#eastern zhou

[thatshowthingstarted]

Owl Jar, Eastern Zhou (771-220 BCE),

Ash-glazed stoneware, H. 10.5 in.

© Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas.

Photo Can Turkyilmaz

[victusinveritas]

[knowledgeistreasure]

Bronze wine vessel. China, Eastern Zhou period. 4th century BC.

[inspofromancientworld]

High Level Overview of Chinese History: Zhou Dynasty IV

Eastern Zhou Overview

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=353825

After the death of King You in 771 BCE, the Zhou dynasty was relocated eastward to Chengzhhou, near modern day Luoyang, and is divided into two main parts, the Spring and Autumn Period, from about 770-481 or 476 BCE and the Warring States Period from the end of the prior to 221 BCE. During this period, iron became more common, changing the way warfare was conducted. The Spring and Autumn Period is named after the Spring and Autumn Annals, which is traditionally associated with Confucius.

According to the traditional narrative, Crown Prince Yijiu, King You and Queen She's son, was proclaimed the king by nobles from Zheng, Lü, Qin, as well as the Marquess of Shen and became King Ping. In the second year of his reign, the capital had been moved from the plateaus around the Feng River to where the Lou and Yellow Rivers meet. The Xinian Manuscript, a recently discovered text, however, says that 'The rulers of the states and various officials thereupon established the younger brother of King You, Yuchen, at Guo: this was King Hui from Xie. Twenty-one years after his establishment, marquis Wen of Jin named Qiu killed King Hui at Guo. For nine years Zhou was without a king, and the rulers of the states and regional lords then for the first time ceased attending the Zhou court. Thereupon, marquis Wen of Jin greeted King Ping at Shao'e and established him at the Royal Capital. After three years, he relocated eastward, stopping at Chengzhou.' This pushes the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period to 738 BCE. This is still contentious, though it isn't without support, as the Zou Zhuan, a narrative history of the Spring and Autumn period and commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, says that 'Earlier, when King Ping had moved the capital to the east, Xin You had gone to Yichuan and, upon seeing someone with unbound hair offering a sacrifice in the countryside, he said: "Within one hundred years this likely will be the Rong's [territory]! Ritual propriety had been lost already!" In autumn, Qin and Jin moved the Rong of Luhun to Yichuan.' The 'prophecies' from the Zou Zhuan, being written after the events they describe when they're correct, and this one lines up with the history laid out in the Xinian Manuscript but not with the traditional narrative.

Iron metallurgy began in the 9th century BCE and reached the Yangtze valley by the late 6th century BCE. It would become more prominent after the mid 4th century BCE. The most common form of iron working at this time was cast iron with forged swords appearing during the later stages of the Warring States Period. Cast iron is more brittle than iron that has been wrought, or forged, or steel, which have more carbon worked into them.

The central government during both periods was much weaker than it had been during the Western Zhou Period, with leader of various polities rising up in rebellion against the king. The system of fengjian, a type of feudalism that had been predominant prior to the fall of the Western Zhou. Part of this was because the Zhou court lost control over their home territory and only had a small royal domain centered around the capital city. During this time, what had been fiefdoms shifted into independent states with heads that increasingly sought more power for themselves, especially in six particular landholding families, leading to a series of civil wars.

[tiger-tally]

Okay, just for fun, don’t take too seriously, suggestions welcome:

US State Counterparts to Eastern Zhou States

Wu: Virginia--or actually, maybe North Carolina, with the whole Roanoke thing. “Colony settlers disappear into local population” sounds extremely familiar!

Yue: *gestures vaguely at the South*

Lu: Massachusetts. Nerdy, small, very important in the early days.

Qi: New York. Eastern economic/cultural powerhouse.

Chu: Texas, obvs. Big, powerful, proudly barbaric.

Qin: This is gonna be a controversial take, but I say California. Late start, but has become absurdly powerful western powerhouse at the bleeding edge of unconvention.

Jin: ...Illinois, I guess? Or just some vague conglomeration of the Midwestern states nobody thinks very much about but actually contains a lot of people and major cities.

[knowledgeistreasure]

Bronze Elliptical Vessel, Eastern Zhou Period, China. 4th century BC.

[k-star-holic]

Choi Hee-seo, movie new actor acting .. "Never give up."

[thefrankbunny-blog]

A magnificent object: a gold dagger handle, Eastern Zhou Dynasty (6th-5th century BC), British Museum. The intricate openwork design is probably achieved by lost wax casting (mould junction marks on the side). But intriguingly enough, we can see the little dots decorating the inside of the pattern. It reminds one of the granulation technique (small gold balls soldered to the object as decoration),  first practised in Egypt and Mesopotamia but particularly by the Etruscan who were the masters in the field. The Chinese reproduced the visual effect of granulation through casting, though the overall design grew out of bronze casting techniques and the aesthetics that associated with it. 

(I'm writing this only because I just got a high-resolution image of this object from BM and am very excited...)