King Ping of Zhou

Also known as Ji Yijiu · Dong Zhou Kai Guo Tian Zi · King Ping

King Ping of Zhou, personal name Yijiu, was the crown prince of King You and son of Queen Shen, daughter of the Lord of Shen. When King You fell for Bao Si, he deposed the queen and Yijiu in favour of Bao Si's son Bofu, and Yijiu fled to Shen. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says the Lord of Shen then joined Zeng and the Quanrong to attack King You, who was killed below Mount Li, after which the lords made Yijiu king. To escape Rong raids he moved the capital east to Luoyi, beginning the Eastern Zhou. Duke Xiang of Qin, who escorted him, was made a ranked lord and promised the land west of Mount Qi. The Tsinghua bamboo text Xinian adds that another king, Xie Hui, was set up after King You's death. The forty-ninth year of his reign, 722 BCE, is the first year of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu), and he died in 720 BCE.