King Li of Zhou
King Li of Zhou 周厲王 | |||||
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King of China | |||||
Reign | 877–841 BC | ||||
Predecessor | King Yí of Zhou | ||||
Successor | Gonghe Regency | ||||
Died | 828 BC | ||||
Spouse | Shen Jiang | ||||
Issue | King Xuan of Zhou Duke Huan of Zheng | ||||
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House | Zhou Dynasty | ||||
Father | King Yí of Zhou | ||||
Mother | Wang Ji |
King Li of Zhou (died in 828 BC) (Chinese: 周厲王; pinyin: Zhōu Lì Wáng), personal name Ji Hu, was the tenth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC (Cambridge History of Ancient China).[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Zong-zhou_Zhong%2C_Late_Western_Zhou_Period_%28Mid_9th_Century_B.C.E.%29.tif/lossy-page1-220px-Zong-zhou_Zhong%2C_Late_Western_Zhou_Period_%28Mid_9th_Century_B.C.E.%29.tif.jpg)
King Li was 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 that 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]
Family[]
Queens:
- Shen Jiang, of the Jiang clan of Shen (申姜 姜姓), a sister of the Count of Shen; the mother of Crown Prince Jing and You
Sons:
- Crown Prince Jing (太子靜; d. 782 BC), ruled as King Xuan of Zhou from 827–782 BC
- Prince You (王子友; d. 771 BC), ruled as Duke Huan of Zheng from 806–771 BC
- Served as the Minister of Education of Zhou from 773–771 BC
Ancestry[]
King Mu of Zhou (992–922 BC) | |||||||||||||||||||
King Gong of Zhou (d. 900 BC) | |||||||||||||||||||
King Yih of Zhou (899–892 BC) | |||||||||||||||||||
King Yi of Zhou (d. 878 BC) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wang Bo Jiang | |||||||||||||||||||
King Li of Zhou (890–828 BC) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wang Ji of E | |||||||||||||||||||
See also[]
- Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors
Sources[]
- ^ 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. 4.
- Zhou dynasty kings
- 9th-century BC Chinese monarchs
- 828 BC deaths
- Chinese royalty stubs