Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou () (?–249 BC), personal name Jī Jié, reigned as King Hui of Zhou over the remaining

rump state A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case ...

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 ...

from 255 BC to 249 BC, when he was captured and executed by the army of Qin. Wen was the last member of the Zhou dynasty who claimed the throne of China, though he was never recognized as king outside his own small domain 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, Nanya ...

. Forced to spend his entire reign fighting against the state of Qin, Wen's death meant the final end of the Zhou dynasty.

Biography

Jī Jié was born into the large royal Jī family that ruled

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

since 1046 BC, though by his time the dynasty had become effectively powerless. Their remaining crown land was embroiled in infighting and succession disputes, so that it was split into two factions, led by rival nobles:

Western Zhou 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 ...

and

Eastern Zhou 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 ...

. Jié, as Duke Wen, ruled over the East from Chengzhou, and largely ignored the authority of

King Nan of Zhou King Nan of Zhou (Ji Yan; ?–256 BC), less commonly known as King Yin of Zhou, was the 37th and last king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty, the son of King Shenjing of Zhou and grandson of King Xian of Zhou. He was king from 314 BC until his deat ...

who resided in Wangcheng and was supported by the western nobles. In 256 BC, however, war broke out between West Zhou under Nan and the state of Qin under

King Zhaoxiang of Qin King Zhaoxiang of Qin (; 325–251 BC), or King Zhao of Qin (秦昭王), born Ying Ji (, was the king of Qin from 306 BC to 251 BC. He was the son of King Huiwen and younger brother of King Wu. King Zhaoxiang reigned as the King of Qin for 5 ...

. Qin annexed the West, deposed King Nan and forcibly ended the Zhou dynasty. Many citizens and members of the royal family then fled to East Zhou, where they proclaimed Wen as the King of China (

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secu ...

) in 255 BC. Allied with Ji Zhao, son of King Nan, Wen organized a resistance against Qin, and managed to preserve the last Zhou holdouts for six years. Ji Zhao's forces were defeated in 251 BC, and two years later the army of Qin took Chengzhou. Wen was executed, and the city given to

Lü Buwei Lü Buwei (291–235 BCE) was a Chinese merchant and politician of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Originally an influential merchant from the Wei () state, Lü Buwei met and befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin, who was then a ...

for his services to

King Zhuangxiang of Qin King Zhuangxiang of Qin (281– 6 July 247 BCEVolume 05 of ''Records of the Grand Historian'' indicated that King Zhuangxiang died on the ''bingwu'' day of the 5th month of the 4th year of his reign. Using the ''Zhuanxu'' calendar, the date corre ...

. The remaining Jī family members fled to the State of Wey.

References

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wen of Eastern Zhou, Duke 3rd-century BC rulers 249 BC 240s BC deaths Zhou dynasty nobility