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Predynastic Zhou
The Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou (/dʒoʊ/; Chinese: 先周; pinyin: xiān zhōu) refers to the ancient Chinese state ruled by the Ji clan that existed in the Guanzhong region (modern central Shaanxi province) during the Shang dynasty, before its rebellion and subsequent conquest of the Shang in 1046-1045 BC led to the establishment of the Zhou dynasty. According to histories, predynastic Zhou rose as a western frontier vassal state of the Shang, acting as its ally against the Xirong barbarians until their influence surpassed that of the Shang dynasty.
Records about predynastic Zhou came from two sources. The Shang dynasty kept records about Zhou in oracle bones. The texts about Zhou inscribed by the Shang court are mainly those from the reign of Wu Ding and the last Shang monarchs. After the fall of Shang, the Ji clan established the Zhou dynasty and started their own narrative about previous generations. The Book of Documents and the Bamboo Annals are two major historical sources. Later, Sima Qian wrote about the country using those texts as reference.
The extant known sources about Zhou and the Ji clan only allow for precise dating beginning in 841 BC, the beginning of the Gonghe Regency. Predynastic Zhou, having existed about three centuries earlier, is difficult to precisely date. This Shang vassal state's existence seems to have spanned across four generations, from Gugong Danfu to Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou, the first king of the Zhou dynasty). However, the records detailing the former's rule are very sparse, so modern historiography has generally been more concerned about precisely dating the ending of the predynastic era. Zhou official texts record various astronomical events, whose timing can be calculated using modern astronomical techniques; this allows historians and archaeologists to attempt to precisely date events through reference to the timing of these astronomical events.
The Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project, an ambitious collaboration of Chinese historians commissioned by the People's Republic of China in 2000, produced a draft report that identifies Gugong Danfu's first year of rule as 1158 BC, around the reign of Shang king Geng Ding. His son Jili's rule was calculated to be 1126 BC - 1101 BC, which indicates that he died at the same time as the Shang king Wen Wu Ding.
Ji Fa's ascension to power is of historical interest, since his life revolved around heavenly signs that have been proved to be true.[citation needed] The common accepted year in which Ji Fa succeeded as leader of Predynastic Zhou is 1050 BC, the year proposed by the XSZ Chronology Project. However, the American sinologist David Nivison studied the information given by the Bamboo Annals, and suggested the Shang dynasty's beginning year to be 1558 BC. Because the Bamboo Annals says that King Wu's assumption of power began 496 years after its predecessor, he is thought to have done so in 1062 BC. He moved the 1059 BC planetary conjunction back to 1071 BC, arriving at his result for the dating of events. The Battle of Muye was said to be in Wu's 12th year in the Annals, a year different from other historical texts. Nivison's research dated this battle to 1051 BC and stated that Predynastic Zhou also reached its end that year.
Information about Zhou that was written by the Shang dynasty is scarce, as the polity was quite far from Shang's core lands. The earliest references date to the reign of Wu Ding, from approximately 1250 BC to 1192 BC. His court carved a large portion of the extant oracle bone inscriptions mentioning Zhou; however, they only provide the king's perspective towards the country. Wu Ding referred to the Ji clan and its subordinates as "Zhoufang" (周方), a common naming traditions that the Shang used to address neighboring polities. Zhou at that time was vassalized, but was not fully brought under Wu Ding's suzerainty. Its distance from the Shang was significant, and it was also separated from Yin, the Shang capital, by numerous aggressive tribes and clans. Therefore, oracle texts from Wu Ding's regnal era do not contain sufficient information to fully understand the Zhou of his era.
Wu Ding wrote about his concerns for his remote vassal. His writings on the topic are divinatory texts asking for guidance concerning the Zhou soldiers' welfare and inquiries on Zhou hunts. On the other hand, Wu Ding never visited Zhou territory to tour or hunt. He also did not order Zhou manpower to aid Shang's public construction works and wars. Furthermore, despite his concerns about the Zhou people's prosperity, he made no questions or divinations about whether their harvests were successful or not. His focus was primarily on tribes and chiefdoms closer to his territory, especially the Guifang and Tufang, some of whom lived between the Shang core regions and the Ji clan's territory.
When Wu Ding died (c. 1200 BC), Shang's contact with Zhou declined; the Ji clan, still a vassal, only re-established significant contact during the reign of Wu's great grandson, Wu Yi (武乙, reigned 1147 - 1112 BC). During this period, Predynastic Zhou was under the control of Ji Jili (季歷). Oracle bones at this time mention very little about Jili and his descendants' relations with Shang. Zhou was active as an ally of Shang during this time. Ji Chang, the penultimate lord of predynastic Zhou in the traditional records, was called "bo" (elder) of Zhou by Shang scribes. He was addressed as "Zhōufāng bó" (周方白) on oracle bones from the Shang's final years. Ji Chang passed his power to one of his male children, Ji Fa. Around 1046 BC, the Shang king Di Xin was making war on the eastern polities. Ji Fa seized this opportunity and attacked. The remaining Shang forces suffered a fatal defeat at Muye; Di Xin died around the same time. With this victory, Zhou established its supremacy over the Shang states and entered the Dynastic period.
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Predynastic Zhou
The Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou (/dʒoʊ/; Chinese: 先周; pinyin: xiān zhōu) refers to the ancient Chinese state ruled by the Ji clan that existed in the Guanzhong region (modern central Shaanxi province) during the Shang dynasty, before its rebellion and subsequent conquest of the Shang in 1046-1045 BC led to the establishment of the Zhou dynasty. According to histories, predynastic Zhou rose as a western frontier vassal state of the Shang, acting as its ally against the Xirong barbarians until their influence surpassed that of the Shang dynasty.
Records about predynastic Zhou came from two sources. The Shang dynasty kept records about Zhou in oracle bones. The texts about Zhou inscribed by the Shang court are mainly those from the reign of Wu Ding and the last Shang monarchs. After the fall of Shang, the Ji clan established the Zhou dynasty and started their own narrative about previous generations. The Book of Documents and the Bamboo Annals are two major historical sources. Later, Sima Qian wrote about the country using those texts as reference.
The extant known sources about Zhou and the Ji clan only allow for precise dating beginning in 841 BC, the beginning of the Gonghe Regency. Predynastic Zhou, having existed about three centuries earlier, is difficult to precisely date. This Shang vassal state's existence seems to have spanned across four generations, from Gugong Danfu to Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou, the first king of the Zhou dynasty). However, the records detailing the former's rule are very sparse, so modern historiography has generally been more concerned about precisely dating the ending of the predynastic era. Zhou official texts record various astronomical events, whose timing can be calculated using modern astronomical techniques; this allows historians and archaeologists to attempt to precisely date events through reference to the timing of these astronomical events.
The Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project, an ambitious collaboration of Chinese historians commissioned by the People's Republic of China in 2000, produced a draft report that identifies Gugong Danfu's first year of rule as 1158 BC, around the reign of Shang king Geng Ding. His son Jili's rule was calculated to be 1126 BC - 1101 BC, which indicates that he died at the same time as the Shang king Wen Wu Ding.
Ji Fa's ascension to power is of historical interest, since his life revolved around heavenly signs that have been proved to be true.[citation needed] The common accepted year in which Ji Fa succeeded as leader of Predynastic Zhou is 1050 BC, the year proposed by the XSZ Chronology Project. However, the American sinologist David Nivison studied the information given by the Bamboo Annals, and suggested the Shang dynasty's beginning year to be 1558 BC. Because the Bamboo Annals says that King Wu's assumption of power began 496 years after its predecessor, he is thought to have done so in 1062 BC. He moved the 1059 BC planetary conjunction back to 1071 BC, arriving at his result for the dating of events. The Battle of Muye was said to be in Wu's 12th year in the Annals, a year different from other historical texts. Nivison's research dated this battle to 1051 BC and stated that Predynastic Zhou also reached its end that year.
Information about Zhou that was written by the Shang dynasty is scarce, as the polity was quite far from Shang's core lands. The earliest references date to the reign of Wu Ding, from approximately 1250 BC to 1192 BC. His court carved a large portion of the extant oracle bone inscriptions mentioning Zhou; however, they only provide the king's perspective towards the country. Wu Ding referred to the Ji clan and its subordinates as "Zhoufang" (周方), a common naming traditions that the Shang used to address neighboring polities. Zhou at that time was vassalized, but was not fully brought under Wu Ding's suzerainty. Its distance from the Shang was significant, and it was also separated from Yin, the Shang capital, by numerous aggressive tribes and clans. Therefore, oracle texts from Wu Ding's regnal era do not contain sufficient information to fully understand the Zhou of his era.
Wu Ding wrote about his concerns for his remote vassal. His writings on the topic are divinatory texts asking for guidance concerning the Zhou soldiers' welfare and inquiries on Zhou hunts. On the other hand, Wu Ding never visited Zhou territory to tour or hunt. He also did not order Zhou manpower to aid Shang's public construction works and wars. Furthermore, despite his concerns about the Zhou people's prosperity, he made no questions or divinations about whether their harvests were successful or not. His focus was primarily on tribes and chiefdoms closer to his territory, especially the Guifang and Tufang, some of whom lived between the Shang core regions and the Ji clan's territory.
When Wu Ding died (c. 1200 BC), Shang's contact with Zhou declined; the Ji clan, still a vassal, only re-established significant contact during the reign of Wu's great grandson, Wu Yi (武乙, reigned 1147 - 1112 BC). During this period, Predynastic Zhou was under the control of Ji Jili (季歷). Oracle bones at this time mention very little about Jili and his descendants' relations with Shang. Zhou was active as an ally of Shang during this time. Ji Chang, the penultimate lord of predynastic Zhou in the traditional records, was called "bo" (elder) of Zhou by Shang scribes. He was addressed as "Zhōufāng bó" (周方白) on oracle bones from the Shang's final years. Ji Chang passed his power to one of his male children, Ji Fa. Around 1046 BC, the Shang king Di Xin was making war on the eastern polities. Ji Fa seized this opportunity and attacked. The remaining Shang forces suffered a fatal defeat at Muye; Di Xin died around the same time. With this victory, Zhou established its supremacy over the Shang states and entered the Dynastic period.