Zhou dynasty

The Zhou dynasty ruled much of ancient China from about 1046 to 256 BCE. Its history is traditionally divided into the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou periods.

Mandate of Heaven: A Chinese political doctrine holding that heaven grants rulers authority while they govern justly and withdraws it from the unjust. Zhou rulers used this doctrine to legitimize their overthrow of the Shang.
Shang dynasty: A Bronze Age Chinese dynasty that preceded the Zhou and is known from archaeological evidence and oracle-bone inscriptions. The Zhou displaced the Shang and presented their conquest as justified rule.
Confucius: A Chinese teacher and thinker of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE whose teachings became the basis of Confucianism. He looked to early Zhou institutions as models of ethical government.
Bronze inscriptions: Texts cast or engraved on bronze vessels, often recording dedications, lineage, events, or royal grants. They provide contemporary evidence for Zhou offices, grants, and elite lineages.
Hundred Schools of Thought: A flourishing of competing philosophical and political traditions in China during the Eastern Zhou period. Rival states and unstable rule created space for competing answers to political crisis.
Fengjian: A system of hereditary enfeoffment in which rulers granted territories and authority to relatives and allies. Its delegated rule connected Zhou kings to regional lords across the realm.
Battle of Muye: A battle traditionally dated to about 1046 BCE in which Zhou forces defeated the Shang king Di Xin. This victory marks the conventional beginning of Zhou rule.
Laozi: A legendary Chinese sage traditionally associated with the foundational text of Daoism, the Tao Te Ching. Later traditions place his life and thought in the Zhou era.
Ancestral worship in China: Ritual practices honoring deceased family members and seeking their continued presence or support. Ancestor rites reinforced the kinship ties central to Zhou aristocratic rule.
Confucianism: A Chinese ethical and political tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Confucius. It later elevated Zhou ritual and exemplary rulers as standards of social order.

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