1050-220 BC Zhou

In about 1050 BC, a western people, the Zhou, defeated the Shang, and established a new dynasty. The Zhou shared language, ritual and technology with the Shang, but also had connections with peoples in the southwest and the northern frontier. Zhou history is divided into two periods: the Western Zhou (about 1050-771 BC); and the Eastern Zhou, from about 770 BC, when China fragmented into many small states, to 221 BC when the Qin kingdom began to dominate the others.

The Western Zhou capital was at modern Xi’an. A succession of strong rulers claimed the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ – the right to rule granted by the supreme deity Tian. Society was organised through a central bureaucracy, but territories were given to royal relatives to be ruled as fiefdoms (owing loyalty to the king). This period was later seen as a golden age.

The Eastern Zhou is divided into two phases: the Spring and Autumn period (770-475 BC) and the Warring States period (475-221 BC). In 771 BC the Zhou capital was moved from Xi’an to Luoyang. Despite continual warfare, this was a time of economic and cultural expansion. Iron tools were used for farming, cities and trade developed, and it was the age of great philosophers such as Confucius (about 551-479 BC).