jin, married his daughter Li Ji off. According to historian Li Feng, the term "Rong" during the Western Zhou period was likely used to designate political and military adversaries rather than cultural and ethnic "others". Cultural artifacts of the Western Rong coexisted with Western Zhou bronzes, indicating close bonds between the Rong and the Western Zhou.

Western Zhou

During the Western Zhou (1045–771 BC), King Wu maintained the old capital for ceremonial purposes but constructed a new one for his palace and administration nearby at

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 ...

. Although Wu's early death left a young and inexperienced heir, 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 ...

assisted his nephew King Cheng in consolidating royal power. Wary of the Duke of Zhou's increasing power, the "Three Guards", Zhou princes stationed on the eastern plain, rose in rebellion against his regency. Even though they garnered the support of independent-minded nobles, Shang partisans, and several

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Jap ...

tribes, the Duke of Zhou quelled the rebellion, and further expanded the Zhou Kingdom into the east. To maintain Zhou authority over its greatly expanded territory and prevent other revolts, he set up the ''

fengjian ''Fēngjiàn'' ( zh, c=封建, l=demarcation and establishment) was a governance system and political thought in Ancient China and Imperial China, whose social structure formed a decentralized system of confederation-like government. The rulin ...

'' system. Furthermore, he countered Zhou's crisis of legitimacy by expounding the doctrine of the

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven ( zh, t=天命, p=Tiānmìng, w=, l=Heaven's command) is a Chinese ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that was used in History of China#Ancient China, Ancient China and Chinese Empire, Imperial China to legit ...

while accommodating important Shang rituals at

Wangcheng Wangcheng may refer to the following places in China: *Wangcheng (Zhou dynasty), an ancient settlement from the Eastern Zhou period, located near modern Luoyang, Henan *Wangcheng District, a district of Changsha, Hunan **Wangcheng Economic and Tech ...

and

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 ...

. Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. Peripheral territories developed local power and prestige on par with that of the Zhou. The conflicts with nomadic tribes from the north and the northwest, variously known as the

Xianyun The Xianyun (; Old Chinese: ( ZS) *''g.ramʔ-lunʔ''; (Schuessler) *''hɨamᴮ-juinᴮ'' < *''hŋamʔ-junʔ'') was an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded the

Guifang Guifang () was an ancient ethnonym for a northern people that fought against the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE). Chinese historical tradition used various names in different periods for northern tribes such as the Guifang, Rong, Di,Old Text Bamb ...

, or various "Rong" tribes, such as the

, Shanrong or

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 ...

, intensified towards the end of the Western Zhou period. These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at the time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands—especially the

valley. Archaeologically, the Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture. When King You demoted and exiled his Qiang queen in favor of the commoner Bao Si, the disgraced queen's father the Marquis of Shen joined with Zeng and the Quanrong. The Quanrong put an end to the Western Zhou in 771 BC, sacking the Zhou capital at

and killing the last Western Zhou king

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

. With King You dead, a conclave of nobles met at Shen and declared the Marquis's grandson King Ping. The capital was moved eastward to

, marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period.

Eastern Zhou

The Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC) was characterized by an accelerating collapse of royal authority, although the king's ritual importance enabled more than five additional centuries of rule. The ''

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. ''The Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 242-year period from 722 to 481&nbs ...

'', the Confucian chronicle of the early years of this process, gave the period its name as the

. The

partition of Jin The Partition of Jin (), refers to the division of the State of Jin between rival families into the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei, a watershed event marking the division between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Proceedi ...

during the mid-5th century BC is a commonly cited as initiating the subsequent

. In 403 BC, the Zhou court recognized Han, Zhao, and Wei as fully independent states. In 344, Duke Hui of Wei was the first to claim the title of "king" for himself. Others followed, marking a turning point, as rulers did not even entertain the pretense of vassalage of the Zhou court, instead proclaiming themselves fully independent kingdoms. A series of states rose to prominence before each falling in turn, and in most of these conflicts Zhou was a minor player. The last Zhou king is traditionally taken to be Nan, who was killed when Qin captured Wangcheng in 256 BC.

Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou () (?–249 BC), personal name Jī Jié, reigned as King Hui of Zhou over the remaining rump state of the Zhou dynasty from 255 BC to 249 BC, when he was captured and executed by the army of Qin. Wen was the last mem ...

declared himself to be "King Hui", but his splinter state was fully disassembled by 249.

Qin's wars of unification Qin's wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late third century BC by the state of Qin against the other six states remaining in China Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi. Between 247 and 221 BC, Qin ...

concluded in 221 BC with

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

's annexation of Qi. The Eastern Zhou is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy: the

Hundred Schools of Thought The Hundred Schools of Thought () were philosophies and schools that flourished during the late Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period (221 BC). The term was not used to describe these different philosophies until Confucianism, M ...

which flourished as rival lords patronized itinerant scholars is led by the example of Qi's

Jixia Academy The Jixia Academy or Academy of the Gate of Chi Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China', Vol. 1, pp. 95 f. Cambridge University Press, 1956. , 9780521057998. Accessed 2 Nov 2012. was a scholarly academy during the Warring States period ...

. The

Nine Schools of Thought The Nine Schools of Thought were the primary schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought period of China during the Eastern Zhou dynasty. They were: * Confucianism (as interpreted by Mencius and others), * Legalism, * Taoism, * Mohism, * Agr ...

which came to dominate the others were

as interpreted by

and others, Legalism,

Mohism Mohism or Moism (, ) was an ancient Chinese philosophy of ethics and logic, rational thought, and scientific technology developed by the scholars who studied under the ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi (), embodied in an eponymous book: the '' ...

, the utopian communalist

Agriculturalism Agriculturalism, also known as the School of Agrarianism, the School of Agronomists, the School of Tillers, and in Chinese as the ''Nongjia'' (), was an early Agrarianism, agrarian Chinese philosophy that advocated peasant utopian communalism and ...

, two strains of the

School of Diplomacy The School of Diplomacy ( zh, t=, s=, p=zōng héng jiā), or the School of Vertical and Horizontal Alliances refers to a set of military and diplomatic strategies during the Warring States period of Chinese history (476-220 BCE), aiming for powe ...

, the

School of Names The School of Names, or School of Forms and Names, is a school of thought in Chinese philosophy that grew out of Mohist logic. Sometimes termed Logicians, "dialecticians" or sophists modernly, Han scholars used it in reference to figures earlie ...

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

's School of the Military, and the

School of Naturalists The School of Naturalists or the School of Yin-Yang () was a Warring States-era philosophy that synthesized the concepts of yin-yang and the Five Elements. It was one of the Nine Schools of Thought. History The School of Naturalists did not ...

. While only the first three of these would receive imperial patronage in later dynasties, doctrines from each influenced the others and Chinese society in sometimes unusual ways. The Mohists for instance found little interest in their praise of meritocracy but much acceptance for their mastery of defensive siege warfare; much later, however, their arguments against nepotism were used in favor of establishing the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

system.

Culture and society

The Zhou heartland was the

valley; this remained their primary base of power after conquering the Shang.

Mandate of Heaven

Zhou rulers introduced the Mandate of Heaven, which would prove to be among East Asia's most enduring political doctrines. According to the theory, Heaven imposed a mandate to replace the Shang with the Zhou, whose moral superiority justified seizing Shang wealth and territory in order to return good governance to the people. The Mandate of Heaven was presented as a religious compact between the Zhou people and their supreme god in heaven. The Zhou agreed that since worldly affairs were supposed to align with those of the heavens, the heavens conferred legitimate power on only one person, the Zhou ruler. In return, the ruler was duty-bound to uphold heaven's principles of harmony and honor. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose the mandate. Under this system, it was the prerogative of spiritual authority to withdraw support from any wayward ruler and to find another, more worthy one. In this way, the Zhou sky god legitimized regime change. In using this creed, the Zhou rulers had to acknowledge that any group of rulers, even they themselves, could be ousted if they lost the mandate of heaven because of improper practices. The book of odes written during the Zhou period clearly intoned this caution. The Zhou kings contended that heaven favored their triumph because the last Shang kings had been evil men whose policies brought pain to the people through waste and corruption. After the Zhou came to power, the mandate became a political tool. One of the duties and privileges of the king was to create a royal calendar. This official document defined times for undertaking agricultural activities and celebrating rituals. But unexpected events such as

solar eclipses A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

or natural calamities threw the ruling house's mandate into question. Since rulers claimed that their authority came from heaven, the Zhou made great efforts to gain accurate knowledge of the stars and to perfect the

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

system on which they based their calendar. Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels,

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size. A sculpture ...

, ornaments, and weapons. As the Zhou emulated the Shang's large scale production of ceremonial bronzes, they developed an extensive system of bronze metalworking that required a large force of tribute labor. Many of its members were Shang, who were sometimes forcibly transported to new Zhou to produce the bronze ritual objects which were then sold and distributed across the lands, symbolizing Zhou legitimacy.

Feudalism

Western writers often describe the Zhou period as feudal because the Zhou's ''

'' system invites comparison with European political systems during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. When the dynasty was established, the conquered land was divided into hereditary fiefs (, ''zhūhóu'') that eventually became powerful in their own right. In matters of inheritance, the Zhou dynasty recognized only patrilineal

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

as legal. According to Hsi-Sheng Tao, "the Tsung-fa or descent line system has the following characteristics: patrilineal descent, patrilineal succession, patriarchate, sib-exogamy, and primogeniture" The system, also called "extensive stratified patrilineage", was defined by the anthropologist Kwang-chih Chang as "characterized by the fact that the eldest son of each generation formed the main of line descent and political authority, whereas the younger brothers were moved out to establish new lineages of lesser authority. The farther removed, the lesser the political authority". Ebrey defines the descent-line system as follows: "A great line (ta-tsung) is the line of eldest sons continuing indefinitely from a founding ancestor. A lesser line is the line of younger sons going back no more than five generations. Great lines and lesser lines continually spin off new lesser lines, founded by younger sons". K.E. Brashier writes in his book "Ancestral Memory in Early China" about the tsung-fa system of patrilineal primogeniture: "The greater lineage, if it has survived, is the direct succession from father to eldest son and is not defined via the collateral shifts of the lesser lineages. In discussions that demarcate between trunk and collateral lines, the former is called a zong and the latter a zu, whereas the whole lineage is dubbed the shi. ..On one hand, every son who is not the eldest and hence not heir to the lineage territory has the potential of becoming a progenitor and fostering a new trunk lineage (Ideally he would strike out to cultivate new lineage territory). ..According to the Zou commentary, the

son of heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty ...

divided land among his feudal lords, his feudal lords divided the land among their dependent families and so forth down the pecking order to the officers who had their dependent kin and the commoners who "each had his apportioned relations and all had their graded precedence"" This type of unilineal descent-group later became the model of the Korean family through the influence of

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) i ...

, as

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi ( zh, c=朱熹; ; October 18, 1130April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confuci ...

and others advocated its re-establishment in China.

''Fengjian'' system and bureaucracy

There were five peerage ranks below the royal ranks, in descending order with common English translations: ''gōng'' 公 "duke", ''hóu'' 侯 "marquis", ''bó'' 伯 "count", ''zǐ'' 子 "viscount", and ''nán'' 男 "baron". At times, a vigorous duke would take power from his nobles and centralize the state. Centralization became more necessary as the states began to war among themselves and decentralization encouraged more war. If a duke took power from his nobles, the state would have to be administered bureaucratically by appointed officials. Despite these similarities, there are a number of important differences from medieval Europe. One obvious difference is that the Zhou ruled from walled cities rather than castles. Another was China's distinct class system, which lacked an organized clergy but saw Shang-descent yeomen become masters of ritual and ceremony, as well as astronomy, state affairs and ancient canons, known as ''ru'' (). When a dukedom was centralized, these people would find employment as government officials or officers. These hereditary classes were similar to Western knights in status and breeding, but unlike the European equivalent, they were expected to be something of a scholar instead of a warrior. Being appointed, they could move from one state to another. Some would travel from state to state peddling schemes of administrative or military reform. Those who could not find employment would often end up teaching young men who aspired to official status. The most famous of these was

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

, who taught a system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. In contrast, the Legalists had no time for Confucian virtue and advocated a system of strict laws and harsh punishments.

Agriculture

Agriculture in the Zhou dynasty was very intensive and, in many cases, directed by the government. All farming lands were owned by nobles, who then gave their land to their

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...

, a situation similar to European

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

. For example, a piece of land was divided into nine squares in the

well-field system The well-field system () was a Chinese land redistribution method existing between the eleventh or tenth century BCE (Western Zhou dynasty) to around the Warring States period. Though Mencius describes examples from the Xia and Shang dynasties, ...

, with the grain from the middle square taken by the government and that of surrounding squares kept by individual farmers. This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. Again, these industries were dominated by the nobility who directed the production of such materials. China's first projects of

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...

were initiated during the Zhou dynasty, ultimately as a means to aid agricultural irrigation. Sunshu Ao, the Chancellor of Wei who served

King Zhuang of Chu King Zhuang of Chu (), personal name Xiong Lü, was a monarch of the Chu state. He was one of the "Five Hegemons" who attempted to wrest control of China during the Spring and Autumn period. Life The son of King Mu, King Zhuang ascended the th ...

, dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province. For this, Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao, who served

Marquis Wen of Wei Marquess Wen of Wei (died 396 BCE), personal name Wei Si, was the founding marquess of the Wei state. He belonged to the Wei clan, one of the noble houses that dominated Jin politics in the 5th and 6th centuries BC. He became the leader of ...

(445–396 BC), was the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. As the main focus of his grandiose project, his canal work eventually diverted the waters of the entire

Zhang River The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...

to a spot further up the

Military

The early Western Zhou supported a strong army, split into two major units: "the Six Armies of the west" and "the Eight Armies of Chengzhou". The armies campaigned in the northern

Loess Plateau The Loess Plateau is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic rock, clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of Dust#Atmospheric, wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounded by t ...

, modern

Ningxia Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...

and the

floodplain. The military prowess of Zhou peaked during the 19th year of King Zhao's reign, when the six armies were wiped out along with King Zhao on a campaign around the Han River. Early Zhou kings were true commanders-in-chief King Zhao was famous for repeated campaigns in the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

region, and died on campaign. Later kings' campaigns were less effective. King Li led 14 armies against barbarians in the south, but failed to achieve any victory. King Xuan fought the

nomads in vain. King You was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. Although

had been introduced to China during the Shang dynasty from Central Asia, the Zhou period saw the first major use of chariots in battle. Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between

horse burial Horse burial is the practice of Burial, burying a horse as part of the ritual of human burial, and is found among many Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking peoples and others, including Chinese people, Chinese and Turkic peoples. The ...

s of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with the steppe populations in the west, such as the

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

and

Wusun The Wusun ( ) were an ancient semi-Eurasian nomads, nomadic Eurasian Steppe, steppe people of unknown origin mentioned in Chinese people, Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The Wusun originally l ...

. Other possible cultural influences resulting from contact with these Iranic people of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

in this period may include fighting styles, head-and-hooves burials, art motifs and myths. The Zhou army also included "barbarian" troops such as the Di people. King Hui of Zhou married a princess of the Red Di as a sign of appreciation for the importance of the Di troops. King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support. File:Gold sword hilt Eastern Zhou BM.jpg, Gold sword hilt, Eastern Zhou, 6–5th century BC

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - bronze sword.jpg, Eastern Zhou bronze sword excavated from Changsa, Hunan Eastern Zhou Bronze Ji (Halberd) (10338222034).jpg, Eastern Zhou '' jǐ'' bronze halberd

Philosophy

During the Zhou dynasty, the origins of native

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...

developed, its initial stages of development beginning in the 6th century BC. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were

, founder of

, and

Laozi Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

, founder of

. Other philosophers of this era were

Mozi Mozi, personal name Mo Di, was a Chinese philosopher, logician, and founder of the Mohist school of thought, making him one of the most important figures of the Warring States period (221 BCE). Alongside Confucianism, Mohism became the ...

, founder of

;

, the "second sage" of Confucianism;

Shang Yang Shang Yang (; c. 390 – 338 BC), also known as Wei Yang () and originally surnamed Gongsun, was a Politician, statesman, chancellor and reformer of the Qin (state), State of Qin. Arguably the "most famous and most influential statesman of the ...

and

Han Fei Han Fei (233 BC), also known as Han Feizi, was a Chinese Legalist philosopher and statesman during the Warring States period. He was a prince of the state of Han. Han Fei is often considered the greatest representative of Legalism for th ...

, responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism; and Xunzi, who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time. The state theology of the Zhou dynasty used concepts from the Shang dynasty and mostly referred to the Shang god, Di, as

Tian Tian () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and cosmology. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their highest god as '' Shangdi'' or ''Di'' (, ...

, a more distant and unknowable concept, yet one that anyone could utilize, the opposite view of the Shang's spirituality. The Zhou wanted to increase the number of enlightenment seekers, mystics, and those who would be interested in learning about such things as a way to further distance their people from the Shang-era paradigm and local traditions.

''Li''

Having emerged during the Western Zhou, the ''li'' ritual system encoded an understanding of manners as an expression of the social hierarchy, ethics, and regulation concerning material life; the corresponding social practices became idealized within Confucian ideology. The system was canonized in the ''

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The '' ...

'', ''

Rites of Zhou The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" (), is a Chinese work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the '' Book of History'' by the same name. To rep ...

'', and ''

Etiquette and Ceremonial The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' is a Chinese classic text about Zhou dynasty social behavior and ceremonial ritual as it was practiced and understood during the Spring and Autumn period. The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'', along ...

'' compiled during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(202 BC220 AD), thus becoming the heart of the Chinese imperial ideology. While the system was initially a respected body of concrete regulations, the fragmentation of the Western Zhou period led the ritual to drift towards moralization and formalization in regard to: * The five orders of

Chinese nobility The nobility of China represented the upper strata of aristocracy in premodern China, acting as the ruling class until , and remaining a significant feature of the traditional social structure until the end of the imperial period. The concepts ...

* Ancestral temples (size, legitimate number of pavilions) * Ceremonial regulations (number of ritual vessels, musical instruments, people in the dancing troupe) Sexuality Aside from ''Shi Jing'', the earliest Chinese poem anthology, where gender-ambiguity and same-sex affection both made an appearance, the Zhou Dynasty involved many recorded forms of homosexuality, including farmers and soldiers. Bisexuality and/or homosexual practices often involved heterosexual marriage, foundational to kinship and social networks in the Zhou Dynasty and beyond in Imperial China, whereas male homosexuality was often "class-based," meaning these relationships involved economic and social benefits.

Kings

The rulers of the Zhou dynasty were titled ''wang'' (), which was also the term used by the Shang rulers, normally translated into English as 'king'. In addition to these rulers, King Wu's immediate ancestors— Danfu, Jili, and

—are also referred to as "Kings of Zhou", despite having been nominal vassals of the Shang kings. Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed Duke Hui of Eastern Zhou as King Nan's successor after their capital, Chengzhou, fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. Ji Zhao, a son of King Nan, led a resistance against Qin for five years. The dukedom fell in 249 BC. The remaining Ji family ruled Yan and Wei until 209 BC. During Confucius's lifetime in the Spring and Autumn period, Zhou kings had little power, and much administrative responsibility and de-facto political strength was wielded by rulers of smaller domains and local community leaders.

Astrology

In traditional Chinese astrology, Zhou is represented by two stars, Eta Capricorni () and 21 Capricorni (), in "Twelve States" asterism. Zhou is also represented by the star

Beta Serpentis Beta Serpentis, Latinized from β Serpentis, also named Zhou, is a binary star system in the constellation Serpens, in its head (Serpens Caput). It is visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude of +3.65. Based u ...

in asterism "Right Wall",

Heavenly Market enclosure The Heavenly Market Enclosure (天市垣, ''Tian Shi Yuan''), is one of the ''San Yuan'' or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group are visible during late summer and early autumn in the Northern Hemisphere (late winter and early ...

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External links

{{Authority control 256 BC 3rd-century BC disestablishments in China 11th-century BC establishments in China Bronze Age in China Dynasties of China Former countries in Chinese history Former monarchies of East Asia States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC States and territories established in the 11th century BC

History

Foundation

Traditional myth

Culture

Western Zhou

Eastern Zhou

Culture and society

Mandate of Heaven

Feudalism

''Fengjian'' system and bureaucracy

Agriculture

Military

Philosophy

''Li''

Kings

Astrology

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

Primary

Secondary

Further reading

External links