Royals › Monarch / Emperor
King Wen of Zhou (Ji Chang)
Late Shang leader of the Zhou who, as Western Lord, was imprisoned at Youli, then extended Zhou power and moved its capital to Feng
In a side chamber of a palace, a yellow ceremonial robe embroidered with a dragon hangs on a wooden stand, its hem worked with waves and rocks, before a carved folding screen, while a black lacquer chest sits on a low table by a lattice window and no person is in view.
Also known as Ji Chang · Xi Bochang · Wen Wang
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Ji Chang, King Wen of Zhou, was the son of the Zhou leader Jili and in the late Shang held the title Western Lord. The Basic Annals of Zhou in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) relates that after Hu, Lord of Chong, slandered him, King Zhou of Shang imprisoned him at Youli and released him only when his ministers presented women, horses and treasures, also granting him the right to lead punitive campaigns. Freed, he settled a dispute between the states of Yu and Rui, attacked the Quanrong, Mixu, Qi, Yu and Chong, and moved his capital from below Mount Qi to Feng. The Shiji suggests he expanded the eight trigrams into sixty-four hexagrams while in prison, and tradition says he met Lu Shang on the Wei River and made him his teacher. After his death his son King Wu overthrew the Shang and honoured him as King Wen. The ode King Wen in the Book of Songs (Shijing) tells of Zhou receiving Heaven's mandate.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; leader of the Zhou in the late Shang