King Ji of Zhou (?– 1021 BC), surnamed Ji (姬), courtesy name Ji (姬), was a native of Qizhou (in present-day Qishan County, Baoji, Shaanxi). King Cheng of Zhou was the second monarch of the Zhou Dynasty, the son of Ji Fa the King of Zhou Wu, the grandson of Taishi Jiang Ziya, and his mother was Empress Yi Jiang. At the beginning of King Cheng's succession, he was still young and was regent by Zhou Gongdan to quell the rebellion of the Three Prisons. After King Cheng of Zhou took power, he created a new capital of Chengzhou, crowned princes, sent troops to the east, and made ceremonies and music, which enhanced the strength of Western Zhou. In 1021 BC, he died of illness and reigned for 22 years. During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou and his son King Kang of Zhou, the Zhou Dynasty was stable, the people were harmonious, and "the punishment was not used for more than forty years", known in history as the "rule of Cheng Kang", which became a famous prosperity in the pre-Qin period.
One
First of all, after Ji Fa, the king of Zhou Wu, destroyed the Shang Dynasty and established the Western Zhou Dynasty, he suddenly fell ill and died. When King Wu of Zhou died of illness, King Cheng of Zhou was still relatively young, and the remnants of the Shang Dynasty were even more eager to move and prepare to rebel. Therefore, this is naturally a huge challenge for Zhou Chengwang.
According to the Records of History and other historical records, after Zhou Gong Ji Dan took power in place of King Cheng of Zhou, it aroused the suspicion of Uncle Guan and Uncle Cai, so they joined forces with Wu Geng (the son of King Shang) to rebel and betray the Zhou Dynasty. Upon hearing this news, King Cheng of Zhou ordered Duke Zhou to lead an army to quell the rebellion. In the Rebellion of the Three Prisons, although the remnants of the Shang Dynasty were relatively powerful, the rebellion was quelled with the efforts of Zhou Gong, Jiang Ziya and others, which also laid a good foundation for the eight-hundred-year history of the Zhou Dynasty.
For Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou, after quelling the rebellion, Jean Weizi began to inherit the heirs of the Yin Dynasty, established the State of Song, and divided the descendants of the original Shang Dynasty to the State of Wei. In this regard, in the author's opinion, through such an arrangement, it is possible to avoid the descendants of the Shang Dynasty from starting a rebellion again.
During the six years that The Duke of Zhou held power in Western Zhou, he made ceremonies and music and promulgated metrics. In the seventh year, because King Zhou Cheng had already reached adulthood, the Duke of Zhou took the initiative to return power to King Zhou Cheng. Because of the merits of the Duke of Zhou in governing the world, King Cheng of Zhou enthroned the princely state of Lu. For the State of Lu, the first monarch was Bo Bird, the son of Duke Ji Dan of Zhou. Moreover, in view of the merits of the Duke of Zhou, King Cheng of Zhou also specially allowed the monarch of the State of Lu to sacrifice the Duke of Zhou with the ritual of the Son of Heaven. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the mutual trust between Zhou Chenggong and Zhou Gong naturally laid a good foundation for the strength and prosperity of Western Zhou. After all, during the period when Zhou Gong was in power, he also received a lot of criticism.
Two
After the suppression of the "Rebellion of the Three Prisons", King Cheng of Zhou began to inherit the will of King Wu of Zhou and establish a new capital in the Central Plains, after all, the capital of Western Zhou, Hojing, was still relatively far away from the Central Plains and the eastern region. On this basis, King Cheng of Zhou first sent Taibao to Luoyi to inspect the terrain and specifically plan the address of the capital. Zhao Gong walked for half a month on the way, and arrived in Luoyi on the fifth day of March. On the seventh day of the first month, Zhao Gong instructed Yin Min to regulate the location of the city, palace, suburban temple, and chaoshi on the north bank of Luoshui, and the plan was completed by the eleventh day.
The next day, Zhou Gong arrived in Luoyi and made a comprehensive inspection of Xinyi. After another seven days, the Duke of Zhou issued an order to the princes and the people of Yin, and then ordered the people of Yin to start a large-scale work, and after eight or nine months of construction, the city of Chengzhou was completed at the end of the year. Soon after, King Cheng of Zhou came to Luoyi, summoned the princes of all sides to come to the court, and offered gifts such as jade zhangs and large bows to the dukes of Zhou and King Cheng. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the establishment of Luoyi not only consolidated the occupation of the Central Plains and the eastern region by the Western Zhou, but also prompted the Zhou Dynasty to have two capitals. For the two capitals, it was natural to enhance the Zhou Dynasty's ability to deal with risks. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, after the capital city of Hojing was captured by Xi Rong, it was precisely because there was still the capital city of Luoyi that the King of Zhou Ping moved the capital and established Eastern Zhou. On the other hand, if the capital city of Luoyi had not been built during the Zhou Chengwang period, there might not have been a dynasty of Eastern Zhou in history.
Three
After King Zhou Cheng took power, the Duke of Zhou wrote a warning message, "Shangshu Wuyi", which was to warn King Cheng not to pursue excessive enjoyment, and to play, play, drink alcohol, and hunt without restraint, which was unfavorable to the country. For King Cheng of Zhou, he naturally accepted the advice of The Duke ji dan of Zhou with an open mind, which was also an important embodiment of his reputation as a wise monarch. In the seventh year of King Cheng of Zhou, the Luoyi that the Zhou Dynasty painstakingly built was announced to be completed, and then on the grounds of "four parties entering the tribute to The Daoli", it was decided to make Luoyi the new capital, known in history as "Xinyi", promulgated the "Summons" and "Luoyi", and held a grand gathering of princes for this purpose.
This was the first time that King Zhou Cheng had met with the princes after he ascended the throne, and it was also the first time in the history of the Zhou Dynasty that the princes of all sides had entered the royal family with their objects. Moreover, during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, he continued to implement the sub-feudal system formulated by Ji Fa, the king of Zhou Wu, and ensured that Western Zhou could control a huge territory by dividing up a large number of princely states and meritorious servants with the surname Of Ji. Although there were also drawbacks to the sub-sealing system, as far as the situation at that time was concerned, the sub-sealing system also had its own positive significance.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, after King Cheng of Zhou, the princes of Huimeng naturally became an important power of Zhou Tianzi. However, in the Spring and Autumn Period, because of the decline of the Zhou royal family, the Central Plains overlords such as the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke Wen of Jin began to replace Zhou Tianzi to meet the princes. In other words, the loss of power of the princes of huimeng can be said to be one of the reasons for the demise of the Zhou Dynasty. Of course, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, the great powers of the State of Qi, the State of Jin, the State of Qin, and the State of Chu obviously did not dare to trespass in such a way, at least not to confront Zhou Tianzi head-on.
Four
Finally, according to the Records of History and other historical records, King Cheng of Zhou was dying, and worried that the crown prince Ji Zhao was not up to the task of state, he ordered Zhao Gong and Bi Gong to lead the princes to assist the prince to ascend the throne. After King Cheng of Zhou died of illness, Zhao Gong and Bi Gong led the princes to take Prince Zhao to the ancestral temple of The First King, and repeatedly warned the prince with the difficulty of King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou in creating the royal cause of the Zhou Dynasty, asking him to practice frugality, abstain from greed, concentrate on handling the affairs of the dynasty, and wrote the "Gu Ming", asking the ministers to assist and take care of Prince Zhao.
Crown Prince Zhao then ascended the throne, which was the famous King Kang of Zhou in the history of Western Zhou. King Kang of Zhou ascended the throne, informed the princes of the world, announced to them the achievements of King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou, and repeatedly explained and wrote the Kang Zhao (诰王诰). Therefore, for the Western Zhou Dynasty, at the time of King Cheng of Zhou and King Kang of Zhou, the world was peaceful, and all punishments were put aside, and they were not used for forty years, which is called "the rule of Cheng Kang".
In this regard, in the view of many historians, the "rule of Chengkang" is the earliest recorded Taiping dynasty in Chinese history, which is also the most powerful stage of the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, after King Cheng of Zhou and King Kang of Zhou, the overall strength of Western Zhou began to decline, such as King Zhao of Zhou, King Mu of Zhou and other monarchs who conquered for many years, but did not achieve the effect of more advantages than disadvantages. When King Xuan of Zhou reigned, although he created the "Zhongxing of King Xuan", it was only a flash in the pan and could not stop the trend of the demise of Western Zhou. Eventually, Western Zhou perished at the hands of King You of Zhou.