King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of Zhou during the late

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 ...

in ancient

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Although frequently confused with his fourth son

Duke of Zhou Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting ...

, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different historical persons. Although it was his son Wu who conquered the Shang following 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 ...

, Count Wen was posthumously honored as the founder of the

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 ...

and posthumously titled King. Many of the hymns of the ''

Classic 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 ...

'' are praises to the legacy of King Wen. Some consider him the first epic hero of Chinese history.

Archaeology

Chinese scholars (e.g.

Wang Yunwu Wang Yun-wu (; ; July 9, 1888 – August 14, 1979)http://m.blog.sina.com.tw/87951/article.php?pbgid=87951&entryid=644078 was an influential Chinese publisher, politician scholar of history and political science; He also invented the ''Shih Chi ...

( 王雲五),

Li Xueqin Li Xueqin (, 28 March 1933 – 24 February 2019) was a Chinese historian, archaeologist, and palaeographer. He served as Director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Sinology of T ...

( 李学勤), etc.) identified King Wen with a mentioned in inscriptions H11:82 & H11:84 among

oracle bones Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for the ...

excavated at Zhouyuan (),

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 (1066–256 BCE). Historically, t ...

Biography

Painting of King Wen of Zhou by Kanō Sansetsu

Born Ji Chang (), Wen was the son of Tairen and

Ji Jili Jili was a leader of the Predynastic Zhou during the Shang dynasty of ancient China. His son King Wen and grandson King Wu would defeat the Shang to establish the Zhou dynasty. He was posthumously granted the title of king, and often referred ...

, the Count of Zhou, a vassal state of the Kingdom of Shang along the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to ...

in present-day

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 ...

. Jili was betrayed and executed by the Shang king

Wen Ding Wen Wu Ding () or Wen Ding (), personal name Zi Tuo (), was a king of the Shang dynasty of Ancient China. His reign was from 1116 to 1106 BC. Records According to ''Bamboo Annals'', his capital was at Yin (殷) or Zimou. In the second year of ...

in the late 12th century BC, leaving the young Chang as the Count of Zhou. Wen married Taisi and fathered ten sons and one daughter by her, plus at least another eight sons with concubines. At one point,

King Zhou of Shang King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu (wikt:紂, 紂) also refers to a ...

, fearing Wen's growing power, imprisoned him in

Youli Youli ( Chinese: ) was a former settlement in ancient China. It was the location of King Zhou's imprisonment of the Zhou king Wen.Sima Qian. ''Records of the Grand Historian''. It was during this captivity that he was said to have constructed the 6 ...

(present-day

Tangyin Tangyin County () is a county in the north of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) after he was slandered by the Marquis of Chong.Cihai, p. 201. His eldest son,

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 ...

, went to King Zhou to plead for his freedom, but was executed in a rage by

lingchi ''Lingchi'' (; ), translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE up until the practice ended aro ...

and made into meat cakes which were fed to his father in Youli. However, many officials (in particular San Yisheng and Hong Yao) respected Wen for his honorable governance and gave King Zhou so many gifts including gold, horses, and women that he released Wen, and also bestowed upon him his personal weapons and invested him with the special rank of Count of the West (Western Shang). Wen offered a piece of his land in Western Luo to King Zhou, who in turn allowed Wen to make one last request. He requested that the Burning Pillar punishment be abolished, and so it was. Subsequently, upon returning home Wen secretly began to plot to overthrow King Zhou. In his first year as Count of the West, he settled a land dispute between the states of Yu and Rui, earning greater recognition among the nobles. It is by this point that some nobles began calling him "king". The following year, Wen found

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – century BC), also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye, he continued to serve ...

fishing in the Pan River and hired him as a military counselor. He also repelled an invasion of the

Quanrong The Quanrong () or Dog Rong were an ethnic group, classified by the ancient Chinese as " Qiang", active in the northwestern part of China during and after the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE). Their language or languages are considered to have been mem ...

barbarians and occupied a portion of their land. The following year, he campaigned against Mixu, a state whose chief had been harassing the smaller states of Ruan and Gong, thus annexing the three of them. The following year, he attacked Li, a puppet of Shang, and the next year he attacked E, a rebel state opposed to Shang, conquering both. One year later he attacked Chong, home of Hu, Marquis of Chong, his arch-enemy, and defeated it, gaining access to the Ford of Meng through which he could cross his army to attack Shang. By then he had obtained about two thirds of the whole kingdom either as direct possessions or sworn allies. That same year he moved his capital city one hundred kilometers east from Mount Qi to

Feng Feng may refer to: *Feng (surname), one of several Chinese surnames in Mandarin: **Féng (surname) ( wikt:冯 féng 2nd tone "gallop"), very common Chinese surname **Fèng (surname) ( wikt:鳳 fèng 4th tone "phoenix"), relatively common Chinese fa ...

, placing the Shang under imminent threat. The following year, however, the Count of the West died before he could cross the Ford. It is worth-noting, nonetheless, that other sources suggest he died in battle during the Zhou campaign against the Yin-Shang. Four years after his death, his second son, known as King Wu, followed his footsteps and crushed the Shang at

Muye Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China. History The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang dynasty, Shang hegemony over the Wei River, Wei and Yellow Rivers and established the state of Zhou dynasty, Zhou. Administr ...

, founding the

. The name "Wen" means "the Cultured" or "the Civilizing" and was made into an official royal name by King Wu in honor of his father.

Legacy

Divination

Many of the older odes from the ''Classic of Poetry'' (''Shijing'' 詩經) are hymns in praise of King Wen. King Wen is also credited with having stacked the eight

trigrams Trigrams are a special case of the ''n''-gram, where ''n'' is 3. They are often used in natural language processing for performing statistical analysis of texts and in cryptography for control and use of ciphers and codes. Frequency Context is ...

in their various permutations to create the sixty-four hexagrams of 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 ...

''. He is also said to have written the judgments which are appended to each hexagram. The most commonly used sequence of the 64 hexagrams is attributed to him and is usually referred to as the

King Wen sequence The King Wen sequence () is an arrangement of the sixty-four divination figures in 易經 Yì Jīng, the I Ching or Book of Changes. They are called '' hexagrams'' in English because each figure is composed of six 爻 yáo—broken or unbroken line ...

Posthumous honors

In 196 BC,

Han Gaozu Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...

gave King Wen the title "Greatest of All Kings".

Family

Wives: *

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 ...

, of the Youshen lineage of the Si clan () Concubines: * Lady, of the Zi clan of

Shang 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 f ...

(), a daughter of

and a younger sister of

Di Yi Di Yi (), personal name Zǐ Xiàn (), was a king of the Shang dynasty of Ancient China from 1101 BC to 1076 BC. His capital was at Yin. Records According to the '' Bamboo Annals'', in the third year of his reign, he ordered Nanzhong to fig ...

* Other spouses. Sons: * By Tai Si: ** First son:

; ** Second son: Fa (); ruled as

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

; ** Third son:

Xian Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

(), ruled

Guan Guan may refer to: * Guan (surname), several similar Chinese surnames ** Guān, Chinese surname * Guan (state), ancient Chinese city-state * Guan (bird), any of a number of bird species of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America * Guan ( ...

; ** Fourth son:

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

(), *** Served as

Grand Tutor The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

and regent for

King Cheng of Zhou King Cheng of Zhou (), personal name Ji Song (姬誦), was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. His parents were King Wu of Zhou and Queen Yi Jiang (邑姜). King Cheng w ...

;''Records of ritual matters by Dai the Elder'' (大戴禮記),
Protectors and Tutors (保傅)
quote: "召公為太保，周公為太傅，太公為太師。" translation: "The Duke of Shao acted as Grand Protector, the Duke of Zhou as Grand Tutor, and the

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...

Grand Preceptor Grand Preceptor, also referred to as Grand Master, Section Cp2:192 C was the senior-most of the top three civil positions of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The other two were Grand Tutor (太傅) and Grand Protector (太保), respectively. These three p ...

." *** Dan's son Boqin ruled as Duke of Lu; ** Fifth son: Du (), ruled Cai; ** Sixth son: Zhenduo (), ruled

Cao Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Assoc ...

; ** Seventh son: Wu (), ruled Cheng (); ** Eight son: Chu (), ruled Huo; ** Ninth son:

(), ruled Kang then Wey; ** Tenth son: Zai (), ruled Ran () or Dan (). *By other spouses:'' Zuo zhuan''
"Duke Xi -24th year - zhuan"
quote: "管、蔡、郕、霍、魯、衛、毛、聃、郜、雍、曹、滕、畢、原、酆、郇，文之昭也。" translation by Durrent, Li, Schaberg (2016:380-1): "the domains of Guan, Cai, Cheng, Huo, Lu, Wei, Mao, Dan, Gao, Yong, Cao, Teng, Bi, Yuan, Feng, and Xun for King Wen’s sons of the odd-numbered generations" ** Ruler of Gao ; ** Count of Yong ; ** Zheng (), Duke of Mao ; ** Xiu (), ruler of

Teng Teng may refer to: *Teng (surname) (滕), a Chinese surname *Teng (state), an ancient Chinese state *Teng (mythology), a flying dragon in Chinese mythology *Teng County Teng County or Tengxian (; za, Dwngz Yen) is a county of eastern Guangxi, C ...

; ** Gao , ruled as Duke of Bi ; ** Count of Yuan ** Marquis of Feng ** Count of Xun ** Shi , Count / Duke of Shao and ruler of

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

*** Served as Grand Protector to King Cheng * Yuanhe Xingzuan "Register of surnames of the Yuanhe reign" lists King Wen's sons in a slightly different order of birth:''Yuanhe Xingzuan'', Siku Quanshu version
Searchable full text
in

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** Eldest son: Bo Yikao (伯邑考) ** Second son: Fa, King Wu of Zhou (周武王) ** Third son: Xian, Ruler of Guan (管叔鮮) ** Fourth son: Dan, Duke of Zhou (周公旦) ** Fifth son: Du, Ruler of Cai (蔡叔度) ** Sixth son: Chu, Ruler of Huo (霍叔處) ** Seventh son: Wu, Ruler of Cheng (郕叔武) ** Eight son: Feng, Ruler of Kang then Wey ( ��叔封) ** Ninth son: Zheng, Ruler of Mao (毛叔鄭) ** Tenth son: Zai, Ruler of Ran (冉季載) ** Eleventh son: Ruler of Gao (郜叔) ** Twelfth son: Count of Yong (雍伯) ** Thirteenth son: Zhenduo, Ruler of Cao (曹叔振鐸) ** Fourteenth son: Xiu, Marquis of Teng (滕侯 / 滕叔繡) ** Fifteenth son: Gao, Duke of Bi (畢公高) ** Sixteenth son: Count of Yuan (原伯) ** Seventeenth son: Marquis of Feng (豐侯) ** Eighteenth son: Count of Xun (郇伯)

Archaeology

Biography

Legacy

Divination

Posthumous honors

Family

Ancestry

See also

Notes

References

Further reading