Ping (Zhou King)

Ping ( Chinese : 周平王; Pinyin : Zhōu Píng Wáng; Wade-Giles : Chou P'ing Wang) was king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty from 770 BC. Until his death in 720 BC. He was the first Zhou king of the spring and autumn annals .

Ping was the son of King You , who gave him the name Yijiu (宜臼, Yíjiù). The Shiji Chronicle reports that King You was so fond of his concubine Bao Si that he divorced the queen, a daughter of the ruler of the vassal state Shen , and forced Yijiu, the legitimate heir to the throne, to flee. He named a son Bofu , whose mother was Bao Si, as the new heir to the throne . The Shiji also reports that the ruler of Shen allied with a non-Chinese people named Quan Rong - they were probably the Xianyun , who had threatened the capital for five decades - and with them the Zhou in 771 - Looted the capital, killed King You and captured Bao Si.

After Yu's death, the two most powerful feudal states of the Zhou dynasty, Jin and Zheng , helped the elite of the House of Zhou to leave their native region around Zongzhou on the Wei River, which was devastated by war and natural disasters, and to found a new capital near present-day Luoyang . Yijiu managed to prevail in the follow-up dispute against Bofu and to ascend the throne as King Ping. The new capital Chengzhou had already been an important center for supporting the feudal states in eastern China at the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Now Ping sought the geographic proximity of the strengthened eastern states.

After the capital was relocated, the Zhou rulers could no longer match the size of the Western Zhou Dynasty. With King Ping the time of the spring and autumn annals began , which was marked by intense fighting between the vassal states of the House of Zhou. Ping felt threatened by the ruler of Zheng State Zhuang Gong and tried to balance Zheng's power by appointing ministers from other states. Even so, he had to appease Zhuang Gong by sending one of his sons hostage to Zheng. This break with feudal traditions shows the weakness of the Zhou house.

Individual evidence

^ Edward L. Shaughnessy: Calendar and Chronology . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 25 .
^ Edward L. Shaughnessy: Western Zhou History . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 349-350 .
↑ Cho-yun Hsu: The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 551 . Shaughnessy (ibid., P. 349f.) Speaks of Qin and Jin, from further explanations it follows that this is probably an oversight.
↑ Cho-yun Hsu : The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 546 .
↑ Cho-yun Hsu: The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 552 .

predecessor	Office	successor
You	King of China 770 BC Chr. – 720 BC Chr.	Huan

personal data
SURNAME	Ping
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	周平王 (Chinese); Zhōu Píng Wáng; Chou P'ing Wang; from Chou, Ping
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of the Zhou Dynasty
DATE OF BIRTH	8th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	720 BC Chr.

[Shaughnessy25-1] Edward L. Shaughnessy: Calendar and Chronology . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 25 .

[Shaughnessy349-350-2] Edward L. Shaughnessy: Western Zhou History . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 349-350 .

[Hsu551-3] Cho-yun Hsu: The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 551 . Shaughnessy (ibid., P. 349f.) Speaks of Qin and Jin, from further explanations it follows that this is probably an oversight.

[Hsu546-4] Cho-yun Hsu : The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 546 .

[Hsu552-5] Cho-yun Hsu: The Spring and Autumn Period . In: Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Ancient China . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8 , pp. 552 .