Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother
King Wu.
He was renowned for acting as a capable and loyal regent for his young nephew
King Cheng, and for successfully suppressing the
Rebellion of the Three Guards
The Rebellion of the Three Guards (), or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion (), was a civil war, instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes, Shang loyalists, vassal states and other non-Zhou peoples against the Western Zhou government ...
and establishing firm rule of the Zhou dynasty over eastern China. He is also a Chinese
culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are imp ...
credited with writing the ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'' and the ''
Book of Poetry
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'', and establishing the ''
Rites of Zhou''.
Life
![Painting of the Duke of Zhou by Kanō Sansetsu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Painting_of_the_Duke_of_Zhou_by_Kan%C5%8D_Sansetsu.jpg)
His personal name was Dan (). He was the fourth son of
King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...
and Queen
Tai Si
Tai Si (, c. 12th – 11th century BC) was the wife of King Wen of Zhou and is revered as a highly respected woman of History of China#Ancient China, ancient China. She was a descendant of Yu the Great - founder of the Xia Dynasty - and was the ...
. His eldest brother
Bo Yikao
Bo Yikao was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou and the elder brother of King Wu who was the founder of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China.
As a member of the Zhou royal house, his family name was Ji (姬). "Bo" refers to his status as the old ...
predeceased their father (supposedly a victim of cannibalism); the second-eldest defeated the
Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
at the
Battle of Muye
The Battle of Muye () or Battle of the Mu was a battle fought in ancient China between the rebel Zhou state and the reigning Shang dynasty. The Zhou army, led by Wu of Zhou, defeated the defending army of King Di Xin of Shang at Muye and capt ...
around 1046 BC, ascending the throne as
King Wu. King Wu distributed many fiefs to his relatives and followers and Dan received the ancestral territory of Zhou near present-day
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
.
Only three years after assuming power, King Wu died and left the kingdom to his young son
King Cheng.
[ Chin, Annping. (2007). The Authentic Confucius. Scribner. ] The Duke of Zhou successfully attained the regency and administered the kingdom himself,
leading to revolts not only from disgruntled Shang partisans but also from his own relatives, particularly his older brother
Guan Shu
Guan Shu Xian () was the first and only ruler of the Chinese state of Guan and a younger of brother of King Wu of Zhou. He was the third son of King Wen of Zhou, and one of the Three Guards responsible for overseeing the eastern lands of the newly ...
. Within five years, the Duke of Zhou had managed to defeat the
Three Guards
The Rebellion of the Three Guards (), or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion (), was a civil war, instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes, Shang loyalists, vassal states and other non-Zhou peoples against the Western Zhou government ...
and other rebellions
and his armies pushed east, bringing more land under Zhou control.
![The Duke of Zhou who founded the city of Zhou Luoyi c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/The_Duke_of_Zhou_who_founded_the_city_of_Zhou_Luoyi_c._1036_BCE.jpg)
The Duke of Zhou was credited with elaborating the doctrine of the
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, ''Tian'') – which embodies the natural ...
, which countered Shang propaganda that as descendants of the god
Shangdi
Shangdi (), also written simply, "Emperor" (), is the Chinese term for "Supreme Deity" or "Highest Deity" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later '' Tian'' ("Heave ...
they should be restored to power. According to this doctrine, Shang injustice and decadence had so grossly offended
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
that Heaven had removed their authority and commanded the reluctant Zhou to replace the Shang and restore order.
On a more practical level, the Duke of Zhou expanded and codified his brother's
feudal system
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
,
granting titles to loyal Shang clansmen and even establishing a new holy city at
Chengzhou
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...
around 1038 BC.
[Schinz, Alfred. ''The Magic Square: Cities in Ancient China'']
pp. 69 ff.
Axel Menges (Stuttgart), 1996. Accessed 8 Jan 2014. Laid out
according to exact geomantic principles, Chengzhou was the home of King Cheng, the Shang nobility, and the
nine tripod cauldrons
The Nine Tripod Cauldrons () were a collection of ding cast by the legendary Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty of ancient China. They were viewed as symbols of the authority given to the ruler by the mandate of heaven.
At the time of the Shang dyna ...
symbolic of imperial rule, while the Duke continued to administer the kingdom from the former capital of
Haojing
Hao or Haojing (), also called Zongzhou (), was one of the two settlements comprising the capital of the Western Zhou dynasty (1066–770 BCE), the other being Fēng or Fēngjīng (). Together they were known as Fenghao and stood on opposite banks ...
. Once Cheng came of age, the Duke of Zhou dutifully gave up the throne without trouble.
Legacy
The duke's eight sons all received land from the king. The eldest son received
Lu; the second succeeded to his father's fief,
Zhou.
In later centuries, subsequent emperors considered the Duke of Zhou a paragon of virtue and honored him with
posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...
s. The empress
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...
named her short-lived 8th-century
Second Zhou Dynasty after him and called him the Honorable and Virtuous King (, ''Bāodé Wáng''). In 1008, the
Zhenzong Emperor gave the Duke the posthumous title King of Exemplary Culture (
s ,
t , ''Wénxiàn Wáng''). He was also known as the First Sage (
s ,
t , ''Yuán Shèng'').
In 2004, Chinese archaeologists reported that they may have found his tomb complex in
Qishan County
Qishan County () is a county in the west of Guanzhong, Shaanxi province, China, under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baoji. It was the site of Zhouyuan (), the first capital of the Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chi ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
.
God of Dreams
Duke of Zhou is also known as the "God of Dreams". ''
The Analects
The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...
'' record
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
saying, "How I have gone downhill! It has been such a long time since I dreamt of the Duke of Zhou." This was meant as a lamentation of how the governmental ideals of the Duke of Zhou had faded, but was later taken literally. In Chinese legends, if an important thing is going to happen to someone, the Duke of Zhou will let the person know through dreams: hence the Chinese expression "Dreaming of Zhou Gong". ''Zhou Gong's'' ''Explanations of Dreams'' (Chinese: 周公解夢, pinyin: ''Zhōu gōng jiěmèng'') is attributed to him.
Descendants
東野家族大宗世系 Family Tree of the descendants of the Duke of Zhou in Chinese
The main line of the Duke of Zhou's descendants came from his firstborn son, the
State of Lu ruler
Bo Qin
Bo Qin (Chinese: , p ''Bóqín''), also known as Qin Fu (禽父), was the founder of the State of Lu during the early Zhou dynasty.
Born into the royal Ji family (), he was the eldest son of the Duke of Zhou. Instead of inheriting his ...
's third son Yu () whose descendants adopted the surname Dongye (). The Duke of Zhou's offspring held the title of Wujing Boshi (
五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì).
One of the Duke of Zhou's 72 generation descendants family tree was examined and commented on by
Song Lian
Song Lian (; 1310–1381), courtesy name Jinglian (), was a Chinese historian and politician of the Ming dynasty. He was a literary and political advisor to the Hongwu Emperor. Before that, he was one of the principal figures in the Yuan dy ...
.
Duke Huan of Lu
Duke Huan of Lu (, died 694 BC) was from 711 to 694 BC the 15th ruler of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. His ancestral name was Ji ( 姬), given name Yun (允) or Gui (軌), and Duke Huan was his posthumous ...
's son through Qingfu () was the ancestor of
Mencius
Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...
. He was descended from Duke Yang of the
State of Lu 魯煬公 Duke Yang was the son of
Bo Qin
Bo Qin (Chinese: , p ''Bóqín''), also known as Qin Fu (禽父), was the founder of the State of Lu during the early Zhou dynasty.
Born into the royal Ji family (), he was the eldest son of the Duke of Zhou. Instead of inheriting his ...
, who was the son of the Duke of Zhou. The genealogy is found in the Mencius family tree ().
The Zhikou (Chikow) Chiangs such as
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
were descended from Chiang Shih-chieh who during the 1600s (17th century) moved there from Fenghua district, whose ancestors in turn came to southeastern China's Zhejiang (Chekiang) province after moving out of Northern China in the 13th century AD. The 12th-century BC Duke of Zhou's (Duke of Chou) third son was the ancestor of the Chiangs.
See also
*
Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors
This is a family tree of Chinese monarchs covering the period of the Five Emperors up through the end of the Spring and Autumn period.
Five Emperors
The legendary Five Emperors were traditionally regarded as the founders of the Chinese state. ...
References
Citations
Works cited
* Bushin, Nikita (2022) ''The Duke of Zhou's Interpretations of Dreams''. Auckland, NZ: Purple Cloud Press
*
External links
Tomb of Zhou Gong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Duke of
Zhou dynasty nobility
Regents of China
Chinese dukes
Politicians from Shaanxi
11th-century BC Chinese people
Deified Chinese people