Duke Zhuang of Zheng(鄭莊公) (757 BC–701 BC) was the third ruler of the State of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China. His name was Wusheng (姬寤生), which means "a difficult birth". In 743 BC, he became the duke of Zheng, and later defeated his brother Gongshu Duan, who had led a rebellion against him. Duke Zhuang led military campaigns in the name of the Zhou king against the Rong people and other Zhou states. He also had a rather Miachavellian attitude towards ruling his country. Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC 760s BC - 750s BC - 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC 700s BC Events and trends 756 BC - Founding of Cyzicus. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC - 700s BC - 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC Events and Trends 708 BC - Spartan immigrants found Taras (Tarentum, the modern Taranto) colony in southern Italy. ... Zheng (é„­) was a Zhou city-state in the middle of ancient China, modern Henan Province. ... The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) was a period in Chinese history, which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC to the first half of the 5th century). ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC 760s BC 750s BC - 740s BC - 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC 700s BC 690s BC Events and Trends February 26 747 BC - Nabonassar becomes king of Assyria 747 BC - Meles becomes king... Look up rebellion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Born as the first of two sons and groomed for the throne, Zheng's mother nevertheless preferred her second son, the reason being that she suffered through an extraordinarily painful time when giving birth to Zheng. When Duke Zheng ascended to the dukedom over the violent objections of his mother, she began plotting to get Gongshu Duan into power.

First she asked Zheng to give Gongshu Duan the city of Duan as a fiefdom. Duan, at that time, was the second largest city in Zheng, and was a very important fortress indeed. Zheng was extremely reluctant to give away that piece of land, and indeed his courtiers begged him to reject the proposal, but out of courtesy for his mother he agreed.

Seeing that her plan was going well, Zheng's mother urged Duan to build walls, stockpile arms and recruit mercenaries to the rebel cause. Soon news of all this began to reach the capital, and it was clear to everybody what was going to happen. Zheng's ministers urgently reported the news to Zheng, urging him to retake Duan from Gongshu before it was too late. However, Zheng dismissed these proposals, stating that he found no fault in Gongshu Duan, and besides, it could not be proved that he was plotting a coup, instead of just merely reinforcing the border. Besides, he said, Gongshu Duan is my brother, I cannot take up arms against him.

Soon King Zheng had left the dukedom to Luoyang for some diplomatic matters; his mother soon wrote a letter to Duan, ordering him to revolt now and she would open the gates of the capital for him. So Gongshu Duan revolted against Duke Zheng, and not long after he was under the capital walls. It seemed as if Zheng was finished.

However word then came that Duan had fallen to the forces of Zheng, much to everyone's surprise. Duke Zheng already knew that a revolt was imminent, so he set up a trap; which both his mother and brother fell into. Seeing his demoralized forces melt away and with nowhere to run, Gongshu Duan committed suicide. Upon hearing this, Zheng rushed to see his brother's corpse; weeping greatly, he said to him, "Gongshu Duan, you knew that your older brother would always forgive you; why has it come to this?"

Of course, in real life Zheng was nowhere near as compassionate: he only did it for show. The next act he did after pecifying the rebellion was putting his mother under strict confinement, telling her that "We will meet again under the ground!". But when public opinion began to turn against him as a result of this, he soon dug a tunnel linking his and his mother's palaces, and there they met, burying the hatchet altogether.

He was appointed Left Advisor by King Ping of Zhou. After King Ping's death, the following king, King Huan, removed him from office. In return for this slight, Duke Zhuang refused to go to the capital to meet with King Huan. King Huan then led a coalition in 707 BC against Duke Zhuang. Duke Zhuang's army humiliated the king, defeating the king's army and inflicting an arrow wound on King Huan's shoulder. After his death, his two sons fought a protracted civil war over the leadership of Zheng. King Ping of Zhou (before 771 BC - 720 BC) (ch. ... King Huan of Zhou (d. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC - 700s BC - 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC Events and trends 708 BC - Spartan immigrants found Taras (Tarentum, the modern Taranto) colony in southern Italy. ... This article is about the body part. ...