King Xie of Zhou (died 750 BCE) claimed sovereignty during the final stages of the Chinese

Western Zhou Dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong n ...

(1046–771 BCE). After

King You of Zhou 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. A sooths ...

replaced the then Queen Shen with his concubine

Bao Si Bao Si () was the concubine of the ancient Chinese sovereign King You of Zhou. She was considered one of the most beautiful Chinese women ever. Life Legends record that during the last years of the Xia dynasty, two dragons entered the palace of ...

, whilst at the same time substituting

Yijiu King Ping of Zhou (; died 720 BC), personal name Ji Yijiu, was the thirteenth king of the Zhou dynasty and the first of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Sima Qian. '' Records of the Grand Historian'', "Zhou Dynasty Annals". History He was the son of ...

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the w ...

with Bao Si's son

Bofu Bofu (779 BCE – 771 BCE) (), sometimes referred to as Bopan (伯盘), was the son of Chinese Zhou dynasty monarch King You of Zhou and his concubine Bao Si. After Baosi entered the royal palace, King You deposed Queen Shen (申后) and her son Cr ...

, Queen Shen's father, the

Marquess of Shen The Marquess of Shen ( Chinese: , p ''Shēnhóu''; d. 771 BCE) was a Qiang ruler of Shen during China’s Zhou dynasty. A vassal state of the Zhou, Shen state covered the area of modern-day Nanyang in Henan. One of the Marq ...

became irate. Along with the

State of Zeng Suí () was a Zhou dynasty vassal state in the Han River Basin in modern Suizhou, Hubei, China. Its ruling house had the surname Ji (姬), and held the noble rank of ''Hou'' (侯), roughly comparable to a marquess. History During the initial ...

and a band of

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 me ...

nomads he attacked the Zhou capital at Haojing. You was killed in the assault whereupon the Marquesses of Shēn and Zēng, together with Duke Wen of Xu () enthroned Yijiu as

King Ping of Zhou King Ping of Zhou (; died 720 BC), personal name Ji Yijiu, was the thirteenth king of the Zhou dynasty and the first of the Eastern Zhou dynasty.Sima Qian. ''Records of the Grand Historian'', "Zhou Dynasty Annals". History He was the son of Kin ...

in the State of Shēn. At the same time, Jī Hàn (), Duke of Guó (), conspired with the Quanrong to elevate Yúchén to the throne as ''King Xie of Zhou''. Thus began a period when there existed two parallel Zhou kings, a stalemate brought to an end in 750 BCE when Marquis Wen of Jin killed King Xie of Zhou.

Documented sources

According to the '' Zuo Zhuan'': :''As far as King You was concerned, heaven had no pity for him, he was muddle-headed and not up to the job, having used criminal means to obtain the throne. King Xie violated 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 nat ...

, the vassal states usurped his power and he moved his capital to Jiaru ()''. The ''Xinian Annals'' () of the recently unearthed Tsinghua Bamboo Slips gives his posthumous name as King Hui of Xie () and records him as a younger brother of

.《清華大學藏戰國竹簡（貳）· 繫年 · 第二章》

Origin of the name

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618-907 CE) scholar

Kong Yingda Kong Yingda (; 574 – 648), courtesy names Chongyuan () and Zhongda (), was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and Tang dynasty. An amorous Confucianist, who is considered one of the most influential Confucian scholars in Chinese history. H ...

noted that the ''

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history ...

'' contained the words "Han, Duke of Guo, enthroned Yuchen at Xie" inferring that Xie was a place name. A further scroll in the ''Bamboo Annals'' records that Xie was a place although its location unknown. However, according to Kong Yingda other parts of the ''Bamboo Annals'' contradict this suggestion. The ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'' links Xie with

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 ...

(), Qi () and Li () as parts of the ancient province known as

Yong Province Yong Province or Yongzhou was the name of various regions and provinces in ancient China, usually around the Wei River or the imperial capital. Geographical region In the '' Book of Documents'', Yongzhou is mentioned as one of the legendary ...

(), thus adding weight to the theory that Xie was a location.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xie of Zhou, King Zhou dynasty kings 750 BC deaths Year of birth unknown 8th-century BC Chinese monarchs