Zhou Dynasty

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Thefirst dynasty to unite most of China under a single government was theZhou Dynasty.  In 771 B.C. Zhou's king was killed by invading barbarianswho were allied with rebel lords. The capital was moved eastward to Luoyangin present-day Henan Province. Because of this shift, historians dividethe Zhou era into Western Zhou (1027-771 B.C.) and Eastern Zhou (770-221B.C.). With the royal line broken, the power of the Zhou court graduallydiminished; the fragmentation of the kingdom accelerated. Eastern Zhoudivides into two subperiods. The first, from 770 to 476 B.C., is calledthe Spring and Autumn Period ( ),after a famous historical chronicle of the time; the second is known asthe Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.  ).

The Eastern Zhou period is thought of as the'shaping period' of Chinese culture. When the western Zhou started is uncertainbut traditionally 1122 BC and 1027 BC are the dates given to us. The Zhouwere a semi-nomadic clan from the north western fringe of the Chinese world.They replaced the Shang Dynasty. The capital was at Hao, near modern Xi'an.The government form there was a feudal monarchy. From a social standpointthe Western Zhou was quite similar to the Shang. The rulers were the nobleswith family names and they practiced ancestor worship. Divination markedevery important decision or event. Peasants were physically separated fromother classes but were a key element. They carried out vital and supportivefunctions such as sewing and reaping.

TheZhou dynasty lasted longer than any other, from 1027 to 221 B.C. It wasphilosophers of this period who first enunciated the doctrine of the "mandateof heaven" (tianming or  ),the notion that the ruler (the "son of heaven" or  )governed by divine right but that his dethronement would prove that hehad lost the mandate. The doctrine explained and justified the demise ofthe two earlier dynasties and at the same time supported the legitimacyof present and future rulers.

The Eastern Zhou period is thought of as the'shaping period' of Chinese culture. It is during this time when the uniquenessof China's recorded history begins, with the collections of documents,and historical romances coming to us. It was also during this time thatthe decline of the ancient forms of religion and the transformation into  Confucianismand Daoism took place. From a social standpoint they created Legalism whichis "a loose bundle of thinkers from different traditions rather than aproper school." This social organization was then adopted by other dynasties.It is also in this time that military thought and technology advanced.

The end of the Zhou period is in 221 BC whenthe first emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified the land on a new imperialbasis.

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