Zhou Dynasty

周朝

Western Zhou

西周

After defeating the Shang, King Wu founded the Zhou Dynasty, making Haojing his capital city, near the present city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province.

打败商朝之后，武王建立了周朝。他定都镐京，也就是今天的陕西省西安市附近。

Historians call this period Western Zhou Dynasty (the 11th century B.C.—771 B.C.).

历史学家将这一段时期成为西周（公元前11世纪至公元前771年）。

The Zhou kings maintained control over their vassals for more than two centuries.

周朝的君主维持了超过两个世纪对其诸侯国的统治。

Like the Shang, the Western Zhou achieved a flourishing age during its period of rule.

和商朝一样，周朝在其统治期间达到了鼎盛时代。

However, as generations passed, vassal lords traded and sold land they had acquired from the Zhou kings.

然而，一代代过去了，诸侯们交易、卖出了他们从周王那里得到的土地。

This gradual change in ownership created larger more profitable estates.

这种所有权上逐渐的变化创造了更大、更获利的地产。

In turn, this strengthened position of the feudal lords giving them greater autonomy.

反过来，这种诸侯地位的加强给予了他们更大的自治权。

As the Zhou kings were no longer the sole possessors of the land, the ties of kingship and vassalage inevitably weakened.

当周王不再是土地唯一的所有者，王权和诸侯之间的维系就弱化了。

Added to this, although Zhou was the most powerful kingdom at the time, it actually didn’t rule the whole of China, which then consisted of a number of quasi-independent principalities.

进一步说，尽管周王朝是当时最强大的国家，事实上它并没有统治整个中国，而且它还是有许多准备独立的诸侯国构成的。

During the reign of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the central plains had reached the peak of the Bronze Age while the neighboring regions lagged behind.

在商周时期，中原已经达到了青铜时代的顶峰，周围地区却落后了。

In search of more wealth, the Western Zhou launched many wars against those kingdoms.

为了获取更多的财富，西周对那些国家发动了多次战争。

At the same time, the Quanrong, an ancient ethnic group lived in the north-west,constantly harassed the Zhou, becoming the biggest threat to the Zhou Dynasty.

同时，犬戎，一个生活在西北部的古老的民族，不断攻击周朝，它也成为了周朝最大的威胁。

During his reign King You indulged Baosi, one of his concubines, and this engendered a power struggle within the kingdom.

周幽王在位时沉迷于他的一个妃子褒姒，这造成了王朝内权利的斗争。

The Chinese idioms “A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold” and “the sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire” have been passed down to us from the King You’s reign.

中国的俗语“千金买笑”和“烽火戏诸侯”自周幽王时期流传至今。

King You’s neglect of duty finally led to the fall of the dynasty.

周幽王对于国事的疏忽最终导致了王朝的覆灭。

In 771 B.C. when several of the vassals rebelled, the army of the Quanrong ethnic group took its chance, captured Haojing and killed King You.

公元前771年，当许多诸侯国造反时，犬戎族的军队趁机夺取了镐京，杀掉了周幽王。

The Western Zhou Dynasty collapsed.

西周王朝灭亡了。

The next year, in 770 BC, King Ping moved the capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang City in Henan Province).

一年后，公元前770年，平王迁都至洛邑（今天的河南洛阳）。这是东周（公元前770年至公元前221年）的开始。