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Zhou Dynasty (1100 BCE - 221 BCE)

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  • Zhou Dynasty (1100 BCE - 221 BCE)

    Zhou Dynasty, first ruling emperor was Emperor Wuweng with 37 ruling emperors in all, spanning roughly 800 years, is the longest lasting of all the dynasties.

    Its capital was in todays Shannxi province.


    Divided into two periods: Western Zhou 1100 BCE - 771 BCE and the Eastern Zhou 770 BCE - 221 BCE. The Eastern Zhou being divided again into the Spring and Autumn 770 BCE - 476 BCE and the warring states period 476 BCE - 221 BCE.

    This was the time of the great philosophers Confucious founder of Confucianism, Laozi founder of Taoism, Mozi founder of Mohism and some of the other great philosophers Mencius, and Zhuangzi, and is considered the golden age of chinese philosophy.

    The Classic of changes or the I Ching was created and used instead of the old Shang way of reading the cracking of animal bone as way of divination.

    The Zhou emperors were the first to evoke the Mandate from Heaven—the axiom that noble and wise leaders ruled in accordance with the wishes of heaven while corrupt leaders were replaced.

    All the Arts such as Shang styles of Bronze work and Jade work were kept and expanded by the Zhou and writting was also kept and developed further.

    Major developments were made due to the discovery of iron and there was also the first introduction of coinage.

    The first parts of the Great Wall were being built.


    The Zhou dynasty was peaceful for the first 300 years, but after that quite period it was well known for a time of war with different tribes fighting for rule.

    The Zhou dynasty came to an end in the warring states period where It was a time of constant war between five warring states that vied for control of China. The war persisted for 500 years until the warring states collapsed and China was united under Emperor Qin in 221 B.C

  • #2
    Zhou maps.



    Western Zhou 1100 BCE - 771 BCE






    Eastern Zhou 770 BCE - 221 BCE

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    • #3
      Zhou sword




      Double-edged swords are not mentioned in Chinese sources until the seventh century BC. The inscription on this sword, unearthed at Wangshan in Hubei province, states that it is owned by Gou Jian, the King of Yue (496-465 BC), a famous connoisseur of fine swords.

      Source: Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Patricia Buckley Ebrey.

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      • #4


        Inscribed bronze ritual vessel, unearthed from a storage pit in Fufeng, Shannxi province. The 284-character inscription on this bronze, composed shortly before 900 BC by historian Qiang, relates the major events under the six Kings from Wen to Mu, such as campaigns against various barbarians, as well as the deeds of Qiang's own ancestors in the service of these kings.

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        • #5
          Religion of the Zhou

          Like the Shang, the Zhou also practised ancestor worship and divination.

          The most important diety was Tien, an all powerful god who held the whole world in his hand.

          Other prominent dietys would have been deceased emperors who were appeased with sacrifices so that they would have rewards of a peaceful life with plentiful crops and not starvation and disasters.

          As mentioned already there divination practices changed with the introduction of the I Ching or Classic of Changes, involving interpretations of randomly broken and unbroken lines.

          The scale of human sacrifices declined which lead to a substitute replacement of corpses to painted wooden figures, suggesting a change in the minds and the religious ideas of the people.

          The concept of heaven changed, now viewed as the sacred moral power of the cosmos.

          The Mandate from Heaven, an important ideaology of where emperors ruled only by favour of the heavens was introduced. The heavens would show signs of dissaproval by the continuing and worsening upheavel of the state, where by the ruling emperor would eventually be overthrown as was the case in the ending of the Shang.

          Emperors starting from the Zhou dynasty were mediaters between heaven and earth, and his virtue ensured the proper harmony of the two sides, this axiom "Mandate of heaven" was to prove a central tenet of Chinese political cosmology until modern times.

          Moral values were built into the way the cosmos worked, and history was read as a mirror of heaven's will.


          (Some historians think that this important belief may have been introduced as a way of putting at ease,the minds of the Shang people after the last ruling of the tyrant Emperor, Jie)

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          • #6
            The Book of Songs (Shijing)

            The earliest Chinese poetry is recorded in early Zhou times.

            The Book of Songs was a Book containing 305 poems which were sung at court during important ceremonies.

            Some celebrate the exploits of the early Zhou rulers, love songs, songs depicting ordinary working life of the common people others praise the solemnity with which the living provide food offerings to their ancestors during sacrifices. One court ode expresses a profound distrust of women in politics and the affairs of goverment:

            Clever men build cities,
            Clever women topple them,
            Beautiful, these clever women may be,
            But they are owls and kites.
            Women have long tongues,
            That lead to ruin.
            Disorder does not come down from heaven,
            It is produced by women.

            Now one for the girls!

            A 3,000 year old love poem:

            Please, Zhongzi,
            Do not leap over our wall,
            Do not break our mulberry trees.
            It's not that I begrudge the mulberries,
            But I fear my brothers.
            You I would embrace,
            But my brothers words - those I dread.

            Ah, the innocence of it

            Here is a stanza of a poem, of complaint about mistreatment in the army.

            Which plant is not brown?
            Which man is not sad?
            Have pity on us soldiers,
            treated as though we were not men!

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            • #7
              Lady of Yue (5th c BCE)

              The Maiden of Yue was a women who lived in the Spring and Autumn period who was a renowned sword fighter with superior swordmanship skills. The emperor of Yue, Emperor Goujian wanted to wage war on the state of Qu.

              Fan Li, the emperor's prime minster advised the emperor that not one of the kings of old have trained there troops well, and in battle the outcome is determined by the quality of an army's training.

              Fan LI heard of a maiden of the Southern Forest who may be able to assist in giving superior training in skills of the sword and strategy to help the emperors army to succeed in battle. So the emperor taking Fan Li's advice, invited the maiden for a discourse on swordmanship skills and strategies.

              Here is the story taken from site listed below:

              "On her journey up north to visit the king, the maiden met a strange old man along the way. The old man called himself "Old Man Yuan" and said to the maid "I've heard that you are skilled with the sword. I wish to have a glimpse of your skill." The woman replied, "I do not dare to withhold my knowledge. The Old Man is free to test my skills." The old man broke off a stick of bamboo to use as a weapon. But "before the bamboo leaves could fall to the ground, the woman counter-attacked with great speed. She broke through his defenses thrice and raised her staff to hit Old Man Yuan."4 Yuan recognized his defeat and departed.

              During the maiden's audience with King Goujian, the king asked her how she acquired her sword skills. The woman replied, "Living alone in the deep forest, it is necessary to practise a wide range of skills... I learned my skills from no one, but developed them on my own." The king then questioned her on the philosophy and methods of her fighting arts. The maid explained the fundamentals of a fighting system designed to handle multiple attackers. Goujian was greatly impressed with her answers. He gave her the title of "Lady of Yue", and appointed her to train his best officers so they could instruct the army in turn. Her swordfighting system became widely known as "The Sword System of the Lady of Yue" to the people of that time.5

              This nameless maiden from ancient history has inspired the imagination of later generations. The Maiden of the Southern Forest appears in many works of literary fiction, including "The Sword of the Maiden of Yue" and "The Swordfighters' Saga", and the Ming Dynasty work "Romance of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Empire", in which she is described as having almost superhuman fighting prowess.6

              The Maiden of the Southern Forests is quite unlikely to be the only case of a woman in military service during the Zhou Dynasty. The Book of Lord Shang, written by Shang Yang (390-338 BCE), recommends dividing the army into three units - strong men, strong women, and the weak and old of both genders. The strong men were to serve as the first line of defence against the enemy, the strong women defend the forts and build traps, and the 'weak' soldiers control the supply chain.7"

              Source: http://www.colorq.org/articles/artic...women&x=nanlin

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              • #8
                Dear Sihing

                Thank you for the wealth of information on this next period. Amazing. This period seems to again lay many foundations.

                What I find interesting for the "Mandate from Heaven" (tian ming) is that, as you mention, it was not an unconditional right to rule (as in Europe and other cultures) but it was linked to ethical and moral values:

                "The Mandate of Heaven is similar to the European notion of the Divine Right of Kings in that both sought to legitimize rule using divine approval. However, the Divine Right of Kings granted unconditional legitimacy, whereas the Mandate of Heaven was conditional on the just behavior of the ruler. Revolution is never legitimate under the Divine Right of Kings, but the philosophy of the Mandate of Heaven approved of the overthrow of unjust rulers. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed. In China, the right of rebellion against an unjust ruler has been a part of political philosophy ever since the Zhou dynasty, and a successful rebellion was interpreted by Chinese historians as evidence of that divine approval had passed on to the successive dynasty." Source:Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_of_Heaven

                My books also mention the establishment of a complete feudal system with hereditary titles and positions, as an important change adopted by the Zhou dynasty: Emperor->Vassal Lords->Officials->Peasants-> Slaves
                This also included the distribution of land to vassal lords by the Emperor, which lead to the creation of vassal states. These lords payed tribute to the Emperor and had to offer military assistance. But within their territories, they reigned independently as kings, enjoying full freedom in terms of political, military and financial affairs.

                Andrea
                Enjoy some Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan & Qi Gong!

                Evening Classes in Zürich
                Weekend Classes in other Swiss locations


                Website: www.taichichuan-wahnam.ch
                Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taichichuan.Wahnam.ch

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                • #9
                  Dear Andrea,

                  good to hear from you and thanks for your post.

                  As you said there are many foundations to this dynasty with a vast amount of information, you could stay at this dynasty for as long as it lasted trying to get it all down!, but we will try and be a little quicker if at all possible


                  looking forward to your next post.

                  Padraig.

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                  • #10
                    Western Zhou Period (1100 - 771 BC)

                    The Western Zhou period covered 12 emperors lasting over 300 years.

                    The golden age of the Western Zhou was during the reign of the first emperor Wu, followed by Ching and Kang who were all just and kind ruling emperors and was a time when societies grew and flourished.

                    Western Zhou began to Decline after the reign of King MU where there was constant wars from generation rule to generation, the most noted being King Li who spent lavishly in one hand and waged constant war with neighbouring states in the other. The people rebelled and banished the King and he was replaced by King Xuan who tried to rectify the problem and unite the people of Western Zhou, but his successor, King You, was more corrupt and more luxurious than King Li (782 - 771 BC).

                    Here is the story taken from site below and tells how King You played a prank of "Cry Wolf" on neighbouring lords to win a smile from his favourite concubine Baosi and tells how the Western Zhou period came to an end.



                    In order to earn the smile of his favorite concubine Baosi, King You followed one of his ministers' advice, sparing no expense to play a prank on vassal lords by lighting the beacons at Li Mountain.

                    Baosi did gave a cold smile when seeing the soldiers of other vassal states hurry to the foot of Li Mountain sweating and out of breath, but only to find themselves deceived. King You was pleased and awarded 1,000 pieces of gold to the minister who had put forward the idea. Hence the famous Chinese saying 'a single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold'.

                    King You played the games several more times to please Baosi. When the real danger came one day, King You had the beacon fires lit again, but no one came to his rescue because they thought he was playing a joke again. Therefore King You was killed and Western Zhou was overthrown.


                    In 770 BC, King Ping moved the capital east to Luoyi, which heralded the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

                    Source:http://www.warriortours.com/intro/hi...stern-zhou.htm

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                    • #11
                      Bronzes of the Western Zhou

                      Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin with lower melting point and a higher degree of hardness than those of copper. When it is cast, bronze has the advantages of minimum air bubble production and maximum flow quality and can produce objects with razor-sharp edges or exquisite decoration, thus making it a suitable material for durable weapons, tools, and containers. China employed bronze objects as long as four thousand years ago and brought the use of bronze ceremonial vessels to a peak in the Shang and Zhou (Chou) dynasties.

                      The vessels used by the ruling house and nobility to offer food or wine in these sacrificial ceremonies were cast of bronze. Their types were extremely varied; many had their origin in everyday objects of pottery or wood.


                      The Western Zhou period is again famous for its bronzes, here are some examples below:



                      Ritual food container.




                      Ritual wine containers.





                      Ritual vessel.

                      Images taken from Google Images

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                      • #12
                        Eastern Zhou ( Spring and Autumn) (Warring States)

                        This was a period in Chinese history of political fragmentation and moral crisis, as war was constantly waged with other regional lords who declared themselves as rightful kings.

                        The Eastern Zhou was a violent age, a time when victors presented the cut-off ears of enemies at their ancestral temples. When the blood of captives was spread on ceremonial drums, thieves had their feet cut off, and when rulers ran the considerable risk of assassination.

                        One of the main reasons for the beginning of this constant war is because of the way the Western Zhou ended with the removal of the last king, being replaced with his son by those who removed him and the capital being brought to the east to Luoyang, south of the Yellow River. This disturbed the order of things and started a domino effect of escalating violence among the vassals. According to recorded history, during the Spring and Autumn Period alone, being the less violent of the two, there were over 480 wars, 52 vassal states were vanquished, and 36 kings were killed.

                        At the same time it was a period when diplomacy was studied earnestly and practised with great depth, the Spring and Autumn Annals were said to have been written by Confucius( where the period got its name),the military strategist Sun Tzu wrote his famous book on the Art of War, it was also a period when a code of chivalry or sportsmanlike conduct still regulated warfare between the states. For instance, one state would not attack another while it was in mourning for its ruler, and during battle one side would not attack before the other side had time to line up. Perhaps out of fear of the wrath of ancestors of defeated rulers, efforts were made not wipe out ruling houses, but to leave at least one successor to continue the sacrifices.

                        The second period of the Eastern Zhou, the Warring States Period was a name derived from the Record of the Warring States, a work compiled early in the Han Dynasty.

                        The Warring States Period saw the increase in iron working in China, and the decrease of Bronze as a use of metal in weaponry, farm tools, etc.

                        Different philosophies, known as the Hundred Schools of Thought, developed in this period. Notable Scholars of this time were Mencius, Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Han Feizi, Xun Zi and Mozi.

                        During the Warring States periods the feudal domains of the early Zhou broke up into independent states. This Period can be divided again into two. The first period was from 475 BC to 338 BC. The period featured many political changes for the better and as a consequence societies stabilised, the most famous of these changes or reforms were Shang Yang's reform in Qin, Wu Qi's reform in Chu and Li Kui's in Wei. The economies developed quickly through this series of reforms.

                        The second period was from 338 BC to 288 BC. War escalated to its highest in this period of Chinese history with Qin claiming power over other states in the west, and Qi in the east.

                        Over time the number of states diminished as the more powerful conquered the weaker states. At last, seven powerful states coexisted with each other. They were Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin. In Chinese history, they are known as 'the Seven Overlords in the Warring States Period'.

                        In 221 BC, the Qin Emperor Ying Zeng conquered the other six states thus unifying China and ending the disorderly Warring States Period.

                        This started a new dynasty, the Qin dynasty.

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                        • #13
                          Map of the Warring States

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                          • #14
                            Eastern Zhou Warrior

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