Approaching the Various States in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

As is known, the Zhou Dynasty enjoyed the longest period of dynastic rule in the entire history of China. Its establishment took place roughly when King Wu battled against and overthrew the Shang Dynasty. But there have been different opinions regarding the specific time of the dynasty’s birth, without a widely accepted conclusion. Generally, the birth dates ranges from the late twelfth century B.C. to the eleventh century B.C. The Zhou Dynasty, having inherited the traditions of the Shang Dynasty, was a unified dynasty ruling a vast land. Located around the king’s lands, that is, those directly governed by the king, were many vassal states of varying size; amidst and around the states were distributed many tribes subordinate to the Zhou Dynasty to varying degrees.