Eastern Zhou Dynasty

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The Zhou Dynasty (; 1123 BC to 256 BC) preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other in China history--though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou. During the Zhou, the Iron Age was introduced to China , while this period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronze-ware making. The dynasty also spans the period in which the written script evolved from the ancient stage as seen in early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, to the beginnings of the modern stage, in the form of the archaic clerical script of the late Warring States period.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the origins of matured Chinese philosophy developed, its initial stages beginning in the 6th century BC. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were Kong Fuzi (Latin: Confucius), founder of Confucianism, and Laozi, founder of Daoism. Other philosophers, theorists, and schools of thought in this era were Mozi (Latin: Micius), founder of Mohism, Mengzi (Latin: Mencius), a famous Confucian who expanded upon Kong Fuzi's legacy, Shang Yang and Han Feizi, responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism (Chinese philosophy) (the core philosophy of the Qin Dynasty), and Xunzi, who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time. Even more so then intellectual iconic figures such as Mencius.Schirokauer & Brown 2006. "A Brief history of Chinese civilization: second edition" Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, pp.25-47 In an age of intellectual sophistication, Chinese philosophy of this period has been often compared to its contemporary in ancient Greece.

Mandate of Heaven In the Chinese historical tradition, the Zhou defeated the Shang and oriented the Shang system of ancestor worship toward a universalized worship away from the worship of Shangdi and to that of Tian or "heaven". They legitimized their rule by invoking the Mandate of Heaven, the notion that the ruler (the "Son of Heaven") governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate. Such things that proved the ruling family had lost the Mandate were natural disasters and rebellions. The doctrine explained and justified the demise of the Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasties and at the same time supported the legitimacy of present and future rulers. The Zhou dynasty was founded by the Ji (surname) family and had its capital at Hào (鎬, near the present-day city of Xi'an in the Wei River valley). Sharing the language and culture of the Shang, the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, established a large imperial territory wherein states as far as Shandong acknowledged Zhou rulership and took part in elite culture. The spread of Zhou bronzes, though, was concurrent with the continued use of Shang style pottery in the distant regions and these states were the first to recede during the late Western Zhou.

Zhou military The early Western Zhou supported a strong military 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, modern Ningxia and the Huanghe floodplain. The military prowess of Zhou peaked during the 19th year of King Zhao of Zhou's reign, when the Six Armies were wiped out along with King Zhao on a campaign around the Han River, Zhou power declined ever since. The Zhou period saw the introduction of the use of massed chariots in battle, a technology imported from Central Asia.Shaughnessy, Edward L. Historical Perspectives on The Introduction of The Chariot Into China. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jun., 1988), pp. 189-237

Fengjian (Feudalism) In the West, the Zhou period is often described as feudal because the Zhou's early rule invites comparison with Middle Ages. However, historians debate whether or not this description is valid; the more appropriate term for the Zhou Dynasty's political arrangement would be from the Chinese language itself: the Fēngjiàn (封建) system. The Zhou amalgam of city-states became progressively centralized and established increasingly impersonal political and economic institutions. These developments, which probably occurred in the later Zhou period, were manifested in greater central control over local governments and a more routinized agrarian taxation. Zhou officials were not paid a salary but instead were given semi-regular gifts by the King, which often included land in the Wei River valley. Imperial stability was ensured through marriages between the Zhou court and local lords as well as the installment of Zhou lords into command over distant regions.

Western and Eastern Zhou bell

Initially the Ji family was able to control the country firmly. In 771 BCE, after King You of Zhou had replaced his queen with a concubine Baosi, the capital was sacked by the joint force of the queen's father, who was the powerful Marquess of Shen, and a nomadic tribe, the Quanrong. The queen's son King Ping of Zhou was proclaimed the new king by the nobles from the states of Zheng (state), Lu (state), Qin (state) and the Marquess of Shen. The capital was moved eastward in 722 BC to Luoyang in present-day Henan Province.

Because of this shift, historians divide the Zhou era into the Western Zhou (西周, pinyin Xī Zhōu), lasting up until 771 BC, and the Eastern Zhou (Traditional Chinese: 東周, Simplified Chinese: 东周, pinyin: Dōng Zhōu) from 770 BC up to 256 BC. The beginning year of the Western Zhou has been disputed - 1122 BC, 1027 BC and other years within the hundred years from late 12th century BC to late 11th century BC have been proposed. Chinese historians take 841 BC as the first year of consecutive annual dating of the history of China, based on the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. The Eastern Zhou corresponds roughly to two subperiods. The first, from 722 BC to 481 BC, is called the Spring and Autumn Period, after a famous historical chronicle of the time; the second is known as the Warring States Period (480 to 221 BC), after another famous chronicle. The Warring States Period extends slightly past the 256 BC end date of the Eastern Zhou; this discrepancy is due to the fact that the last Zhou king's reign ended in 256, 35 years before the beginning of the Qin dynasty which ended the Warring States period. The Eastern Zhou period is also designated as a period of a Hundred Schools of Thought. This is a reference to the different schools of historical Chinese intellectual thought. There were four main distinct schools which were the Ru, Mohist, Daoist, and Legalists. These schools of thought contributed to social, philosophical and political change which played a large part in the decline of the Zhou dynasty.Schirokauer & Brown 2006. "A Brief history of Chinese civilization: second edition" Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, pp.25-47

Decline With the royal line broken, the power of the Zhou court gradually diminished, and the fragmentation of the kingdom accelerated. From Ping Wang onwards, the Zhou kings ruled in name only, with true power lying in the hands of powerful nobles. Towards the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the nobles did not even bother to acknowledge the Ji family symbolically, rebelled and declared themselves to be kings. The dynasty had disappeared some years prior to Qin Shi Huang's unification of China in 223 BC.

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, a situation similar to European feudalism. For example, a piece of land was divided into nine squares in the shape of the character for "water well," jing (井), 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 were founded during the Zhou Dynasty, ultimately for means to aid agricultrual irrigation. The Prime Minister of Wei (state), Sunshu Ao, who served King Zhuang of Chu (楚莊王) (died 591 BC) dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. For this Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao, who served Marquis Wen of Wei (文侯) (445 BC-396 BC), is 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 to a spot further up the Huang He River.

Gallery from the Shanghai Museum Image:Defang Ding.jpg|Defang bronze ritual vessel, Western Zhou DynastyImage:Dake Ding.jpg], Eastern Zhou DynastyImage:Pu with openwork interlaced dragons design.jpg|Pu vessel with dragon designs, Eastern Zhou DynastyImage:Bi with two dragons and grain pattern.jpg|A jade bi with two dragons, Eastern Zhou DynastyImage:Zhou ritual food vessel p1070295.jpg] design, 5th-4th century BCImage:Freer 005.jpg|An Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze ding vesselImage:Freer 007.jpg|An Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze musical bellImage:Freer 009.jpg|Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze vesselsImage:Freer 028.jpg|An Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze and silver canteenImage:Freer 036.jpg|An Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze basinImage:Freer 032.jpg|An Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze bird-shaped wine serverImage:Eastern Zhou Dynasty Bronze Bells.jpg|Eastern Zhou Dynasty bronze bell set

Zhou dynasty kings {| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"|-! style="background:#efefef" width=120 | Personal name! style="background:#efefef" width=120 | Throne Name! style="background:#efefef" width=140 | Reign years1! style="background:#efefef" width=160 | Name by which most commonly known|- align="center"| Ji Fa
姬發| Wuwang
武王| 1046 BC-1043 BC1])|- align="center"| Ji Song
姬誦| Chengwang
成王| 1042 BC-1021 BC1])|- align="center"| Ji Zhao
姬釗| Kangwang
康王| 1020 BC-996 BC1])|- align="center"| Ji Xia
姬瑕| Zhaowang
昭王| 995 BC-977 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Man
姬滿|Muwang
穆王|976 BC-922 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Yihu
姬繄扈|Gongwang
共王/龔王|922 BC-900 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Jian
姬囏|Yiwang
懿王|899 BC-892 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Pifang
姬辟方|Xiaowang
孝王|891 BC-886 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Xie
姬燮|Yiwang
夷王|885 BC-878 BC1])|- align="center"|Ji Hu
姬胡|Liwang
厲王/剌王|877 BC-841 BC1])|- align="center"|　|Gonghe (regency)
共和|841 BC-828 BC|- align="center"|Ji Jing
姬靜|Xuanwang
宣王|[827 BC-782 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Gongsheng
姬宮湦|Youwang
幽王|[781 BC-771 BC)|- align="center"! colspan="4" | End of Western Zhou / Beginning of Eastern Zhou|- align="center"|Ji Yijiu
姬宜臼|Pingwang
平王|[770 BC-720 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Lin
姬林|Huanwang
桓王|[719 BC-697 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Tuo
姬佗|Zhuangwang
莊王|[696 BC-682 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Huqi
姬胡齊|Xiwang
釐王|[681 BC-677 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Lang
姬閬|Huiwang
惠王|[676 BC-652 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Zheng
姬鄭|Xiangwang
襄王|[651 BC-619 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Renchen
姬壬臣|Qingwang
頃王|[618 BC-613 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Ban
姬班|Kuangwang
匡王|[612 BC-607 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Yu
姬瑜|Dingwang
定王|[606 BC-586 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Yi
姬夷|Jianwang
簡王|[585 BC-572 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Xiexin
姬泄心|Lingwang
靈王|[571 BC-545 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Gui
姬貴|Jingwang
景王|[544 BC-521 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Meng
姬猛|Daowang
悼王|[520 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Gai
姬丐|Jingwang
敬王|[519 BC-476 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Ren
姬仁|Yuanwang
元王|[475 BC-469 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Jie
姬介|Zhendingwang
貞定王|[468 BC-442 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Quji
姬去疾|Aiwang
哀王|[441 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Shu
姬叔|Siwang
思王|[441 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Wei
姬嵬|Kaowang
考王|[440 BC-426 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Wu
姬午|Weiliewang
威烈王|[425 BC-402 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Jiao
姬驕|Anwang
安王|[401 BC-376 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Xi
姬喜|Liewang
烈王|[375 BC-369 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Bian
姬扁|Xianwang
顯王|[368 BC-321 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Ding
姬定|Shenjingwang
慎靚王|[320 BC-315 BC)|- align="center"|Ji Yan
姬延|Nanwang
赧王|[314 BC-256 BC)|- align="center"|　|Huiwang
惠王|[255 BC-249 BC)|-The first generally accepted date in Chinese history is [841 BC, the beginning of the Gonghe regency. All dates prior to this are the subject of often vigorous dispute. The dates provided here are those put forward by the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project, the work of scholars sponsored by the Chinese government which reported in 2000. They are given only as a guide. The complete version of the final report was never published due to technical controversies, a conference to be held in 2003 was cancelled.|-| colspan="4" style="background-color: #EFEFEF"| 2 Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed King Hui as King Nan's successor after their capital, Luoyang,
fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. However Zhou resistance did not last long in the face of the Qin
advance and so King Nan is widely considered to have been the last king of the Zhou dynasty.|}

See also

Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project

Footnotes References

Lee, Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. (1999). Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series). Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039
Shen, Sinyan (1987), Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, Scientific American, 256, 94.
Sun, Yan. 2006. "Cultural and Political Control in North China: Style and Use of the Bronzes of Yan at Liulihe during the Early Western Zhou." In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Edited by Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu. Pages 215-237. ISBN 9780824828844; ISBN 0824828844.
Feng, Li. 2006. Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Schirokauer & Brown 2006. "A Brief history of Chinese civilization: second edition" Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, pp.25-47

External links

History of the Zhou Dynasty by Leon Poon

Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project

Footnotes References

Lee, Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. (1999). Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series). Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039
Shen, Sinyan (1987), Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, Scientific American, 256, 94.
Sun, Yan. 2006. "Cultural and Political Control in North China: Style and Use of the Bronzes of Yan at Liulihe during the Early Western Zhou." In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Edited by Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu. Pages 215-237. ISBN 9780824828844; ISBN 0824828844.
Feng, Li. 2006. Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Schirokauer & Brown 2006. "A Brief history of Chinese civilization: second edition" Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, pp.25-47

External links

History of the Zhou Dynasty by Leon Poon

Eastern Zhou Dynasty
Xuan Jiu, the son of King You, established the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in 770 BC, and moved the capital to Luoyi (present-day Luoyang, Henan Province).

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