Zhou Dynasty
Learn about the Zhou Dynasty — the longest-reigning Chinese dynasty, which introduced the Mandate of Heaven and laid the foundations of Chinese philosophy.
The Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) holds the record as the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history. After overthrowing the Shang, the Zhou justified their conquest with a powerful new political concept: the Mandate of Heaven. This doctrine held that Heaven granted authority to virtuous rulers and withdrew it from corrupt ones — a revolutionary idea that shaped Chinese political thought for the next three thousand years.
The Zhou period is typically divided into Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (771–256 BCE). The Western Zhou maintained centralized control through a feudal-like system of loyal lords. The Eastern Zhou saw this system collapse into competing states, but this political fragmentation paradoxically produced one of the most creative intellectual periods in human history — the era of Confucius, Laozi, and the Hundred Schools of Thought.
The Zhou's most lasting contributions were philosophical rather than military. Concepts like the Mandate of Heaven, filial piety, and ritual propriety became the bedrock of Chinese civilization and continued to influence East Asian societies well into the modern era.