Sketchy History | Western Zhou Dynasty

Western Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty Starts off Strong...

Hello everyone! We now continue with the story of a not-so-ancient-anymore China!

After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty assumed the reins of dynastic rule. The first half of its reign is historically known as the Western Zhou Dynasty. But how did Zhou become powerful enough to overthrow the mighty Shang? I’d like to begin that story with King Wen of Zhou (周文王), and his accidental meeting with the wise Jiang Ziya (姜子牙).

It is said that in the waning years of the Shang Dynasty, there lived a man named Jiang Ziya, who was quite poor and very much homeless. So, he decided to go for a job application. At that time, the Shang Dynasty wasn’t accepting any offers from people who didn’t have connections, so he went to the territory of the Zhou kingdom. He was hoping to land a posh job as some powerful government official. But rather than going through the traditional steps of a job application process, he did this instead:

Jiang Ziya’s unconventional style of fishing brought him much local fame, though not necessarily good fame. But, as the saying goes in Mandarin, “If it’s gold, it will shine eventually!” And Jiang Ziya’s turn to shine came soon enough.

Max Facts! As with many other stories of the time, stories of Jiang Ziya often painted him as somewhat of a mystical figure. They are, of course, often inaccurate or incomplete.

One story says that King Wen, after being dazzled by Jiang’s intelligence, personally carried him on his back for 800 steps toward his capital in order to show his respect. After King Wen was sufficiently exhausted, Jiang Ziya uttered the famous phrase: “You carried me 800 steps, I will ensure your kingdom lasts for 800 years.” And sure enough, the Zhou Dynasty is by far the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, reigning for 800 years.

Another story states that as Jiang Ziya grew old, he decided to create a bureaucracy in heaven. So he appointed many of the officials at the time as officials in heaven, with himself as the Jade Emperor. If you have ever read “Journey to the West,” the one with the monkey Sun Wukong, then you’d know that the Jade Emperor and his court feature heavily in that story.

It is said that during a hunting trip by the river, King Wen noticed a man fishing, yet his hook was not in the water. Intrigued, he went up to that guy and struck up a conversation.

This man was, of course, Jiang Ziya. Jiang immediately dazzled King Wen with his wit and wisdom. So without any further background checks, he appointed Jiang High Chancellor.

Alas, those were simpler times!

Grows Stronger…

Under the masterful guidance of Jiang, the kingdom of Zhou grew in strength, annexing smaller kingdoms and making strategic alliances with larger neighbors. While covertly building strength, the Zhou rulers appeased the kings of Shang with lavish gifts and copious amounts of gold. So by the time King Wen’s son, King Wu, ascended to the throne, the Zhou state fielded an army three times the size of the Shang’s. Combined with the misrule of King Zhou of Shang (商纣王) (which is detailed further in the previous post), many vassals began to see Zhou as their savior.

Yet even still, Jiang urged caution.

But as the evidence mounted that not only were the Zhou kingdom and its allies more powerful than Shang, but also that the Shang Dynasty was collapsing from within under the misrule of its king, Jiang finally approved King Wu’s invasion.

Max Facts. If you’ve ever learned European history, you’d know that most Medieval European monarchs claimed they had a “divine right to rule,” or the idea that God made them the ruler. But Chinese tradition takes it a step further. All Chinese rulers, from the kings of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties to the emperors who ruled China until the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, declared themselves Sons of Heaven (天子). Thus, Chinese rulers were not merely seen as divinely endowed, but often as gods themselves, which greatly enhanced their prestige and authority.

What happens next should be familiar to those who have read the Shang Dynasty post. King Wu, with an alliance of 800 dissatisfied tributary states (historians at the time liked to exaggerate just a little bit) won a victory due to mass defections from the Shang side, and became the Son of Heaven and established his capital at Fenghao (沣镐).

Jiang Ziya would continue to play a crucial role in the governance of the Zhou Dynasty even after the death of King Wu. One major revolt ensued, followed by a peaceful transfer of power. Now, the second king of Zhou, King Cheng (周成王), had a firm grip on power. Jiang, who by this point was an incredibly old man even by modern standards, retired. He died at age 113 (again, he’s mythologized, so this number is not necessarily accurate.)

The Western Zhou Dynasty marked the beginning of an era of peace and stability for China in the aftermath of the ruinous final years of the Shang Dynasty. The stability allowed for the economy, however basic it was in these early years, to flourish. Former Shang tributaries willingly provided tribute to their new Zhou overlord. But the Zhou was significantly larger than the Shang, and not all of that new land was governed by tributary states.

Starts Doing Some Dumb Stuff…

The Zhou Dynasty's kings probably should have realized that since vassal states often precipitate the collapse of dynasties, maybe they should just get rid of them to ensure the stability of central governance. But they were like, "nah, let's make more of them!"

Jiang Ziya was one of the earliest to receive a fief, which encompassed much of the Eastern reaches of Zhou. His land bordered the Pacific, giving him not only a wonderful Pacific breeze, but also control over the supply of salt and fish. After 300 years, as more and more fiefs were distributed, China began to look like this:

Each region highlighted in vibrant colors is a fief that was given out by the Zhou king. Let’s play Where’s Waldo, Zhou Dynasty edition! Can you find what land the Zhou (周) has left?

I’ll give you a bit more time…

And then it collapses…

All the regional states were allowed to have their own militaries and were only obliged to pay a yearly tribute and support the Zhou king militarily in times of crisis.

Of course, even with this limited power, some idiot Zhou king would eventually goof up, big time. This king was King You of Zhou (周幽王).

King You ascended to the throne at around 796 BC. During his reign, he became enamored with a beautiful woman named Bao Si (褒姒). (Why does every final ruler’s tale always begin with this?) However, she would never smile. So in order to make her smile, King You kept doing stupid things like this:

After this happened a few times, all the vassals were like: “screw this guy.” So when actual barbarian tribes surrounded the Zhou capital, no vassals came to the king’s aid.

The Zhou capital was reduced to rubble and the King presumably went down with his city.

This story occurred 500 years before Aesop wrote his “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Looks like King You was the first ‘boy’ in history!

This marked the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty. But wait! Didn’t Jiang Ziya promise the Zhou Dynasty an 800-year reign? Don’t worry! I’m getting there!

After the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a new king was crowned in the new capital in the east, Luoyang (洛阳). Thus the creatively named Eastern Zhou Dynasty was born from the ashes of the Western Zhou. But though the dynasty survived the crisis, its authority did not.