THE CHRONOLOGY OF WESTERN ZHOU

Abstract

Abstract By systematically analyzing the relative relationship between complete bronze inscription dates, this study deduces the lunar phases described by the specialized terms jishengba 既生霸, jiwang 既望, and jisiba 既死霸, finding that the term chuji 初吉 is unrelated to the lunar phase. The study then reconstructs a complete chronology of Western Zhou that is highly consistent with archaeological and textual evidence. The results support the traditional notion that the Zhou calendar year began in the month containing the winter solstice, and show that the Western Zhou calendar month began with the first invisibility of the waning lunar crescent while the calendar day began at sunrise. The overall evidence indicates that King Wu 武王 led an initial campaign against the Shang in 1046 b.c.e. and defeated Zhòu 紂 in 1044 b.c.e., lending credence to the narrative of the military display at Mengjin (觀兵孟津). The derived chronology reveals a previously unknown seven-year gap between King You's 幽王 final year and King Ping's 平王 first year, thus explaining the discrepancies between Shi ji 史記 and the archaeological evidence. This study demonstrates that the Modern Text (jinben 今本) Bamboo Annals 竹書紀年 is unsuitable for use in chronological studies, and suggests that the dates of Western Zhou were already obscure in Eastern Zhou. These results provide testable hypotheses and raise new questions that can guide further research into Western Zhou archaeology, history, society, and culture.