King Xuan of Zhou

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King Xuan of Zhou
周宣王
King of the Zhou dynasty
Reign827–782 BC
PredecessorGonghe
SuccessorKing You of Zhou
Died782 BC
SpouseQueen Jiang
Issue
Names
HouseZhou
FatherKing Li of Zhou
MotherShen Jiang
King Xuan of Zhou
Chinese

King Xuan of Zhou, personal name Ji Jing, was the eleventh king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 827/25–782 BC.[1]

He worked to restore royal authority after the Gonghe regency. He fought the "Western Barbarians" (probably Xianyun) and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In his ninth year he called a meeting of all the lords. Later he intervened militarily in succession struggles in the states of Lu, Wey and Qi. Sima Qian says "from this time on, the many lords mostly rebelled against royal commands."[1] According to Zhang Shoujie's annotation Correct Meanings (史記正義) to Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian,[2] King Xuan is said to have killed the innocent Du Bo and according to tradition was himself killed by an arrow fired by Du Bo's ghost.[3] His son King You was the last king of the Western Zhou.

The Stone Drums of Qin were long mistakenly ascribed to King Xuan.[4]

Family[edit]

  • Queen Xian of Zhou, of the Lü lineage of the Jiang clan of Qi (週獻後 姜姓 呂氏), known as Queen Jiang; a daughter of Duke Wu of Qi; married in 826 BC; the mother of Crown Prince Gongsheng
  • Lady Hou
  • Nü Jiu (女鳩)
  • Crown Prince Gongsheng (太子宮涅; d. 771 BC), ruled as King You of Zhou from 781 to 771 BC
  • Prince Yuchen (王子餘臣; d. 750 BC), claimed the throne as King Xie of Zhou from 770 to 750 BC
  • Prince Changfu (王子長父), ruled as the Marquis of Yang

Ancestry[edit]

King Gong of Zhou (d. 900 BC)
King Yih of Zhou (899–892 BC)
King Yi of Zhou (d. 878 BC)
Wang Bo Jiang
King Li of Zhou (890–828 BC)
Wang Ji of E
King Xuan of Zhou (d. 782 BC)
Shen Jiang of Shen

See also[edit]

Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Shaughnessy (1999), p. 347.
  2. ^ Volume 4 quote: 「周春秋云宣王殺杜伯」
  3. ^ Ivanhoe (2005), p. 96.
  4. ^ Douglas (1885), p. 470.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Douglas, Robert Kennaway (1885), "Peking" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. XVIII (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 469–470.
  • Shaughnessy, Edward L.; et al. (1999), Cambridge History of Ancient China, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
  • Ivanhoe, Philip (2005), Readings in classical Chinese philosophy, Indianapolis: Hackett, ISBN 978-0-872-20780-6, OCLC 60826646
King Xuan of Zhou
 Died: 782 BC
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of China
827–782 BC
Succeeded by