| King Li of Zhou 周厲王 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of the Zhou dynasty | |||||||||
| Reign | 877–841 BC | ||||||||
| Predecessor | King Yí of Zhou | ||||||||
| Successor | Gonghe Regency | ||||||||
| Died | 828 BC | ||||||||
| Spouse | Shen Jiang | ||||||||
| Issue | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| House | Ji | ||||||||
| Dynasty | Zhou (Western Zhou) | ||||||||
| Father | King Yí of Zhou | ||||||||
| Mother | Wang Ji | ||||||||
King Li of Zhou (died in 828 BC) (Chinese: 周厲王; pinyin: Zhōu Lì Wáng), also known as King Fen of Zhou (周汾王), personal name Ji Hu, was a king of the Zhou dynasty of China. Estimated dates of his reign are 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC (Cambridge History of Ancient China).[1]
Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian depict King Li as a corrupt and decadent king. To pay for his pleasures and vices, King Li raised taxes and caused misery among his subjects. It is said that he barred the commoners from profiting from the communal forests and lakes. He enstated a new law which allowed him to punish anyone, by death, who dared to speak against him. King Li's bad rule soon forced many peasants and soldiers into revolt, and Li was sent into exile at a place called Zhi near Linfen (842 BC). His son was taken by one of his ministers and hidden.[2] When Li died in exile in 828 BC, power was passed to his son.[3]
- ^ Feng, Li (2006), Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-85272-2.
- ^ Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels by Edward L. Shaughnessy
- ^ Sima Qian. Records of the Grand Historian. Vol. 4.