Haojing
| Hao | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 鎬 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 镐 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Bright | ||||||||
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| Haojing | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鎬京 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 镐京 | ||||||||
| Postal | Haoking | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Bright Capital | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Zongzhou | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 宗周 | ||||||||
| Postal | Tsungchow | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Ancestral Zhou | ||||||||
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Hao or Haojing, also called Zongzhou,[1] was one of the two settlements comprising the capital of the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 – c. 771 BCE), the other being Feng or Fengjing (豐京). They stood on opposite banks of the Feng River (灃河), Feng on the west bank and Hao on the east, and were together known as Fenghao. Archaeological discoveries indicate that the ruins of Haojing lie next to the Feng River around the north end of Doumen Subdistrict (斗门街道) in present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
History
Ji Chang (posthumously honored as King Wen) moved the predynastic Zhou capital eastward about 100 kilometers (62 mi) from Qiyi (岐邑) to Fengjing in the mid-11th century BCE. Traditional accounts place the move five years before the Battle of Muye, which present scholarship dates to c. 1046 BCE. After his son Fa (posthumously honored as King Wu) defeated the Shang and established the Zhou dynasty, he relocated his court across the Feng River to the shore of Lake Hao (鎬池, Hào Chí).[2] Fengjing became the site of the Zhou ancestral shrine and gardens while Haojing contained the royal residence and government headquarters. The settlement was also known as Zongzhou to indicate its role as the capital of the vassal states,[3] most ruled by clans claiming collateral descent from the royal Ji family.
During the reign of King Cheng (1042–1021 BCE), the Duke of Zhou built a second settlement at Luoyi, also known as Chengzhou (成周), in order to reinforce control of the eastern part of the kingdom. From then on, although King Cheng was permanently stationed in Chengzhou, Haojing remained the main operations center.
At the time of King Zhao (r. 996–977 BCE), further reinforcement of the eastern part of the Zhou kingdom took place and Chengzhou became the major center of operations.
In King You's reign (r. 781–771 BCE), the Marquess of Shen overran Haojing with support from Quanrong nomads from the west, heralding the end of the Western Zhou dynasty. All the royal buildings in Haojing were razed to the ground, although it is not known if those in Fengjing were as well. The newly enthroned King Ping (r. 770-720 BCE) thereafter had no choice but to formally move the capital east to Chengzhou. For some time after, there were still people who referred to themselves as "Western Zhou" and to Chengzhou as Zongzhou.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Zhu Xi, Collected Commentaries on the Classic of Poetry (《詩經集傳》); Siku Quanshu's Essentials Gathered in Chizao Hall version (《摛藻堂四庫全書薈要》本), vol. 4-5, p. 89 of 198. quote: (宗周，鎬京也。)
- ^ Pei Yin, Collected Explanations on Records of the Grand Historian (《史記集解》); Siku Quanshu version vol. 4 p. 10 of 123, quote: "徐廣曰豐在京兆鄠縣東有靈臺鎬在上林昆明北有鎬池去豐二十五里皆在長安南數十里". rough translation: "Xu Guang said: 'Feng was in the eastern part of the Hu prefecture in Jingzhao, there was the Numinous Terrace; Hao was to the north of Shanglin's [i.e. the imperial park's] Kunming [Pool; named after the Kunming lake, i.e. Dian Lake]; there was Lake Hao; [Hao was] twenty-five li from Feng; all were several decades of li from Chang'an.'"
- ^ Third scroll of the Chang'an Annals (長安志) interpreted by Huangfu Mi in his Age of Kings (帝王世紀)
- ^ Classic of Rites, "A summary account of sacrifices" (《禮記·祭統》); annotated by Zheng. Wuying Hall's Thirty Classics Annotated and Clarified version (《武英殿十三經注疏》本). vol. 23, p. 124 of 140. quote: (周既去鎬京猶名王城為宗周也)