Why did Zhou Pingwang give up Guanzhong and move the capital to Luoyang?

The eastward movement of Pingdong was a historical event in which the royal family moved the capital from Haojing to Luoyi in the early years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. According to historical records such as Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan, in 77 1 year BC, Shen Hou, the father of Shen Hou, colluded with Gou Rong and attacked Hao Jing. Zhou Youwang lit a bonfire for help, but all the princes ignored it because they had been fooled by bonfires before. Zhou Youwang was finally killed in Lishan, and the Western Zhou Dynasty perished. Later, the princes made Prince Yijiu king of Zhou Pingwang. In 770 BC, Zhou Pingwang moved the capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang City, Henan Province), which officially opened the historical stage of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. As we all know, after Zhou Ping and Wang Dong moved to Luoyi, the royal family of Zhou Dynasty continued to decline. The reason is related to Luoyang, which is located in the land of the Fourth World War. Then, the question is, why did Zhou Pingwang move its capital to Luoyang instead of keeping it in Guanzhong?

First of all, Feng Jing and Hao Jing, collectively known as "Feng Hao", are the capitals of the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, after the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Ji Fa, Zhou Wuwang, the capital is in Xi, Shaanxi, which belongs to the Guanzhong area. Guanzhong refers to the "four passes", namely Dongguan (Hangu Pass), Xiguan (Great Earthquake Pass), Nanguan (Languan Pass) and Beiguan (Jinsuo Pass). Guanzhong is close to Qinling Mountains, and Weihe River passes through it, with rich products and outstanding people. There are natural terrain barriers on all sides, which are easy to defend but difficult to attack. There is a saying in history that "a country with four blockades". Therefore, the prosperity of the Western Zhou Dynasty has a certain relationship with its capital Guanzhong. As for Luoyi, the place where Zhou Pingwang moved the capital, which is today's Luoyang City in Henan Province, there is no danger to defend, and there are many vassal States such as Jin, Zheng, Qi, Wei, Chu, Lu and Song.

Moreover, because the royal family of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was in the land of four wars, its territory was constantly eroded by neighboring vassal States, which laid the groundwork for its demise at the end of the Warring States. Then, the question is, why did Zhou Pingwang give up Guanzhong and move the capital to Luoyang, where there was no danger to defend? The reasons are mainly divided into the following points. On the one hand, according to historical records such as the Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan, in 77 1 year BC, the empress contacted the dog Rong and quickly entered the Haojiang River. Escaped to Mount Li and was killed by Mount Li. In this context, at that time, there was still a dog and horse in Guanzhong area, which made Zhou Pingwang feel great pressure after he acceded to the throne. Dog Rong, an ancient tribal name, was active in Shaanxi and Gansu in ancient times, also known as Xirong.

At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Rong people's power was very strong, and Huaxia in the Central Plains was seriously threatened by it. Even big countries like Jin and Qin are often attacked by Rong. For example, in order to defeat Xirong, many monarchs of Qin died in battle until Qin Mugong came to power, which was a heavy blow to Xirong. Therefore, after Zhou Youwang was killed, the Zhou royal family was in chaos, and it was difficult to resist Xirong's next attack. Therefore, Zhou Pingwang chose to move eastward to Luoyi, far away from Xirong. On the other hand, Luoyi is the ancient name of Luoyang, the capital of Zhou Dynasty. Luoyang "extends in all directions and Zhou Luo is in the middle, so it is called Luoyi". After the Eastern Expedition, the Duke of Zhou set out to build Luoyi, the eastern capital, into Zhou. Therefore, as far as Luoyi is concerned, it was built and operated as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, which means that it has favorable conditions to become the royal capital of the Zhou Dynasty.