Chou Dynasty (1066 B.C. - 771 B.C.)
The Shang state flourished for several centuries, expanding its territory by conquering neighboring peoples. By the 11th century B.C., one of these, the Chou people, led a coalition of subordinate groups to overthrow the Shang. The Chou then created a new dynasty. The Chou also began to build a new kind of political order and expanded the territory under their control far beyond what the Shang had held.
Chou Dynasty was the third slave dynasty following Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasty in China. The Chou Dynasty etiquette system is quite perfect. It had one’s own officer system, military system, criminal law and gift system. The agricultural production technology of Chou dynasty is more advanced. This offered the first material base for progress of the society. With the abundance of the goods and materials, have promoted the development of handicraft, industry, commerce and natural science. At that time, special personnel had been responsible for observing the astronomical phenomena and recorded calendar. All these have proved progress and development of social science at that time. The Chou Dynasty went through 257 years together, spread for 11 generations and 12 kings.
Chou Dynasty was an important period of the Chinese kingdom. His material progress and spiritual civilization have very deep influence on development of the history in later age. The very success of the early Chou state created the conditions that led to its fragmentation in the early 8th century B.C. and to the period of chaos and warfare that followed.
