Western Zhou Dynasty
YingZheng
221BC, lasting more than 800 years, with 34 kings. In the 11th century
BC, King Wu of the Zhou vanquished the Shang Dynasty and established
the Zhou Dynasty, founding the capital in Hao (southwest of Xi'an City
in Shaanxi Province). In 256BC, the Zhou was conquered by the Qin.
The Zhou was originally a dependent state to the Shang Dynasty
(17th-11th century BC). According to legend the ancestor of the Zhou
tribe was Di Ku. The Zhou grew strong and extended its power during the
reign of King Wen and King Wu. King Wu launched an attack on Muye,
overthrew the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty, which is
known as the Western Zhou in Chinese history.
Agriculture, economy, religion, education and art continued to prosper
in the Zhou, especially the rites, which not only inherited that of the
Shang but also had their own innovations. In the early Zhou, the ruler
prohibited people from excessive drinking to put an end to the
popularly extravagant practices of the late Shang. Bronze metallurgy
continued to develop, but drinking vessels commonly seen in the Shang
gradually vanished. The oracle-bone divination method was still popular
in the Zhou. Unearthed oracle bones, which date back as far as King
Wen, are similar to those of the Shang in shape and material.
Towards the end of the Western Zhou, the intensification of internal
contradictions within the ruling class grew sharper and land and power
was seized. Uprisings in the kingdom shook the ruling class to its very
foundations. In 771BC, King You was killed by the Quan Rong tribe,
sounding the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty.