The rise of Zhou people
Zhou people are ancient agricultural tribes, rising in today's Shaanxi Gansu area. It is said that its ancestor was named as Houji. After his death, his descendants became agricultural officials of the Xia Dynasty. Because of the decline of Xia government, he lost his official position and ran between Rong and di. Sun Gong Liu led his people to settle down in Chen (now the west of Xunyi in Shaanxi Province), developed farming, and gradually gained power. Later, it was passed down to the ninth generation. Due to the attack of Xunyu and Rongdi, he moved from Xunyu to Zhouyuan (now between Fufeng and Qishan in Shaanxi Province) under Qishan. The land of Zhouyuan is fertile and suitable for farming. In the late Shang Dynasty, Gugong built houses in the city, divided the cities, and set up official institutions. The state name was Zhou. Gu Gong was later called the king of the Zhou Dynasty.
In ancient times, the younger son Ji Li succeeded to the throne, which was Gong Ji, and later Zhou people pursued Wang Ji. With the development of Zhou Guoshi and the intermarriage between Jili and Zhi, the surname Ren, strengthened the relationship with Shang Dynasty. In the last year of Wu Yi, king of Shang Dynasty, Ji Li entered the dynasty. Wu Yi granted land, jade, horses and other items. After that, Ji Li conquered xiluoguirong and captured "Twelve Zhai (DI) kings". During the reign of Wending, the king of Shang Dynasty, Ji Li fought against all the armies further. Except for the defeat of the army in Yanjing, the victory of the army in Yuwu, the army in Shihu and the army in Yitu made Zhou's forces penetrate into the territory of Shanxi. Wending (i.e. emperor b) appointed Ji Li as priest (i.e. Fang Bo). It may be that the strength of Zhou Dynasty caused the conflict with Shang Dynasty, and Ji Li was killed by the king of Shang Dynasty. Ji Li's son Chang succeeded to the throne, that is, the King Wen of Zhou. King Wen was once a courtier of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty with nine Marquis (a ghost Marquis) and e marquis. The nine Marquis and e Marquis were killed by Zhou, and King Wen was also imprisoned. After he was released, he offered the land to the west of Luohe River to Zhou, asking him to get rid of the torture of artillery. As Zhou promised, he was granted the title of Xibo. Most of the princes rebelled against merchants and returned to Zhou Dynasty. King Wen successively conquered Canrong, MISHU (now in the west of Lingtai, Gansu), Li (now in the southwest of Changzhi, Shanxi), Han (now in the northwest of Qinyang, Henan), and finally conquered Chongguo (now in the northwest of Chang'an, Shaanxi), built Fengyi on the West Bank of Fengshui, and moved his capital there. In the period of King Wen, Zhou was quite powerful, but it was still a vassal state under the Shang Dynasty in name.
King Wu conquered Zhou
Boyikao, the eldest son of King Wen, was killed by Zhou. After the death of King Wen, the later Prince FA succeeded to the throne, that is, King Wu of Zhou. In the second year of King Wu's accession to the throne, he set up his army in the east to attack merchants in Mengjin, but because the time was not mature enough, he had to return his army temporarily. Later, King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty became more tyrannical, killing Bigan and imprisoning Jizi. King Wu of Zhou led the army to March eastward, crossed Mengjin, met with the princes and swore to denounce Zhou's crimes. In the early morning of Jiazi day, Zhou's army entered the suburbs of Shang Dynasty and fought with Zhou's army in Muye. The Zhou army won the battle of Muye. Zhou was forced to burn himself to death, and Shang Dynasty died.
King Wu entered the capital of Shang Dynasty, and then sent troops to invade the princes of Shang Dynasty who had not yet been subdued. According to the records, as many as 99 countries were conquered. After conquering the Shang Dynasty, King Wu returned to the West and held a grand ceremony in his newly moved capital, Haojing (Zongzhou, now fengshuidong, northwest of Chang'an, Shaanxi), officially announcing the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty.
Zhou Gong's eastward expedition
After the death of King Wu, the prince chanted and established for the sake of becoming king. King Cheng was a young man who once assisted Zhou GongDan, the younger brother of King Wu of Zoke business, as regent. Guan Shu and Cai Shu suspected that Zhou Gong would usurp the throne and spread rumors. Wu Geng also planned to restore the state, joined Guan and CAI to rebel against Zhou, and gathered Xu (now Sihong in Jiangsu), Yan (now Qufu in Shandong), Bogu (now Southeast of boxing in Shandong) and Xiong, Ying and other tribes to make trouble. After three years of war, Zhou Gong finally put down the rebellion. Wu Geng and Guan Shu were killed, and Cai Shu was exiled.
In order to eliminate the hidden danger of the remaining forces of the Shang Dynasty rebelling against Zhou, the Zhou Dynasty first ordered the princes to build a new city in Yiluo area, namely Luoyi (Chengzhou), the eastern capital of the Zhou Dynasty.
When the eastern capital was established, it was moved to control it. At the same time, Wei Zi, a noble of Shang Dynasty, was granted to Zhou Dynasty in Song Dynasty (now Shangqiu in Henan Province), the former capital of Shang Dynasty, to replace the Shang Dynasty; Kang Shu, the younger brother of King Wu, was granted to Zhou Dynasty to establish Wei state and give seven families of Yin people; Bo Qin, the eldest son of Duke Zhou, was granted to the old land of Yan state and Lu state and six families of Yin people. In this way, the remaining people of the Shang Dynasty were divided and gradually submitted to the rule of the Zhou Dynasty.
The rule of Chengkang
The eastern capital was built into Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou returned to power and became king, and the Zhou Dynasty entered a period of consolidation. It is said that the Duke of Zhou made rites and music, which refers to the establishment and implementation of various systems of the dynasty. Among them, enfeoffment in the early Zhou Dynasty had the most profound influence.
The enfeoffment of the Zhou Dynasty began when King Wu was king, but the large-scale enfeoffment was in the period of King Cheng and his son king Kang (Mingzhao). It is said that there are 71 states in the early Zhou Dynasty, among which 40 states share the same surname of Ji with the king of Zhou. The descendants of Wang Ji's elder brother Taibo and Zhongyong were granted Wu (now Suzhou, Jiangsu); Guo Zhong and Guo Shu, the younger brother of King Wen, were granted Dongguo (now northeast Xingyang, Henan) and Xiguo (now East Baoji, Shaanxi); the sons of King Wen were granted Guan (now Zhengzhou, Henan, zaomie), CAI (now southwest of upper Cai, Henan), Huo (now southwest of Huo County, Shanxi), Wei (now Qi County, Henan), Mao (now unknown) ）The sons of King Wu were granted in Jin Dynasty (first in the wing of Shanxi Province), and the sons of King Wu were granted in Jin Dynasty (second in the wing of Shanxi Province) Chengxi, Ying (now Pingdingshan, Henan), Han (now Hejin, Shanxi); Duke Zhou's son was granted to Lu (now Qufu, Shandong), fan (now Huixian, Henan), Jiang (now Gushi, Henan), Xing (now Xingtai, Hebei), Mao (now Jinxiang, Shandong), Hui (now Yanjin, Henan), Ji (now Zhengzhou, Henan); Duke Zhao's son was granted to Yan (now Zhengzhou, Henan) Beijing). In addition, there are many different surnames, such as the Qi of Jiang (now linzibei of Shandong), the song of Zi, and so on.
The enfeoffment of the Western Zhou Dynasty established the local administrative system under the control of the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, which played a role in strengthening the rule of the Zhou Dynasty in a certain period. The enfeoffment system also provided an important premise for the emergence of the ritual system of maintaining the hierarchical sequence of emperor, vassal, Qing, official and scholar.
The vassals in the early Zhou Dynasty were all controlled by the central government. At the time of becoming king, Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao were the most important ministers in the court. Since Shaanxi (now Shanxian County in Henan Province), the princes in the West were managed by Zhaogong, while the princes in the East were managed by Zhougong. In the reign of King Kang, Zhou ordered the princes to fight against the border and distant countries, such as the levy on Guifang recorded in the inscription on Xiaoyu Ding. Many people were captured, tens of thousands of them were captured alone. During the period of Chengkang, the Zhou Dynasty was the most powerful.
The southern expedition of King Zhao and the march of King Mu
After the death of King Kang, zizhao succeeded to the throne. In the 16th year of emperor Zhao, he wanted to inherit the cause of Chengkang and continue to expand the territory of Zhou Dynasty. He led a large army to the south of Chu and Jing, passing through Tang Dynasty (now the northwest of suixian County in Hubei Province), Li Dynasty (now the north of suixian County in Hubei Province), Zeng Dynasty (now suixian County in Hubei Province) and Kui Dynasty (now the east of Zigui County in Hubei Province) to Jianghan Region. After three years of Southern expedition, when the king of Zhao returned to his division to cross the Han River, it was said that the local people took the king of Zhao in a boat bonded with glue, and the boat broke down in the middle stream. The king of Zhao drowned and the army was destroyed, which made the Zhou Dynasty suffer unprecedented setbacks.
After King Zhao, his son, King Mu man, reigned for 55 years. He is very successful and still wants to develop in all directions. Because the nomadic Rong Di did not pay tribute to the Zhou Dynasty, he conquered the dog Rong in the West and won the five kings, and moved the Rong people to Taiyuan (now Zhenyuan area of Gansu Province). King Mu liked to March, which led to the relaxation of the government. In the East, the state of Xu led Jiuyi to invade the Zhou Dynasty, and even reached the river in the West. King Mu's southern expedition was pacified by the United Kingdom of Chu.
In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Rongdi gradually flourished in Northwest China. During the reign of King Yi, there was a situation of "invasion of China by Rong and Di", which was deeply suffered by Zhou people. The king of Yi ordered Guo Gong to lead his division to fight against the army of Taiyuan and won thousands of horses, but this victory failed to restore the decline of the royal family, and Rong Di continued to be a serious threat to the Zhou Dynasty.
Chinese uprising and Republican Administration
The king of Yi died, and the son of Li was Hu Li. During the reign of King Li, all kinds of social contradictions in the Western Zhou Dynasty tended to intensify, and finally reached the situation of outbreak. The Northwest Rongdi, especially Yanyu, further strengthened the pressure on the Zhou Dynasty and invaded from time to time; the Southeast Huaiyi, who had been subordinated to the Zhou Dynasty, could not bear the heavy pressure and rose up to resist. King Li ordered Guo Zhong to fight. It failed. Years of war have brought great suffering to the people. At the same time, King Li appointed Rong Yi Gong as the minister and implemented "patent", monopolizing social wealth and resources. In order to suppress the discontent of the people, King Li ordered the witches to watch and kill those who slandered the king. As a result, people were in danger and finally led to a Chinese uprising.
In 841 BC, the National People's Congress was riot, and Li was forced to run to * (now Shanxi Huo county). The court was administrated by two ministers, Zhaogong (Zhaomu Gonghu) and Zhougong (zhoudinggong), and was called "Gonghe" (i.e. Gongbo and Zhengxing).
Xuanwang Zhongxing
During the Chinese uprising, Prince Li hid himself in Zhaomu's family, and Zhaogong took his son's place to get out of danger. The Republic was fourteen years ago (the first 828), and Li Wang died from *. In the following year, Prince Jing ascended the throne as king Xuan of Zhou, and reigned for 46 years. With the help of the ministers such as Zhao Mugong, King Xuan made great efforts to govern the country, and the government improved obviously. With the support of the Chinese, King Xuan began to defend the northwest and the southeast.
In the early days of King Xuan, because of the lack of national strength, he once relied on the Qin people who belonged to the Zhou Dynasty to resist the Xirong. King Xuan ordered Qin Zhong to attack Xirong. In the fourth year of Emperor Xuan (824 BC), Qin Zhong was killed by Xirong. King Xuan summoned his son, Qin zhuanggong, and other five men to fight against Xirong for 7000 soldiers, and won the victory. He appointed Qin zhuanggong as the official of xichui. In March of the fifth year, King Xuan himself led his troops to fight against Yanyu in pengya (now northwest of Chengcheng, Shaanxi Province), and made some achievements. After that, King Xuan turned to the southeast. He ordered Yin Jifu (named Xi Jia and Xi Boji Fu in the inscriptions) to manage the tribute property, including the tribute of Huaiyi. He asked Huaiyi to pay tribute to cloth, grain and grass and the people who served according to the regulations of the dynasty, and restricted the trade between Huaiyi merchants and Zhou Dynasty in the designated market, so as to prepare for the large-scale attack in the future.
After accumulating strength for a period of time, King Xuan ordered Yin Jifu and Nan Zhong to go out for the expedition. The expedition lasted a long time and achieved remarkable success. For example, the inscription on guojizi's white plate written in the 12th year of Emperor Xuan states that guojizi's white plate led his troops to fight with Yu on the North Bank of Luohe River. He decapitated 500 people at one time and captured 50 enemies. Zhou's army went deep into Taiyuan and forced Yanyu to go far away. It may be because of the exploitation of Zhou Dynasty, Huaiyi rebelled against Zhou Dynasty and invaded Jianghan area.
King Xuan ordered Mu Gong to go to pacify, and ordered Nan Zhong, Huang Fu, Cheng Bo Xiu Fu, etc. to lead the army down the Huaihe River to the east to invade the state of Xu, and finally forced the state of Xu to obey the Zhou Dynasty. In order to consolidate the Southern soil, King Xuan moved his uncle Shen Bo to Xie (now Nanyang, Henan Province).
These victories in the xuanwang period did not solve the fundamental contradiction in the Western Zhou society. The so-called resurgence was only temporary. In the late years of King Xuan, the decline of Zhou Dynasty appeared again. Thirty one years later, xuanwang sent troops to fight against the army of Taiyuan and failed to win. In the following year, King Xuan interfered in the succession of the throne of Lu state and established the Duke of filial piety with his military strength, which caused discord among the princes. Thirty six years later, he conquered tiaoyong and benrong and suffered a disastrous defeat. In the 39th year, he fought with the Jiang family of Xirong in Qianmu (now Jiexiu south of Shanxi Province). He was seriously defeated and lost his Southern Division. In order to continue to defend, King Xuan had to count the number of people in Taiyuan and reorganize and control them. This shows that the strength of the Zhou Dynasty has become empty.
The fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty
The cause of the destruction of the Western Zhou Dynasty was that the king of you abandoned the empress Shen's daughter and the crown prince Yijiu, and replaced Baosi as the empress, and his son Bofu as the crown prince. Yijiu fled to the kingdom of Shen, and the Marquis of Shen united with the kingdom of ZA and the Western dog army to attack the king of you. You wang and Bo Fu were both killed in the opera by Gou Rong (now Lintong East, Shaanxi). In 771 BC, the Western Zhou dynasty fell. After the death of you Wang, marquis Shen, marquis Lu and Duke Xu established the former crown prince Yi Jiu in Shen, and Duke Guo Han established another Prince Yu Chen Yu Dai (the place is not known). Yijiu moved his capital to Luoyi to avoid the dog army. It was king Ping of Zhou Dynasty. Yu Chen was killed by Wen Hou of Jin Dynasty in 760 BC.
