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Eastern Zhou

For a state during the Warring States period, see Eastern Zhou (state).
"Dong Zhou" redirects here. For the warlord during the last years of the Han dynasty, see Dong Zhuo.

The Eastern Zhou[a] (c. 771 – 256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter half of the Zhou dynasty, following the Zhou royal court's relocation eastward to Chengzhou, near present-day Luoyang. The Eastern Zhou was characterised by the weakened authority of the Zhou royal house. It is subdivided into two parts: the Spring and Autumn period (c. 771 – c. 481 BCE), during which the ancient aristocracy still held power in a large number of separate polities, and the Warring States period (c. 481 – 221 BCE), which saw the consolidation of territory and escalation of interstate warfare and administrative sophistication.

Zhou territory during the Eastern Zhou

History

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Map of major states in Eastern Zhou

In 770 BCE, the Zhou capital was moved from Haojing (Chang'an County in Xi'an City) to Chengzhou, near present-day Luoyang.. With the death of King You of Zhou,[3] the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Crown Prince Yijiu was proclaimed the new king by the nobles from the states of Zheng, Lü, Qin and the Marquess of Shen. He became King Ping of Zhou. In the second year of his reign, he moved the capital east to Luoyi as Quanrong people invaded Haojing, spelling the end of the Western Zhou dynasty. The first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, from approximately 771 to 476 BCE, was called the Spring and Autumn period, during which more and more dukes and marquesses obtained regional autonomy, defying the king's court in Luoyi, and waging wars amongst themselves. The second half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, from 475 to 221 BCE, was called the Warring States period,[3] during which the King of Zhou gradually lost his power and ruled merely as a figurehead.

After moving the capital east, the Zhou royal family fell into a state of decline. Also, King Ping's popularity fell as rumors went that he had killed his father. With vassals becoming increasingly powerful, strengthening their position through defeating other rival states, and increasing invasion from neighboring countries, the king of Zhou was not able to master the country. Constantly, he would have to turn to the powerful vassals for help. The most important vassals (known later as the twelve vassals) came together in regular conferences where they decided important matters, such as military expeditions against foreign groups or against offending nobles.[4] During these conferences one vassal ruler was sometimes declared hegemon. Chancellor Guan Zhong of Qi initiated a policy "Revere the king, expel the barbarians" (尊王攘夷, see Sonnō jōi). Adopting and adhering to it, Duke Huan of Qi assembled the vassals to strike down the threat of barbarians from the country. During the Warring States period, many of the leading vassals' clamoring for kingship further limited the Zhou royal family's influence.[5]

 
Map of the Five Hegemons during the Spring and Autumn period of Zhou Dynasty

In 635 BCE, the Chaos of Prince Dai took place. King Xiang of Zhou turned to Duke Wen of Jin for help, who killed Prince Dai and was rewarded with rule over Henei and Yangfan.[3] In 632 BCE, King Xiang of Zhou was forced by Duke Wen of Jin to attend the conference of vassals in Jiantu.[3]

In 606, King Zhuang of Chu inquired for the first time regarding the "weight of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons" only to be rebuffed by the Zhou minister Wangsun Man (王孫滿).[3] Asking such a question was, at that time, a direct challenge to the power and authority of the reigning dynasty.

At the time of King Nan of Zhou, the kings of Zhou had lost almost all political and military power, as even their remaining crown land was split into two states or factions, led by rival feudal lords: West Zhou, where the capital Wangcheng was located, and East Zhou, centered at Chengzhou and Kung. King Nan of Zhou managed to preserve his weakened dynasty through diplomacy and conspiracies for fifty-nine years until his deposition and death by Qin in 256 BCE. Seven years later, West Zhou was conquered by Qin.[3]

Politics

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The dominant material for making tools had become iron by the end of the Eastern Zhou; as such, it is considered to be the beginning of the Iron Age in China. There was a considerable development in agriculture with a consecutive increase in population. There were constantly fights between vassals to scramble for lands or other resources. People started using copper coins. Education was made universal for civilians. The boundaries between the nobility and the civilians subsided. A revolutionary transformation of the society was taking place, to which the patriarchal clan system made by the Zhou Dynasty could no longer adapt.[6]

Kings

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Gold sword hilt, Eastern Zhou, 6-5th century BCE. British Museum.[7]

Spring and Autumn period

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Main article: Spring and Autumn period

The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius.

During this period, the Zhou royal authority over the various feudal states started to decline, as more and more dukes and marquesses obtained de facto regional autonomy, defied the king's court in Luoyi, and waged wars amongst themselves. The gradual partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, marked the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period.

Warring States period

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Main article: Warring States period
 
The Taerpo horserider, a Qin terracotta figurine from a tomb in the Taerpo cemetery near Xianyang in Shaanxi, 4th-3rd century BCE. This is the earliest known representation of a cavalryman in China.[8] The outfit is of Central Asian style, probably Scythian,[9] and the rider with his large nose appears to be a foreigner.[8] King Zheng of Qin (246–221 BCE) is known to have employed steppe cavalry men in his army, as seen in his Terracotta Army.[10]

The Warring States period was an era in ancient Chinese history following the Spring and Autumn period, concluding with the Qin wars of conquest. Those wars resulted in the annexation of all other contender states, completed with the Qin state's victory in 221 BCE. That meant that the Qin state became the first unified Chinese empire, known as the Qin dynasty.

Notes

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  1. ^ /dʒoʊ/;[1] Chinese: 東周; pinyin: Dōngzhōu; Wade–Giles: Tung1-chou1[2]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Zhou". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ "...Eastern Zhou period (770 BCE–256 BCE)" Early China - A Social and Cultural History, p. 10. Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Chien, Szuma (1979). Records of the Historians. China Books & Periodicals. ISBN 978-0835106184.
  4. ^ "Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC-221 BC) in China History". www.warriortours.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  5. ^ "Zhou Dynasty". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  6. ^ Ray Huang：《中国大历史》
  7. ^ "The British Museum Images". British Museum Images.
  8. ^ a b
  9. ^ Duan Qingbo (January 2023). "Sino-Western Cultural Exchange as Seen through the Archaeology of the First Emperor's Necropolis" (PDF). Journal of Chinese History. 7 (1): 26 Fig.1, 27. doi:10.1017/jch.2022.25. S2CID 251690411.
  10. ^ Rawson, Jessica (April 2017). "China and the steppe: reception and resistance". Antiquity. 91 (356): 386. doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.276. S2CID 165092308.

Sources

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  • 許倬雲 著，鄒水傑 譯：《中國古代社會史論——春秋戰國時期的社會流動》（桂林：廣西師範大學出版社，2006）.
  • Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (1974), Records of the Historians. Hong Kong: Commercial Press.
    • Reprinted by University Press of the Pacific, 2002. Contains biographies of Confucius and Laozi. ISBN 978-0835106184.
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