Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) was the first period of the whole Zhou Dynasty. It was called “western” because its Capital was in Hao (near today’s Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province), to the west of the Luoyi (today’s Luoyang, Henan Province) the capital of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The whole Zhou Dynasty existed from the 11th century BC to 221BC, lasting more than 800 years with 34 kings, making it the longest dynasty in the world history.

The Zhou was originally a dependent state to the Shang Dynasty (17th-11t h century BC). It was based along the Weihe River in Shaanxi Province. It ruled much of the Wei and Yellow River valleys as well as portions of the Yangzi and Hanjiang River systems. According to legend the ancestor of the Zhou tribe was Di Ku.

Western Zhou Dynasty witnessed the prosperity in agriculture, economy, religion, education and art. Bronze metallurgy continued to develop, and reached its impressive peak. The Western Zhou Dynasty did not only inherit the assets of the Shang Dynasty, but also had their own innovations. The oracle-bone prediction was still popular in the Zhou. In the early Zhou, the ruler prohibited people from excessive drinking to put an end to the popular extravagant practices of the late Shang. The once common sight of drinking vessels in the Shang gradually became non existant.
Towards the end of the Western Zhou, the intensification of internal contradictions within the ruling class grew sharper. Uprisings in the kingdom shook the ruling class to its very foundations. In 771BC, King You, the last king of Western Zhou Dynasty was a tyrant who lost the support from the ruling class and the people. Finally, he was killed by the Quan Rong tribe, a minority group in northwestern China. This marked the end of Western Zhou Dynasty.