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The Zhou dynasty ( ; p=Zhōu, ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military control over territories centered on the Wei River valley and North China Plain. Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), the political system created by the Zhou royal house survived in some form for several additional centuries. A date of 1046 BC for the Zhou's establishment is supported by the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and David Pankenier, but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC.
The latter Eastern Zhou period is itself roughly subdivided into two parts. During the Spring and Autumn period (), power became increasingly decentralized as the authority of the royal house diminished. The Warring States period (221 BC) that followed saw large-scale warfare and consolidation among what had formerly been Zhou client states, until the Zhou were formally extinguished by the state of Qin in 256 BC. The Qin ultimately founded the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC after conquering all of China.
The Zhou period is often considered to be the zenith for the craft of Chinese bronzeware. The latter Zhou period is also famous for the advent of three major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism. The Zhou dynasty also spans the period when the predominant form of written Chinese became seal script, which evolved from the earlier oracle bone and . By the dynasty's end, an immature form of clerical script had also emerged.
Buzhu—Qi's son, or rather that of the Houji—is said to have abandoned his position as Agrarian Master () in old age and either he or his son Ji Ju abandoned their tradition, living in the manner of the Xirong and Rongdi (see Hua–Yi distinction). Ju's son Gong Liu, however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin, which his descendants ruled for generations. Tai later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the Wei River valley (modern Qishan County).
The duke passed over his two elder sons Taibo and Zhongyong to favor the younger Jili, a warrior in his own right. As a vassal of the Shang kings Wu Yi and Wen Ding, Jili went to conquer several Xirong tribes before being treacherously killed by Shang forces. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly already fled to the Yangtze delta, where they established the state of Wu among the tribes there. Jili's son Wen bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to Fenghao (present-day Xi'an). Around 1046 BC, Wen's son Wu and his ally Jiang Ziya led an army of 45,000 men and 300 chariots across the Yellow River and defeated King Zhou of Shang at the Battle of Muye, marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of Song, which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as .
Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. Peripheral territories developed local power and prestige on par with that of the Zhou.
The conflicts with nomadic tribes from the north and the northwest, variously known as the Xianyun, Guifang, or various "Rong" tribes, such as the Xirong, Shanrong or Quanrong, intensified towards the end of the Western Zhou period. These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at the time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands—especially the Wei River valley. Archaeologically, the Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture.
When King You demoted and exiled his Qiang queen in favor of the commoner Bao Si, the disgraced queen's father the Marquis of Shen joined with Zeng and the Quanrong. The Quanrong put an end to the Western Zhou in 771 BC, sacking the Zhou capital at Haojing and killing the last Western Zhou king You. With King You dead, a conclave of nobles met at Shen and declared the Marquis's grandson King Ping. The capital was moved eastward to Wangcheng, marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period.
The last Zhou king is traditionally taken to be Nan, who was killed when Qin captured Wangcheng in 256 BC. Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou declared himself to be "King Hui", but his splinter state was fully disassembled by 249. Qin's wars of unification concluded in 221 BC with Qin Shi Huang's annexation of Qi.
The Eastern Zhou is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy: the Hundred Schools of Thought which flourished as rival lords patronized itinerant scholars is led by the example of Qi's Jixia Academy. The Nine Schools of Thought which came to dominate the others were Confucianism as interpreted by Mencius and others, Legalism, Taoism, Mohism, the utopian communalist Agriculturalism, two strains of the School of Diplomacy, the School of Names, Sun Tzu's School of the Military, and the School of Naturalists. While only the first three of these would receive imperial patronage in later dynasties, doctrines from each influenced the others and Chinese society in sometimes unusual ways. The Mohists for instance found little interest in their praise of meritocracy but much acceptance for their mastery of defensive siege warfare; much later, however, their arguments against nepotism were used in favor of establishing the imperial examination system.
The Mandate of Heaven was presented as a religious compact between the Zhou people and their supreme god in heaven. The Zhou agreed that since worldly affairs were supposed to align with those of the heavens, the heavens conferred legitimate power on only one person, the Zhou ruler. In return, the ruler was duty-bound to uphold heaven's principles of harmony and honor. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose the mandate. Under this system, it was the prerogative of spiritual authority to withdraw support from any wayward ruler and to find another, more worthy one. In this way, the Zhou sky god legitimized regime change.
In using this creed, the Zhou rulers had to acknowledge that any group of rulers, even they themselves, could be ousted if they lost the mandate of heaven because of improper practices. The book of odes written during the Zhou period clearly intoned this caution.
The Zhou kings contended that heaven favored their triumph because the last Shang kings had been evil men whose policies brought pain to the people through waste and corruption. (2025). 9780872207813, Hackett. ISBN 9780872207813 After the Zhou came to power, the mandate became a political tool.
One of the duties and privileges of the king was to create a royal calendar. This official document defined times for undertaking agricultural activities and celebrating rituals. But unexpected events such as solar eclipses or natural calamities threw the ruling house's mandate into question. Since rulers claimed that their authority came from heaven, the Zhou made great efforts to gain accurate knowledge of the stars and to perfect the astronomical system on which they based their calendar.
Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels, statues, ornaments, and weapons. As the Zhou emulated the Shang's large scale production of ceremonial bronzes, they developed an extensive system of bronze metalworking that required a large force of tribute labor. Many of its members were Shang, who were sometimes forcibly transported to new Zhou to produce the bronze ritual objects which were then sold and distributed across the lands, symbolizing Zhou legitimacy.
The system, also called "extensive stratified patrilineage", was defined by the anthropologist Kwang-chih Chang as "characterized by the fact that the eldest son of each generation formed the main of line descent and political authority, whereas the younger brothers were moved out to establish new lineages of lesser authority. The farther removed, the lesser the political authority". Ebrey defines the descent-line system as follows: "A great line (ta-tsung) is the line of eldest sons continuing indefinitely from a founding ancestor. A lesser line is the line of younger sons going back no more than five generations. Great lines and lesser lines continually spin off new lesser lines, founded by younger sons".
K.E. Brashier writes in his book "Ancestral Memory in Early China" about the tsung-fa system of patrilineal primogeniture: "The greater lineage, if it has survived, is the direct succession from father to eldest son and is not defined via the collateral shifts of the lesser lineages. In discussions that demarcate between trunk and collateral lines, the former is called a zong and the latter a zu, whereas the whole lineage is dubbed the shi. ... On one hand, every son who is not the eldest and hence not heir to the lineage territory has the potential of becoming a progenitor and fostering a new trunk lineage (Ideally he would strike out to cultivate new lineage territory). ... According to the Zou commentary, the son of heaven divided land among his feudal lords, his feudal lords divided the land among their dependent families and so forth down the pecking order to the officers who had their dependent kin and the commoners who "each had his apportioned relations and all had their graded precedence""
This type of unilineal descent-group later became the model of the Korean family through the influence of Neo-Confucianism, as Zhu Xi and others advocated its re-establishment in China.
Despite these similarities, there are a number of important differences from medieval Europe. One obvious difference is that the Zhou ruled from walled cities rather than castles. Another was China's distinct class system, which lacked an organized clergy but saw Shang-descent yeomen become masters of ritual and ceremony, as well as astronomy, state affairs and ancient canons, known as ru (儒).Li-Hsiang Lisa Rosenlee (2025). 9780791481790, State University of New York Press. ISBN 9780791481790 When a dukedom was centralized, these people would find employment as government officials or officers. These hereditary classes were similar to Western knights in status and breeding, but unlike the European equivalent, they were expected to be something of a scholar instead of a warrior. Being appointed, they could move from one state to another. Some would travel from state to state peddling schemes of administrative or military reform. Those who could not find employment would often end up teaching young men who aspired to official status. The most famous of these was Confucius, who taught a system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. In contrast, the Legalists had no time for Confucian virtue and advocated a system of strict laws and harsh punishments.
China's first projects of hydraulic engineering were initiated during the Zhou dynasty, ultimately as a means to aid agricultural irrigation. Sunshu Ao, the Chancellor of Wei who served King Zhuang of Chu, dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. For this, Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao, who served Marquis Wen of Wei (445–396 BC), was the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. As the main focus of his grandiose project, his canal work eventually diverted the waters of the entire Zhang River to a spot further up the Yellow River.
King Zhao was famous for repeated campaigns in the Yangtze region, and died on campaign. Later kings' campaigns were less effective. King Li led 14 armies against barbarians in the south, but failed to achieve any victory. King Xuan fought the Quanrong nomads in vain. King You was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. Although chariots had been introduced to China during the Shang dynasty from Central Asia, the Zhou period saw the first major use of chariots in battle. Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with the steppe populations in the west, such as the Saka and Wusun. Other possible cultural influences resulting from contact with these Iranic people of Central Asia in this period may include fighting styles, head-and-hooves burials, art motifs and myths.
The Zhou army also included "barbarian" troops such as the Beidi. King Hui of Zhou married a princess of the Red Di as a sign of appreciation for the importance of the Di troops. (2025). 9780791483701, State University of New York Press. ISBN 9780791483701 King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support. (2025). 9780190463618, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190463618
The state theology of the Zhou dynasty used concepts from the Shang dynasty and mostly referred to the Shang god, Di, as Tian, a more distant and unknowable concept, yet one that anyone could utilize, the opposite view of the Shang's spirituality. (2025). 9780872207813, Hackett. ISBN 9780872207813 The Zhou wanted to increase the number of enlightenment seekers, mystics, and those who would be interested in learning about such things as a way to further distance their people from the Shang-era paradigm and local traditions.
The system was canonized in the Book of Rites, Rites of Zhou, and Etiquette and Ceremonial compiled during the Han dynasty (202 BC220 AD), thus becoming the heart of the Chinese imperial ideology. While the system was initially a respected body of concrete regulations, the fragmentation of the Western Zhou period led the ritual to drift towards moralization and formalization in regard to:
Aside from Shi Jing, the earliest Chinese poem anthology, where gender-ambiguity and same-sex affection both made an appearance, the Zhou Dynasty involved many recorded forms of homosexuality, including farmers and soldiers.Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. p. 18, https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html. Bisexuality and/or homosexual practices often involved heterosexual marriage, foundational to kinship and social networks in the Zhou Dynasty and beyond in Imperial China, whereas male homosexuality was often "class-based," meaning these relationships involved economic and social benefits.Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. pp. 19–20, https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html.
| + List of Western Zhou kings | ||
| Fa 發 | King Wu 周武王 | |
| Song 誦 | King Cheng 周成王 | |
| Zhao 釗 | King Kang 周康王 | |
| Xia 瑕 | King Zhao 周昭王 | |
| Man 滿 | King Mu 周穆王 | |
| Yihu 繄扈 | King Gong 周共王 | |
| Jian 囏 | King Yih 周懿王 | |
| Pifang 辟方 | King Xiao 周孝王 | |
| Xie 燮 | King Yi 周夷王 | |
| Hu 胡 | King Li 周厲王 | |
| Gonghe Regency 共和 | 841–828 BC | |
| Jing 靜 | King Xuan 周宣王 | 827–782 BC |
| Gongsheng 宮湦 | King You 周幽王 | 781–771 BC |
| + List of Eastern Zhou kings | ||
| Yijiu 宜臼 | King Ping 周平王 | 770–720 BC |
| Lin 林 | King Huan 周桓王 | 719–697 BC |
| Tuo 佗 | King Zhuang 周莊王 | 696–682 BC |
| Huqi 胡齊 | King Xi 周僖王 | 681–677 BC |
| Lang 閬 | King Hui 周惠王 | 676–652 BC |
| Zheng 鄭 | King Xiang 周襄王 | 651–619 BC |
| Renchen 壬臣 | King Qing 周頃王 | 618–613 BC |
| Ban 班 | King Kuang 周匡王 | 612–607 BC |
| Yu 瑜 | King Ding 周定王 | 606–586 BC |
| Yi 夷 | King Jian 周簡王 | 585–572 BC |
| Xiexin 洩心 | King Ling 周靈王 | 571–545 BC |
| Gui 貴 | King Jing 周景王 | 544–521 BC |
| Meng 猛 | King Dao 周悼王 | 520 BC |
| Gai 丐 | King Jing 周敬王 | 519–476 BC |
| Ren 仁 | King Yuan 周元王 | 475–469 BC |
| Jie 介 | King Zhending 周貞定王 | 468–442 BC |
| Quji 去疾 | King Ai 周哀王 | 441 BC |
| Shu 叔 | King Si 周思王 | 441 BC |
| Wei 嵬 | King Kao 周考王 | 440–426 BC |
| Wu 午 | King Weilie 周威烈王 | 425–402 BC |
| Jiao 驕 | King An 周安王 | 401–376 BC |
| Xi 喜 | King Lie 周烈王 | 375–369 BC |
| Bian 扁 | King Xian 周顯王 | 368–321 BC |
| Ding 定 | King Shenjing 周慎靚王 | 320–315 BC |
| Yan 延 | King Nan 周赧王 | 314–256 BC |
During Confucius's lifetime in the Spring and Autumn period, Zhou kings had little power, and much administrative responsibility and de-facto political strength was wielded by rulers of smaller domains and local community leaders. (2025). 9780872207813, Hackett. ISBN 9780872207813
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