Territory of the Zhou Dynasty
Founder of the Zhou Dynasty (Biography): Ji Chang (Zhou Wen wang, Xi Bochang) Qi (qí) Zhou (present-day Qishan, Shaanxi), grandson of King Tai of Zhou, son of Ji Li, founder of the Zhou Dynasty, a generation of Ming Jun, known by Confucius as "the hero of the three generations" During ji Chang's reign, he was diligent in political affairs, attached importance to the development of agricultural production, Guangluo talents, worshiped Jiang Shang as a military master, asked about the military plan, annexed Yu (yú) and Rui (rùi) and attacked the states of Li and Yi (yú); built the capital Fengjing, laying the foundation for the wu king to destroy the shang. The old legend "Zhou Yi" was played by him. He founded The Zhou Li, which was revered by later generations of Confucians. He reigned for 50 years, collapsed in 1056 BC, was buried in Biyuan, and was posthumously honored as King Wen by King Wu of Zhou. He was later posthumously honored by Wu Zetian as Emperor Wen of the First Ancestor.
Founding of the Zhou Dynasty: King Wu of Zhou (姬发), often referred to as wǔ (珷) in bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a native of Qi zhou (present-day Qishan, Shaanxi), the second son of Ji Chang and Tai Ji the King of Zhou, the founding monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and was revered by later generations as an ancient Ming emperor. Around 1050 BC, King Wen collapsed, and Ji Fa succeeded to the throne as King Wu, honoring his father Xi Bochang as King Wen, and continued to use the year of "ordination". After King Wu succeeded to the throne, he inherited his father's aspirations and reused the talents to govern the country, and the Zhou state became increasingly powerful. Around 1046 BC, King Wu united several tribes to fight against the Shang Dynasty, which was the Battle of Makino. Yin Shang was destroyed, and king Huan set himself on fire in Lutai. The Zhou Dynasty was established, with the capital of gǎo/hào (present-day southwest of Xi'an, Shaanxi). Around 1043 BC, King Wu of Zhou died and was buried in the Zhou Tombs.
Founding history: Under Ji Chang's vigorous rule, Zhou began to become stronger. However, Ji Chang was still not very satisfied, although he had many sages under him, he lacked the handsome talent to lead the soldiers to fight, so he was very careful to find talents in this area.
One day Ji Chang wanted to go out hunting and let people divinate. The fortune teller told him, "What you get from hunting today is not a beast, but the assistant of the overlord." Ji Chang was very happy and set off. Not long after he left, he met an old man who was fishing, chatted with him for a while, felt that this man was the military talent he had been looking for, and said happily: "My grandfather once said to me that there will be saints to help me revitalize the week, and you are that person." My grandpa has been expecting you for a long time! That person's name was Lü Shang, surnamed Jiang, and Ji Chang called him "Taigong Wang", so the folk also called him Jiang Taigong (Jiang Ziya).
Taigongwang helped Ji Chang train his army and study tactics, and soon trained the Zhou army to be very strong, destroying several princely states opposing Zhou in a row. Ji Chang's prestige was also getting higher and higher, he was different from the King of Sui, and his virtue was incomparable to ordinary people. People thought he was fair, and when disputes between the princes came to him to decide. Once, when there was a dispute between Yu Guo and Rui Guo, they went to Zhou Guo together. Just after entering the border of the Zhou Kingdom, they saw that the farmers who cultivated gave up the cultivated land bordering others to each other, and the folk custom was to respect the elderly. People in the two countries felt ashamed before they saw Ji Chang, saying, "We are fighting for something that the Zhou people feel shameful, why should we run away?" It's just self-inflicted humiliation. "I'll go back when I'm done." When the princes heard of this, they all thought that Ji Chang was the king appointed by heaven. (Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win the world)
Ji Chang died without waiting for the crusade against King Huan, and King Wu of Zhou succeeded him to the throne. King Wu of Zhou continued to reuse Taigong Wang, Zhou Gongdan, Shì and Bi Gong to govern the Zhou kingdom more powerfully. Nine years later, King Wu of Zhou went to Mengjin to review the army, and more than 800 princes came to meet. The army marched to Mengjin in a mighty way, and when it crossed the river, a white fish jumped from the water into the boat of King Wu of Zhou. They thought it was a good omen and used the fish to sacrifice to heaven. After arriving in Mengjin, the princes all said, "It is time to go on a crusade against the King of Sui." King Wu of Zhou said, "You don't know the Mandate of Heaven yet, and now is not the time to go after him." "I'll be back soon.
Two years later, king Huan became more and more tyrannical, killed Bi Gan, imprisoned Jizi, and even the Taishi and Shaoshi of the Shang Dynasty came to submit to Zhou. King Wu of Zhou felt that the time was ripe and told the princes all over the place: "The Yin Dynasty has committed a great sin, and we cannot but crusade against it." So he led 300 chariots, 3,000 tiger warriors, and 45,000 infantrymen, and declared a crusade against the king. Soon after meeting again at Mengjin and the 800 princes, the princes led by King Wu of Zhou rested for a few days and then swore to go out on the expedition.
The Zhou army was strong, and along the way, the Shang Dynasty defenders looked down at the wind and soon reached Makino near the Shang Dynasty capital Chaoge. Victory was ahead, and in order to boost morale, King Wu of Zhou once again swore an oath. At that time, there were many armies sent by various princes, and there were 4,000 chariots alone, setting up a position in Makino, ready to attack at any time.
The King of Lu, who was spending his days drinking wine, heard that the Zhou army had reached the city and quickly mobilized 700,000 people to go out of the city to meet the battle. The number of the King of Zhou's army far exceeded that of the Zhou army, but the King of Zhou Wu was not afraid at all, and he calmly ordered TaiGongwang to lead the army to attack, and the most elite soldiers rushed directly to the Chinese army where the King of Zhou was located. Although the number of the army of the King of Huan was amazing, most of them were slaves, and there were many prisoners of war captured from Dongyi, who did not want to fight for the king of Yi at all, but hoped that king Wu of Zhou would win. Not long after the start of the war, those people turned around and attacked the king, and the army was suddenly in chaos.
King Wu of Zhou seized the fighter and led his army to launch a general attack, killing the king of Lu in a great defeat, and the Shang Dynasty army defected one after another. The king had no choice but to flee alone. This is known as the "Battle of Makino".
Desperate, he eventually set himself on fire in Lutai and died.
King Wu of Zhou, armed with a large white flag, commanded the princes to attack Chaoge, and the princes followed one after another. The people of the Shang Dynasty could not stand the tyranny of the King of Zhou for a long time, and the arrival of the Zhou Army made them very happy, and they ran out to greet the Zhou Army and pay homage to King Wu of Zhou.
After King Wu of Zhou entered the city, he sent emissaries around to announce that the Zhou army had come to rescue them and asked the people not to panic. After entering the palace, the people dragged out the body of King Huan, and King Wu of Zhou symbolically shot 3 arrows, indicating that he personally eliminated this scourge. After shooting, he got out of the car and slashed a few times with his sword. Finally, he cut off the head of the King of Lu with a yellow axe and hung it above the Great White Flag. Two of King Huan's favorite concubines hanged themselves, and king Wu of Zhou, in order to show his punishment for them, also shot 3 arrows at their corpses, cut off their heads with black axes, hung them on a small white flag, and then returned to the army.
The Battle of Makino was thus won, and after the war King Wu of Zhou established the Western Zhou Dynasty for eight hundred years.
Evaluation (Zhou Wenwang): The ancient Chinese people generally had a sublime psychology, and emulating the ancient sages and imitating the "three generations" method is a topic that the ancients talk about. King Wen of Zhou is the perfect image in people's minds. The number of people who have made it their duty to repeat the week is innumerable throughout the ages. Due to its age and fragmented literature, people may not know much about King Wen of Zhou, and the Zhou li may not be perfect, but as a yearning for the king of The Qingming Dynasty and the system of the Qingming Dynasty, the significance is positive, and the abstract meaning of King Wen of Zhou has influenced Chinese history for more than two thousand years. Later generations of Confucians, in order to link morality and politics, promoted King Wen as a typical example of a "inner saint and outer king", and the influence of King Wen became more and more great. Confucius especially admired King Wen, and he dreamed of restoring the Zhou ritual of "depressed Wen Zhao".
Evaluation: King Wu of Zhou has a broad mind and a long-term vision, and at the same time has the ability to act decisively, when he saw the Shang Dynasty's lack of way, he played the banner of asking for the people's life and for the Tianxing Road to win the support of the broad masses of the people, thus greatly expanding his strength and influence, in the process of cutting the silk, he personally led the soldiers and horses to directly pound the song with a fearless spirit, and the king of the shang was caught off guard. At the same time, King Wu of Zhou has a very outstanding personal charm, and he is also loved by people, which is also an important reason why he has won people's support.