Zhou Dynasty

周朝

The Zhou began as a semi-nomadic tribe that lived to the west of the Shang kingdom. Due to their nomadic ways, they learned how to work with people of different cultures. After a time, they settled in the Wei River valley, where they became vassals of the Shang. The Zhou eventually became stronger than the Shang, and in about 1040 B.C. they defeated the Shang in warfare. They built their capital in Xi'an. Part of their success was the result of gaining the allegiance of disaffected city-states. The Shang were also weakened due to their constant warfare with people to the north.

Traditional Chinese history says that the Zhou were able to take over the Shang because the Shang had degenerated morally. Part of this belief may have been caused by the Zhou themselves, who are credited with the idea of the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou used this idea to validate their takeover and subsequent ruling of the former Shang kingdom. The Mandate of Heaven says that Heaven, or tian, places the mandate, tianming, to rule on any family that is morally worthy of the responsibility. Also, the only way to know if the Mandate of Heaven had been removed from the ruling family was if they were overthrown. If the ruler is overthrown, then the victors had the Mandate of Heaven.

The Zhou adopted much of the Shang lifestyle, often importing Shang families or communities to new towns they built to utilize the knowledge of the Shang artisans. The bronze vessels of the Zhou are nearly identical with those of the Shang. The Zhou also adopted much of the Shang writing system, rituals, and administration techniques. The Zhou however, began a different form of governing, which was basically feudal. Land was given to people in elaborate ceremonies. The landowners became vassals to the king. Descent became patriarchal, from father to son, rather than from eldest brother to youngest brother as practiced by the Shang.

The Zhou, despite transporting the Shang to their cities for their skills, did not want to live directly with the Shang. Their capital was divided into two sections, one for the Zhou, that contained the imperial court, and the other half for the transported Shang. Other Zhou cities exhibit this same characteristic. However, this was the only major change in cities from the Shang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty. Otherwise, the houses remained the same as in the Shang Dynasty.
The Zhou also brought their religion with them. They banned human sacrifice. They practiced the cult of Heaven. The worship of sun and stars was the most important thing. Some of the popular Shang gods became incorporated into this system. They were lesser gods, and served as feudal lords to the Heaven-god.

Image courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Item a Gift of Professor and Mrs. R. Norris Shreve

The Zhou Dynasty is divided into subperiods. The first is the Western Zhou, which occurs from the time of their victory over the Shang until about 771 B.C. when they were forced east by barbarians from the north. The king was killed but his son was saved and moved east where a new capital was formed in Loyang. This began the period known as the Eastern Zhou. The Eastern Zhou is further divided into two time periods, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Spring and Autumn Period occurred from about 770-476 B.C. During this time, the Zhou emperor steadily lost power due to the realization by the feudal lords that he was not powerful and could be beaten, which had been proven by the defeat in the west. The second half, the Warring States Period, is so named because of the power struggle between the large states of China that were trying to gain control over the entire area. It lasted from about 475 - 221 B.C.
This time period of the Warring States is considered the classical age, it was a time of great philosophers. This cultural flowering is sometimes called the One Hundred Schools Period. Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism developed during this time. Of these three, Legalism had the most immediate effect, as it was the philosophy that the Qin, the next dynasty used as the basis of their rule. Some of the most memorable poetry and prose was also written during this time. Other advances included the writing down of the laws, an increase in market places, and a money economy. The development of iron, and tools made of iron, greatly increased agriculture and thus population exploded.







Zhou Dynasty / Western Zhou Dynasty (11 cent. -771 BC) / Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 - 221 BC)
According to standard Chinese accounts, the last Shang ruler, a despot was overthrown by a chieftain of a frontier tribe called Zhou, which had settled in the Wei Valley in modern Shaanxi Province. The Zhou dynasty had its capital at Hao, near the city of Xi'an, or Chang'an, as it was known in its heyday in the imperial period.
In 771 B.C, The capital was moved eastward to Luoyang in present-day Henan Province. Because of this shift, historians divide the Zhou era into Western Zhou (1027-771 B.C.) and Eastern Zhou (770-221 B.C.)?And Eastern Zhou divides into two subperiods. The first, from 770 to 476 B.C., is called the Spring and Autumn Period; the second is known as the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.).
Sharing the language and culture of the Shang, the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, gradually sinicized, that is, extended Shang culture through much of China Proper north of the Chang Jiang (or Yangtze River). The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other, from 1027 to 221 B.C.Initially from Shang, there was the notion that the ruler (the "son of heaven”) governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate.

The Ancient of Chinese Dynasties

The Ancient Dynasties
Chinese civilization, as described in mythology, begins with Pangu , the creator of the universe, and a succession of legendary sage-emperors and culture heroes (among them are Huang Di , Yao, and Shun) who taught the ancient Chinese to communicate and to find sustenance, clothing, and shelter.

The first prehistoric dynasty is said to be Xia , from about the twenty-first to the sixteenth century B.C. Until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Anyang , Henan Province, in 1928, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the Xia. But since then, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the existence of Xia civilization in the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts. At minimum, the Xia period marked an evolutionary stage between the late neolithic cultures and the typical Chinese urban civilization of the Shang dynasty.
The Dawn of History

Thousands of archaeological finds in the Huang He , Henan Valley --the apparent cradle of Chinese civilization--provide evidence about the Shang dynasty, which endured roughly from 1700 to 1027 B.C. The Shang dynasty (also called the Yin dynasty in its later stages) is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader who overthrew the last Xia ruler. Its civilization was based on agriculture, augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. Two important events of the period were the development of a writing system, as revealed in archaic Chinese inscriptions found on tortoise shells and flat cattle bones (commonly called oracle bones or ), and the use of bronze metallurgy. A number of ceremonial bronze vessels with inscriptions date from the Shang period; the workmanship on the bronzes attests to a high level of civilization.

A line of hereditary Shang kings ruled over much of northern China, and Shang troops fought frequent wars with neighboring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian steppes. The capitals, one of which was at the site of the modern city of Anyang, were centers of glittering court life. Court rituals to propitiate spirits and to honor sacred ancestors were highly developed. In addition to his secular position, the king was the head of the ancestor- and spirit-worship cult. Evidence from the royal tombs indicates that royal personages were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife. Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves, were buried alive with the royal corpse.
The Zhou Period






The last Shang ruler, a despot according to standard Chinese accounts, was overthrown by a chieftain of a frontier tribe called Zhou, which had settled in the Wei Valley in modern Shaanxi Province. The Zhou dynasty had its capital at Hao , near the city of Xi'an, or Chang'an, as it was known in its heyday in the imperial period. Sharing the language and culture of the Shang, the early Zhou rulers, through conquest and colonization, gradually sinicized, that is, extended Shang culture through much of China Proper north of the Chang Jiang ( or Yangtze River). The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other, from 1027 to 221 B.C. It was philosophers of this period who first enunciated the doctrine of the "mandate of heaven" (tianming or ), the notion that the ruler (the "son of heaven" or ) governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that he had lost the mandate. The doctrine explained and justified the demise of the two earlier dynasties and at the same time supported the legitimacy of present and future rulers.
The term feudal has often been applied to the Zhou period because the Zhou's early decentralized rule invites comparison with medieval rule in Europe. At most, however, the early Zhou system was proto-feudal, being a more sophisticated version of earlier tribal organization, in which effective control depended more on familial ties than on feudal legal bonds. Whatever feudal elements there may have been decreased as time went on. The Zhou amalgam of city-states became progressively centralized and established increasingly impersonal political and economic institutions. These developments, which probably occurred in the latter Zhou period, were manifested in greater central control over local governments and a more routinized agricultural taxation.
In 771 B.C. the Zhou court was sacked, and its king was killed by invading barbarians who were allied with rebel lords. The capital was moved eastward to Luoyang in present-day Henan Province. Because of this shift, historians divide the Zhou era into Western Zhou (1027-771 B.C.) and Eastern Zhou (770-221 B.C.). With the royal line broken, the power of the Zhou court gradually diminished; the fragmentation of the kingdom accelerated. Eastern Zhou divides into two subperiods. The first, from 770 to 476 B.C., is called the Spring and Autumn Period, after a famous historical chronicle of the time; the second is known as the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C. ).

Zhou Dynasty:
Western Zhou 西周 (11th cent - 770 BC)
Eastern Zhou 東周 (770-221 BC)

-- Spring and Autumn Period 春秋時代 (770-475/452/403 BC)
-- Warring States Period 戰國時代 (475/452/403-221 BC)

The Zhou Dynasty is probably the dynasty that reigned for the longest period not only of all Chinese dynasties, but of the whole world. Of course, such a long period contributed to a certain image of the Zhou rulers and their institutions as the guideline for all later people. The founders of the Zhou Dynasty, the Kings Wen and Wu (abbreviated to the couple Wen Wu 文武), and the Prince Regent Duke Dan of Zhou 周公旦, were seen as the ideal monarchs and even as patrons and inventors of every kind of arts. The Confucianists venerated these rulers as guided by morality, humanity and righteousness. But 900 years of history were also times of profound changes that took place. The first kings of Zhou enfeoffed their fellowship and relatives with large domains that later developed to kingdoms themselves: the central government lost its authority, the "feudal system" (fengjian zhidu 封建制度) similar to the Western Middle Age system of enfeoffment disintegrated. The once venerated kings of Zhou, people like King Cheng 成王 and Kang 康王, lost their central position as the Heaven-approved sacrosanct ruler and were challenged by feudal lords that overtook the leadership of the Chinese world. The Zhou kings had to flee from their western capital to the east, forced by "barbarian" tribes that invaded the Zhou territory. This was the begin of Eastern Zhou period. It is divided into the Spring and Autumn period, called following the seasonal recordings of the annals, and the Warring States period when the six most powerful kings fought against each other. Only the state of Qin was to defeat her enemies. The Zhou time was also the time of the hundred schools of philosophers and thinkers. The important Confucian classical writings find their beginnings also in this historical epoch.