Zhou dynasty (1027 -221BC)

Zhou Dynasty was the first dynasty to unite most of China under a single government. It helped lay the foundation for the unification of China by the subsequent Qin dynasty (221-206BC). During the Zhou dynasty, farming techniques improved, iron became widely utilized for tools and weapons, and Confucianism and Taoism became the prevailing philosophies of moral conduct.

Zhou People were a semi-nomadic clan from the northwestern part of the China. They rose against and defeated the Shang Dynasty, and established the capital at Hao, near modern Xi'an. From a social point of the view, the Zhou was quite similar to the Shang. The rulers were the nobles who practiced ancestor worship. Divination marked every important decision or event. Peasants were physically separated from other classes but were a key element. They carried out vital and supportive functions such as sewing and reaping.

Traditionally Zhou Dynasty is divided into two periods, the Western Zhou (1045? -771BC) and the Eastern Zhou (770-256 BC).

The Western Zhou dynasty is described as an age of people honoring family relationships and stressing social status distinctions. The early Western Kings did not attempt to exert direct control over the entire territory they conquered. Inversely the kings secured their position by selecting loyal supporters and relatives to rule walled towns and the surrounding territories. Each of these local rulers was generally able to pass his position on to a son, so that in time the domain became a hereditary vassal state. Within each state, there were noble houses holding hereditary titles. The rulers of the states and the members of the nobility were linked both to one another and to their ancestors by bonds of obligation based on kinship. Below the nobility were the officers and the peasants, both of which were also hereditary statuses. The relationship between each level and its superiors was conceived as a moral one. Peasants served their superiors, and their superiors looked after the peasants' welfare. Social interaction at the upper levels was governed by a set of complex rules of social etiquette and personal conduct. Those who practiced proper rules were considered civilized; those who did not, such as those outside the Zhou territory, were considered barbarians.

The Zhou kings maintained control over the territory for more than two centuries. But with time passing by, the domination weakened. In 770 BC several powerful states allied with nomadic people rebelled and forced the Zhou moving from the capital near Xian to present day Luoyang, east of the previous capital. The new location of Zhou that prevented attacking from nomadic people marked the beginning of Eastern Zhou. Ever since then, the Eastern Zhou kings no longer exercised much political or military authority over those states. The political structure of Eastern Zhou is little more like federate; the Zhou kings remained as nominal overlords, other powerful states functioned independently in almost every aspect.

During the Eastern Zhou period, social and economic achievement were very notable. The implementation of iron-tipped, ox-drawn plows and improved irrigation techniques marked a great advance of the country. The steady social productivity supported a remarkable population increment. Other economic achievements included the circulation of coins for money and the growth of cities. Military technology also advanced. The Eastern Zhou developed the crossbow and adopted cavalry warfare from nomads.

During the Eastern Zhou period there were two major subdivisions; the Spring & Autumn; the Warring States. The end of the Zhou period is in 221 BC when the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified the land on a new imperial basis. During the 7th and 6th centuries BC, brief periods of stability were achieved through alliances among states, under the domination of the strongest member. Traditionally this period was regarded as the Spring & Autumn Period. The years from 475 to 221 BC was known as the Warring States Period because the wars were particularly frequent and deadly.

In order to maintain and increase power, state rulers sought the advice of teachers and strategists. This stimulated intellectual activity and debate, and intense reappraisal of traditions. Therefore, the period was well known as the phenomena of 'hundred schools of thoughts turned up'. There were thinkers fascinated by logical puzzles; utopians and hermits who argued for withdrawal from public life; agriculturists who argued that no one should eat who does not plough; military theorists who analyzed ways to deceive the enemy; and cosmologists who developed theories of the forces of nature, including the opposite and complementary forces of Yin and Yang. The three most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Simply to say, the Eastern Zhou period is regarded as the molding period of Chinese culture.