Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- Acknowledgments
- Scholarly conventions
- Topographical map of China
- Chronology of Western Zhou kings
- The sixty-day circle
- Introduction
- 1 Foundation of the Western Zhou state: constructing the political space
- 2 Disorder and decline: the political crisis of the Western Zhou state
- 3 Enemies at the gate: the war against the Xianyun and the northwestern frontier
- 4 The fall of the Western Zhou: partisan struggle and spatial collapse
- 5 The eastward migration: reconfiguring the Western Zhou state
- 6 The legacy of the Western Zhou
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The periphery: the Western Zhou state at its maximum geographical extent
- Appendix 2 The relationship between the Quanrong and the Xianyun
- Appendix 3 The Bamboo Annals and issues of the chronology of King You's reign
- Bibliography
- Index to inscribed bronzes
- General index
5 - The eastward migration: reconfiguring the Western Zhou state
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- Acknowledgments
- Scholarly conventions
- Topographical map of China
- Chronology of Western Zhou kings
- The sixty-day circle
- Introduction
- 1 Foundation of the Western Zhou state: constructing the political space
- 2 Disorder and decline: the political crisis of the Western Zhou state
- 3 Enemies at the gate: the war against the Xianyun and the northwestern frontier
- 4 The fall of the Western Zhou: partisan struggle and spatial collapse
- 5 The eastward migration: reconfiguring the Western Zhou state
- 6 The legacy of the Western Zhou
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The periphery: the Western Zhou state at its maximum geographical extent
- Appendix 2 The relationship between the Quanrong and the Xianyun
- Appendix 3 The Bamboo Annals and issues of the chronology of King You's reign
- Bibliography
- Index to inscribed bronzes
- General index
Summary
The aftermath of the fall of the Zhou capitals in the Wei River valley was chaotic and devastating. The Shiji says that the Western Rong, after killing King You at the foot of Lishan Mountain, returned home to the west with Bao Si and all the valuables from the Zhou treasury. The real situation may have been more complicated. It is likely that many settlements on the Wei River plain were plundered by the invaders, resulting in widespread social panic as well as economic destruction. The Western Shen and the Zeng probably no longer presented themselves as serious threats to the Zhou people since their political rivals at the court had already been eliminated. But the Western Rong, who may have allied with the Shen for a totally different purpose, had become the greatest destructive power.
The real implication of all this is that the Wei River plain was no longer a safe place suitable for the continuous development of the Zhou metropolitan society and culture. The strategic vulnerability of the Wei River plain was fully exposed by the events of 771 bc, and the Western Rong, who had successfully captured the Zhou capital once, could easily do so again. It was no longer possible for the Zhou court, now reestablished under the leadership of King Ping (Prince Yijiu), to survive on the Wei River plain.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Landscape and Power in Early ChinaThe Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC, pp. 233 - 278Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006