In the long river of human history, the earliest to govern the entire country with a complete concept of etiquette was undoubtedly the Western Zhou Dynasty in China, with 300 etiquette and 3000 prestige, marking China’s entry into the state of propriety and righteousness. The system of enfeoffment and patriarchal system were also established, forming a civilization that could infiltrate the Nine Provinces and even benefit the wilderness. It is profound, extensive, profound, and harmonious. However, once upon a time, when the foundation of faith was ignored and deviated from itself, the foundation of the entire dynasty began to be corroded. Even if the Zhou dynasty could establish an incredibly strong foundation and become the strongest country in eastern Asia, it could not resist internal disintegration. Moreover, external disturbances were constantly promoting internal disintegration, and ultimately, it was the combined force of external and internal turmoil that led to the decline of the Zhou royal family.
In Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, artists are working on a large bronze sculpture featuring the legendary King Mu of Zhou, who was the fifth Shang King of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The “Biography of the Mu Emperor”, unearthed during the Jin Dynasty’s Taikang period, contains a large number of bizarre legends, but it is still a very important ancient document that has been replicated by later generations and preserved to this day. The legendary story of King Mu of Zhou meeting with the Queen Mother of the West and his expedition to the West, as recorded in the book, has become a popular theme created by artists throughout history and has been enduring.
After several generations of operation, the Western Zhou Dynasty reached its peak during the reign of King Mu of Zhou. It was under the control of the Western Zhou Dynasty, stretching from the sea in the east, Liaoning in the north, Gansu in the west, and the Jianghan River basin in the south. The various etiquette systems of the country had already been established, and the overall social order was stable and the national strength was strong. As the longest reigning monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Mu of Zhou went on various expeditions and patrols, flaunting the dynasty’s martial arts and strength. However, the crisis of the dynasty gradually emerged under this prosperity, and its origin is obviously closely related to King Mu’s conquest of the northwest tribes.
Battle Map Helan Mountain Rock Painting in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
This is the Helan Mountains located at the border of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The Helan Mountains are rich in water and grass, and have been a paradise for nomadic tribes who have been living by water and grass since ancient times. As early as 3000 years ago, the Rong tribe lived their own life here. Zhang Jianguo, the director of the World Rock Painting Museum in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has been studying Helan Mountain rock paintings for fourteen years.
(Zhang Jianguo, Director of the World Rock Painting Museum in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) This rock painting is one of the most famous hunting scenes in our Helan Mountain rock paintings. It is a hunting scene. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, in the northwest region of China, especially in Helan Mountain, it was basically the Western Rong, where various ethnic groups have thrived and thrived. One of their main living scenes is hunting.
In the West, the Rong tribe, like the Di tribe in the North, was regarded as the most backward ethnic group by the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to some records in ancient literature, the Rong and Di tribes lived in remote areas outside of the Zhou Dynasty’s nine provinces for generations. In fact, archaeological discoveries now indicate that their settlements were not as remote as imagined. A large number of Rong and Di cultural relics have been found in northern Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and other places.
Shanrong Culture Exhibition Hall, Yanqing County, Beijing
This is the Yuhuang Temple Cemetery, located 13 kilometers northwest of Yanqing County, Beijing. In the 1980s, Jin Fengyi, the leader of the Shanrong Archaeological Team at the Beijing Institute of Cultural Relics, and his team spent five years excavating the largest Shanrong tomb group to date, unearthed more than 10000 cultural relics.
(Jin Fengyi, the captain of the Shanrong Archaeological Team at the Beijing Institute of Cultural Relics: There are many burial objects in the tomb, mainly groups of bronze ceremonial vessels and weapons. The straight edged dagger style bronze short sword is a common short stabbing weapon in the Rongdi culture. The Rongdi warriors are all knights, and he is extremely skilled in long-range shooting. He can also use a dagger to fight and assassinate in close combat.).
Straight edged dagger style bronze short sword Yanqing Museum
According to research by scholars, there were dozens of tribes including the barbarians, barbarians, Rong, and Di that were recorded in historical records during the Western Zhou Dynasty. The relationship between these peripheral ethnic groups in the Central Plains region and the Huaxia ethnic group is abbreviated as the Yixia relationship. The Western Zhou Dynasty had a strong national power and a great influence on the four ethnic groups. Many officials from neighboring tribes submitted to the Zhou Dynasty, and according to the Zhou Dynasty’s regulations, they were required to regularly pay tribute to the Zhou royal family. However, this relationship was facing huge destruction during the reign of King Mu of Zhou. King Mu of Zhou was overjoyed and planned to further control the Rong and Di tribes. He used the excuse that the leader of the Canrong tribe did not meet the tribute on time to campaign against the Canrong tribe and show off his military might. This not only caused ordinary resistance from the Rongdi tribe, but also caused concern among the wise people within the Zhou Dynasty. When King Mu of Zhou went on a campaign against Canrong, Jigong Moufu tried his best to dissuade him, believing that the leader of Canrong had always fulfilled his duties and would meet with King Zhou once in his lifetime according to the Zhou Dynasty’s regulations. However, King Mu’s campaign was not only unreasonable but could directly lead to danger for the Zhou Dynasty. King Mu of Zhou did not listen to his advice and led a large army to go on a two faced road. If he failed, the Zhou Dynasty would suffer great shame, and even if he succeeded, he would only lose his reputation. The fact is, after expending a large amount of military and material resources, King Mu of Zhou only brought back four white wolves and four white deer, and the Rongdi tribe no longer worshipped the Zhou Dynasty and cut off normal exchanges with the Zhou Dynasty. The original friends became enemies, and from then on, Rongdi was always waiting for an opportunity to retaliate against the Zhou Dynasty.
(Jun Bei, Associate Researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: As a result, this not only destroyed Zhou De, but later he stopped coming from afar and felt that he had no virtue. This is actually a moral governance ideology that the Zhou people have been promoting, believing that King Mu of Zhou’s display of martial arts has undermined their moral governance ideology.).
King Mu of Zhou reigned for 55 years, being fond of hunting and conquering everywhere. Behind his apparent strength, he planted various hidden dangers for the Zhou royal family. After King Mu’s death, he successively ascended to the throne as the Four Kings of the Middle Period, known as Gong Wang, Yi Wang, Xiao Wang, and Yi Wang. These were known as the Four Kings of the Middle Period, and the Four Kings of the Middle Period could only be defended. However, King Mu of Zhou once destroyed the secret kingdom with the Ji surname. In the early years of King Yi of Zhou, he summoned domestic feudal lords to execute Duke Ai of Qi. From these events, it can be seen that in the Bangji region (j) ī） The Inner Zhou royal family still held the highest authority, and its biggest calamity was the Rong and Di tribes in the northwest.
(The practice of Liu Yuanmu, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was evaluated in ancient books as not being able to submit to the barbaric attire. The so-called barbaric attire refers to submitting to this minority group around the Zhou Dynasty, and his actions can be said to have led to the conflict between the Zhou royal family and the canine army.)
After King Mu of Zhou’s Western Expedition, the Rong Di tribe became even stronger, and in turn, they continued to invade the Zhou Dynasty, resulting in the situation of Rong Di’s invasion and tyranny of China. The Zhou people deeply felt bitter, but more importantly, with the passage of time, the hidden dangers that were more destructive than external disasters were constantly strengthening, and a crisis emerged within the Zhou Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty established a feudal kinship system, which was divided into a feudal system and a patriarchal system. With the support of local feudal lords, the Zhou royal family achieved control over a dynasty with a vast territory. However, the Western Zhou feudal system was a double-edged sword, granting high autonomy to the feudal lords. The feudal lords had independent administrative and military power within their respective territories, making it easy for them to develop their own strength. The enhancement of the power of the feudal lords can provide more powerful guarantees for the Western Zhou royal family on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to the lack of strong regulatory measures, as the power of the feudal lords increases, their centrifugal force also strengthens day by day. Although the Zhou people say that their dynasty is not just royal territory, under the feudal system, the areas that the Zhou royal family can directly control are only concentrated in the Zhou Haojing and Chengzhou Luoyi, which are not large areas known as the Wangji. However, within these small areas, the degree of control of the Zhou royal family is also constantly weakening.
Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province
In 1975, four bronze artifacts were unearthed in Dongjia Village, Qishan County, Shaanxi Province. Their owners were a nobleman named Qiu Wei in the mid Western Zhou Dynasty. Among them, the bronze artifact named Wusi Wei Ding is a treasure of the Shaanxi History Museum. Its inscription records the exchange of equivalent land between Qiu Wei and the nobleman Bang Junli. The other three bronze artifacts are currently housed in the Baoji Bronze Artifacts Museum, and their inscriptions also record the land transaction between Qiu Wei and the nobles Ju Bo and Ju Jiang. Land transactions were conducted among nobles, which meant that the Zhou royal family weakened their control over land. Within the Zhou royal capital, the land directly controlled by the royal family was granted to the royal ministers according to the principle of enfeoffment. When a piece of land was awarded to the ministers, it broke away from the royal control and was placed under the control of that minister.
(Wang Hong, Deputy Research Librarian of Baoji Bronze Museum: From the inscriptions on the four vessels of Qiu Wei, it can be seen that land leasing, transfer, and sale had already occurred in the mid Western Zhou Dynasty.).
From the inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it can be found that during the Western Zhou period, the King of Zhou often granted his subjects a complete piece of land, which often had separate place names. However, in the mid to late Western Zhou period, only fragmented land was granted. This phenomenon indicates that with the distribution of land, the Zhou royal family had less and less direct control over the land. After the mid Western Zhou period, the royal family’s land had become very fragmented, so they could only continue to reward the land in the form of fragmented pieces. Land belonging to the King of Zhou was continuously granted, and the scale of royal property continued to decrease, gradually leading to a phenomenon of poverty and weakness. The strength and status of the dynasty were affected.
(Zhu Fenghan – Professor at Peking University: On the one hand, the vassals served as officials in the dynasty, and on the other hand, both he and his family gave them land, which means they lived together and became a situation that could be called a feudal lord at that time. From the current Western Zhou Dynasty, especially the bronze inscriptions, in the middle and late period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, because these feudal lords had land, certain economic strength, and had their own clan members, including retainers, each feudal lord was an economic and political community, as well as a military force.).
While implementing the system of enfeoffment, the Western Zhou Dynasty implemented the patriarchal system and strengthened the political cohesion of the Zhou king through blood and kinship. However, with the increase of generations, the blood relationship between local feudal lords and the royal family continued to weaken, and the intimate relationship between monarchs and subjects linked by the patriarchal system also continued to weaken. Fortunately, the etiquette system established by the Zhou king has deeply rooted in people’s hearts. If the Zhou royal family can continue to maintain etiquette and righteousness, no matter what, the rulers of various feudal states dare not disobey the orders of the Zhou royal family. However, can the Zhou royal family maintain its supremacy and etiquette?
(Expert Li Xueqin – Professor of History at Tsinghua University: The Western Zhou dynasty originally had a lot of control over some political issues within the vassal states, beyond people’s imagination, such as who inherited the right to inheritance, who inherited the throne, and so on. However, later on, the control became increasingly ineffective, and the power of the dynasty became weaker and weaker, which created a foundation for division.).
After more than two hundred years of rule, the Western Zhou regime began to enter a chaotic situation. Its ninth emperor, the King of Zhou Yi, seized power from his deceased uncle, King Xiao of Zhou, relying on the support of the feudal lords. As a result, the King of Zhou Yi could not put on airs in front of the feudal lords. According to the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, the King of Zhou Yi originally did not go down to the court to receive the feudal lords on pilgrimage. However, when the King of Zhou Yi Liang began to go down to the court to receive the feudal lords, this was later believed to be the beginning of the Zhou Emperor’s impoliteness. After the death of the King of Zhou Yi, his son, King Li of Zhou, ascended to the throne. This new monarch, contrary to his father’s image of softness, reversed his father’s image. With a strong will and determination to change his father’s political predicament at all costs, and to re-establish the authority of the Zhou royal family, can this naturally strict monarch do so?
Shaanxi Zhouzhi County Theater Troupe
For three thousand years, various stories about King Li of Zhou have been circulating in Xi’an, Shaanxi, and have been portrayed in the form of traditional Chinese opera. In the hearts of the people, King Li of Zhou has always appeared in the opposite image. He acted in reverse, was cruel and inhumane, trusted petty people, and exploited the people. He was a famous tyrant in history. King Li of Zhou appointed Duke Rongyi to implement a patent policy, which was exclusive to the royal family for the benefits of mountains, forests, and rivers. He reiterated that the mountains, forests, and rivers should be taken over by the royal family. This policy simply and crudely changed the original shared hegemony of the Chinese people to exclusive to the royal family, directly violating the interests of the Chinese people at that time and causing resentment among them. In the face of intensifying contradictions, King Li of Zhou exercised the most authoritarian and powerful control. He implemented a ubiquitous terrorist surveillance policy throughout the country, and anyone who gossiped or complained was immediately executed upon discovery. From then on, Chinese people dared not speak anymore, and everyone was in danger. King Li of Zhou felt proud that no one raised objections again, thinking that he had made the Zhou regime the strongest. However, in the abnormal silence, the most terrifying resistance was brewing.
King Li’s policies not only violated the interests of ordinary people, but also deeply violated the interests of the nobility. In 841 BC, the unbearable Zhou people launched a riot and rushed to the palace to kill King Li. When he heard the news, King Li ran away in a hurry. No one took him in all the way. He had to cross the Yellow River eastward and fled to swine, which is now located in Huozhou, Shanxi Province. In this way, King Li Zhou, who had been in power for 37 years, withdrew from the stage of history. He originally wanted to rely on the iron and blood policy to revitalize the weak Zhou royal family, but he did not expect to force himself to a dead end. In swine, King Li Zhou was unknown After living in seclusion for 14 years, he watched helplessly as the Zhou royal family continued to decline until they died of depression.
(Expert Li Xueqin, Professor of History at Tsinghua University: In the past, it was believed that the fundamental reason for the Chinese uprising was mainly due to the poor political situation of King Li of Zhou himself, some issues with his policies, and the use of some bad people. This is a traditional view in the past. Recently, we found some materials in our Tsinghua journal, which also pointed out that there was a relationship between external threats at that time. During the reign of King Li of Zhou, especially during this period, which can be called internal and external threats, the situation where the two sides attacked each other was that King Li’s internal affairs were relatively worse.)
According to the Records of the Grand Historian, after the rebellious Chinese expelled King Li of Zhou, they also had to execute Prince Jing of King Li of Zhou. In an emergency, Duke Zhaogong replaced Prince Jing with his own son, which allowed Prince Jing to survive. In the intense turmoil, the Zhou Dynasty lost the highest command for a while. Who filled the power vacuum of the Zhou royal family? There are two historical claims, one is that the two officials, Duke Zhaogong and Duke Zhou, jointly ruled, which is republican administration. In 841 BC, this exact year in Chinese history, known as the Republic Year, provides another explanation for the “Bamboo Annals” unearthed together with the “Biography of Mu Tianzi”, which states that after King Li of Zhou fled, a vassal named Gong Bohe went to the central government to govern the country. Similar statements are also found in the documents of the Warring States period, such as “Zhuangzi”, “L ü Shi Chunqiu”, and the newly discovered Qinghua bamboo slips “Shi Nian”. Unfortunately, these statements are not supported by sufficient evidence, and the Republic Year cannot be found in existing bronze inscriptions. The Western Zhou bronze inscriptions also include the Republic Year. The truth of republican administration remains a mystery to this day, as the text always records the years of kings. However, no matter what the truth of the republican administration is, it is an indisputable fact that the royal power was in a vacuum during the 14 years of the Republic. The royal power of the Western Zhou Dynasty suffered a heavy blow until King Li of Zhou died in swine, and the crown prince Jing ascended the throne as King Xuan of Zhou. According to legend, King Xuan of Zhou had a lifelong love for cockfighting. However, due to his ups and downs since childhood, he did not become complacent after ascending to the throne. Instead, he worked hard to revitalize the court and mobilized various forces. He first relied on the Qin people who were affiliated with the Zhou Dynasty to resist the Rong and Di forces, and after accumulating his strength, King Xuan of Zhou personally launched an expedition, ultimately forcing Rong and Di to leave.
(Professor Zhu Fenghan from Peking University: There was a period of so-called revival of King Xuan, but it only lasted for decades. At that time, it was estimated that King Xuan of Zhou was also very difficult because King Li of Zhou left a pusher that was very chaotic, and external military struggles were also very intense.).
In the later period of King Xuan of Zhou, he suffered repeated defeats in foreign wars, losing successively to the army of the Jiang clan and the army of the fallen Southern Kingdom. After repeated defeats, King Xuan of Zhou had to register the population in Taiyuan. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the army and agriculture were integrated. The Zhou people cultivated and trained on time during peacetime, and became soldiers during wartime, and were incorporated into the army for combat. However, under the feudal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the army under the control of the Zhou king could only be carried out by the households on the land directly controlled by the royal family. Previously, the royal family controlled a large amount of land and people, with abundant military resources. Throughout the Zhou kings, the total number of households was not counted. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the number of people controlled by the royal family was too small, and after the collapse of the Southern Kingdom’s army, the Zhou army was insufficient. As a result, King Xuan broke the ancestral tradition and registered the total number of people he controlled to supplement his military strength. In the eyes of the royal ministers, this move was seen as a small gesture to the feudal lords. To show weakness would result in losing the support of the feudal lords. Finally, King Xuan of Zhou did not listen to the advice of his ministers, as his weak military strength had made it impossible for him to maintain his reputation.
(Researcher at the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Liu Yuan: In the late Xuanwang period, some of his implementation policies also encountered some problems. One possible reason for this is that the old officials were too old to assist him anymore, and some of his measures in the royal family were not very appropriate.).
In his later years, the ruler of Zhongxing was no longer able to stop the decline of the royal family. In the late years of King Xuan, a terrible rumor spread in the Wangji region, claiming that Sangmu’s bow and Jimu’s arrow bag had destroyed the state of Zhou. The rumor spread to King Xuan’s ears, and he ordered the killing of a couple who sold these two things. The image of the royal family’s decline became increasingly apparent, and restless emotions surged in the dynasty. A few nursery rhymes made the supreme King of Zhou like a frightened bird.
(Professor Zhu Fenghan from Peking University: It can be said that the entire late Western Zhou Dynasty was on a downward trend. King Li of Zhou was a sign or signal of the downfall. Therefore, although there was a brief period of revival, which seemed like a resurgence, it could no longer be sustained in the end.).
In 781 BC, King You of Zhou, the son of King Xuan of Zhou, ascended to the throne, and many people had high hopes for this new monarch. However, major natural disasters continued to break out, adding insult to injury to the Zhou dynasty. In the second year of King You of Western Zhou, a major earthquake occurred in the Guanzhong area, causing the collapse of Qishan. Qizhou and Haojing were both shaken, and the three rivers of Jing, Wei, and Luo were cut off. In the eyes of the Zhou people, if not improved, the Zhou people would describe a serious natural disaster as follows: Ye Ye was shocked and restless, causing rivers to boil and mountains to collapse, with high banks being valleys and deep valleys being tombs. The Wang Dynasty was in danger of extinction, however, King You of Zhou had no such consciousness at all. On the contrary, he had developed various bad habits of a fallen monarch.
He is a petty person who flatters and flatters others, abandons wise people, and neglects the government. He disregards the advice of his ministers and only thinks about how to make his beloved concubine, Bao Si, happy. Bao Si was originally a beautiful woman in Bao State. When King You of Zhou attacked Bao State, Bao State offered her to beg for surrender. King You fell in love with Bao Si at first sight and appointed her as his concubine, doting on the Zhou royal palace. After four years of King You of Zhou, Bao Si gave birth to a son for King You of Zhou. King You of Zhou doted on her even more, willing to satisfy all her preferences at any cost. Legend has it that Bao Si had a special hobby of listening to the sound of torn silk. Therefore, King You of Zhou ordered someone to take the silk and send it to Bao Si’s sleeping palace for powerful palace maids to tear it up for her to listen to every day. Since entering the palace, Bao Si has never smiled. In order to win a smile from her, King You of Zhou spared no effort and was willing to do the most absurd thing at all costs. So, the most classic story of national downfall in history, the beacon fire drama of the feudal lords, is about to be staged. This is the Fenghuotai Site of the Western Zhou Dynasty, located in Lintong District, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. It is the highest peak of the Xishan Xiuling Mountains, with an altitude of nearly kilometers. Its south and north sides were important transportation arteries leading to the capital during the Western Zhou Dynasty. The beacon tower was an important military defense facility in ancient China, built to prevent strong enemies from invading. In order to ensure the safety of the kingdom, the military has the strictest regulations that it can only be ignited when foreign enemies invade. In the event of an enemy situation, smoke is sprayed during the day and light is ignited at night, connecting the tower and transmitting messages.
(Yue Dong, a cultural researcher at Huaqingchi in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province: If there are very few enemy soldiers, less than a thousand people, usually one beacon is raised. If there are more than a thousand people, two beacons should be raised. If there are more, three beacons should be raised, indicating that the situation is already very urgent. If the enemy is pouring in and it is already very dangerous, then after these three bonfires are lit at the same time, they must be closed again and separated later, indicating that it is already very urgent.).
Nowadays, the beacon tower has lost its original military function. In the 1980s, locals rebuilt a hollow beacon tower on the basis of the site for tourists to visit and play. However, just three thousand years ago, King You of Zhou also used the beacon tower as a place to play, causing it to lose its original function. In order to win the smile of Bao Si, King You of Zhou ordered people to light this beacon tower, which can only be lit when foreign enemies invade. There is a stove at the bottom of the beacon tower, where lighting firewood and wolf manure will form fireworks on the top of the tower. Using wolf manure to burn smoke, it has a solitary smoke that rises straight to the sky, and the wind blows. The characteristic of not tilting is that if Kyoto is in danger, as long as one beacon tower burns smoke, other beacon towers cannot be delayed for a moment, chain fires, and alarms can be quickly transmitted to the distance. According to the laws of the Zhou Dynasty, The feudal lords must immediately lead their troops to the capital after seeing the fireworks.
(Yue Dong, a cultural researcher at Huaqing Pool in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province: When they arrived at the foot of Mount Li, they saw the sound of drums and music, and the king was having fun on it. They asked the king about Bianqing’s situation and where the enemy was. King You of Zhou said there was no Bianqing, and we were playing here. The lords were very angry and looked at each other in embarrassment. Bao Si was very happy when she saw this scene, and suddenly burst into laughter. King You of Zhou was very happy when he saw his concubine smile, and later raised several beacon lights. The lords knew they had been deceived, and slowly they didn’t come much.).
More absurd things have unfolded. This is an important escape that occurred within the Zhou royal palace, which will completely shake the foundation of the country and directly determine the final fate of the Zhou dynasty. In order to make Bao Si happy, King You of Zhou deposed Empress Dowager Shen and Crown Prince Yijiu. After the Queen and Crown Prince fled from the palace, King You of Zhou still refused to let go. In order to ensure that Bao Si’s son had no future troubles, King You of Zhou completely forgot that the Crown Prince was also his own son. He decided to eradicate the roots and kill the Crown Prince who had already fled to the state of Shen. Queen Shen was the daughter of Marquis Shen, the Crown Prince was the grandson of Marquis Shen. King You of Zhou forced him to do so. The surrender of the crown prince by Marquis Shen ultimately made Marquis Shen, who was loyal to the Zhou royal family, the biggest enemy of King You of Zhou.
In 771 BC, Marquis Shen not only joined forces with the Zeng Kingdom, but also with the Rongdi tribe in the northwest to launch a large-scale attack on the Western Zhou Dynasty. The Canrong tribe had been waiting for such an opportunity and launched the strongest attack, quickly approaching the city. King You of Zhou was in danger, and he quickly ordered people to light the beacon fire. However, King You of Zhou, who had completely lost his trust in the feudal lords, did not wait for any rescue. Canrong rampaged recklessly, killing King You of Zhou at the foot of Mount Li, destroying the ancestral temple and palace in Haojing, and taking the beautiful woman Bao Si and a large number of spoils of war with him, leaving the Western Zhou nobles in a panic. Grass buried the ceremonial weapons and fled their homeland, thus leading to the downfall of the prosperous Western Zhou Dynasty.
(Expert Li Xueqin, Professor of History at Tsinghua University: The collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty represented some of the drawbacks of the feudal system represented by the Zhou Dynasty at that time, which were fundamental reasons. At the same time, the expansion of the Western Zhou Dynasty was too fast at the beginning, and it expanded very quickly. As a result, it completely adopted an oppressive attitude towards some ethnic minorities outside. He estimated that this was also the case for these ethnic groups in the northwest, so these aspects are the combination of ethnic contradictions and internal political contradictions.)
The Pudu Town, currently located in Chang’an District, Xi’an City, is the location of the Western Zhou Haojing Site. Since 1983, the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute’s Haojing Archaeological Team has been conducting exploration and partial excavation work on the Haojing Site, attempting to recreate the long lost Western Zhou scenery. However, after the capture of Haojing by Canrong, everything in the Zhou Palace was burned to the ground. After decades of excavation and archaeology, the team did not find a complete pottery piece, and all that was excavated was broken pottery pieces. Yue Lianjian, the captain of the Haojing Archaeological Team, led his team to attempt to restore and restore these Western Zhou pottery pieces one by one.
(Yue Lianjian, the captain of the Haojing Archaeological Team: The pottery pieces on the ground and in the bag are all from the Western Zhou Dynasty that we excavated at the two locations of Huayuan Village and Luoshui Village this year. Now, this jar is most of the one we have restored, and it is not easy to assemble it piece by piece. It is necessary to classify the same pieces from a pile of pottery pieces and put them together. After matching them, it can be proven that they are from this jar. Only when the sockets can be tightly combined can we know that it is from the same vessel.).
A broken object can be reassembled and repaired, but it is completely impossible to repair a broken Western Zhou Dynasty. In 770 BC, King Yijiu of Zhou, who ascended to the throne, was escorted by Duke Wu of Zheng, Marquis Wen of Jin, and Duke Xiang of Qin to establish the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in Luoyi. The nobles and ministers of the Zhou Dynasty all moved with him. Before leaving, King Ping of Zhou appointed Duke Xiang of Qin, who had made meritorious contributions, as a vassal. The land granted was the former territory of the Zhou Dynasty, which was occupied by the canine army. King Ping of Zhou promised that if Qin could drive away the canine army, he would have his own land. The Zhou royal family, who had left in a state of embarrassment, could no longer obtain real land to appoint the vassals. At this time, the former territory of the Zhou Dynasty was completely destroyed, and the temples and palaces were everywhere. Scar. It was not until 21 years later that Duke Wen of Qin recaptured the former territory of Qi Zhou from the hands of Canrong; The relationship between Zheng Wugong, who had made contributions in escorting Zheng Wugong, and the Zhou royal family has always been very close. Zheng Wugong’s father, Zheng Huangong, was the illegitimate brother of King Xuan of Zhou and was enfeoffed to Zheng territory. Zheng territory borders with the Eastern Zhou royal capital, and Zheng Huangong died in a fierce battle during the invasion of the Western Zhou dynasty. The Zhou royal family regards Zheng as the most important subordinate. However, as the strength of both sides changes, their relationship is quietly undergoing changes. Duke Huan of Zheng, Duke Wu of Zheng, and his son Duke Zhuang of Zheng were known as the Three Princes of the Zheng family, and were the most trusted feudal lords of the Zhou royal family in the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
The Zheng State Che Ma Keng Museum in Henan Province is the cemetery of the Zheng State monarch and his family during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Xinzheng City is the location of the Zheng State during the Spring and Autumn Period. Over the past half century, more than 3000 Eastern Zhou tombs and 18 large and medium-sized Che Ma Kengs have been discovered in Xinzheng City. Among them, the most important cultural relic unearthed from Zheng Gong’s tomb is the Nine Tripods and Eight Guis (gu) ǐ） It was a symbol of royal power during the Zhou Dynasty. In addition, a large number of weapons were unearthed from the tomb of Duke Zheng, which means that with the increase of strength, the relationship between the Duke of Zheng and the Zhou royal family has undergone significant changes, gradually shifting from an intimate obedience relationship to a struggle for power and status. On this vast site of the ancient city of Zheng, Cai Quanfa, a researcher at the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, has been engaged in excavation and research work for more than 40 years.
(Cai Quanfa, a researcher at the Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: Although Zheng’s army was not a thousand chariots country at that time, its military power was still very strong in the early Spring and Autumn period. Because it wanted to dominate the Central Plains, it wanted to dominate in the Central Plains, constantly encroaching on it to expand its territory. In fact, it formed a semi encirclement state towards Zhou, so his threat to Zhou became increasingly greater. Moreover, he did not listen to the opinions of the Zhou king and intervened in court politics.).
After the death of King Ping of Zhou, the power of Duke Zhuang of Zheng rapidly expanded, but his strength continued to weaken. The powerful Duke Zhuang attempted to challenge the authority of King Zhou, but there was constant friction between the two sides. After King Ping’s grandson, King Huan of Zhou, ascended to the throne and deprived Duke Zhuang of his power. As a result, Duke Zhuang no longer appeared before the emperor. In an uncontrollable anger, King Huan of Zhou led troops to attack the state of Zheng.
In 707 BC, two armies fought in the city of Ruge in the state of Zheng. During the battle, the coalition led by King Zhou was defeated, and King Huan of Zhou was also defeated by the minister of Zheng, Zhu Dan ā He shot an arrow and injured his shoulder, and from then on, the King of Zhou dared not launch a war. Afterwards, the control of the Zhou king was limited to the surrounding areas of Luoyi, and various vassal states no longer regularly reported their duties and paid tribute to the Zhou king. The income of the Zhou royal family gradually decreased, and they had to frequently ask for carriages and food from the vassals, losing their former dignity.
From the specifications of Zheng Gong’s tomb and the number and level of accompanying burial objects, it can be seen that many feudal states at that time had surpassed the power of the Zhou king, and the violation of ritual systems was also common in burial customs.
Cai Quanfa, a researcher at the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: During the Western Zhou Dynasty, due to the limitations of the ritual system, this type of tomb was generally not suitable for the first level of feudal lords. However, during the Spring and Autumn period, with the decline of the ritual system, rulers of various countries began to use large Chinese character tombs as a burial custom. In order to compete for power among the feudal lords, one must also obtain the qualification to blackmail the emperor. Therefore, the emperor is still the nominal co ruler of everyone. No matter how powerful one is, everyone still nominally adheres to the Zhou emperor’s belief that he is orthodox, which is nominal. However, in reality, the Zhou dynasty in Luoyang at that time was only equivalent to a small country in terms of status, strength, military and economic strength. It could not even compare to many powerful feudal states that developed later on, and this was becoming increasingly weak.
As the sun sets in the west, the era of King Zhou is coming to an end, and the mountains under the sun show a majestic appearance. Heroes emerge one after another, and the era of fierce competition is about to emerge. From King Mu of Zhou, who was overjoyed, to King Huan of Zhou, who was unwilling to sink, during this period, the cycle went through nearly three hundred years, eventually becoming fragmented from its peak. In the era still known as the Zhou Dynasty, the former glory has become an eternal memory. In the process of barely maintaining it, the figure of the King of Zhou has gradually faded away, becoming the attachment of the warlords, and ultimately becoming a vague background for the struggle for power among the feudal lords. However, the glory of the Zhou royal family, especially the etiquette system of the Zhou Dynasty, had a profound impact on Chinese history. When Confucius vigorously praised Zhou Li and said that I followed Zhou, the spirit of Zhou’s reverence for propriety and righteousness had once again revived. In the process of inheritance and promotion, it illuminated a broad path with distinct national characteristics for the history of ancient China.
90 Seconds of History: One Arrow’s Revenge
This is a road related to national fortune. On the other side of the road, the capital of Qi is in the void. Young Master Xiaobai and Young Master Jiu are two people. Whoever can return to Qi first will have the opportunity to become the new ruler. Guan Zhong, who has been lurking here, arched and aimed an arrow at Young Master Xiaobai. After being hit by the arrow, Young Master Xiaobai shouted loudly and fell into the car. Guan Zhong thought that Xiaobai had died and sent someone back to the state of Lu to avenge his victory. However, he did not expect that his own incident only hit the hook on the clothes of the young master Xiaobai, who survived the disaster. He traveled day and night, and eventually returned to the state of Qi early and ascended the throne. He became the leader of the five hegemons, Duke Huan of Qi. Almost everyone believed that Guan Zhong, who had a one arrow grudge against Duke Huan of Qi, would inevitably suffer strong retaliation after being taken to the state of Qi, and even died without a burial ground. However, the revenge of a single arrow was not avenged, and the timeless tale of a heroic lord and a wise minister jointly pursuing the hegemony of the Spring and Autumn period was born from this.