The Zhou Dynasty was the longest dynasty in the history of the continent. From the overthrow of Zhou by King Wu in 1046 BC to Puding in 256 BC, the Zhou Dynasty lasted 790 years, longer than the nearly a century of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties combined. If you count that the ancestor of the Zhou people existed for nearly a thousand years before King Wu, the history of the Zhou people is even longer. Even if it is only the Western Zhou, which ruled the world and came at the call, it only lasted 275 years, the same as the Western Han, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
Speaking of the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou, how did the national name "Zhou" come about? Zhou was born in Zhouyuan, Weihe, between Baoji and Xianyang in Shaanxi Province. This narrow strip of land runs from Fengxiang County in the east, passes through Qishan County and Fufeng County, and ends in Wugong County. It is about 70 kilometers long from east to west and 20 kilometers wide from north to south. The Guanzhong Plain has fertile soil and abundant water resources, which is suitable for agricultural production. The word "state" in the oracle bone script means "field", that is, the meaning of planting rice in the field.
There are several other theories. 1. "Zhou" means chastity, is a personal nickname, similar to the United States and Germany. 2. The Zhou people come from the surrounding area of Qishan and live around Qishan, so they are called Zhou. 3. "Boat" means boat. It is said that the ancestors of the Zhou people lived by the Wei River and could not build a boat every day, so it was called the Zhou boat. In ancient times, the term "zhou zhou" may have been used interchangeably.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the royal family had a huge cultural, political, and military advantage over the nobility, and the nobles groveled to the Zhou royal family until the Western Zhou Zhou Youwang. In order to please the beauties, King Zhou You wore a torch mask to play with the princes. Eventually he became unfaithful and was overthrown by an army of dog soldiers led by his father-in-law Shenhou.
In 771 BC, King You's son Ji Yiusu moved east to Luoyi and established Eastern Zhou, also known as King Ping of Zhou. Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was a distant relative of successive emperors after Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, and he still claimed to be the son of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty. King Ping of Zhou directly inherited the Western Zhou dynasty in terms of blood and legal system. He is closer than Liu Xiu, so there is no need to change the name of the country.
After the fall of Eastern Zhou, through the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, some people reused the Zhou number.
In 534, Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. Eastern Wei was ruled by Gao Huan, and Western Wei by Yuwen Tai. In 557, Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue, under the guidance of Yuwen Hu, the attendant, abolished Western Wei and established the Great Zhou Dynasty, later Northern Zhou. Historically, it is called the Tang Dynasty. The week after that). Why is Yuwen Tai's national name "Zhou"?
At the beginning of the establishment of Western Wei, even Yuwen Tai felt that he could not compare with the power of Gao Huan of Eastern Wei. Eastern Wei controlled most of the North China Plain and was heavily populous and armed. The Guanzhong and Hexi plains controlled by Western Wei had little arable land and few inhabitants. Militarily, Yuwen Tai can defeat Gao Huan in one or two battles, but if Yuwen Tai does not have a strong family lineage, he will end up with endless food. Considering this, Yuwen Tai once again hired Su Qiu, who was of little value at the time, to carry out all the reforms in household registration, agriculture, government and other aspects.
Under the banner of restoring the Zhou rites, Yuwen Tai incorporated the various systems of the Western Zhou into his reforms, often referred to as the ancient change. Yuwen Tai used the old bottle of the Western Zhou Dynasty to fill his new wine, and actions such as setting up the six official organs and changing the official system were unacceptable, but they strengthened their control over the Wuchuan military clique. The difficulty in Yuwen Tai's competition with Gao Huan and Xiao Yan was that Northern Qi occupied the Central Plains, Xiao Liang had a cultural advantage, and Qi Liang inherited the Han and Wei systems. If Yuwen Tai wanted to occupy a high cultural and ideological position, he could only leave Han Wei and directly inherit the Western Zhou Dynasty. Yuwen Tai's reform system laid the foundation for unification after the Sui and Tang dynasties.
In the third year of Emperor Gong of Western Wei (556), Yuwen Tai had just died, and Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Wei Gong to make Yuwen Jue, son of Yuwen Tai, the Duke of Zhou, the title of state. "Week" decided. Since it is to learn the Western Zhou, it should be learned from beginning to end. Not using "Zhou" as the name of the country is nondescript.
After the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty also appeared Wu Zhou (690-705). Why did Wu Zetian name his state "Zhou" after his wife (Li Zhi) and children (Li Xian, Li Dan)? Wu Zetian's family came from humble beginnings. His father was a samurai Xun, who was only a wood merchant as a child and did not have a family of his own (a wealthy local official). Therefore, King Luo Bin, who wrote "Goose and Goose", scolded Wu Zetian for "being humble in earth (origin), and Xun warriors helped Li Yuan conquer the Sui Dynasty and was made the Duke of Ying by Li Yuan." During the Spring and Autumn period, it was a small country west of the main city of Pingdingshan and east of Lushan County (present-day Henan Province).
In the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Emperor Gaozong of Tang established Wu Zetian as empress despite the opposition of his ministers. The ministers protested. A big reason is that the Wu family is from a very low background, not from a famous family. Wu Zetian needed to quickly identify a famous family in history as his ancestor. The drummers immediately turned over the old documents, and a less famous person walked into Wu Zetian's field of vision.
Photo: Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian Qianling
His name was Ji Wu, and he was the youngest son of King Ping of Zhou, the founding emperor of Eastern Zhou. When the child was born, there was a "wu" character on the palm of his hand, so he was named Ji Wu. The Wu clan did not have a prominent family during the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, so they would bypass these dynasties and directly inherit the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty was the best country for Confucians and doctors, and its status was very high. "I am a descendant of Zhou Tianzi, who of you dares to look down on others?" Wu Zetian probably thought so in his heart.
Of course, Li Zhi was also willing to help her husband improve his family status, and the following year changed the title of warrior Xun to the Duke of Zhou. When preparing for the founding of the state, Wu Zetian automatically adopted "Zhou" as the first choice for the national name. Wu Zetian considered himself a descendant of Ji Zhou and had a conspiracy: "Since the ancestors ruled the world, as a descendant of the Zhou Dynasty, of course he was qualified", and he was restoring the Zhou Dynasty. Just as Liu Xiu restored the Han Dynasty. ”
Similar to Wu Zetian, the founder of the Zhou Dynasty was Guo Wei. In 951, the Later Han Dynasty collapsed, just four years after the Fifth Dynasty. The special envoy Guo Wei returned to China and established the Zhou Dynasty, known as the Zhou Dynasty. Guo Wei was a native of Yaoshan, Xingzhou, which is now Longyao County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province. Xingzhou belonged to the State of Zhao during the Spring and Autumn period and was closely related to the State of Wei, but Guo Wei was useless. Shi Hu, the tyrant of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, had long ruined the reputation of the "Zhao" Kingdom. "Wei" is okay, but the first generation of the Five Dynasties Houliang is another name for Wei, which is incorrect.
It is said that Guo Wei's name is not Guo, but Zhang. His father died early, and his mother took the Guo family to remarry. Whether it is the Guo family or the Chang family, there has never been a famous family in history. Although sectarian concepts during the Five Dynasties period were not as strong as those of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Sui and Tang dynasties, sectarian discrimination still existed in society. Guo Wei must find an ancestor who can support his form. If he couldn't find the names Guo and Chang, he went directly to the Zhou Dynasty to find them. During the Zhou Dynasty, many princely states had the surname Ji. There are many descendants of the Ji family. Guo Wei claimed to be a descendant of the surname Ji, but the ancestor he was looking for was not Queen Wen of Zhou, but Uncle Guo, the younger brother of King Wen of Zhou. After King Wu of Zhou destroyed Shang, he sealed his uncle in the state of Yu and called him Uncle Yu. 虢 is pronounced similarly to 虢, and 虢公 is sometimes referred to as 虢公. Guo Wei's surname is Guo, and he knows that Uncle Guo, named Ji, is his ancestor, so he has his own family, so that these upper-class families no longer have family discrimination.
Some people have found that since the Zhou Dynasty, everyone who calls their country Zhou has a short lifespan. If you count the Western Wei dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty lasted forty-six years (535-581), the Wu Zhou fifteen years, and the Later Zhou Dynasty was shorter, only nine years.
There is also a week shorter than the next week, which is the week of Wu Sangui in the early Qing Dynasty. From 1674, when Wu Sangui rebelled against the Qing dynasty and became emperor in 1678, it lasted only four years.
Why is Wu Sangui's surname Zhou Wei? Wu Sangui, a native of Liaodong. As for his birthplace, his name is "Liao". Isn't this asking for trouble? The Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty was later called the Jin Dynasty. As for the ancestral home, Jiangsu Gaoyou is the location of the ancient Wu state, which can be called "Wu", but Wu Sangui's roots are in Yunnan. When Wu Sangui raised troops in Yunnan, he could not use "Dali" as the national name. Wu Sangui believed that in order to compete with the Manchus, it was very important to win the hearts and minds of the Han people. But in fact, it has been almost two thousand years since the fall of the Zhou Dynasty. Who still misses the Zhou Dynasty?