Download Lecture two Xi`an City During Western Zhou Dynasty Period (1046B

Lecture two
Xi’an City During Western Zhou Dynasty Period
(1046B.C.___771B.C.)
The Capital of Several Famous Dynasties
Xi’an is the capital of thirteen dynasties in ancient China. There were several
famous dynasties who chose Xi’an as their capital when they ruled China. They were
Western Zhou dynasty, Western Han dynasty, Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty.
Xi'an has been a cultural and political center of China since the 11th century B.C. with the
founding of the Zhou Dynasty. The capital of Zhou was located southwest of contemporary Xi'an.
The ruling of Western Zhou(1046.B.C-771B.C.）
The establishment of Western Zhou
In 1048 BC, King Wu of Zhou marched down the Yellow River to the Mengjin
ford and met with more than 800 noblemen. In 1046 BC, King Wu took advantage of
Shang disunity to launch an attack along with many neighboring noblemen. The
Battle of Muye destroyed Shang‘s forces and King Zhou of Shang set his palace on
fire and burned himself to death. Then the Western Zhou dynasty chose Hao (Qishan
today) as its capital.
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There were many kings in the Western Zhou dynasty. Based on writing and
archaeological materials, people learned there were 11 generations and 12 kings
chronologically.
Kings of Western Zhou Dynasty
King Wen of ZhouChang (昌)
King Wu of ZhouFa (发)1046-1043 B.C.
King Cheng of ZhouSong (诵)1055-1021 B.C.
King Kang of ZhouZhao (钊)1020-996 B.C.
King Zhao of ZhouXia (瑕)995-977B.C.
King Mu of ZhouMan (满)976-922B.C.
King Gong of ZhouYihu (繄扈)922-900B.C.
King Yi of Zhou (Jian)Jian (囏)899-892B.C.
King Xiao of ZhouPifang (辟方)892-886B.C.
King Yi of Zhou (Xie)Xie (燮)885-878B.C.
King Li of ZhouHu (胡)877-841B.C.
Gonghe Regency841-828B.C.
King Xuan of ZhouJing (静)828-782B.C.
King You of ZhouGongsheng (宫湦)782-771B.C.
the system of enfeoffment of the Western Zhou Dynasty
King Wu followed his victory by establishing many feudal states under his 16
younger brothers and numerous allies. This system was based on the blood
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relationships instead of a modern administrative system.
patriarchal clan system
When the Zhou dynasty dominated China, this dynasty established a hierarchy in
China. All people under Zhou dynasty were divided into different classes (like below).
King
duke
marquis
count
viscount
baron
the officers
literati and officialdom
civilians
slaves
Mandate of Heaven
The Zhou dynasty used its military to throw down the Shang dynasty, then it
claimed that the king of Zhou was the son of heaven, and he was sent to human
society to help his father rule all people and replace the Shang dynasty. After this
method was used by the Zhou dynasty, all dynasties in China followed this idea and
used the same method to control China.
Several important kings of western Zhou dynasty
1. King Zhao of Zhou (996-977B.C) Period
King Zhao of Zhou dynasty led his army to fight against Chu on the Hanjiang
river, he failed in this war and later died on the Hanjiang River. Today this story is
known from a bronze vessel (see below). Some scholars researched many materials
and announced that the most important reason that King Zhao of Zhou dynasty began
this war was that the Zhou dynasty wanted to get mineral resources from south China.
At that time, bronze vessels were used in a great quantities, and it meant that the
Zhou dynasty had to find many mineral resources.
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2. King Mu of Zhou(977B.C.-922B.C.)
The story of King Mu is kept in a book named the Annals of Emperor Mu (this
book was written on bamboo and discovered in a tomb in 251 A.D in Henan province.
Some scholars said this book was written at a later date, and the story is a myth).
From the book people learned King Mu once set off from Xi’an and travelled to the
west. During his trip, he met a queen of the west on the top of Kunlun Mountains. It
means when the Zhou dynasty ruled China, there was already communication
between the west and China, especially Xi’an.
3. King You of Zhou(782B.C.-771B.C.)
King You of Zhou was the last king of the Western Zhou dynasty. What is known
today of his ruling is one day he recieved a woman who was called Baosi. She was so
beautiful that King You of Zhou did many things to earn her love. For example, Baosi
seldom smiled, so he told people who could make Baosi smile that he would like to
give this person a reward, so there is an idiom, “千金买笑”, which literally means
spend a thousand ounces of gold to buy a smile -- smile of a woman. “烽火戏诸侯”,
which literally means “light fire to joke dukes”, the fact is, because he got a suggest
that if he ordered soldiers to ignite fire on the mountains, his people would consider
their king to be in danger, perhaps even a war in Xi’an city, so they would come to
help their king at once, thousands of people would hurry to Xi’an city, a big mass of
people would be gathered. Then when Baosi saw it, she would think it’s interesting
and she would smile. King You thought it was a good idea, so he accepted this
suggestion and ordered soldiers to ignite fires on the top of Lishan mountains which
was very near Xi’an. Igniting a fire on Lishan mountains was used only when Xi’an
was in danger, so when King You did this, he lost his people’s trust forever.
The Invasion of Quanrong Minority(771B.C.)
The Quanrong minority group lived near Xi’an during the time of the late
Western Zhou dynasty. This minority group was a great threat to the Western Zhou
dynasty at that time. When King You of Zhou decided to give up his oldest son to be
his heir in favor of Baosi’s son, and killed his son’s mother, the grandfather-in-law of
his oldest son brought many people including Quanrong minority group and entered
Xi’an city. Quanrong minority group robbed, raped and killed many local people in
Xi’an city, including King You, Baosi and their son. Months later, when the new king
King Ping of the Zhou dynasty came to power, he found that Xi’an was not a good
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place for him to live, he ultimately moved his capital to Luoyang city in 770B.C. the
Western Zhou dynasty had finished its rule in Chinese history.
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