Western Zhou Dynasty-Zhou Gong assisted the king

文/小仙鱼

Zhou Gong Ji Dan, the fourth son of King Wen of Zhou, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, and the first Duke of Zhou in the history of the Zhou Dynasty. In the pre-Qin period, men were called surnames instead of surnames. Therefore, although his surname was Ji, he was not called Ji Dan directly. Historically, he was called Zhou Gong and Shu Dan. His posthumous title was Wen, and he was also called Zhou Wengong.

In 1045 BC, the second year after Zhou destroyed Shang, King Wu of Zhou died of illness, and his son King Zhou Cheng, Ji Song, came to the throne. King Zhou Cheng was only twelve years old when he came to the throne. The world has been settled for the first time, all wastes are waiting to be revitalized, and the political power is unstable. Ji Dan, the uncle of King Cheng, decided to serve as regent and act on behalf of King Cheng.

Zhou Gong Ji Dan’s strategy was outstanding, and the Zhou Dynasty quickly stabilized. Seeing this, King Wu's other brothers Guan Shu, Cai Shu and Huo Shu were dissatisfied and spread rumors, causing civil strife in the Zhou Dynasty.

King Wu established the Zhou Dynasty. In order to make it easier to rule the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, he named Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou, as Marquis of Yin. He managed Chaoge, the old capital of stock traders, and changed his name to Bin. At the same time, in order to monitor Wu Geng, he divided the areas east, west, and north of Chaoge into Wei, Yong, and Bei, and put them in charge of his younger brothers Guan Shu Ji Xian, Cai Shu Ji Du, and Huo Shu Ji Chu respectively. A situation of encirclement was formed, which was called the "Three Prisons".

Wu Geng was unwilling to live under someone else's control, so he took the opportunity to incite Uncle Guan and other "three supervisors" and colluded with several tribes to rebel against the Zhou Dynasty. This was the "Three Supervisors Rebellion".

At this time, Duke Zhou resolutely decided to send troops to the east to put down the rebellion. It lasted three years, causing Uncle Guan to commit suicide, imprisoning Uncle Cai, and exiling Uncle Huo. They also expanded the results of the war, attacked the country of Yan, and conquered the small countries of Jiuyi. The eastern capital was built in Luoyi, and the nobles of the Shang Dynasty were moved there. From then on, the Zhou Dynasty had two capitals, Haojing in the west, also called Zongzhou, and Luoyi in the east, also called Chengzhou.

After establishing the capital in Luoyi, Duke Zhou divided the feudal lords among them. In Chaoge, the old capital of the Shang Dynasty, he established the Wei Kingdom, named Kang Shu as the King of Wei, and established the Song Kingdom. He named Wei Ziqi, a nobleman of the Shang Dynasty, as the king of the Song Kingdom. He established the Lu Kingdom in the Yan Kingdom, and named his eldest son Boqin as the king of the Lu Kingdom. He successively established 71 feudal states and sent 15 brothers and 16 heroes of King Wu to become princes.

During the seven years of Zhou Gong's auxiliary reign, he formulated the system, established the eldest son inheritance system and the hierarchical system, and implemented the well field system. When King Cheng of Zhou was twenty years old, he returned to power and became King Cheng of Zhou. "Shang Shu Da Zhuan" records: Zhou Gong was regent. He saved the rebellion in one year, conquered Yin in the second year, practiced death in the third year, established the guard in the fourth year, established the Zhou Dynasty in the fifth year, made rituals and music in the sixth year, and achieved political success in the seventh year. king. He also wrote "Wu Yi" to warn him that when he becomes king, he will take the throne in the north.

The Zhou Dynasty became more and more stable. King Cheng reigned for thirty years, and his son King Kang ascended the throne. King Kang reigned for sixty years, more than forty years before and after. The Western Zhou Dynasty became prosperous and powerful, which is known as the "Chengkang Rule" in history.

-20210623 is taken from "Five Thousand Years of China"