Western Guo ( Chinese : 西 虢 ; pinyin : Xī Guó ) was a vassal state in China during the Zhou dynasty . "Guo" was a kinship group that held at least five pieces of territory within the Zhou realm at various times.
9-566: After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang dynasty in 1046 BCE, his uncle Guo Shu received grants of land at Yong. The rulers of Western Guo held administrative positions in the court of the Zhou Kings through successive generations. A branch of Western Guo later founded Eastern Guo . Due to harassment and invasion by the Quanrong tribes Western Guo moved eastwards, eventually migrating to Sanmenxia in
18-577: The Shang dynasty ; in the Book of Rites , however, it is assumed that his inheritance represented an older tradition among the Zhou of passing over the eldest son. (Fa's grandfather Jili had likewise inherited Zhou despite two older brothers.) Upon his succession, Fa worked with his father-in-law Jiang Ziya to accomplish an unfinished task: overthrowing the Shang dynasty. During the ninth year of his reign, Fa marched down
27-834: The Yellow River to the Mengjin ford and met with more than 800 dukes. He constructed an ancestral tablet with his father's posthumous name as King Wen and placed it on a chariot in the middle of the host; considering the timing unpropitious, though, he did not yet attack Shang. In 1046 BC, King Wu took advantage of Shang disunity to launch an attack along with many neighboring dukes. The Battle of Muye destroyed Shang's forces and King Zhou of Shang set his palace on fire, dying within. King Wu followed his victory by establishing many feudal states under his 16 younger brothers and clans allied by marriage, but his death three years later provoked several rebellions against his young heir King Cheng and
36-461: The Chinese Zhou dynasty . The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BCE and ended with his death three years later. King Wu was the second son of Ji Chang (posthumously King Wen) and Tai Si . In most accounts, his older brother Bo Yikao was said to have predeceased his father, typically at the hands of King Zhou of Shang , the last king of
45-494: The Yellow River valley between Xi'an and Luoyang. A new capital was built at Shangyang (上阳) straddling both banks of the Yellow River . Shangyang was called "Southern Guo" (南虢) and Xiayang (下阳) "Northern Guo" (北虢). Later chronicles often became confused with the relationships among the various Guo's, but archaeological discoveries support the view that Northern and Southern Guo were both parts of Western Guo. In 655 BCE Western Guo
54-558: The nobility along with a number of civilians were captured by the Jin Army and taken to the area of what is now Fenyang , Shanxi Province where they became a prominent family with the name Guo . The remainder of the group either settled down in the locality or fled elsewhere. At the same time, people in Western Guo, with the help of the Qiang people , were attempting to build a new state amongst
63-527: The regent Ji Dan , even from three of his brothers . A burial mound in Zhouling town, Xianyang, Shaanxi was once thought to be King Wu's tomb. It was fitted with a headstone bearing Wu's name in the Qing dynasty. Modern archeology has since concluded that the tomb is not old enough to be from the Zhou dynasty, and is more likely to be that of a Han dynasty royal. The true location of King Wu's tomb remains unknown, but
72-496: The ruins of the old one, known historically as Xiao Guo (小虢). This was the last in a total of five states called Guo. In 687 BCE, during the Spring and Autumn period , the State of Qin wiped out Xiao Guo. King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou ( Chinese : 周 武 王 ; pinyin : Zhōu Wǔ Wáng ; died c. 1043 BCE ), personal name Ji Fa , was the founding king of
81-579: Was destroyed by the Duke Xian of Jin . (Jin first asked permission of the state of Yu to pass through its territory. After conquering Guo it conquered Yu. This was one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems ). The Guo leader Guo Gong Chou fled to the Zhou capital Luoyang along with some of the Guo nobility. Some time later they arrived in the State of Wen at the home of Guo Gong Chou's father in law. Afterwards some of
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