King You of Zhou (; 795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was the twelfth
king of the Chinese
Zhou dynasty and the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC.
History
In 780 BC, a major
earthquake hit
Guanzhong
Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...
. A
soothsayer
Soothsayer may refer to:
* One practicing divination, including:
** Fortune-telling
** Haruspex
** Oracle
** Prophet
** Precognition
Music
* Soothsayers (band), a London-based Afrobeat and reggae group
* ''The Soothsayer'', an album by Wayne ...
named Bo Yangfu (伯陽甫) considered this an omen foretelling the destruction of the Zhou Dynasty.
In 779 BC, a concubine named
Bao Si entered the palace and came into the King You's favour. She bore him a son named
Bofu. King You deposed
Queen Shen (申后) and Crown Prince
Yijiu. He made Baosi the new queen and Bofu the new
crown prince.
It is said that Baosi did not laugh easily. After trying many methods and failing, King You tried to amuse his favorite queen by lighting warning beacons and fooling his nobles into thinking that the
Quanrong nomads were about to attack. The nobles arrived at the castle only to find themselves laughed at by Baosi. Even after King You had impressed Baosi, he continued to abuse his use of warning beacons and lost the trust of the nobles.
Queen Shen's father, the
Marquess of Shen, was furious at the deposition of his daughter and grandson Crown Prince Yijiu and mounted an
attack
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
on King You's palace with the
Quanrong. King You called for his nobles using the previously abused beacons but none came. In the end, King You and Bofu were killed and Baosi was captured.
After King You died, nobles including the
Marquess of Shen, the Marquess of Zeng (繒侯) and
Duke Wen of Xu
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
(許文公) supported the deposed Prince Yijiu as
King Ping of Zhou to continue the Zhou Dynasty. As the national capital
Haojing had suffered severe damage, and was located near the potentially dangerous Quanrong, in 771 BC,
King Ping of Zhou moved the capital eastward to
Luoyang, thus beginning the
Eastern Zhou Dynasty and ushering in the
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
which would last for more than 300 years.
In literature
In the traditional Mao Commentary to the ''
Shijing'', the minor court hymn "Cai Shu" (采菽) is said to be a criticism of King You for squandering feudal lords' respect and humiliating them, although this interpretation is disputed.
[Shih-Ching, Minor court hymns, Yuzao Zhi Shi, Cai Shu]
Family
Queens:
* Queen Shen, of the Jiang clan of
Shen (), a daughter of the
Marquis of Shen; the mother of Crown Prince Yijiu
*
Bao Si, of the Du lineage of the Qi clan of Bao (; 791–771 BC), a daughter of
Du Bo; married in 779 BC; the mother of Crown Prince Bofu
Sons:
* Crown Prince Yijiu (; d. 720 BC), ruled as
King Ping of Zhou from 770–720 BC
* ''Crown Prince
Bofu'' (; 779–771 BC)
Ancestry
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
{{DEFAULTSORT:You of Zhou, King
795 BC births
771 BC deaths
Zhou dynasty kings
8th-century BC Chinese monarchs