King Mu of Zhou (Chinese: 周穆王; pinyin: Zhōu Mù Wáng) was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 976–922 BC or 956–918 BC.[1][2]
King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao’s death during his tour to the South. King Mu was perhaps the most pivotal king of the Zhou dynasty, reigning nearly 55 years, from ca. 976 BC to ca. 922 BC. Mu was more ambitious than wise, yet he was able to introduce reforms that changed the nature of the Zhou government, transforming it from a hereditary system to one that was based on merit and knowledge of administrative skills.[3]
During Mu’s reign, the Zhou Dynasty was at its peak, and Mu tried to stamp out invaders in the western part of China and ultimately expand Zhou’s influence to the east. In the height of his passion for conquests, he led an immense army against the Quanrong, who inhabited the western part of China. His travels allowed him to contact many tribes and swayed them to either join under the Zhou banner or be conquered in war with his army. This expedition may have been more of a failure than a success, judging by the fact that he brought back only four white wolves and four white deer. Unintentionally and inadvertently, he thus sowed the seeds of hatred which culminated in an invasion of China by the same tribes in 771 BC. In his thirteenth year the Xu Rong, probably the state of Xu in the southeast, raided near the eastern capital of Fenghao. The war seems to have ended in a truce in which the state of Xu gained land and power in return for nominal submission.
However, despite his success, traditional historiography viewed him with controversy. While some praise his victories against the Quanrong, others criticized him for from his time, the fourth border state no longer entered into a relationship with the Zhou Dynasty. Even still, the Shang Shu credited him with establishing the first systematic legal code in China.
Mu was reputed in narratives to have lived until the age of 105 and to have traveled to the mythical mountain known as Kunlun - a popular later work is the Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven.
One Chinese myth tells a story about Mu, who dreamed of becoming an immortal.[4][5][6] He was determined to visit the divine paradise of Kunlun and taste the Peaches of Immortality. A brave charioteer named Zaofu used his chariot to carry the king to his destination.[7] The Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven, a fourth-century BC romance, describes Mu’s visit to the Queen Mother of the West.[8][9] Late Tang dynasty poet Li Shangyin retold the story in a poem of four lines.[10]
Automatonedit
In the 3rd century BC text of the Liezi, there is a curious account on automata involving a much earlier encounter between Mu of Zhou and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical 'handiwork':
The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time... As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih (Yan Shi) executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, adhesive and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial... The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted.[11]
Familyedit
Queens:
Wang Zu Jiang, of the Jiang clan (王俎姜 姜姓)
Concubines:
Sheng Ji, of the Ji clan of Cheng (盛姬 姬姓), a royal of Cheng by birth; buried with queenly honours
Sons:
Crown Prince Yihu (太子繄扈; d. 900 BC), ruled as King Gong of Zhou from 921–900 BC
Prince Bifang (王子闢方; d. 886 BC), ruled as King Xiao of Zhou from 891–886 BC
Prince Baozong (王子寶宗), ruled as the Viscount of Xu
king, zhou, chinese, 周穆王, pinyin, zhōu, wáng, fifth, king, zhou, dynasty, dates, reign, 周穆王king, zhou, dynastyreign976, bcpredecessorking, zhao, zhousuccessorking, gong, zhoubornji, 姬滿, died922, bcspousewang, jiangsheng, jiissueji, yihu, king, gong, zhouji, bi. King Mu of Zhou Chinese 周穆王 pinyin Zhōu Mu Wang was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty The dates of his reign are 976 922 BC or 956 918 BC 1 2 King Mu of Zhou周穆王King of the Zhou dynastyReign976 56 BC 922 18 BCPredecessorKing Zhao of ZhouSuccessorKing Gong of ZhouBornJi Man 姬滿 Died922 18 BCSpouseWang Zu JiangSheng JiIssueJi Yihu King Gong of ZhouJi Bifang King Xiao of ZhouBaozong Viscount of XuShuqieNamesAncestral name Ji 姬 Given name Mǎn 滿 FatherKing Zhao of ZhouMotherQueen Fang King Mu of ZhouPosthumous nameChinese周穆王Literal meaningThe Solemn King of ZhouTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinZhōu Mu WangWade GilesChou Mu wangKing Mu of Chou Contents 1 Life 2 In mythology 3 Automaton 4 Family 5 Ancestry 6 See also 7 Notes 8 ReferencesLife edit nbsp Joseon painting Yoji yeondo 요지연도 depicting King Mu visiting the goddess Queen Mother of the West at Yaochi in the mythical mountain Kunlun King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao s death during his tour to the South King Mu was perhaps the most pivotal king of the Zhou dynasty reigning nearly 55 years from ca 976 BC to ca 922 BC Mu was more ambitious than wise yet he was able to introduce reforms that changed the nature of the Zhou government transforming it from a hereditary system to one that was based on merit and knowledge of administrative skills 3 During Mu s reign the Zhou Dynasty was at its peak and Mu tried to stamp out invaders in the western part of China and ultimately expand Zhou s influence to the east In the height of his passion for conquests he led an immense army against the Quanrong who inhabited the western part of China His travels allowed him to contact many tribes and swayed them to either join under the Zhou banner or be conquered in war with his army This expedition may have been more of a failure than a success judging by the fact that he brought back only four white wolves and four white deer Unintentionally and inadvertently he thus sowed the seeds of hatred which culminated in an invasion of China by the same tribes in 771 BC In his thirteenth year the Xu Rong probably the state of Xu in the southeast raided near the eastern capital of Fenghao The war seems to have ended in a truce in which the state of Xu gained land and power in return for nominal submission However despite his success traditional historiography viewed him with controversy While some praise his victories against the Quanrong others criticized him for from his time the fourth border state no longer entered into a relationship with the Zhou Dynasty Even still the Shang Shu credited him with establishing the first systematic legal code in China Mu was reputed in narratives to have lived until the age of 105 and to have traveled to the mythical mountain known as Kunlun a popular later work is the Tale of King Mu Son of Heaven His successor was his son King Gong of Zhou In mythology editMain article Tale of King Mu Son of Heaven One Chinese myth tells a story about Mu who dreamed of becoming an immortal 4 5 6 He was determined to visit the divine paradise of Kunlun and taste the Peaches of Immortality A brave charioteer named Zaofu used his chariot to carry the king to his destination 7 The Tale of King Mu Son of Heaven a fourth century BC romance describes Mu s visit to the Queen Mother of the West 8 9 Late Tang dynasty poet Li Shangyin retold the story in a poem of four lines 10 Automaton editIn the 3rd century BC text of the Liezi there is a curious account on automata involving a much earlier encounter between Mu of Zhou and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi an artificer The latter proudly presented the king with a life size human shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork The king stared at the figure in astonishment It walked with rapid strides moving its head up and down so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being The artificer touched its chin and it began singing perfectly in tune He touched its hand and it began posturing keeping perfect time As the performance was drawing to an end the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih Yan Shi executed on the spot had not the latter in mortal fear instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was And indeed it turned out to be only a construction of leather wood adhesive and lacquer variously coloured white black red and blue Examining it closely the king found all the internal organs complete liver gall heart lungs spleen kidneys stomach and intestines and over these again muscles bones and limbs with their joints skin teeth and hair all of them artificial The king tried the effect of taking away the heart and found that the mouth could no longer speak he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion The king was delighted 11 Family editQueens Wang Zu Jiang of the Jiang clan 王俎姜 姜姓 Concubines Sheng Ji of the Ji clan of Cheng 盛姬 姬姓 a royal of Cheng by birth buried with queenly honours Sons Crown Prince Yihu 太子繄扈 d 900 BC ruled as King Gong of Zhou from 921 900 BC Prince Bifang 王子闢方 d 886 BC ruled as King Xiao of Zhou from 891 886 BC Prince Baozong 王子寶宗 ruled as the Viscount of Xu Daughters A daughter whose personal name was Shuqie 叔㛗 Ancestry editKing Wu of Zhou d 1043 BC King Cheng of Zhou 1060 1020 BC Yi Jiang of QiKing Kang of Zhou 1040 996 BC Wang SiKing Zhao of Zhou 1027 977 BC Wang JiangKing Mu of Zhou 992 922 BC Queen FangSee also editFamily tree of ancient Chinese emperorsNotes edit Cambridge History of Ancient China Sources of Western Zhou History Inscribed Bronze Vessels by Edward L Shaughnessy Chin Annping 2007 The Authentic Confucius Scrubner ISBN 0 7432 4618 7 Mathieu Remi Le Mu Tianzi Zhuan p 198 Nienhauser Origins of Chinese Literature p 201 Needham Joseph 1986 Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth Science and Civilization in China Vol 3 Taipei Caves Books Porter Deborah Lynn 1996 From deluge to discourse myth history and the generation of Chinese fiction SUNY Press Mu Tianzi zhuan 穆天子傳 The story of King Mu the Son of Heaven CHINAKNOWLEDGE a universal guide for China studies Retrieved 3 November 2010 Shaughnessy Edward L 2006 Rewriting Early Chinese Texts SUNY Press Li Shangyin 1705 瑤池 in Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 et al eds Complete Tang Poetry 全唐詩 vol 卷539 retrieved 2022 08 11 user generated source Needham Volume 2 53 References editNeedham Joseph 1986 Science and Civilization in China Volume 2 Taipei Caves Books Ltd King Mu of ZhouZhou Dynasty Died 922 BC Regnal titles Preceded byKing Zhao of Zhou King of China977 922 BC Succeeded byKing Gong of Zhou Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title King Mu of Zhou amp oldid 1212696194, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
