Help become a king
Zhou Wuwang died shortly after the demise of the Shang Dynasty. Because the influence of Yin people was not completely eradicated before the demise of Shang Dynasty, the succession of the throne became a very sensitive issue at this time. If the throne passes to his son, the king is still young. If it is passed on to the younger brother, it will be Guan Shu's turn (Guan Shu is Zhou Wenwang's third son). If it is passed on to the sage, it should be passed on to the Duke of Zhou. However, in order to avoid suspicion, Duke Zhou made himself king and regent. At this time, the remnants of Shang Dynasty were still very strong. Wu Geng, the son of Shang Zhouwang, took the opportunity to confuse Guan Shu and launch a rebellion. At this time, the old forces of the whole Shang Dynasty in the East rose up and rebelled. At this critical moment, the Duke of Zhou personally led troops to fight, killed Guan Shu and Wu Geng, and put down the rebellion. Since then, in order to consolidate his power, the Duke of Zhou established the East Capital in Luoyi. Since then, the core rule of the Zhou emperor has been divided into two parts: Haojing in the west and Luoyi in the east. This situation continued until the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, when the King Youwang was killed and moved eastward.
Get into the habit of once a week
Another achievement of Duke Zhou was the formulation of Zhou Li. Compared with Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty was a secular country, and the important affairs of the country depended not on asking God for divination, but on Zhou Li, and Zhou Gong was the maker of Zhou Li. Zhou Li is divided into two parts: rites and music. The function of Zhou rites is mainly to serve the patriarchal clan system, to restrain people's morality and behavior through rites and music, to form a set of social norms, and to form a strict hierarchical system, thus consolidating the rule of Zhou Dynasty. The formulation of rites and music is of epoch-making significance to the history of China, laying the foundation for the etiquette culture of China for thousands of years. After the formulation of Zhou Li, the vassal States followed the ritual and music system formulated by Zhou Li in succession, and this situation continued until the late Spring and Autumn Period.
Zhou Wuwang died before he could rule the Shang Dynasty. From then on, all the political systems of the Zhou Dynasty were formulated by the Duke of Zhou. It can be said that the ruling foundation of the Zhou Dynasty was laid by the Duke of Zhou, especially the formulation of Zhou Li, which had a great influence on China's later generations, so later generations would respect the Duke of Zhou as a "saint".