King Xuan of Zhou

King Xuan of Zhou
周宣王
King of the Zhou dynasty
Reign827/25 – 782 BC
PredecessorGonghe Regency
SuccessorKing You of Zhou
Died782 BC
SpouseQueen Jiang
Issue
HouseJi
DynastyZhou
FatherKing Li of Zhou
MotherShen Jiang
Chinese name
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōu Xuān Wáng
Wade–GilesChou1 Hsüan1 Wang2
Personal name
Chinese姬靜[a]
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJī Jìng

King Xuan of Zhou, personal name Ji Jing, was king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty; his reign has been reconstructed to be 827/25 – 782 BC.[1] He worked to restore royal authority after the Gonghe Regency. He fought the "Western Barbarians" (probably Xianyun) and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In the ninth year of his reign, he called a meeting of all the lords. Later he intervened militarily in succession struggles in the states of Lu, Wey and Qi. Sima Qian said "from this time on, the many lords mostly rebelled against royal commands."[1] According to Zhang Shoujie's annotation Correct Meanings (史記正義) to Sima's Shiji,[2] King Xuan is said to have killed the innocent Du Bo and according to tradition was himself killed by an arrow fired by Du Bo's ghost.[3] His son King You would the last king of the Western Zhou.

The Stone Drums of Qin were long mistakenly ascribed to King Xuan.[4]


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  1. ^ a b Shaughnessy (1999), p. 347.
  2. ^ Volume 4 quote: 「周春秋云宣王殺杜伯」
  3. ^ Ivanhoe (2005), p. 96.
  4. ^ Douglas (1885), p. 470.