Historians call this method of governing Zhou kinship feudalism. The capital was moved eastward to Wangcheng,[1] marking the end of the "Western Zhou" (, pX Zhu) and the beginning of the "Eastern Zhou" dynasty (, pDng Zhu). 4. The noble person is concerned with rightness, the small person is concerned with profit. (4.16) Confucius redefined the meaning of nobility. Confucius lived just prior to the Warring States Period (551-479 BCE). Master Sun was a military commander and strategist who served the lords of the state of Wu just prior to the onset of the Warring States period (c. fifth century BCE). For a king, however, these men might become an obstacle or pose a threat because they held this land hereditarily. . Over the course of the first millennium CE, Daoism also became a popular and institutionalized religion. In 1059, upon witnessing five planets align, the Zhou ruler declared himself king and proceeded to engage in military conquests that made his kingdom a regional power to be reckoned with. 1934, Ancestral Memory in Early China Written By K. E. Brashier, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology Written By Martina Deuchler, Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon, "Considering Chengzhou ('Completion of Zhou') and Wangcheng ('City of the King')", "Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction, version 1.1 (20 September 2014)", "An ABC Exercise in Old Sinitic Lexical Statistics", "Chapter 14 - The Chinese and Their Neighbors in Prehistoric and Early Historic Times", "Ji and Jiang : The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organization of the Zhou Polity", Companion Encyclopaedia of Asian Philosophy, https://books.google.com/books?id=aJAMLt5NYAQC&pg=PA71, https://books.google.com/books?id=NQeeYOyUx64C&pg=PA129, "AEEA Astronomy Education Network ()", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhou_dynasty&oldid=1138647437, 3rd-century BC disestablishments in China, States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC, States and territories established in the 11th century BC, Articles with Chinese-language sources (zh), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Chinese-language text, Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Ancestral temples (size, legitimate number of pavilions), "Empire" as a description of foreign policy, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 20:30. 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. Feudalism generally describes a political and economic system characterized by fragmented authority, a set of obligations (usually of a military nature) between lords and vassals, and grants of land (fiefs) by rulers in exchange for some type of service (see Chapters Three and Twelve). It succeeded the Qin dynasty (221-207 bce). They presented a universe with multiple heavenly and hellish realms populated with divinities and demons. Qin's unification of China concluded in 221 BC with Qin Shihuang's annexation of Qi. Legal. During the turmoil of the Warring States period, other individuals developed a philosophy very different from Confucianism called Daoism. The Zhou Dynasty succeeded the Shang Dynasty. After 540 wars were fought over two centuries, only fifteen states remained by 475 BCE (see Map \(\PageIndex{2}\)). In 651 BCE, he convened an interstate meeting with other lords to discuss matters of order and security. Rather than give those posts to kinsmen, kings appointed men from the lower ranks of the nobility or commoners based on their loyalty and merit. A person of humanity is, for instance, one who is capable of empathy and unselfish concern for the welfare of others. We return to that topic after reviewing the ideas put forward by philosophers in the context of these centuries of turmoil. In victory, a noble redressed matters of honor and brought glory to his ancestors, something symbolized by the mound of dead enemies placed by his ancestral temple. Zhou dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Chou, dynasty that ruled ancient China for some eight centuries, establishing the distinctive political and cultural characteristics that were to be identified with China for the next two millennia. He saw the practice of morality in the family as the root. However, their enemies' rule did not last long. He was a cruel emperor that. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.. 'enfeoffment and establishment') was a political ideology and governance system in ancient China, whose social structure formed a decentralized system of confederation -like government [1] based on the ruling class consisting of the Son of Heaven (king) and nobles, and the lower class consisting of . [56] A series of states rose to prominence before each falling in turn, and Zhou was a minor player in most of these conflicts. A "King Hui" was declared, but his splinter state was fully removed by 249 BC. The Warring States Period started from 475 BC and ended in 221 BC. A truly noble person is one who puts what is right before personal gain and the desire for wealth and fame. After he died, they passed on his teachings, and a school of thought emerged from his teachings known as Confucianism. Now, many generations later, his state was a formidable power on the east coast. This practice meant that lesser but related aristocratic lineages lived in estates across each nobles territory, while also serving as ministers at his court. Being appointed, they could move from one state to another. This move marked the beginning of the Eastern Zhou (770 256 BCE). According to the Duke of Zhou, Heaven had decreed that Shang kings must fall and Zhou rulers should replace them. Finally, these rulers no longer relied solely on close kinsmen to wage war alongside them. First, ties of kinship so crucial to the founding of Zhou lost their meaning over time. 4.7.1: The Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 771 BCE) In the eleventh century BCE, the Zhou state was a minor power on the western periphery of the Shang realm, located along the Wei [way] River. Zhou dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Chou, dynasty that ruled ancient China for some eight centuries, establishing the distinctive political and cultural characteristics that were to be identified with China for the next two millennia. Both the purpose and conduct of warfare changed. In this capacity, Duke Huan had the authority to resolve disputes between nobles on behalf of the king. 4. These hegemons periodically convened interstate meetings to manage such matters as misbehaving states or foreign invasions. Daoists also developed communal prayers and rituals that could cure illness, free souls from hell, win blessings from heaven, and eliminate sins from the community. The remains of many of the feudal capitals during the Zhou period have been uncovered and reveal great buildings with rammed-earth floors and walls. Eventually, a Daoist church developed, with its own ordained priesthood, temples, and monasteries. Traditionally, it has been given as 1122 bce, and that date has been successively revised as scholars have uncovered more archaeological evidence. Living in hovels and with little opportunity to leave their lords manors, these farmers were required to work his lands and also to submit a portion of the harvest from their own small farms. 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. Fngjin ( Chinese: ; lit. 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. In 771 BCE, in what became a telling sign of weakness, the Zhou king was murdered and his young successor was compelled to relocate farther east, to a capital closer to the heart of the North China Plain. In the eleventh century BCE, the Zhou state was a minor power on the western periphery of the Shang realm, located along the Wei [way] River. As the empire was breaking up, arts and culture were flowering in the various component states, encouraged and stimulated by the highly localized interests that fed the impulse toward independence of the empire. After announcing the impending campaign at the ancestral temple, a lord and his kinsmen, accompanied by farmer foot soldiers, would proceed in their chariots to a prearranged location and engage in a skirmish. With King You dead, a conclave of nobles met at Shen and declared the Marquis's grandson King Ping. 'The Woman of the Ji clan from Li') to Duke Xian of Jin. [51], The Zhou army also included "Barbarian" troops such as the Di people. The LibreTexts libraries arePowered by NICE CXone Expertand are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, the California State University Affordable Learning Solutions Program, and Merlot. Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. Accessibility StatementFor more information contact us atinfo@libretexts.orgor check out our status page at https://status.libretexts.org. For this, Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. If those who lead do so by virtue and conduct themselves according to rules of propriety, people will learn from them and develop a sense of honor and shame. To achieve these goals, techniques were developed, including special dietary regimens, yoga, Chinese boxing, meditation, and alchemy. There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. 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. Should a young man learn to be respectful and reverent towards parents and elders, he will become a humane person, and humane people are far more likely to contribute in a positive way to society. Centralization became more necessary as the states began to war among themselves and decentralization encouraged more war. Over time, Zhou kings lost their ability to control these lords, and the lords became increasingly independent. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly already fled to the Yangtze delta, where they established the state of Wu among the tribes there. The chancellor of Wei, Sunshu Ao, who served King Zhuang of Chu, dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. Over the next two centuries, this title changed hands several times. These kinsmen took their families, contingents of soldiers, and emblems of nobility to the granted territory and set up palaces and ancestral temples in walled towns. Upon being elected as their leader, the Zhou king conferred the title of hegemon. In 771 BCE, in what became a telling sign of weakness, the Zhou king was murdered and his young successor was compelled to relocate farther east, to a capital closer to the heart of the North China Plain. [31][32][33] To maintain Zhou authority over its greatly expanded territory and prevent other revolts, he set up the fengjian system. It persisted all the way from the 11th to the 3rd century BC. K.E. This was King Wen (Cultured King), a ruler revered as the founder of the Zhou dynasty. What little we know about his life comes primarily from the Analects, a record of conversations Confucius held with his students compiled after he died. This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. The establishment date of 1046 BC is supported by the XiaShangZhou Chronology Project and David Pankenier,[5] but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC.[6][7]. During the third century BCE, the Zhou Kingdom was destroyed and one of these warring states, the Qin [Cheen] Dynasty, prevailed over the rest. 1: From Earliest Times to the Present, 44-63. Jili's son Wen bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to Feng (within present-day Xi'an). King Wu then returned to his capital in the Wei River Valley, where he passed away in 1043 BCE. If you lead the people by being rectified yourself, who will dare not be rectified? (12.17) Confucius believed that good governing flows from good men. During the last centuries of the Zhou, women's roles became increasingly formalized and idealized. The first qualification for a ruler or one who serves is moral rectitude. 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. Fengjian. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose the mandate. Stratagem is critical. It is so divided because the capital cities in the Western Zhou of Fengyi (presently in the . The first was Duke Huan of Qi [who-an of chee]. As opposed to serving a lesson to and resolving some dispute with another lord, these self-declared kings waged war to destroy them and take their land. They killed the Zhou king and took control of the whole Wei River Valley. This period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronzeware making. Those who could not find employment would often end up teaching young men who aspired to official status. 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. For a king, however, these men might become an obstacle or pose a threat because they held this land hereditarily. The remaining Ji family ruled Yan and Wei until 209 BC. This practice was referred to as Two Kings, Three Reverences. Chinas three major pre-modern philosophical and religious traditions are Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The dynasty ended in 256 bce. Master Zhuang, however, lived during the fourth century BCE. The first was Duke Huan of Qi [who-an of chee]. He assumed the throne upon his fathers death and, in 1046, led three-hundred chariots and 45,000 foot soldiers equipped with bronze armor and pole-mounted dagger-axes to a location just outside the Shang capital, where he met with and decisively defeated the last Shang king and his army. ), known as the Western Zhou (1046-771 B.C. Their embryonic bureaucracies included such features as a system of official posts, salaries paid in grain and gifts, administrative codes, and methods for measuring a servants performance. Second, Zhou kings were unable to impose their will on feuding feudal lords and were even defeated by them in several military campaigns. Second, they issued proclamations explaining to conquered peoples why they should accept Zhou rule. Young men should be filial at home and respectful to their elders when away from home. (1.6) Filial piety is central to Confuciuss thought. The Zhou heartland was the Wei River valley; this remained their primary base of power after conquering the Shang. 841 BCE - 828 BCE. An array of feudal states was created within the empire to maintain order and the emperors hold on the land. In contrast, the Legalists had no time for Confucian virtue and advocated a system of strict laws and harsh punishments. The Dong Zhou itself is often further subdivided into the Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu) period (770476 bce), when China consisted of many small squabbling states, and the Warring States (Zhanguo) period (475221 bce), when the small states consolidated into several larger units, which struggled with one another for mastery. The definition of the Way was broadened to include the idea that individuals have a spiritual essence in need of harmonizing and liberation. Confucianism and Daoism were both responses to the crisis presented by the breakdown of the Zhou feudal order and escalating warfare in China. Here are a few of the important statements Confucius made, and what they meant: 1. Master Sun was a military commander and strategist who served the lords of the state of Wu just prior to the onset of the Warring States period (c. fifth century BCE). 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. By so doing, it was believed, ones health would be preserved and life prolonged. At various times they were a friendly tributary state to the Shang, alternatively warring with them. Historians believe the Old Master was a fictional sage invented by Warring States Period philosophers who compiled the book attributed to him. The Shang Dynasty is the earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, though other dynasties predated it. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. Therefore, they devised better ways to control land in their realms. Two major philosophical traditions emerged to address these issues: Confucianism and Daoism. The Eastern Zhou, however, is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy: the Hundred Schools of Thought which flourished as rival lords patronized itinerant shi scholars is led by the example of Qi's Jixia Academy. The term Huj was probably a hereditary title attached to a lineage. For him, nobility was defined not by birth but rather by character and conduct. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. Heaven has given birth to the virtue that is in me. 1 (7.22) Interpreters of Confucius have rightly noted that he is quite silent about the supernatural and what happens after death, rather emphasizing the life we have and serving others. The beginning date of the Zhou has long been debated. How did warlords weaken the Zhou Dynasty? Over the next 250 years, during what is referred to as the Warring States Period (475 221 BCE), these states averaged one major battle per year until, at the very end, only the state of Qin [cheen] remained. This Heaven is less a deity than a higher moral order, a kind of beneficent presence. Why did Qin build the Great Wall of China? His father died about the time Confucius was born, and he was raised by his mother, who also passed away when Confucius was young. The farther removed, the lesser the political authority". The line of Zhou kings had, however, already been extinguished in 256 BCE, so that date marks the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. and heralded . The Zhou Dynasty was the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history. In later centuries, in China, Confucius was revered as a sage and teacher. The Dao is mysterious: it is beyond sense-perception and yet the source of life and the universe, the ultimate truth transcending the polarities that make up life and yet pervades them, empty and yet the mother of all things. Living in hovels and with little opportunity to leave their lords manors, these farmers were required to work his lands and also to submit a portion of the harvest from their own small farms. Among them, the most successful was the state of Qin, which eventually conquered all of China and became an empire. According to the Duke of Zhou, Heaven had decreed that Shang kings must fall and Zhou rulers should replace them. Ji Zhao, a son of King Nan, led a resistance against Qin for five years. It is divided into two periods: Western Zhou (1046-771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE). He taught how a person becomes moral because a good society only develops when composed of and led by virtuous people. However, a rebellion broke out before the whole Shang territory could be consolidated by the Zhou. The Mandate of Heaven ( Tianming ), also known as Heaven's Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China 's early kings and emperors. The most famous of these was Confucius, who taught a system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. Over time, ties of kinship lost their meaning. The dynasty was founded by Liu . But over time, Zhou kings lost their ability to control these lords, and the lords became increasingly independent. It was technically the longest dynasty, though the Zhouhad effectively lost power by 770 BC. For him, nobility was defined not by birth but rather by character and conduct. 1. His and his successors power was, however, much reduced. The last Zhou king is traditionally taken to be Nan, who was killed when Qin captured the capital Wangcheng[1] in 256 BC. In later generations, lords simply became more interested in and identified with their own territories, and they had little sense of solidarity with distant cousins ruling neighboring feudal states. Later generations of Chinese have regularly studied the Zhou dynasty for information regarding the origin of their civilization. [39], Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels, statues, ornaments, and weapons. However, he only managed to hold some minor offices in Lu and generally failed in his political aspirations. There was also a great philosophical flowering: the schools of Confucianism, Daoism, and legalism developed in that period. [27][28][f] According to the 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". 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. Like other young men of similar background, he had access to an education and could aspire to serve in some capacity in a feudal state, perhaps at the lords court, or as an official or soldier. This move marked the beginning of the Eastern Zhou (770 256 BCE). Eventually, these states acquired more power than the king, beginning a period of conflict that is known, appropriately, as the Warring States Period. Decorum was important to Confucius. During the turmoil of the Warring States period, however, other individuals developed a philosophy very different from Confucianism called Daoism. According to one passage, a lord once asked one of Confuciuss students about his master, but the student fell silent. To govern is to rectify. Zhou Dynasty Timeline. 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 Diplomatists, the sophistic Logicians, Sun-tzu's Militarists, and the Naturalists. NB: Dates in Chinese history before the first year of the Gonghe Regency in 841 BC are contentious and vary by source. These texts explained how the natural world originated from a primordial ether (qi) and its division into two polar forces: the yin and yang (see Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). 256 BCE. That involved not only teaching individual techniques for preserving the life spirit, but included the use of exorcism and faith healing to remove malevolent influences. After announcing the impending campaign at the ancestral temple, a lord and his kinsmen, accompanied by farmer foot soldiers, would proceed in their chariots to a prearranged location and engage in a skirmish. During the Warring States, rulers introduced large armies composed of mass infantry and cavalry. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao, who served Marquis Wen of Wei (445396 BC), was the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. He held this title (duke) and fief (Qi) because his distant ancestor had served as a commander under King Wu during the Zhou founding. 5. It was not until the Dong Zhou and the classical age of Confucius and Laozi that unique local traditions became apparent. Especially Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky had selected this particular individual to rule on its behalf on earth. His young son took the throne, but was placed under the regency of Wus capable brother, the Duke of Zhou. 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. After the Xia and Shang, the next major dynasty in Chinese history is the Zhou Dynasty (1045 256 BCE). No longer able to impose their will on unruly noble lineages, Zhou kings failed to maintain a semblance of peace and order throughout the realm. These four emperors have made contributions in the long history of China. The Warring States Period lasted 254 years. King Wen (Cultured King) was this ruler, and revered as the founder of the Zhou dynasty. Trade was increased, towns grew up, coinage was developed, chopsticks came into use, and the Chinese writing system was created out of its primitive beginnings in the Shang period. [49][50] Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between horse burials of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and Indo-European peoples in the west. For example, in 771 BCE, King You [yo] was attacked by the allied forces of the lord of Shen and tribal peoples residing out west. Those who belonged to it are Confuciansindividuals distinguished by their commitment to the ideas articulated by Confucius, classical learning, and the value they place on character and conduct as the key to a good society and political order. King Zhao was famous for repeated campaigns in the Yangtze areas and died in his last action. King You was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. The Analects not only shows a serious and learned man, but also someone capable in archery and horsemanship, who loved music and ritual, and who untiringly travelled the feudal states in the hopes of serving in a lords retinue (see Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).
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