Zhou Dynasty
The
Zhou Dynasty (;
1022 BC to
256 BC) followed the
Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the
Qin Dynasty in
China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other in
Chinese history, and the
use of iron was introduced to China during this time. 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.
In the Chinese historical tradition, the rulers of the Zhou displaced the Shang and legitimized their rule by invoking the
Mandate of Heaven, the notion that the ruler (the "
son of heaven") governed by divine right (granted by the Supreme God of Heaven) but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate. The doctrine explained and justified the demise of the
Xia and Shang Dynasties and at the same time supported the legitimacy of present and future rulers. The Zhou dynasty was founded by the
Ji family and had its capital at Hào (鎬, near the present-day city of
Xi'an). Sharing the language and culture of the Shang (Yin), the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, gradually sinicized, that is, extended Shang (Yin) culture through much of
China Proper north of the
Yangtze River.
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Western Zhou civilization. |
In the West, the Zhou period is often described as feudal because the Zhou's early rule invites comparison with
medieval rule in Europe. However, historians debate the meaning of the term
feudal; the more appropriate term for the Zhou Dynasty's political arrangement would be from the Chinese language itself: the
F"ngjiàn (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.
Initially the Ji family was able to control the country firmly. In
771 BC, after
King You 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 queen's son
Ji Yijiu was proclaimed the new king by the nobles from the states of
Zheng,
Lü,
Qin 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 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 to
481 BC, is called the
Spring and Autumn Period, after a famous historical chronicle of the time; the second, which extends slightly past the 256 BC end date of the Eastern Zhou, is known as the
Warring States Period (480 to 221 BC). This discrepancy is due to the fact that thelast Zhou king's reign ended in 256, 35 years before the beginning of the
Qin dynasty which ended the Warring States period.
With the royal line broken, the power of the Zhou court gradually diminished; 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 and declared themselves to be kings. They wanted to be the king of the kings. Finally, the dynasty was obliterated by
Qin Shi Huang's unification of China in 221 BC.
Agriculture in 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, 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 (such as rice) and distribute them in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period include
bronze making, which was integral in making weapons and farming tools. Again, these industries were dominated by the nobility who direct the production of such materials.
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Chinese sovereign *
Huns *
Tribes in Chinese historyThe official site of the Chou Dynasty genealogy by Lester D.K. Chow, president, Chou Clansmen Association of America, P.O. Box 4604, Honolulu, Hawaii 96812 Translated from Chinese text to English.http://www.geocities.com/zhouclan/chia_pu.html
