King Wen of Zhou (chinese: 周文王, pinyin: zhou1 wen2 wang2) (1099-1050 BC) was the founder of the later 周朝 Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: 卿; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: chou chao; 11th century BC to 256 BC) followed the Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ...
The Zhou state was located in the Wei River valley in present day 陝西 Shaanxi Province. King Wen planned the conquest of the current dynasty in power, the 商朝Shang Dynasty, but died before he could accomplish this. Shaanxi (Simplified Chinese: é西; Traditional Chinese: é西; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Shensi, pronounced like Shahn-shee) is a north-central province of the Peoples Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling... The ShÄng Dynasty (Chinese: åæ) or YÄ«n Dynasty (殷代) (ca. ...
His family name was 姬 Ji. He married 太姒 TaiSi and had at least two sons, 周公旦 Zhou Gong Dan & 周公武 Zhou Gong Wu. His second son became 周武王 King Wu of Zhou, and completed his fathers wishes by defeating the Shang army at their capital. He eventually became the first king of the new Zhou dynasty. The Duke of Zhou (Chinese: 周公旦, pinyin: Zhōu Gōng Dàn) was the brother of King Wu of Zhou. ... King Wu of Zhou (Chinese: 周武王; pinyin: ) or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. ...
The founders of the Zhou Dynasty, the KingsWen and Wu (abbreviated to the couple Wen Wu ææ¦), and the Prince Regent Duke Dan of Zhou å¨å ¬æ¦, were seen as the ideal monarchs and even as patrons and inventors of every kind of arts.
The once venerated kings of Zhou, people like King Cheng æç and Kang 康ç, lost their central position as the Heaven-approved sacrosanct ruler and were challenged by feudal lords that overtook the leadership of the Chinese world.
The Zhoukings had to flee from their western capital to the east, forced by "barbarian" tribes that invaded the Zhou territory.