Duke of Zhou

Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (Chinese: 周文公旦; pinyin: Zhōu Wén Gōng Dàn; Wade–Giles: Chou1 Wên2 Kung1 Tan4), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (Chinese: 周公; pinyin: Zhōu Gōng; Wade–Giles: Chou1 Kung1), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu.[1][2] He was renowned for acting as a capable and loyal regent for his young nephew King Cheng, and for successfully suppressing the Rebellion of the Three Guards and establishing firm rule of the Zhou dynasty over eastern China. He is also a Chinese culture hero credited with writing the I Ching and the Book of Poetry,[3] and establishing the Rites of Zhou.

Not to be confused with King Wen of Zhou.
Dan, Duke of Zhou 周公旦
Duke of Zhou
Portrait of the Duke of Zhou in Sancai Tuhui
Regent of Zhou Dynasty
Reign1042–1035 BC
alongside Duke of Shao and Jiang Ziya
IssueBo Qin
Junchen, Duke Ping of Zhou
Elder of Fan (凡伯)
Jiang Boling
Yin Pengshu
Mao Shu
Zuo Bo
Ji Bo
Names
Ancestral name: Ji (姬)
Given name: Dan (旦)
Posthumous name
Duke Wen of Zhou (周文公)
King Baode (褒德王), honored by Wu Zetian
King Wenxian (文憲王), honoured by Zhenzong of Song
FatherKing Wen of Zhou
MotherTai Si
Duke of Zhou
Chinese周公旦
Literal meaning"Dàn, Duke of Zhou"
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese姬旦
Literal meaning(personal name)

Life
Painting of the Duke of Zhou by Kanō Sansetsu.
Japan, Edo period, 1632.

His personal name was Dan (旦). He was the fourth son of King Wen of Zhou and Queen Tai Si. His eldest brother Bo Yikao predeceased their father (supposedly a victim of cannibalism); the second-eldest defeated the Shang Dynasty at the Battle of Muye around 1046 BC, ascending the throne as King Wu. King Wu distributed many fiefs to his relatives and followers and Dan received the ancestral territory of Zhou near present-day Luoyang.

Only three years after assuming power, King Wu died and left the kingdom to his young son King Cheng.[4][5]: 52  The Duke of Zhou successfully attained the regency and administered the kingdom himself,[5]: 54  leading to revolts not only from disgruntled Shang partisans but also from his own relatives, particularly his older brother Guan Shu.[6] Within five years, the Duke of Zhou had managed to defeat the Three Guards and other rebellions[4] and his armies pushed east, bringing more land under Zhou control.

Statue of the Duke of Zhou who founded a city on the site of modern Luoyang c. 1038 BCE[7]

The Duke of Zhou was credited with elaborating the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, which countered Shang propaganda that as descendants of the god Shangdi they should be restored to power. According to this doctrine, Shang injustice and decadence had so grossly offended Heaven that Heaven had removed their authority and commanded the reluctant Zhou to replace the Shang and restore order.[8]

On a more practical level, the Duke of Zhou expanded and codified his brother's feudal system,[4] granting titles to loyal Shang clansmen and even establishing a new holy city at Chengzhou around 1038 BC.[7] Laid out according to exact geomantic principles, Chengzhou was the home of King Cheng, the Shang nobility, and the nine tripod cauldrons symbolic of imperial rule, while the Duke continued to administer the kingdom from the former capital of Haojing. Once Cheng came of age, the Duke of Zhou dutifully gave up the throne without trouble.

Legacy
As depicted in the album Portraits of Famous Men c. 1900 CE, housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The duke's eight sons all received land from the king. The eldest son received Lu; the second succeeded to his father's fief, Zhou.[9][10]

In later centuries, subsequent emperors considered the Duke of Zhou a paragon of virtue and honored him with posthumous names. The empress Wu Zetian named her short-lived 8th-century Second Zhou Dynasty after him and called him the Honorable and Virtuous King (褒德王, Bāodé Wáng).[11] In 1008, the Zhenzong Emperor gave the Duke the posthumous title King of Exemplary Culture (traditional Chinese: 文憲王; simplified Chinese: 文宪王; pinyin: Wénxiàn Wáng). He was also known as the First Sage (traditional Chinese: 元聖; simplified Chinese: 元圣; pinyin: Yuán Shèng).

In 2004, Chinese archaeologists reported that they may have found his tomb complex in Qishan County, Shaanxi.[12]

God of Dreams

Duke of Zhou is also known as the "God of Dreams". The Analects record Confucius saying, "How I have gone downhill! It has been such a long time since I dreamt of the Duke of Zhou."[13] This was meant as a lamentation of how the governmental ideals of the Duke of Zhou had faded, but was later taken literally. In Chinese legends, if an important thing is going to happen to someone, the Duke [14] of Zhou will let the person know through dreams: hence the Chinese expression "Dreaming of Zhou Gong". Zhou Gong's Explanations of Dreams (Chinese: 周公解夢, pinyin: Zhōu gōng jiěmèng) is attributed to him.[15]

Descendants

The main line of the Duke of Zhou's descendants came from his firstborn son, the State of Lu ruler Bo Qin's third son Yu (魚) whose descendants adopted the surname Dongye (東野). The Duke of Zhou's offspring held the title of Wujing Boshi (五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì).[16] One of the Duke of Zhou's 72 generation descendants family tree was examined and commented on by Song Lian.[17]

Duke Huan of Lu's son through Qingfu (慶父) was the ancestor of Mencius. He was descended from Duke Yang of the State of Lu 魯煬公 Duke Yang was the son of Bo Qin, who was the son of the Duke of Zhou. The genealogy is found in the Mencius family tree (孟子世家大宗世系).[18][19][20]

The Zhikou Jiangs (also romanized as "Chiangs") such as Chiang Kai-shek were descended from Jiang Shijie who during the 17th century moved there from Fenghua District, whose ancestors in turn came to southeastern China's Zhejiang province after moving out of Northern China in the 13th century CE. The 12th-century BCE Duke of Zhou's third son was the ancestor of the Jiangs.[21][22][23][24][25][26]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Anne Birrell (7 April 1999). Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. JHU Press. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-0-8018-6183-3.
  2. Thomas H. C. Lee (January 2004). The New and the Multiple: Sung Senses of the Past. Chinese University Press. pp. 208–. ISBN 978-962-996-096-4.
  3. Hinton, David. (2008). Classical Chinese Poetry: an Anthology. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-10536-7
  4. Chin, Annping. (2007). The Authentic Confucius. Scribner. ISBN 0-7432-4618-7
  5. Keay, John (2009). China A History. Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-722178-3.
  6. Edward L. Shaughnessy in Cambridge History of Ancient China, page 311.
  7. Schinz, Alfred. The Magic Square: Cities in Ancient China, pp. 69 ff. Axel Menges (Stuttgart), 1996. Accessed 8 Jan 2014.
  8. Hucker, Charles O. (1978). China to 1850: a short history. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0958-0
  9. 姬伯龄为周公第四子---中华蒋氏祖根文化网 Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
  10. 《元圣裔周氏族谱》世系表 Archived July 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Old Book of Tang. 《旧唐书》记载为天授三年追封.
  12. "Shaanxi Tombs a Fantastic Find".
  13. Confucius (1995). The Analects. vii, 5, trans. D. C. Lau. ISBN 9780486284842.
  14. Bushin, Nikita (2022). The Duke of Zhou's Interpretation of Dreams. Auckland: Purple Cloud Press. ISBN 979-8733174020.
  15. "Daoism Series 26: Duke of Zhou's Explanations of Dreams – Purple Cloud". 17 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  16. H.S. Brunnert; V.V. Hagelstrom (15 April 2013). Present Day Political Organization of China. Routledge. pp. 493–494. ISBN 978-1-135-79795-9.
  17. Thomas H. C. Lee (January 2004). The New and the Multiple: Sung Senses of the Past. Chinese University Press. pp. 337–. ISBN 978-962-996-096-4.
  18. 《三遷志》，（清）孟衍泰續修
  19. 《孟子世家譜》，（清）孟廣均主編，1824年
  20. 《孟子與孟氏家族》，孟祥居編，2005年
  21. Keiji Furuya; Chʻun-ming Chang; Chunming Zhang (1981). Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times (Abridged English ed.). St. John's University. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-87075-025-0.
  22. Keiji Furuya; Chʻun-ming Chang; Chunming Zhang (1981). Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times (Abridged English ed.). St. John's University. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-87075-025-0.
  23. "浙江档案网--《浙江档案》". www.zjda.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  24. "第一章 发迹以前_蒋介石评传_李敖 小说在线阅读". www.kanunu8.com. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  25. "蒋介石传-第2章 追随孙文(1)最新章节-桑舞小说网手机版". m.sangwu123.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  26. "2.第一章追随孙文（2）,蒋介石详传,一凡中文网". www.yfzww.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2016-10-04.

Works cited
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