Listen to this articleEstablish a Dynasty Last for more than 800 years
Overview
Chinese Name: 姬发
English Name: Ji Fa
Other Names: Zhou Wu Wang周武王，King Wu of Zhou周武王
Born: ？
Died: About 1043 BCE
Achievements:
King Wu conquered Zhou武王伐纣
Eliminate the Shang Dynasty and establish the Zhou Dynasty灭商建周
Brief Biography of Ji Fa
Ji Fa, also known as King Wu of Zhou, was born in Qi Zhou (now Qishan, Shaanxi) and the founding monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
He was the second son of King Wen of Zhou（Ji Chang周文王姬昌） and queen Tai Si（太姒）.In about 1056 BC, King Wen of Zhou died and Ji Fa succeeded to the throne. He was named King Wu.
After King Wu succeeded to the throne, he inherited his father’s ambition and used talents to govern the country. The state of Zhou became stronger and stronger day by day. In about 1046 BC, King Wu joined forces with other tribes to attack the tyrant King Zhou of Shang商纣王. King Zhou of Shang was defeated, the Shang Dynasty perished, the Zhou Dynasty was established, settled the capital in Haojing镐京 (now southwest of Xi’an, Shaanxi).
In about 1043 BC, King Wu of Zhou died and was buried in the Mausoleum of Zhou(周陵). He was revered as the ancient wise emperor by later generations.
Ji Fa cherishes and makes good use of talents
Ji Fa placed great importance on virtuous people internally, continued to take Jiang Taigong (i.e. Jiang Shang) as the military division, and took his younger brother Duke Zhou as the supreme ruler. Good officials such as Zhao Gong, Bi Gong, Kang Shu and Dan Ji were all in their positions, with a gathering of talents and booming politics. We will strive to unite more vassal states and expand our strength. King Wu sized up the situation, actively prepared conditions for the destruction of merchants and waited for the opportunity.
King Wu of Zhou had a broad mind, long-term vision and decisive ability. Seeing the lawlessness of the Shang Dynasty, he took the banner of asking for orders for the people and acting for heaven to win the support of the broad masses of the people, thus greatly expanding his strength and influence.
