You (Zhou King)

You , King of Zhou or You, King of Chou ( Chinese : 周幽王; Pinyin : Zhōu Yōu Wáng ) was king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the last ruler of the Western Zhou dynasty . He ruled from 781 BC. BC to 771 BC Chr.

You was the son of Xuan , who gave him the name Gongsheng (宮湦, gōngshēng). Xuan's reign, which lasted more than four decades, resulted in a temporary restoration of the Zhou authority. However, internal arguments had weakened the Zhou House's reputation. King Xuan died in 782 BC. The chronicles say that the spirit of a nobleman, whom Xuan had killed three years earlier, shot an arrow in his heart. Gongsheng ascended the throne as King You.

In the second year of Yu's reign, a violent earthquake struck that devastated the region around the Zhou political center. The chronicles say that it dried up the Wei , Luo and Jing Rivers and shattered the Qi Shan Mountains . In the same year there was a solar and a lunar eclipse. People also expected a political catastrophe after these events - by the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the thinking that natural and social events were connected was already strong.

The You reign was marked by growing insecurity on the northern border of the Zhou Territory. The attacks by non-Chinese peoples, especially the Quan Rong , became more frequent. They took place mainly with chariots, sometimes on foot, and did not have much effect.

The Shi Ji reports that King You was so infatuated with his concubine Bao Si - she is considered one of the most beautiful women in Chinese history - that he cast out his wife and son and heir to the throne Yijiu. The new heir to the throne was a son born to Bao Si. Chinese historiography also tells of an incident where a guard believed an attack on the Zhou capital was imminent and therefore lit a warning fire. The gentlemen loyal to the Zhou family rushed to defend the capital, but discovered that it was a false alarm. The usually grumpy Bao Si burst out laughing at this. To keep Bao Si entertained, King You repeatedly set off false alarms.

In the eleventh year of You's reign, the ruler of Shen , who had played an important role in securing the northeastern regions for Zhou and who was the father of the outcast queen, allied himself with the Quan Rong. When they marched together towards the capital of the Zhou Empire, the defenders assumed a false alarm. The attackers ransacked the capital, Zongzhou , killed King You, and captured Bao Si.

This loss did not mean the end of the Zhou dynasty. Some influential feudal lords installed the original heir to the throne, Yijiu, on the throne as King Ping and escorted him to the east, where he founded the Eastern Zhou Dynasty near present-day Luoyang .

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 .
^ ^A ^b ^c 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 .
^ Nicola di Cosmo : The Northern Frontier in Pre-imperial China . 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. 922 .
^ ^A ^b 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. 350 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Xuan	King of China 781 BC Chr. – 771 BC Chr.	Ping

personal data
SURNAME	You
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	from Chou, You; 周幽王 (Chinese); Zhōu Yōu Wáng
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	chinese king of the zhou dynasty
DATE OF BIRTH	8th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	771 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 .

[Shaughnessy349-2] A ^b ^c 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 .

[Cosmo922-3] Nicola di Cosmo : The Northern Frontier in Pre-imperial China . 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. 922 .

[Shaughnessy350-4] A ^b 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. 350 .