King You of Zhou (; 795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was the twelfth

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of the Chinese

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 the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC.

History

In 780 BC, a major

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

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 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 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 Ki ...

. He made Baosi the new queen and Bofu the new

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 wif ...

. 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 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 ...

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

. 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 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 ...

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 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 ...

, thus beginning the

Eastern Zhou Dynasty The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

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 ''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 ...

'', 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 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 ...

; 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 Du Bo (杜伯) was the Duke of Tangdu (唐杜公) during the reign of Zhou Xuan Wang (827 – 781 BCE). After his execution, he became known as a case of an avenging spirit. History Following a rumor that a woman would jeopardize the town of ia ...

; 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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:You of Zhou, King 795 BC births 771 BC deaths Zhou dynasty kings 8th-century BC Chinese monarchs

History

In literature

Family

Ancestry

See also

References