Zhou dynasty

{{Short description|Chinese dynasty from c. 1046 to 256 BC}} {{For|other dynasties with the same name|Zhou (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox country | native_name = {{langn|zh|周}}<br />class=skin-invert|x24px|alt=𗴂 | conventional_long_name = Zhou | life_span = {{circa|1046}}{{snd}}256 BC | government_type = Monarchy | event_start = Battle of Muye | year_start = {{circa|1046 BC}} | event_end = Deposition of King Nan by Qin | year_end = 256 BC | p1 = Late Shang | p2 = Predynastic Zhou | s1 = Qin dynasty | event1 = Gonghe Regency | date_event1 = 841–828 BC | event2 = Relocation to Wangcheng | date_event2 = 771 BC | event_post = Fall of last Zhou holdouts{{sfnp|Schinz|1996|p=80}} | date_post = 249 BC | image_map = Zhou dynasty 1000 BC.png | image_map_caption = Territory of the Western Zhou {{circa|1000 BC}} | capital = {{ubli|Fenghao{{efn|Fenghao is the modern name for the twin city formed by the Western Zhou capitals of Haojing and Fengjing.}} (1046–771 BC)|Wangcheng{{efn|The exact location of Wangcheng and its relation to Chengzhou is disputed. According to Xu Zhaofeng, "Chengzhou" and "Wangcheng" were originally synonymous and used to name the same capital city from 771 to 510 BC. "The creation of a distinction between Wangcheng and Chengzhou probably occurred during the reign of King Jing", under whom a new capital "Chengzhou" was built to the east of the old city "Wangcheng". Nevertheless, the new Chengzhou was still sometimes called Wangcheng and vice versa, adding to the confusion.}} {{nwr|(771–510 BC;}} {{nwr|314–256 BC}})|Chengzhou<ref name="Chengzhou">{{Cite journal |last=Xu |first=Zhaofeng |title=Considering Chengzhou ('Completion of Zhou') and Wangcheng ('City of the King') |url=http://www.kaogu.cn/uploads/soft/Chinese%20Archaeology/8/Considering%20Chengzhou%20%28%27Completion%20of%20Zhou%27%29%20and%20Wangcheng%20%28%27City%20of%20the%20King%27%29.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Chinese Archaeology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722225701/http://www.kaogu.cn/uploads/soft/Chinese%20Archaeology/8/Considering%20Chengzhou%20%28%27Completion%20of%20Zhou%27%29%20and%20Wangcheng%20%28%27City%20of%20the%20King%27%29.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2015 |access-date=22 July 2015}}</ref> {{nwr|(510–314 BC)}}}} | common_languages = Old Chinese | religion = {{Hlist|Chinese folk religion|Ancestor veneration|Heaven worship<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Tian">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Tian |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/tian |access-date=17 August 2015}}</ref>}} | currency = Spade money | leader1 = Wu | year_leader1 = {{circa|1046–1043 BC}} | leader2 = You | year_leader2 = 781–771 BC | leader3 = Ping | year_leader3 = 770–720 BC | leader4 = Nan | year_leader4 = 314–256 BC | title_leader = King | title_deputy = | stat_year1 = 273 BC | stat_pop1 = 30,000,000 | stat_year2 = 230 BC | stat_pop2 = 38,000,000 }} {{Infobox Chinese|title=Zhou|showflag=p |pic=Zhou dynasty (Chinese characters).svg |piccap="Zhou" in ancient bronze script (top), seal script (middle), and regular script (bottom) Chinese characters |picupright=0.2 |c={{linktext|周}} |p=Zhōu |xej={{Script/Nastaliq|ژَوْ}} |w={{tonesup|Chou1}} |mi={{IPAc-cmn|zh|ou|1}} |tp=Jhou |myr=Jōu |bpmf=ㄓㄡ |wuu=Tseu |poj=Chiu |tl=Tsiu |j=Zau1 |y=Jāu |ci={{IPAc-yue|z|au|1}} |oc-b92=*{{IPA|tjiw}} |oc-bs=*{{IPA|tiw}} }} {{History of China|BC=1}} The '''Zhou dynasty''' ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|oʊ}} {{respell|JOH}}; {{lang-zh|c=周|p=Zhōu}}, {{Small|pronunciation:}} {{IPAc-cmn|zh|ou|1}}) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from {{circa|1046 BC}} until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period ({{circa|1046|lk=no}}{{snd}}771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military control over territories centered on the Wei River valley and North China Plain. 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,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pankenier |first=David W. |url=https://www.academia.edu/43379398 |title=Astrology and Cosmology in Early China: Conforming Earth to Heaven |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-53901-3 |page=197 |chapter=The cosmo-political mandate |archive-date=2022-09-15 |access-date=2022-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915083908/https://www.academia.edu/43379398 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaughnessy |first=Edward L. |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520070288/sources-of-western-zhou-history |title=Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-520-07028-8 |pages=217–236 |chapter=The Date of the Zhou Conquest of Shang |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BH1ZrCsslosC&pg=PA217}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nivison |first=David S. |title=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |publisher=Harvard-Yenching Institute |year=1983 |volume=43 |pages=481–580 |chapter=The Dates of Western Chou |jstor=2719108 |issue=2|doi=10.2307/2719108 }}</ref>

The later Eastern Zhou period is itself roughly divided into two parts. During the Spring and Autumn period ({{circa|771|481 BC|lk=no}}), power became increasingly decentralized as the authority of the royal house diminished. The Warring States period ({{circa|475|lk=no}}{{snd}}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 in 256 BC. The Qin ultimately founded the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC after conquering all of China.

The Zhou period is often considered to be the zenith for the craft of Chinese bronzeware.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Von Glahn |first=Richard |title=The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-139-34384-8 |pages=11}}</ref> The latter Zhou period is also famous for the advent of three major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism. The Zhou dynasty also spans the period when the predominant form of written Chinese became seal script, which evolved from the earlier oracle bone and bronze scripts. By the dynasty's end, an immature form of clerical script had also emerged.

==History== ===Foundation=== {{see also|Predynastic Zhou}}

====Traditional myth==== According to Chinese mythology, the Zhou lineage began when Jiang Yuan, a consort of the legendary Emperor Ku, miraculously conceived a child, Qi "the Abandoned One", after stepping into the divine footprint of Shangdi.<ref name="ode2ji">'"Major Hymns - Decade of the Birth of Our People - [https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/sheng-min Birth of Our People]"</ref><ref name="eb">"Hou Ji". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> Qi was a culture hero credited with surviving abandonment by his mother three times, and with greatly improving agriculture,<ref name="ode2ji"/> to the point where he was granted lordship over Tai, the surname Ji, and the title Houji "Lord of Millet", by the Emperor Shun.{{sfn|''Records of the Grand Historian''|loc="Annals of Zhou", [https://ctext.org/shiji/zhou-ben-ji#n4578 §3]{{pb}}{{lang|lzh|帝舜曰：「棄，黎民始饑，爾后稷播時百穀。」封棄於邰，號曰后稷，別姓姬氏。}}{{pb}}"Emperor Shun said, 'Qi, the black-haired people begin to be famished. Do you, Lord of Millet, sow in their seasons the various kinds of grain.' He enfeoffed Qi at Tai; [Qi's] title was Lord of Millet; and his distinctive surname was Ji."}} 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 ({{zhi|t=農師|p=Nóngshī}}) in old age and either he or his son Ju abandoned their tradition, living in the manner of the Xirong and Rongdi (see Hua–Yi distinction).{{sfn|''Records of the Grand Historian''|loc="Annals of Zhou", [http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=4579&remap=gb §3]}} Ju's son Liu,{{sfnp|Wu|1982|p=235}} however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin,{{efn|The exact location of Bin remains obscure, but it may have been close to Linfen on the Fen River in present-day Shanxi.{{sfnmp|Shaughnessy|1999|1p=303|Wu|1982|2p=273}}}} which his descendants ruled for generations. Tai later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the Wei River valley (modern Qishan County).

The duke passed over his two elder sons Taibo 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, Jili went to conquer several Xirong 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 among the tribes there. Jili's son Wen bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to Feng (present-day Xi'an). Around 1046 BC, Wen's son Wu and his ally Jiang Ziya led an army of 45,000 men and 300 chariots across the Yellow River and defeated Di Xin at the Battle of Muye, marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty.{{efn|Sima Qian was only able to establish historical dates after the time of the Gonghe Regency. Earlier dates, like that of 1046 BC for the Battle of Muye, are given in this article according to the Chinese government–sponsored Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project, but they remain contentious. Various historians have offered dates for the battle ranging between 1122 and 1027 BC.}} The Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of Song, which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as {{ill|Er Wang San Ke|zh|二王三恪}}.

====Culture==== According to Nicholas Bodman, the Zhou appear to have spoken a language largely similar in vocabulary and syntax to that of the Shang;{{sfnp|Bodman|1980|p=41|loc="Moreover, Shang dynasty Chinese at least in its syntax and lexicon seems not to differ basically from that of the Zhou dynasty whose language is amply attested in inscriptions on bronze vessels and which was transmitted in the early classical literature."}} a recent study by David McCraw, using lexical statistics, reached the same conclusion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McCraw |first=David |year=2010 |title=An ABC Exercise in Old Sinitic Lexical Statistics |url=http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp202_old_sinitic_roots.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |issue=202}}</ref> The Zhou emulated Shang cultural practices, possibly to legitimize their own rule,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rawson |first=Jessica |author-link=Jessica Rawson |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 |editor-last=Loewe |editor-first=Michael |pages=387 |chapter=Western Zhou Archaeology |editor-last2=Shaughnessy |editor-first2=Edward L. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC&pg=PA387 |via=Google Books}}</ref> and became the successors to Shang culture.<ref name="li2006">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Feng |author-mask = Li Feng | author-link= Li Feng (sinologist) | doi=10.1017/CBO9780511489655.011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_qOvs0WjPcC |title=Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-139-45688-3 |pages=286 |via=Google Books}}</ref> At the same time, the Zhou may also have been connected to the Xirong, a broadly defined cultural group to the west of the Shang, which the Shang regarded as tributaries.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Chiang |first=Po-Yi |title=Han Cultural and Political Influences in the Transformation of the Shizhaishan Cultural Complex |degree=Masters |publisher=Australian National University |pages=1–2 |year=2008 |hdl=1885/150555 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2024}} For example, the philosopher Mencius (372–289 BC) acknowledged that King Wen of Zhou had ancestry from among the Xirong, as King Wen's descendants, the Zhou kings, claimed descent from Hou Ji, a legendary culture hero possibly related to the Xirong through his mother Jiang Yuan.<ref>''Mencius'', [https://ctext.org/mengzi/li-lou-ii#n1700 "Li lou II"]. text: "孟子曰：「舜生於諸馮，遷於負夏，卒於鳴條，東夷之人也。文王生於岐周，卒於畢郢，西夷之人也。" D.C.Lau (1970:128)'s translation: "Mencius said, 'Shun was an Eastern barbarian; he was born in Chu Feng, moved to Fu Hsia, and died in Ming T'iao. King Wen was a Western barbarian; he was born in Ch'i Chou and died in Pi Ying."</ref><ref>''Classic of Poetry'' [https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/sheng-min "Sheng Min"]</ref><ref name="pulleyblank1983">{{Cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=The Origins of Chinese Civilization |publisher=University of California Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-520-04229-8 |editor-last=Keightley |editor-first=David |chapter=The Chinese and Their Neighbors in Prehistoric and Early Historic Times |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-vdP2aZWhUC&pg=PA418 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Pulleyblank2000">Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20171118181857/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~earlychina/docs/2008/ec25_pulleyblank.pdf "Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organization of the Zhou Polity"], ''Early China''. '''25''' p. 21–22</ref> Additionally, the late 4th-century BC ''Zuo Zhuan'' comments that the baron of Li Rong ({{zhi|t=驪戎男}}), after being defeated by Jin, married his daughter Li Ji off.<ref>''Zuo Zhuan'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E8%8E%8A%E5%85%AC#%E5%82%B3_28 "Duke Zhuang - 28th year - zhuan"] quote: "晉伐驪戎，驪戎男女以驪姬。"</ref><ref name="Lee">{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Constance |title=Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. – 618 C.E. |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-47591-0 |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Lily Xiao Hong |pages=41–42 |chapter=Li Ji, Wife of Duke Xian of Jin |editor-last2=Stefanowska |editor-first2=A. D. |editor-last3=Wiles |editor-first3=Sue |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0oCsBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{efn|Eastern Wu scholar-official Wei Zhao stated the Xianyu's rulers among the Beidi were also surnamed Ji.<ref>''Commentaries on Discourses of the States'' [http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0201/00gyz/015.htm Commentaries on "Discourses of Zheng"] quote: "狄，北狄也。鮮虞，姬姓在狄者也。"</ref> }} 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".<ref name="li2006" /> Cultural artifacts of the Western Rong coexisted with Western Zhou bronzes, indicating close bonds between the Rong and the Western Zhou.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yang |first1=Jianhua |author-link=Yang Jianhua |title=The Metal Road of the Eastern Eurasian Steppe: The Formation of the Xiongnu Confederation and the Silk Road |last2=Shao |first2=Huiqiu |last3=Pan |first3=Ling |publisher=Springer |year=2020 |isbn=978-9-813-29155-3 |page=371}}</ref>

===Western Zhou=== {{main|Western Zhou}}

thumb|380px|States of the Western Zhou dynasty 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. Although Wu's early death left a young and inexperienced heir, the Duke of Zhou 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 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'' system.{{sfnp|Chinn|2007|p=43}} Furthermore, he countered Zhou's crisis of legitimacy by expounding the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven while accommodating important Shang rituals at Wangcheng and Chengzhou.{{sfnmp|Shaughnessy|1999|1pp=310–311|Chinn|2007|2p=43|Hucker|1978|3pp=32–33}}

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.{{sfnp|Hucker|1978|p=37}}

The conflicts with nomadic tribes from the north and the northwest, variously known as the Xianyun, Guifang, or various "Rong" tribes, such as the Xirong, Shanrong or Quanrong, intensified towards the end of the Western Zhou period.<ref name="WT"/> These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at the time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands—especially the Wei River valley. Archaeologically, the Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture.<ref name="WT">{{cite book |last1=Tse |first1=Wicky W. K. |title=The Collapse of China's Later Han Dynasty, 25–220 CE: The Northwest Borderlands and the Edge of Empire |year=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-53231-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-y9iDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 45–46], [https://books.google.com/books?id=-y9iDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT63 63], n.40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-y9iDwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books}}</ref>

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 Haojing and killing the last Western Zhou king You.<ref name="WT"/> 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 Wangcheng, marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period.<ref name="Chengzhou"/>

===Eastern Zhou=== {{Main|Eastern Zhou}}

thumb|upright=1.4|Major states during the Eastern Zhou {{Continental Asia in 500 BCE|right|The Zhou dynasty and contemporary polities {{circa|500 BC}}}} 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 Confucian chronicle of the early years of this process, gave the period its name as the Spring and Autumn period. The partition of Jin during the mid-5th century BC is a commonly cited as initiating the subsequent Warring States period.{{sfnp|Hucker|1978|p=37}} 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.<ref name="Chengzhou"/> Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou declared himself to be "King Hui", but his splinter state was fully disassembled by 249. Qin's wars of unification concluded in 221 BC with Qin Shi Huang's annexation of Qi.

The Eastern Zhou is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy: the Hundred Schools of Thought which flourished as rival lords patronized itinerant scholars is led by the example of Qi's Jixia Academy. The Nine Schools of Thought which came to dominate the others were Confucianism as interpreted by Mencius and others, Legalism, Taoism, Mohism, the utopian communalist Agriculturalism, two strains of the School of Diplomacy, the School of Names, Sun Tzu's School of the Military, and the School of Naturalists.<ref name="chiphi">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1997 |title=Axial Thinkers and the Formation of Philosophical Schools |encyclopedia=Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osxPipnXeN0C&pg=PA466 |editor-last=Carr |editor-first=Brian |page=466 |isbn=978-0-415-03535-4 |editor2-last=Mahalingam |editor2-first=Indira |via=Google Books}}</ref> 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 system.

==Culture and society== The Zhou heartland was the Wei River valley; this remained their primary base of power after conquering the Shang.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Li Feng |title=Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=1-139-45688-1 |page=40}}</ref>

===Mandate of Heaven=== {{Main|Mandate of Heaven}}

thumb|Western Zhou bronze pot (896 BC), Fufeng County, Shaanxi{{snd}}Baoji Zhouyuan Museum 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.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013}}

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.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}} 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.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=Hackett |year=2005 |isbn=0-872-20781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=XIV}}</ref> 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 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 system on which they based their calendar.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels, statues, 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.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

===Feudalism=== {{further|List of Zhou dynasty states}} thumb|right|A Western Zhou ceremonial bronze of cooking-vessel form inscribed to record that the King of Zhou gave a fiefdom to Shi You, ordering that he inherit the title as well as the land and people living there Western writers often describe the Zhou period as feudal because the Zhou's ''fengjian'' system invites comparison with European political systems during the Middle Ages. [[File:Changshadragon.jpg|thumb|right|''Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon'', painting on silk, dated to 5th–3rd century BC, from Zidanku Tomb no. 1 in Changsha, Hunan]] [[File:Lacquer painting from Ch'u State.jpg|thumb|A {{circa|316 BC}} lacquerware painting from the Jingmen Tomb of the state of Chu (704–223 BC), depicting men wearing precursors to ''hanfu'' dress and riding in a two-horsed chariot]] There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. When the dynasty was established, the conquered land was divided into hereditary fiefs ({{lang|zh|諸侯}}, ''zhūhóu'') that eventually became powerful in their own right. In matters of inheritance, the Zhou dynasty recognized only patrilineal primogeniture as legal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ancestral Memory in Early China|first=K. E.|last=Brashier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJAMLt5NYAQC&pg=PA71 |isbn=978-0-674-05607-7|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Harvard University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://c.ianthro.tw/sites/c.ianthro.tw/files/da/df/401/401104_0001.pdf |title=The ramage system in China and Polynesia |first=Li |last=Hwei |access-date=2013-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055816/http://c.ianthro.tw/sites/c.ianthro.tw/files/da/df/401/401104_0001.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-21 }}</ref> 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"<ref>Tao, Hsi-Sheng. Marriage and Family, Shanghai. 1934. pp. 17–31</ref>

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 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""<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brashier |first=K. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJAMLt5NYAQC&pg=PA71 |title=Ancestral Memory in Early China |date=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-05607-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

This type of unilineal descent-group later became the model of the Korean family through the influence of Neo-Confucianism, as Zhu Xi and others advocated its re-establishment in China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deuchler |first=Martina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQeeYOyUx64C&pg=PA129 |title=The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology |year=1992 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-0-674-16089-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

====''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".<ref>ChinaKnowledge.de encyclopedia, [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/zhou-admin.html] Alternatively, the sequence was translated as '''prince, lord, elder, master, chieftain''': Brooks 1997:3 n.9.</ref> 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'' ({{lang|zh|儒}}).<ref>{{cite book |last=Rosenlee|first=Li-Hsiang Lisa |title=Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation |year=2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-791-48179-0 |pages=21–24}}</ref> 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, 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

===Agriculture, Industry=== [[Image:Shi Qiang pan.jpg|thumb|The Shi Qiang pan ({{circa|10th century BC}}), inscribed with the accomplishments of the earliest Zhou kings]] Across the Zhou period, agricultural land was generally tied to aristocratic lineages rather than held as private noble property; for the Western Zhou in particular, this authority was rooted in lineage‑based political geography rather than in the later conceptualized fengjian system.<ref name="LiFeng2006">{{cite book | last = Li | first = Feng | title = Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou, 1045–771 BC | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 9780521846462 }}</ref> Farming was carried out mainly by ordinary rural households, who formed the core of agricultural production.<ref name="LiFeng2013">{{cite book | last = Li | first = Feng | title = Early China: A Social and Cultural History | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2013 | isbn = 9780521719810 }}</ref> These households owed labor service, taxes, and military obligations to their lords or to the state, depending on the period.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hsu | first = Cho-yun | title = Ancient China in Transition: An Analysis of Social Mobility, 722–222 B.C. | publisher = Stanford University Press | year = 1965 | isbn = 9780804702249 }}</ref> Various dependent laborers and slaves also existed, but they constituted a minority of the rural population.<ref name="PatriciaEbrey2010">{{cite book | last = Ebrey | first = Patricia Buckley | title = The Cambridge Illustrated History of China | edition = 2nd | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2010 | isbn = 9780521124331 }}</ref> Modern scholarship emphasizes that Zhou rural society did not resemble European manorial serfdom, since most farmers were not legally bound to noble estates and retained household autonomy.<ref name="PatriciaEbrey2010" /><ref name="LiFeng2013" /> Classical texts describe an idealized well field system (井田制) in which a plot of land was divided into nine squares, with the central square farmed for public obligations—such as producing grain for communal storage in times of poor harvest—while the surrounding squares were farmed by individual households.<ref>{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Mark Edward | title = Writing and Authority in Early China | publisher = SUNY Press | year = 1999 | isbn = 9780791441138 }}</ref> Modern historians generally view this as a later conceptual model rather than a documented administrative system of the Zhou period.<ref name="LiFeng2006" />

Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. These industries were dominated by the nobility who directed the production of such materials.<ref>[https://www.chinaeducenter.com/en/whychina/zhou.php#:~:text=Agriculture%20in%20Zhou%20Dynasty%20was,serfs%2C%20similar%20to%20European%20feudalism. History of Zhou Dynasty 1122–255 BC] China Education Center</ref>

China's first projects of hydraulic engineering 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, 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 (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 to a spot further up the Yellow River.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

=== Military === {{main|Military of the Zhou dynasty}}

[[File:Cavalry and Horse Warring States period 475-221 BCE Terracotta Warriors 2013 exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum 20130320-110726 C4A.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The Taerpo Horserider, a Qin terracotta figurine from a tomb near modern Xianyang in Shaanxi, 4th–3rd century BC<ref name="MK">{{cite journal |last1=Khayutina |first1=Maria |title=From wooden attendants to terracotta warriors |journal=Bernisches Historisches Museum the Newsletter |date=Autumn 2013 |volume=65 |page=2, fig. 4 |url=https://www.iias.asia/sites/iias/files/nwl_article/2019-05/IIAS_NL65_1213.pdf}}</ref>]]

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, modern Ningxia and the Yellow River 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 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 Quanrong nomads in vain. King You was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. Although chariots had been introduced to China during the Shang dynasty from Central Asia, the Zhou period saw the first major use of chariots in battle.{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=14}}{{sfnp|Shaughnessy|1988}} Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between horse burials of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with the steppe populations in the west, such as the Saka and Wusun.<ref name="KrechSteinicke">{{harvnb|Krech|Steinicke|2011|p=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rawson |first1=Jessica |last2=Huan |first2=Limin |last3=Taylor |first3=William Timothy Treal |title=Seeking Horses: Allies, Clients and Exchanges in the Zhou Period (1045–221 BC) |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |year=2021 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=489–530 |doi=10.1007/s10963-021-09161-9 |s2cid=245487356 |issn=1573-7802|doi-access=free }}</ref> Other possible cultural influences resulting from contact with these Iranic people of Central Asia in this period may include fighting styles, head-and-hooves burials, art motifs and myths.<ref name="KrechSteinicke"/>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Poo |first1=Mu-chou |title=Enemies of Civilization: Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China |year=2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-791-48370-1 |pages=87–88}}</ref> King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Dingxin |title=The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History: A New Theory of Chinese History |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-46361-8 |page=86}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4"> File:Gold sword hilt Eastern Zhou BM.jpg|Gold sword hilt, Eastern Zhou, 6–5th century BC{{snd}}British Museum 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 </gallery>

===Philosophy=== {{Further|Chinese Philosophy#Ancient philosophy}} [[File:Plaque in animal style, Later Zhou or Han dynasty, 4th-3rd century BCE.jpg|thumb|Plaque in nomadic animal style, Eastern Zhou or Han dynasty, 4th–3rd century BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/52165 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref>]] thumb|An embroidered silk gauze ritual garment from an Eastern Zhou era tomb at Mashan, Hubei, 4th century BC [[File:Crystal Cup(Warring States Period) in Hangzhou Museum.JPG|thumb|A drinking cup carved from crystal, unearthed at Banshan, Hangzhou, Warring States period{{snd}}Hangzhou Museum]] [[File:Bianzhong.jpg|thumb|The Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, a set of bronze ''bianzhong'' percussion instruments from his tomb in Hubei, dated 433 BC]] During the Zhou dynasty, the origins of native Chinese philosophy 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 Confucius, founder of Confucianism, and Laozi, founder of Taoism. Other philosophers of this era were Mozi, founder of Mohism; Mencius, the "second sage" of Confucianism; Shang Yang and Han Fei, responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism; and Xunzi, who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time.{{sfnp|Schirokauer|Brown|2006|pp=25–47}}

The state theology of the Zhou dynasty used concepts from the Shang dynasty and mostly referred to the Shang god, Di, as Tian, a more distant and unknowable concept, yet one that anyone could utilize, the opposite view of the Shang's spirituality.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=Hackett |year=2005 |isbn=0-872-20781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=XII-XIV}}</ref> 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'', ''Rites of Zhou'', and ''Etiquette and Ceremonial'' compiled during the Han dynasty (202 BC{{snd}}220 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 * 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.<ref>Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. p. 18, <nowiki>https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html</nowiki>.</ref> 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.<ref>Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. pp. 19–20, <nowiki>https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html</nowiki>.</ref>

==Kings== {{see also|Family tree of Chinese monarchs (ancient)#Zhou dynasty}} {{anchor|kings|list of kings|list of rulers}} The rulers of the Zhou dynasty were titled ''wang'' ({{lang|zh|王}}), which was also the term used by the Shang rulers, normally translated into English as 'king'.<ref>{{cite book |title=China in the Early Bronze Age |first=Robert L. |last=Thorp |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8122-3910-2 |page=176}}</ref> In addition to these rulers, King Wu's immediate ancestors—Danfu, Jili, and Wen—are also referred to as "Kings of Zhou", despite having been nominal vassals of the Shang kings.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ List of Western Zhou kings |- ! colspan="2" scope="colgroup" | Name ! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Reign{{efn|Dates are those published by Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and Edward L. Shaughnessy's ''The Absolute Chronology of the Western Zhou Dynasty''.}} |- ! scope="col" | Personal ! scope="col" | Posthumous |- | Fa {{lang|zh|發}} | King Wu {{lang|zh|周武王}} | {{ubc|1046–1043 BC|1045–1043 BC}} |- | Song {{lang|zh|誦}} | King Cheng {{lang|zh|周成王}} | {{ubc|1042–1021 BC|1042/1035–1006 BC}} |- | Zhao {{lang|zh|釗}} | King Kang {{lang|zh|周康王}} | {{ubc|1020–996 BC|1005/1003–978 BC}} |- | Xia {{lang|zh|瑕}} | King Zhao {{lang|zh|周昭王}} | {{ubc|995–977 BC|977/975–957 BC}} |- | Man {{lang|zh|滿}} | King Mu {{lang|zh|周穆王}} | {{ubc|976–922 BC|956–918 BC}} |- | Yihu {{lang|zh|繄扈}} | King Gong {{lang|zh|周共王}}{{efn|Or {{lang|zh|周龔王}}}} | {{ubc|922–900 BC|917/915–900 BC}} |- | Jian {{lang|zh|囏}} | King Yih {{lang|zh|周懿王}} | {{ubc|899–892 BC|899/897–873 BC}} |- | Pifang {{lang|zh|辟方}} | King Xiao {{lang|zh|周孝王}} | {{ubc|891–886 BC|872?–866 BC}} |- | Xie {{lang|zh|燮}} | King Yi {{lang|zh|周夷王}} | {{ubc|885–878 BC|865–858 BC}} |- | Hu {{lang|zh|胡}} | King Li {{lang|zh|周厲王}}{{efn|Or {{lang|zh|周剌王}}}} | {{ubc|877–841 BC|857/853–842/828 BC}} |- style="background-color:#ccc" | colspan="2" | ''Gonghe Regency'' {{lang|zh|共和}} | 841–828 BC |- | Jing {{lang|zh|靜}} | King Xuan {{lang|zh|周宣王}} | 827–782 BC |- | Gongsheng {{lang|zh|宮湦}} | King You {{lang|zh|周幽王}} | 781–771 BC |- |} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ List of Eastern Zhou kings |- ! colspan="2" scope="colgroup" | Name ! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Reign |- ! scope="col" | Personal ! scope="col" | Posthumous |- | Yijiu {{lang|zh|宜臼}} | King Ping {{lang|zh|周平王}} | 770–720 BC |- | Lin {{lang|zh|林}} | King Huan {{lang|zh|周桓王}} | 719–697 BC |- | Tuo {{lang|zh|佗}} | King Zhuang {{lang|zh|周莊王}} | 696–682 BC |- | Huqi {{lang|zh|胡齊}} | King Xi {{lang|zh|周僖王}} | 681–677 BC |- | Lang {{lang|zh|閬}} | King Hui {{lang|zh|周惠王}} | 676–652 BC |- | Zheng {{lang|zh|鄭}} | King Xiang {{lang|zh|周襄王}} | 651–619 BC |- | Renchen {{lang|zh|壬臣}} | King Qing {{lang|zh|周頃王}} | 618–613 BC |- | Ban {{lang|zh|班}} | King Kuang {{lang|zh|周匡王}} | 612–607 BC |- | Yu {{lang|zh|瑜}} | King Ding {{lang|zh|周定王}} | 606–586 BC |- | Yi {{lang|zh|夷}} | King Jian {{lang|zh|周簡王}} | 585–572 BC |- | Xiexin {{lang|zh|洩心}} | King Ling {{lang|zh|周靈王}} | 571–545 BC |- | Gui {{lang|zh|貴}} | King Jing {{lang|zh|周景王}} | 544–521 BC |- | Meng {{lang|zh|猛}} | King Dao {{lang|zh|周悼王}} | 520 BC |- | Gai {{lang|zh|丐}} | King Jing {{lang|zh|周敬王}} | 519–476 BC |- | Ren {{lang|zh|仁}} | King Yuan {{lang|zh|周元王}} | 475–469 BC |- | Jie {{lang|zh|介}} | King Zhending {{lang|zh|周貞定王}} | 468–442 BC |- | Quji {{lang|zh|去疾}} | King Ai {{lang|zh|周哀王}} | 441 BC |- | Shu {{lang|zh|叔}} | King Si {{lang|zh|周思王}} | 441 BC |- | Wei {{lang|zh|嵬}} | King Kao {{lang|zh|周考王}} | 440–426 BC |- | Wu {{lang|zh|午}} | King Weilie {{lang|zh|周威烈王}} | 425–402 BC |- | Jiao {{lang|zh|驕}} | King An {{lang|zh|周安王}} | 401–376 BC |- | Xi {{lang|zh|喜}} | King Lie {{lang|zh|周烈王}} | 375–369 BC |- | Bian {{lang|zh|扁}} | King Xian {{lang|zh|周顯王}} | 368–321 BC |- | Ding {{lang|zh|定}} | King Shenjing {{lang|zh|周慎靚王}} | 320–315 BC |- | Yan {{lang|zh|延}} | King Nan {{lang|zh|周赧王}} | 314–256 BC |} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=Hackett |year=2005 |isbn=0-87220-781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis |pages=2}}</ref>

== Astrology == thumb|Bronze fittings in the form of tigers, Baoji, Shaanxi – Western Zhou {{Circa|900 BC}}

In traditional Chinese astrology, Zhou is represented by two stars, Eta Capricorni ({{zhi|c=週一|p=Zhōu yī|l=first star of Zhou}}) and 21 Capricorni ({{zhi|c=週二|p=Zhōu'èr|l=second star of Zhou}}), in "Twelve States" asterism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060704.html|title=Astronomy Education Network|language=zh|date=4 July 2006|access-date=5 December 2010|archive-date=22 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522123616/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060704.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Zhou is also represented by the star Beta Serpentis in asterism "Right Wall", Heavenly Market enclosure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0606/ap060624.html|title=Astronomy Education Network|language=zh|date=24 June 2006|access-date=5 December 2010|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404010915/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0606/ap060624.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Notelist|colwidth=25em}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist|30em}}

=== Works cited === ==== Primary ==== {{Refbegin}} * {{Citation | last = Sima | first = Qian | orig-date = c. 91 BC | author-link = Sima Qian | author-mask = Sima Qian (司馬遷) | script-title = zh:史記 | trans-title = Records of the Grand Historian | url = https://ctext.org/shiji | via = the Chinese Text Project | language = lzh | ref = {{sfnref|Records of the Grand Historian }} }} {{Refend}}

==== Secondary ==== {{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{Citation |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |author-link=Christopher I. Beckwith |title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ue8BxLEMt4C |via=Google Books |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-140-082994-1}} * {{Citation |chapter=Proto-Chinese and Sino-Tibetan: data towards establishing the nature of the relationship |first=Nicholas C. |last=Bodman |author-link=Nicholas Bodman |title=Contributions to historical linguistics: issues and materials |editor1-first=Frans |editor1-last=Van Coetsem |editor1-link=Frans Van Coetsem |editor2-first=Linda R. |editor2-last=Waugh |pages=34–199 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=1980 |isbn=978-9-004-06130-9}} * {{Citation |last=Chinn |first=Ann-ping |author-link=Annping Chin |year=2007 |title=The Authentic Confucius |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-0-743-24618-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/authenticconfuci00chin}} * {{Citation |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia Buckley |author-link=Patricia Buckley Ebrey |last2=Walthall |first2=Anne |last3=Palais |first3=James B. |author3-link=James Palais |year=2006 |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=0-618-13384-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/eastasiacultural00ebre_0}} * {{Citation |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |author-link=Jacques Gernet |year=1996 |title=A History of Chinese Civilization |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-49781-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern_0}} * {{Citation |last=Hucker |first=Charles O. |author-link=Charles Hucker |year=1978 |title=China to 1850: A Short History |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-804-70958-0}} * {{Citation |last1=Krech |first1=Volkhard |title=Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdIyAQAAQBAJ |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-004-22535-0 |last2=Steinicke |first2=Marian |via=Google Books}} * {{Citation |last=Khayutina |first=Maria |contribution=Where Was the Western Zhou Capital? |contribution-url=http://www.sinits.com/research/WesternZhouCapital.pdf |title=The Warring States Working Group, WSWG-17 |year=2003 |page=14 |location=Leiden |publisher=Warring States Project |url=http://www.umass.edu/wsp/conferences/wswg/17/index.html |access-date=2009-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529191628/http://www.umass.edu/wsp/conferences/wswg/17/index.html |archive-date=2010-05-29 |url-status=dead}} * {{Citation |last=Kleeman |first=Terry F. |title=Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAJrw0yInnAC |access-date=31 December 2014 |year=1998 |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |isbn=0-824-81800-8}} * {{Citation |last=Schinz |first=Alfred |editor-last1=Menges |editor-first1=Axel |title=The Magic Square: Cities in Ancient China |year=1996 |publisher=Daehan |location=Stuttgart}} * {{Citation |last1=Schirokauer |first1=Conrad |last2=Brown |first2=Miranda |year=2006 |title=A Brief History of Chinese Civilization |edition=Second |place=Wadsworth |publisher=Thomson |pages=25–47}} * {{Citation |last=Shaughnessy |first=Edward L. |author-link=Edward L. Shaughnessy |year=1988 |title=Historical Perspectives on The Introduction of The Chariot Into China |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=189–237 |doi=10.2307/2719276 |jstor=2719276}} * {{Citation |last=Shaughnessy |first=Edward L. |author-mask=3 |year=1999 |editor-last=Loewe |editor-first=Michael |editor2-last=Shaughnessy |editor2-first=Edward L. |chapter=Western Zhou History |pages=292–351 |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47030-8}} * {{Citation |last=Tignor |first=Robert |title=Worlds Together, Worlds Apart |volume=1 |year=2013 |edition=4th |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-92208-0 |display-authors=etal |ref={{sfnref|Tignor et al.|2013 }}}} * {{Citation |last=Wu |first=K. C. |year=1982 |title=The Chinese Heritage |place=New York |publisher=Crown |isbn=0-517-54475-X |url=https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku}} {{Refend}}

==Further reading== {{Refbegin}} * {{Citation |editor-surname=Fong |editor-given=Wen |title=The great Bronze Age of China: an exhibition from the People's Republic of China |location=New York |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-870-99226-1 |url=http://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/107906 |ref=none}} * {{Citation |last1=Lee |first1=Yuan-Yuan |last2=Shen |first2=Sinyan |title=Chinese Musical Instruments |series=Chinese Music Monograph Series |publisher=Chinese Music Society of North America Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-880-46403-8 |ref=none}} * {{Citation |last=Li |first=Feng |author-link=Li Feng (sinologist) |title=Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-85272-2 |ref=none}} * {{Citation |last=Shen |first=Sinyan |title=Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells |journal=Scientific American |year=1987 |volume=256 |issue=4 |page=94 |ref=none |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0487-104 |bibcode=1987SciAm.256d.104S}} * {{Citation |last=Sun |first=Yan |chapter=Cultural and Political Control in North China: Style and Use of the Bronzes of Yan at Liulihe during the Early Western Zhou |pages=215–237 |title=Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World |editor1-first=Victor H. |editor1-last=Mair |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-824-82884-4 |ref=none}} * {{Citation |first=Donald B. |last=Wagner |chapter=The Earliest Use of Iron in China |pages=1–9 |title=Metals in Antiquity |editor1-first=S. M. M. |editor1-last=Young |editor2-first=A. M. |editor2-last=Pollard |editor3-first=P. |editor3-last=Budd |editor4-first=R. A. |editor4-last=Ixer |display-editors=3 |location=Oxford |publisher=Archaeopress |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-841-71008-2 |ref=none}} {{Refend}}

==External links== {{Commons}}

{{S-start}} {{s-bef|before=Shang dynasty}} {{s-ttl|title=Dynasties in Chinese history|years=1046–256 BC}} {{s-aft|after=Qin dynasty}} {{s-end}}

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