The Zhou dynasty was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from c. 1046 BC until 256 BC,the longest of such reign in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period,the royal house,surnamed Ji,had military control over ancient China. Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following Eastern Zhou 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 and David Pankenier,but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC.
The Shang dynasty,also known as the Yin dynasty,was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC,traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents,Bamboo Annals and Records of the Grand Historian. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th and 11th centuries BC,with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date.
The Western Zhou 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 771 BC when Quanrong pastoralists sacked the Zhou capital at Haojing and killed King You of Zhou. The "Western" label for the period refers to the location of the Zhou royal capitals,which were clustered in the Wei River valley near present-day Xi'an.
King Cheng of Zhou,personal name Ji Song,was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. Ji Dan,Duke of Zhou served as regent during his minority. His parents were King Wu of Zhou and Queen Yi Jiang.
King Zhao of Zhou,personal name Ji Xia,was the fourth king of the Zhou dynasty of China. He ruled from 977/75 BC until his death twenty years later. Famous for his disastrous war against the Chu confederation,his death in battle ended the Western Zhou's early expansion and marked the beginning of his dynasty's decline.
King Mu of Zhou,personal name Ji Man,was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty of China. The dates of his reign are 976–922 BC or 956–918 BC.
Qi,or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization,was a regional state of the Zhou dynasty in ancient China,whose rulers held titles of Hou (侯),then Gong,before declaring themselves independent Kings. Its capital was Linzi,located in present-day Shandong. Qi was founded shortly after the Zhou conquest of Shang,c. 1046 BCE. Its first monarch was Jiang Ziya,minister of King Wen and a legendary figure in Chinese culture. His family ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family in 386 BCE. Qi was the final surviving state to be annexed by Qin during its unification of China.
The Book of Documents,or the Classic of History,is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China,and served as the foundation of Chinese political philosophy for over two millennia.
Lu was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC,its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji (姬) that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The first duke was Boqin,a son of the Duke of Zhou,who was brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent to King Cheng of Zhou.
Jiang Ziya,also known by several other names,was a Chinese military general,monarch,strategist,and writer who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye,he continued to serve as a Zhou minister. He remained loyal to the regent Duke of Zhou during the Rebellion of the Three Guards;following the Duke's punitive raids against the restive Eastern Barbarians or Dongyi,Jiang was enfeoffed with their territory as the marchland of Qi. He established his seat at Yingqiu. He is one of the main heroes of the Fengshen Bang.
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.
King Wen of Zhou was the posthumous title given to Ji Chang,the patriarch of the Zhou state during the final years of Shang dynasty in ancient China. Ji Chang himself died before the end of the Zhou-Shang War,and his second son Ji Fa completed the conquest of Shang following the Battle of Muye,and posthumously honored him as the founder of the Zhou dynasty. Many of the hymns of the Classic of Poetry are praises to the legacy of King Wen. Some consider him the first epic hero of Chinese history.
Song was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty with its capital at Shangqiu. The state was founded soon after King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang dynasty to establish the Zhou dynasty in 1046 BC. It was conquered by the state of Qi in 286 BC,during the Warring States period. Confucius is traditionally considered to have been a descendant of a Song nobleman who moved to the state of Lu.
The State of Xu was an independent Huaiyi state of the Chinese Bronze Age that was ruled by the Ying family (嬴) and controlled much of the Huai River valley for at least two centuries. It was centered in northern Jiangsu and Anhui.
The State of Quán was a small Zhou dynasty vassal state of Central China. A marquisate,then dukedom (侯),its rulers were descendants of Shang dynasty ruler Wu Ding with the surname Zi (子). Quan was founded by Wen Ding’s son Quan Wending (权文丁) in the area of modern-day Maliang Town (马良镇),Shayang County,Jingmen City,Hubei Province,next to what would later emerge as the State of Chu.
The Rebellion of the Three Guards,or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion,was a civil war,instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes,Shang loyalists,vassal states and other non-Zhou peoples against the Western Zhou government under the Duke of Zhou's regency in late 11th century BC.
The Yi Zhou Shu is a compendium of Chinese historical documents about the Western Zhou period. Its textual history began with a text/compendium known as the Zhou Shu,which was possibly not differentiated from the corpus of the same name in the extant Book of Documents. Western Han dynasty editors listed 70 chapters of the Yi Zhou Shu,of which 59 are extant as texts,and the rest only as chapter titles. Such condition is described for the first time by Wang Shihan in 1669. Circulation ways of the individual chapters before that point are subject to scholarly debates.
Pugu or Bogu was an ancient civilization or state of ancient China around the mouth of the Yellow River.
Shi,Duke of Shao,born Ji Shi,posthumous name Kang (康),also known as Lord Shao or Duke of Shao,was a high-ranking minister of the early Zhou dynasty. He was a member of the royal clan,the founding lineage head of the state of Yan,and elder of the minor polity Shao. After King Wu of Zhou's death,Lord Shao supported the Duke of Zhou in his regency and helped suppress the Rebellion of the Three Guards. He remained a major figure at court for decades.
During imperial China,a wide variety of noble titles were granted. Some of these were hereditary;an overlapping subset were honorary.
