Eastern Zhou Dynasty

Expansion of the eastern Zhou dynasty

The Eastern Zhou Dynasty ( Chinese 東周 / 东周 , Pinyin Dōngzhōu ) was the later phase of the Zhou Dynasty in Chinese history . From 770 BC it had BC to 256 BC Chr. Stock.

Classification

Since the Eastern Zhou dynasty was nominally still the head of the now openly competing Chinese principalities, but in fact played no role in politics, this period is known under the following two names, which are also a rough subdivision in the epoch of Eastern Zhou pose:

Time of the spring and autumn annals (722–481 / 475/450 BC)
Warring States Period (481/475 / 450-221 v. Chr.)

The subdivision into these two periods is more of a traditional nature and is not based on a particularly drastic event, even if historians have identified an interplay of events. While during the spring and autumn annals, for example, various rulers instead of the Zhou king exercised a fragile supremacy over the remaining states (the ba system, see Five Hegemons ), there was no such empire-wide hegemony in the Warring States period more. Historians also cite the partition of Jin as a point in time of the upheaval , during which the politically most important state in North China, Jin , was shaken for several decades by a civil war, the decisive events of which took place in 481, 475, 468 and 403 BC. Be fixed. In southern China, meanwhile, the state of Wu came to power (from 482 BC), which in turn came to 476 BC. Was overrun by the neighboring state of Yue . Another key event is a creeping dynasty change in Qi over the period from 522 to 386 BC. With a massacre of the royal family in 481 BC. Chr.

history

When in 771 BC When nomads attacked the capital of the Zhou, destroyed it and killed the king, the crown prince fled to the east of Luoyang under the protection of the surrounding princes, especially from Qi , where he ascended the throne the next year.

Understanding of the role of king and prince

With the accession of King Ping to the throne, the Zhou dynasty could be saved from ruin, but a few decades later the king's authority had waned. The fact that the king himself waged wars on the border of the Chinese Empire or settled disputes between his initially 200 vassal states ended in the year 707 BC. When King Huan suffered a disgraceful defeat in a punitive action against Prince Zhuang of Zheng . Since then, the king has not only remained militarily and politically significantly weaker than the princes formally subordinate to him, he has also been increasingly dependent on them financially. Although the king was initially used to legitimize certain actions or to confirm the title of “prince leader” ( 霸王 , bàwáng , see Five Hegemons ), it soon no longer had any real meaning. Open fighting between states and the annexation of weaker states by stronger states became the order of the day. The Zhou kings were powerless against this.

Vase from the 4th-3rd century BC Chr.

Already in the year 703/704 BC Chr., The powerful explained Zi (Viscount) Wu Chu to Wang not, so the king of its southern territories including its few vassals. Historians explain this self-exaltation with diplomatic difficulties which the Zi of Chu must have had with its southern neighbors. Leaders of those non-Chinese regions and tribes also called themselves kings. After Wu had been denied a due rank (such as that of a gong ) by the ruling Zhou for decades despite pleading, the appointment of a king should be understood less as an act of rebellion against the Zhou kings than as an effort to gain the respect of the vassals and To preserve neighboring empires.

The existence of the powerful and politically independent Chu in the south of the Zhou empire induced the Zhou-loyal princes of the north not to leave their alliance around the royal court of Luoyang. They, the princes of the stronger states in the north, were the actual political leaders of the time, who nevertheless acted cunningly “in the name of the king” or “on the king's orders”. At several points in time there were particularly dominant figures among them, which historiography has stylized as “five hegemons”. Nonetheless, the Chu King Zhuang led in 606 BC. His army to the border of the Zhou king and boldly asked the royal ambassador how heavy the pot was from which the royal food was cooked.

In the middle of the 6th century two more powerful princes in the south began to refer to themselves as Wang ("king"), namely in the still young states of Wu and Yue . The remaining gongs ("dukes") followed this custom until the middle of the 4th century, which roughly marked the beginning of the Warring States Period. The Zhou king was not even counted among the seven great princes of the Warring States. Towards the end of the dynasty, his rule was limited to an area around the capital.

End of Zhou

Around 325 BC Finally, the Gong Huiwen of Qin also called himself king, as one of the last climbers among the powerful warring states. His successors gained power; his grandson Zhaoxiang of Qin was perceived as such a great threat by the Zhou King Nan that he joined an anti-Qin coalition. This was defeated militarily in 256 BC. BC, whereupon Nan von Zhou went to the court of King Zhaoxiang and was demoted to a duke and deposed by him. Nan died under arrest, and his territory was annexed by Qin. A successor to the Qin king Zhaoxiang then proclaimed himself in 220 BC. To the first emperor of China.

Kings of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

Name ¹	Honorary name ¹	Reign
Ji Yijiu 姬宜臼	Ping 平王	770-720 BC Chr.
Ji Lin 姬林	Huan 桓王	719-697 BC Chr.
Ji Tuo 姬佗	Zhuang 莊王	696-682 BC Chr.
Ji Huqi 姬胡齊	Xi 釐王	681-677 BC Chr.
Ji Lang 姬閬	Hui 惠王	676-652 BC Chr.
Ji Zheng 姬鄭	Xiang 襄王	651-619 BC Chr.
Ji Renchen 姬壬臣	Qing 頃王	618-613 BC Chr.
Ji Ban 姬班	Kuang 匡王	612-607 BC Chr.
Ji Yu 姬瑜	Thing 定王	606-586 BC Chr.
Ji Yi 姬夷	Jian 簡王	585-572 BC Chr.
Ji Xiexin 姬泄心	Ling 靈王	571-545 BC Chr.
Ji Gui 姬貴	Jing 景王	544-521 BC Chr.
Ji Meng 姬猛	Dao 悼王	520 BC Chr.
Ji Gai 姬丐	Jing 敬王	519-476 BC Chr.
Ji Ren 姬仁	Yuan 元王	475-469 BC Chr.
Ji Jie 姬介	Zhending 貞定王	468-442 BC Chr.
Ji Quji 姬去疾	Ai 哀王	441 BC Chr.
Ji Shu 姬叔	Si 思王	441 BC Chr.
Ji Wei 姬嵬	Kao 考王	440-426 BC Chr.
Ji Wu 姬午	Weilie 威烈王	425-402 BC Chr.
Ji Jiao 姬驕	To 安王	401-376 BC Chr.
Ji Xi 姬喜	Lie 烈王	375-369 BC Chr.
Ji Bian 姬扁	Xian 顯王	368-321 BC Chr.
Ji thing 姬定	Shenjing 慎靚王	320-315 BC Chr.
Ji Yan 姬延	Nan 赧王	314-256 BC Chr.
1 The name of the Chinese rulers is complicated. Most often the rulers have several names. The first name is the real name, if you will, the real name. According to Chinese tradition, the family name comes before the personal name, which is also used here. The second name is an honorary name given posthumously by the successor or rulers of later dynasties. The rulers are mostly known by these names. That is why the link to the rulers via the honorary name is also created here.

Individual evidence

^ Lothar von Falkenhausen (ed. Michael Loewe , Edward L. Shaughnessy): The waning of the bronze age . In: The Cambridge History of Ancient China , Cambridge 1999. p. 516. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 . Digitized

[LvF1999-1] Lothar von Falkenhausen (ed. Michael Loewe , Edward L. Shaughnessy): The waning of the bronze age . In: The Cambridge History of Ancient China , Cambridge 1999. p. 516. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 . Digitized