This article is about the ancient Zhou Dynasty capital, for Haojing'ao see Macau Template:Chinese text Haojing (simplified Chinese: 镐京; traditional Chinese: 鎬京; pinyin: Hàojīng) was one of the two settlements comprising the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1066-770 BCE), the other of which was Fēngjīng (沣京/灃京). Together they were known as Fēnghào (沣镐/灃鎬) and stood on opposite banks of the Feng River (沣河) with Haojing on the east bank. Archaeological discoveries indicate that the ruins of Hàojīng lie next to the Fēng River around the north end of Doumen Street (斗门街) in present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. This was the center of government for King Wu of Zhou (r. 1046-1043 BCE).
Evolution
After founding his dynasty, King Wen of Zhou (r. 1099-1056 BCE) moved the Zhou capital from Qíyì (岐邑) to Fēngjīng; for reasons unknown, his son King Wu later relocated to Hàojīng. Fēngjīng became the site of the Zhou Ancestral Shrine and gardens whilst Hàojīng contained the royal residence and government headquarters. The settlement was also known as Zōngzhōu (宗周) to indicate its role as the capital of the vassal states.[1]
During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou (r. 1042-1021 BCE), the Duke of Zhou built a second settlement at Luòyì (雒邑), also known as Chéngzhōu (成周), in order to reinforce control of the eastern part of the kingdom. From then on, although King Cheng was permanently stationed in Chéngzhōu, Hàojīng remained the main operations center.
At the time of King Zhao of Zhou (r. 996-977 BCE), further reinforcement of the eastern part of the Zhou kingdom took place thus Chéngzhōu became the major center of operations.
In King You of Zhou's reign (r. 781-771 BCE), the Marquess of Shen with support from Quanrong nomads from the west overran Hàojīng heralding the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty. All the royal buildings in the settlement were razed to the ground although it is not known if those in Fēngjīng survived the conflagration. The newly enthroned King Ping of Zhou (r. 770-720 BCE) thereafter had no choice but to move the capital east to Chéngzhōu. Henceforth there were still people who referred to themselves as "Western Zhou" and to Chéngzhōu as Zōngzhōu.[2]
References
- ^ Third scroll of the Chang'an Annals (长安志) interpreted by Huangfu Mi in his Age of Kings (book) (帝王世紀)
- ^ Zheng Zhu (郑注), "Classic of Rites · Unified Sacrifices (礼记·祭统》）
This article is based on a translation of 镐京 in Chinese Wikipedia.
