why did the zhou dynasty last so long

READ: Zhou and Qin Dynasty China (article) | Khan Academy The most famous of these was Confucius, who taught a system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. Later, Confucius asked him, Why did you not say: As a man, when agitated in thought he forgets to eat, joyfully forgetting his cares, not realizing that old age is near at hand?. 4. But they fought even more fiercely. There were five peerage ranks below the royal ranks, in descending order with common English translations: gng "duke", hu "marquis", b "count", z "viscount", and nn "baron". Lords of the seven most powerful states lost respect for the Zhou kings and even assumed the same title, thus claiming the right to unify all of China under their rule. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were Confucius, founder of Confucianism, and Laozi, founder of Taoism. Although Wu's early death left a young and inexperienced heir, the Duke of Zhou assisted his nephew King Cheng in consolidating royal power. Attending lords cemented their agreements by swearing oaths and drinking the blood of sacrificed animals. But over time, Zhou kings lost their ability to control these lords, and the lords became increasingly independent. The last Zhou king is traditionally taken to be Nan, who was killed when Qin captured the capital Wangcheng[1] in 256 BC. [11] He even received sacrifice as a harvest god. [40] After the Zhou came to power, the mandate became a political tool. In victory, a noble redressed matters of honor and brought glory to his ancestors, something symbolized by the mound of dead enemies placed by his ancestral temple. Historians call this method of governing Zhou kinship feudalism. Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. In 771 BCE, in what became a telling sign of weakness, the Zhou king was murdered and his young successor was compelled to relocate farther east, to a capital closer to the heart of the North China Plain. In this capacity, Duke Huan had the authority to resolve disputes between nobles on behalf of the king. We also acknowledge previous National Science Foundation support under grant numbers 1246120, 1525057, and 1413739. As they did so, their lands evolved into powerful states (see Map \(\PageIndex{2}\)). This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. 3: China and East Asia to the Ming Dynasty, { "3.01:_(Module_5)_3.10-_The_Yuan_Dynasty" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.02:_(Module_5)_3.7-_The_Period_of_Division_220-589CE" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.03:_(Module_5)_3.8-_The_Tang_Dynasty_and_the_Emergence_of_East_Asia" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.04:_(Module_5)_3.9-_The_Song_Dynasty" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.05:_Chronology_of_China_and_East_Asia_to_the_Ming_Dynasty" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.06:_Geography_of_East_Asia" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.07:_China_from_Neolithic_Village_Settlements_to_the_Shang_Kingdom" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.08:_The_Long_Zhou_Dynasty_(1046-_256_BCE)" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.09:_The_Qin_Dynasty_and_the_Transition_from_Ancient_to_Imperial_China" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "3.10:_The_Han_Dynasty_202_BCE-220_CE" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()" }, { "00:_Front_Matter" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "01:_Early_Middle_Eastern_and_Northeast_African_Civilizations" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "02:_Ancient_India" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "03:_China_and_East_Asia_to_the_Ming_Dynasty" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "04:_The_Greek_World" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "05:_The_Roman_World" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "06:_Western_Europe_and_Byzantium_(circa_500-1000_CE)" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "07:_Western_Europe_and_Byzantium_(Middle_Ages)" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "08:_Central_Asia" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "09:_African_History_to_1500" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "10:_The_Americas" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "11:_Power_of_Ideas" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "12:_Power_of_Revolutions" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "13:_Power_of_Industrialization" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "14:_Imperialism" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "15:_World_War_I" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "16:_Interwar" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "17:_World_War_II" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "18:_The_Cold_War_Emerges" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "19:__Asia_after_World_War_II" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "20:__Post-Colonial_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "21:_The_Long_Decade" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "22:__Early_21st_Century" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "23:__Post-Pandemic_World" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()", "zz:_Back_Matter" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.b__1]()" }, 3.8: The Long Zhou Dynasty (1046- 256 BCE), [ "article:topic", "showtoc:no", "license:ccbysa", "authorname:gisrael", "Zhou Dynasty", "Confucianism", "Confucius", "Daoism", "Mandate of Heaven", "Taoism", "source[1]-human-10769", "source[2]-human-10769" ], https://socialsci.libretexts.org/@app/auth/3/login?returnto=https%3A%2F%2Fsocialsci.libretexts.org%2FCourses%2FMizzou_Academy%2FWorld_History_A_B%2F03%253A_China_and_East_Asia_to_the_Ming_Dynasty%2F3.08%253A_The_Long_Zhou_Dynasty_(1046-_256_BCE), \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}}}\) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\), 3.7: China from Neolithic Village Settlements to the Shang Kingdom, 3.9: The Qin Dynasty and the Transition from Ancient to Imperial China, University System of Georgia via GALILEO Open Learning Materials, 3.4.1: The Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 771 BCE), 3.4.2: The Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 256 BCE) and the Warring States Period (c. 475 221 BCE), 3.4.3: Philosophy in a Time of Turmoil: Confucianism and Daoism, 3.4.3.2: Philosophical and Institutional Daoism, http://brandonqindynasty.weebly.com/9/8580061.jpeg, status page at https://status.libretexts.org. After a series of wars among these powerful states, King Zhao of Qin defeated King Nan of Zhou and conquered West Zhou in 256 BCE; his grandson, King . Yet, although hegemons maintained a semblance of order, warfare remained constant because it was a way of life for the illustrious lineages of the Zhou realm. For a king, however, these men might become an obstacle or pose a threat because they held this land hereditarily. To his mind, he was living at a time when civilization was collapsing and society was decaying. The Analects not only shows a serious and learned man, but also someone capable in archery and horsemanship, who loved music and ritual, and who untiringly traveled the feudal states in the hopes of serving in a lords retinue (see Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)). At their royal palaces, Zhou kings conducted ceremonies of investiture during which they sacrificed to Heaven and the spirits of deceased ancestors, held banquets, and then bestowed noble titles and grants of land upon members of the royal family and relatives by marriage. Second, they issued proclamations explaining to conquered peoples why they should accept Zhou rule. However, with the onset of the Warring States Period in the fifth century BCE, the level of violence was no longer contained by the hegemon system and codes of chivalry. Legal. The arts of the early Xi Zhou were essentially a continuation of those of the Shang dynasty. If you lead the people by being rectified yourself, who will dare not be rectified? (12.17) Confucius believed that good governing flows from good men. The Wuwang emperor continued his father's work and formed a coalition with eight other border states, which defeated the evil last ruler of the Shang. [12] Ju's son Liu,[13] however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin,[c] which his descendants ruled for generations. The first qualification for a ruler or one who serves is moral rectitude. By the end of this period, largely owing to the demands of warfare, the Zhou feudal order had been supplanted by a small number of powerful territorial states with centralized monarchies. Around 1046 BC, Wen's son Wu and his ally Jiang Ziya led an army of 45,000 men and 300 chariots across the Yellow River and defeated King Zhou of Shang at the Battle of Muye, marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. Thus, the dynasty had lost this sanction. The Zhou dynasty also spans the period in which the written script evolved from the oracle script and bronze script into the seal script, and then finally into an almost-modern form with the use of an archaic clerical script that emerged during the late Warring States period. 3. One description of an elite soldier states that he wears heavy armor, shoulders a large crossbow and fifty arrows, straps a halberd to his back, buckles a helmet to his head, and places a sword to his side.) During which dynasty did the system of feudalism emerge? Over the course of the first millennium CE, Daoism also became a popular and institutionalized religion. Rather, they pointed to a natural condition that both individuals and society can recover, one that existed before desires trapped people in a world of strife. Many of its members were Shang, who were sometimes forcibly transported to new Zhou to produce the bronze ritual objects which were then sold and distributed across the lands, symbolizing Zhou legitimacy.[38]. Over the course of the first millennium CE, Daoism became a popular and institutionalized religion. He was a cruel emperor that. At that point, when the individual is in accord with the ineffable Way, life becomes spontaneous, natural, and effortless. He saw the practice of morality in the family as the root. Rise of Chinese dynasties (article) | Khan Academy But they fought even more fiercely. King Li led 14 armies against barbarians in the south, but failed to achieve any victory. Zhou dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Chou, dynasty that ruled ancient China for some eight centuries, establishing the distinctive political and cultural characteristics that were to be identified with China for the next two millennia. During the Warring States, rulers introduced large armies composed of mass infantry and cavalry. After announcing the impending campaign at the ancestral temple, a lord and his kinsmen, accompanied by farmer foot soldiers, would proceed in their chariots to a prearranged location and engage in a skirmish. [35] When King You demoted and exiled his Jiang queen in favor of the beautiful commoner Bao Si, the disgraced queen's father the Marquis of Shen joined with Zeng and the Quanrong barbarians to sack Hao in 771 BC. From there, they governed a predominantly rural population of farmers living in villages where life was not easy. The Warring States Period started from 475 BC and ended in 221 BC. This page titled 3.8: The Long Zhou Dynasty (1046- 256 BCE) is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by George Israel (University System of Georgia via GALILEO Open Learning Materials) . Soldiers were equipped with armor, crossbows, halberds, dagger-axes, and swords manufactured from bronze, iron, leather, and wood in royal workshops located at capital cities. Yet, although hegemons maintained a semblance of order, warfare remained constant because it was a way of life for the illustrious lineages of the Zhou realm. Historians call this method of governing Zhou kinship feudalism. That involved not only teaching individual techniques for preserving the life spirit, but also the use of exorcism and faith healing to remove malevolent influences. The dukedom fell in 249 BC. For him, nobility was defined not by birth but rather by character and conduct. They presented a universe with multiple heavenly and hellish realms populated with divinities and demons. Rather, the mind must be emptied out, calmed, and purified, until desires are absent and a primordial, natural condition is restored. The magistrates job would be to register the population, maintain law and order, collect tax revenue, and conscript people for labor projects and military campaigns. 256 BCE. To govern is to rectify. Why did the zhou dynasty last so long? - Answers During this time, some of Chinas greatest military treatises were written, most notably the Art of War by Master Sun [sue-in]. I Have Awakened The Deduction System #Chapter 345 Counterattack Before They found that to make a empire beloved by its people, you should be nice to them. Now, the Zhou royal court was faced with the task of governing newly conquered territory, including the former lands of the Shang Dynasty. One obvious difference is that the Zhou ruled from walled cities rather than castles. One is to create a unified dynasty, and the other is to make the name of a country exclusive to the nation for the first time. Both the purpose and conduct of warfare changed. This political theory, which is known as the Mandate of Heaven, would also be used by founders of later dynasties to justify their actions, as well as by theorists to explain the rise and fall of dynasties. The dynasty ended in 256 bce. Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed Duke Hui of Eastern Zhou as King Nan's successor after their capital, Chengzhou, fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. Like other young men of similar background, he had access to education and could aspire to serve in some capacity in a feudal state, perhaps at the lords court, or as an official or soldier. By so doing, it was believed, ones health would be preserved and life prolonged. The range of applied decoration for the first time included pictorial subjectsfor example, hunting scenes and chariots and horsemen. Yet, it would be wrong to conclude that he wasnt religious in any sense, because he frequently spoke of Heaven. From there, these illustrious lineages governed a predominantly rural population of farmers living in villages where life was not easy. In later generations, lords simply became more interested in and identified with their own territories, and they had little sense of solidarity with what were at best distant cousins ruling neighboring feudal states. bc, Chinadied 1046 bc, China), last sovereign ( c. 1075-46 bc) of the Shang dynasty ( c. 1600-1046 bc ), who, according to legend, lost his empire because of his extreme debauchery. In the latter period, the Zhou court had little control over its constituent states that were at war with each other until the Qin state consolidated power and formed the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. 3. The Shang dynasty had begun with wise and benevolent rulers, but later kings were cruel and incompetent, and failed to see to the well-being of their subjects. A person of humanity is, for instance, one who is capable of empathy and unselfish concern for the welfare of others. King Hui of Zhou married a princess of the Red Di as a sign of appreciation for the importance of the Di troops. However, in the course of doing so, he reinterpreted the past and imbued the virtues he stressed with rich, new meanings. In 1059, upon witnessing five planets align, the Zhou ruler declared himself king and proceeded to engage in military conquests that made his kingdom a regional power to be reckoned with. In the early 1600s, dynastic struggle quickly tore Russia apart, soon joined by famine and invasion, earning the name the Time of Troubles. In the context of his time, Confucius was a dynamic individual who believed he was mandated by Heaven to return the world to a more socially and politically harmonious time. Eventually, the noble lords of the most powerful states declared themselves as kings, and fought to gain control over all of China. In 1046 BCE, a Zhou king overthrew the last Shang ruler and established control over much of north China. A truly noble person is one who puts what is right before personal gain and the desire for wealth and fame. [49][50] Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between horse burials of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and Indo-European peoples in the west. The farther removed, the lesser the political authority". GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The rulers of this epoch were no strangers to battle, but they also created an environment where fascinating and long-standing cultural elements thrived. The military control of China by the royal house, surnamed Ji, lasted initially from 1046 until 771 BC for a period known as the Western Zhou, and the political sphere of influence it created continued well into the Eastern Zhou period for another 500 years. Zhou dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Chou, dynasty that ruled ancient China for some eight centuries, establishing the distinctive political and cultural characteristics that were to be identified with China for the next two millennia. The first was Duke Huan of Qi [who-an of chee]. Indeed, Zhou kings granted land and noble titles to kinsmen in exchange for obedience, periodic visits to the kings palace, tribute, and military support. Putting away his emotions, Jing Wudao's right hand flicked in the air, and the flexible sword on the Wu Ji patriarch's back returned to his hand. Second, they issued proclamations explaining to conquered peoples why they should accept Zhou rule. The Mandate of Heaven was presented as a religious compact between the Zhou people and their supreme god in heaven. The Shang dynasty had begun with wise and benevolent rulers, but later kings were cruel and incompetent, and failed to see to the well-being of their subjects. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose the mandate. What did Qin build to protect themselves from invasion? In return, the ruler was duty-bound to uphold heaven's principles of harmony and honor. (View the image of a Warring States Period soldier at the following link: http://brandonqindynasty.weebly.com/9/8580061.jpeg. Among them, the most successful was the state of Qin, which eventually conquered all of China and became an empire. The term Huj was probably a hereditary title attached to a lineage. The emperor and administrator in Han Dynasty studied why Qin Dynasty was so short-lived. The Zhou Dynasty collapsed slowly, over a period of hundreds of years, as the feudal rulers of outlying provinces gained more authority. Noble lords loved to demonstrate their prowess and raise their prestige through success in hunting and battling. [39] In this way, the Zhou sky god legitimized regime change. In discussions that demarcate between trunk and collateral lines, the former is called a zong and the latter a zu, whereas the whole lineage is dubbed the shi. Pottery continued Shang traditions and expanded greatly in variety of shapes and finishes during the Warring States period. [17][e] The Zhou emulated extensively Shang cultural practices, perhaps to legitimize their own rule,[20] and became the successors to Shang culture. One description of an elite soldier states that he wears heavy armor, shoulders a large crossbow and fifty arrows, straps a halberd to his back, buckles a helmet to his head, and places a sword to his side.). During Confucius's lifetime in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhou kings had little power, and much administrative responsibility and de-facto political strength was wielded by rulers of smaller domains and local community leaders. Prior to the Warring States Period, Zhou kings were still accorded a level of respect, at least as symbols of unity and nominal heads of the Zhou feudal order. Instead, he gained an avid following of 70 students, whom he accepted regardless of their social status. [52] King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support. The two most important early books belonging to this tradition are: the Laozi (Old Master) and Zhuangzi (Master Zhuang).