Yang (State) was a state established during the

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 ...

dynasty and the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

of ancient China.

History

King Wu of Zhou granted Shu Yu of Tang a state named Tang. He was the son of

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name wa ...

and the younger brother of King Cheng of Zhou. The State of Tang would later be renamed Jin by Shu Yu's son and successor, Xie. The Yang state was conquered by the Jin state during the reign of

Duke Wu of Jin Duke Wu of Jin (, died 677 BC), ancestral name Ji (姬), given name Cheng (稱) and also known as Duke Wu of Quwo (), was the eighteenth ruler of the state of Jin. He was also the last ruler of the state of Quwo before he gained the title as the ...

, and ancient lands of the Yang state were given to one of his sons named Ji Boqiao at 13th years old. With the conquest of the Yang state, many people of Yang and descendants of Boqiao eventually took the name of their former country as their family name, and account for the majority of Chinese people with the family name Yang today.

References

{{Zhou Dynasty topics Ancient Chinese states Zhou dynasty States and territories disestablished in the 7th century BC 7th-century BC disestablishments in China