Take you to understand the Western Zhou Dynasty
1. Overview of the Western Zhou Dynasty
The third dynasty of China, the important discovery of "Book of Changes" and "The Book of Songs", and the division of the Western Zhou Dynasty into dynasties and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
箸名incident:
Battle of Makino: Time 1046 BC - 771 BC.
Regency of Duke Zhou: 275 years, historical capitals in Shaanxi and Henan.
The rule of Chengkang: Two more thrones were given to the founder, Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou).
Famous figures: King Wen of Zhou, King Wu of Zhou, Jiang Ziya, Duke Zhou.
2. Events of the Western Zhou Dynasty
1. Origin of the Zhou Clan
The ancestor of the Zhou Clan was called Qi. Because he was good at agriculture, he was also called Houji (Ji is a kind of Grain), he served as an agricultural official during the Yao and Shun periods, and obtained a fief in the Xunyi area of ??Shaanxi during the Xia Dynasty. In later generations, under the leadership of Gu Gong Xuanfu, the tribe moved to Zhouyuan (today's Qishan and Fufeng areas, Shaanxi Province). The Zhou tribe continued to grow and became one of the important kingdoms in the western Shang Dynasty.
2. Conflict between Shang and Zhou
After the death of Gu Gongxuan’s father, his son Ji Li became the leader of the Zhou clan. At this time, the Shang Dynasty passed the throne to Wen Ding, who was jealous of Zhou. The clan forces designed to kill Ji Li, which led to a conflict between the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou clan. After Ji Li died, his son Ji Chang succeeded to the throne and became the famous King Wen of Zhou in later generations. He kept a low profile and recruited talents, and began to prepare for conquering business.
3. Moving the capital to Haojing
After the allusion "Ling Taigong fishing", King Zhou Wen was assisted by Jiang Ziya. After he planned the Zhou family to expand outward little by little, after the death of King Zhou Wen After that, his son Jiefa, King Wu of Zhou, succeeded to the throne and moved the capital to Haojing, which was closer to the Shang Dynasty. At this time, King Feng of Shang was dealing with the rebellion of Dongyi while drinking wine and meat, and had no intention of dealing with the problems brought by the Zhou people. Danger.
4. Mengjin Observed the Troops
Before the Zhou people officially conquered the Shang, King Wu of Zhou conducted a military exercise in Mengjin (now Luoyang, Henan) to test his appeal. King Zhou of Shang had lost people's hearts due to his excessive debauchery. More than 800 princes came to this exercise who wanted to attack the merchants together. However, because some big princes did not show up, no more actions were taken during the exercise, but it laid the foundation for the official attack on the merchants later. Base.
5. The Battle of Muye and the Establishment of the Zhou Dynasty
Two years after observing the troops in Mengjin, King Wu of Zhou felt that the time had come and formally led his troops in 1046 AD to fight against the previously assembled troops. The princes launched an attack on the Shang Dynasty together, and the number of the allied troops was more than 50,000. At this time, the main army of the Shang Dynasty was still conquering Dongyi and could not return in time. King Feng of Shang could only temporarily piece together a 170,000-strong army composed of slaves and prisoners. A large army came to deal with it, and the two armies fought in Muye (the area south of Qi County and north of Weihe River in present-day Henan Province).
In the Battle of Muye, the Shang army itself was dissatisfied with King Zhou of Shang, so they collectively defected to help the Zhou people to open the way for them in the opposite direction. As a result, the Zhou people defeated the Shang Dynasty with less and more, entered Chaoge, and replaced the Shang Dynasty. King Zhou of Shang officially established the Zhou Dynasty, ending the Shang Dynasty's rule of more than 500 years.
6. Regent of the Duke of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou died soon after establishing the Zhou Dynasty. He was succeeded by his son, King Zhou Cheng. King Zhou Cheng was still very young when he first succeeded to the throne. , the Duke of Zhou, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, was in charge of the government. During his reign, he divided the princes, quelled civil strife, built the capital Luoyi, promoted moral governance, and formulated rituals and music. Duke Zhou not only led the Zhou Dynasty to prosperity, but also established various systems that would influence future generations.
7. The Reign of Chengkang
After 7 years of Duke Zhou's regency, the throne was returned to King Zhou Cheng. Based on the foundation laid by Duke Zhou, King Zhou Cheng and his son King Zhou Kang set an example. Under the leadership of Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty created a prosperous period. During the forty-six years from 1042 BC to 996 BC, the world was peaceful and the wrong punishments were not used for more than forty years. Later generations called it "the rule of Chengkang".
8. Zhaomu Era
After the rule of Chengkang, King Zhao of Zhou and King Mu of Zhou succeeded to the throne. By the time of King Mu of Zhou, he reigned for 55 years. The prosperity of the dynasty reached its peak, but in order to promote the national power, King Mu of Zhou often went on foreign expeditions, especially the Rongdi tribe in the northwest, which caused a strong counterattack by Rongdi and laid hidden dangers for future generations of the Zhou Dynasty. It was also from that time on that the Zhou Dynasty grew from prosperity to prosperity. Turn into decline.
9. Era of Decline
After King Mu of Zhou, King Wang, King Yi, King Xiao and King Yi succeeded to the throne, known as the four kings in the middle period. The national power of the Zhou Dynasty gradually weakened. , and then goes through the following three stages.
King Zhou Li imposed excessive taxes: During his reign, King Zhou Li sent people to monitor public opinion, resulting in the phenomenon of "the road follows the eyes", which finally aroused large-scale mass resistance. Therefore, King Zhou Li wandered away in a hurry regardless of his throne.
Legalism and administration: During the 14 years when King Zhou Li fled, the prince could not legitimately succeed to the throne. The Zhou Dynasty was leaderless. The princes discussed working together to rule with an agent, which was known in history as "** * and administration”.
King Zhou Xuan's brief revival: After the death of King Zhou Li, his son King Zhou Xuan officially succeeded to the throne. He learned from his father's lessons and worked hard to govern after taking office. The Zhou Dynasty ushered in a small wave of revival.
10. King Zhou You plays with the princes with beacon fire
After King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty ushered in the last monarch, King You of Zhou Dynasty. The allusion of "playing with princes with beacon fire" came from him, in order to win his beloved concubine With a smile, Bao Xiang repeatedly lit the beacon tower that could only be lit when foreign enemies invaded, and staged a real version of the "Wolf Crying" story. When the external enemies officially invaded, the princes no longer helped King You of Zhou, and the Western Zhou Dynasty fell. After King Ping of Zhou succeeded to the throne, the capital was moved to Luoyang, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty kicked off.
3. Contributions of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1)
1. Regency of the Duke of Zhou
The Duke of Zhou assisted King Zhou Cheng in the regency for 7 years. In addition to quelling civil strife, the following three major The move had a profound impact on future generations.
The feudal system and the patriarchal system: In the early days of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty still had most of the old clan forces, and the Zhou Dynasty did not fully control it. In order to strengthen its rule, the Duke of Zhou introduced the feudal system and the patriarchal system.
The enfeoffment system was a system in which the Zhou Dynasty sent its own representatives or cronies to various places to establish vassal states. Each vassal state ruled on behalf of the Zhou Dynasty, which not only helped the Zhou Dynasty manage the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, but also guarded against external forces. Tribal invasion! The patriarchal system determines that the eldest son is the major clan and the remaining sons are the minor clan. The stability of management and internal cohesion are strengthened through blood relationships.
Establishing the Eastern Capital: At the beginning of the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the capital was Haojing (now Xi'an, Shaanxi), which was located in the west. In order to strengthen management, Duke Zhou built a new capital in Luoyi (now Luoyang, Henan), the center of the country at that time. The two capitals, as the eastern capital, are also called Chengzhou, echoing Haojing in the west. After the Western Empire was destroyed, Luoyi also became the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Formulation of Zhou rites: Duke Zhou formulated the Zhou rites of "three hundred classic rites and three thousand qu rites", covering all aspects from national events to small life nodes, including auspicious rites, Jiali, The five etiquette system of guest etiquette, military etiquette, and ominous etiquette clearly pointed out the moral norms and codes of conduct that people must abide by. The birth of Zhou Rites not only promoted the stability and harmony of the internal order of the Zhou Dynasty, but also laid the foundation of Chinese etiquette civilization.
4. Contribution of the Western Zhou Dynasty (2)
1. Industry
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the handicraft industry was more refined than that of the Shang Dynasty, and there were many craftsmen with specialized skills. , known as the "Hundred Craftsmen". Among these industries, bronzes are still one of the most important departments. The number of bronzes unearthed in the Western Zhou Dynasty far exceeds that of the Shang Dynasty, and because of their wide distribution, they have gradually begun to have various local characteristics.
As for pottery, the technology is more mature than that of the Shang Dynasty, and the types are more diverse, covering many aspects of food and drink, mainly gray pottery. In addition, many primitive porcelains have been unearthed, which is an important stage in the history of Chinese porcelain.
2. Agriculture
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, with the wider application of copper agricultural tools, the variety and quantity of crops in the Western Zhou Dynasty increased. It was mentioned in "Song of Zhou·Fengnian" in the Book of Songs Caught: There are many names for millet in good years, and there are also high rice, trillions and Zi, used for wine and sweet wine, expressing the scene of the harvest in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The more grain there is, the more sweet and fragrant the wine becomes. The picture below is one of the wine vessels of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
3. Culture
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty were mainly used for writing, and the inscriptions engraved on bronzes were more popular; in terms of rituals and music, because Zhou rituals were very In the complicated world, specialized officials have appeared to manage rituals, music and choreography. In terms of sacrifices, from the superstitious worship of ghosts in the Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty, more sacrifices were made to ancestors and the idea of ??virtuous rule was promoted.
5. Figures of the Western Zhou Dynasty
1. Jiang Ziya
Jiang Ziya, whose name is Shang, was revered as the master of hundreds of schools by later generations. There is the famous Jiang Taigong fishing. It is said that Jiang Ziya was fishing by the river with a straight hook without bait, and was discovered by King Wen of Zhou Dynasty who was passing by. When King Wen stepped forward to ask the reason, King Wen found that Jiang Ziya was talented and full of strategies, so they hit it off immediately, and Jiang Ziya began to assist King Wen of Zhou. , after the death of King Wen, he continued to assist King Wu of Zhou, and finally defeated the Shang Dynasty and founded the Zhou Dynasty.
2. Duke of Zhou
Gong of Zhou, whose surname is Dan, is the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou. In "The Biography of Shangshu", he once commented on Duke of Zhou: he saved chaos in one year and suppressed business in two years. Three years of practice, four years of building a marquis and guard, five years of camp and six years of making rituals and music. Duke Zhou was honored as the "Yuan Sage" by later generations. He was the example of Confucius and the source of Confucianism. At the beginning of the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, not only through A series of systems laid the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty, and formulated a systematic Zhou etiquette, which not only ensured social order, but also laid the foundation of etiquette civilization.
6. Works of the Western Zhou Dynasty
1. "The Book of Changes"
The Book of Changes is known as the first of the scriptures and the source of the great road. The author is Ji Chang (Zhou Wensan) King of Japan), it is said that when Ji Chang was imprisoned by King Zhou of Shang Dynasty, he deduced sixty-four hexagrams based on Fuxi's innate eight trigrams. Each hexagram has six lines, one hexagram and three hundred and eighty-four ai, and is matched with good or bad luck. The content of the hexagrams and lines is broad and profound.
Due to the backwardness of science in ancient times, people tended to predict the future direction or good or bad events based on divination. The Book of Changes was a book in which the ancients summarized the laws behind things, and had profound implications for later generations in various fields. Influence.
2. "The Book of Songs"
The Book of Songs, one of the Five Classics, is an early collection of ancient Chinese poetry. It collects poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, *** Total of 311 songs.
The content is divided into three parts: "Feng", "Ya" and "Ling". In terms of technique, it is divided into Fu, Bi and Xing, collectively called Liuyi. According to legend, there were poetry collectors in the Western Zhou Dynasty who would go deep into the folk to collect folk poems. Ballads, those European ballads that reflected folk life were compiled into tunes and sung to the emperor at that time, as a reference for the implementation of the system.
7. Western Zhou Yandu Ruins Museum
The Western Zhou Yandu Ruins Museum is located in Dongjialin Village, Liulihe Town, Fangshan District, Beijing. It is the seat of the Yan Kingdom of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It displays the Western Zhou Dynasty The cultural relics of the Yan Kingdom include important cultural relics representing the Western Zhou Dynasty such as the Jinding Ding Bo Ju Li and Ke Yu. The inscriptions on them record the fact that the King of Zhou conferred the title of Marquis of Yan, the eldest son of Duke Zhao.