Duke of Zhou

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Names

Ancestral name (姓):	Ji (姬)
Given name (名):	Dan (旦)
Courtesy name (字):	Unknown
Posthumous name (謚):	Wen (文)
Styled:	Dan, the Duke of Zhou (周公旦)

The Duke of Zhou was the brother of King Wu of Zhou in ancient China. Only three years after defeating the Shang Dynasty King Wu died, leaving the task of consolidating the dynasty's power to the Duke of Zhou, who didn't take the appointment. Instead, he took care of King Wu's son until he was old enough to rule. The Duke of Zhou fought with the rulers of eastern states who joined with the remnants of the Shang to oppose the Zhou. The east was conquered in five years.

According to Chinese legend, he annotated the 64 hexagrams and completed the classic of I Ching, established the Rites of Zhou, and created the Yayue of Chinese classical music.

In 2004, Chinese archaeologists reported that they may have found the tomb complex of Zhou Gong in Qishan County, Shaanxi Province.

God of Dreams

Duke of Zhou is also known as the 'God of Dreams'. It comes from a saying of Confucius: 'I no longer dream of the Duke of Zhou' (meaning: I do not have a dream about the Duke of Zhou's good governance). According to the folk legend, if an important thing is going to happen to someone, the Duke of Zhou will let the person know through dream. Hence the Chinese expression 'Dreaming of Zhou Gong' or 'Seeing Zhou Gong' (i.e. Mr. Zhou, 周公) which means sleeping/dozing.

Zhou Gong's Book of Auspicious and Inauspicious Dreams (周公解梦)

There is a book called 'Zhou Gong's Book of Auspicious and Inauspicious Dreams' (周公解梦), which is about dreams in traditional Chinese culture. People use it to analyse the dreams in order to predict the future.

External links

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Last updated on Tuesday March 04, 2008 at 16:50:10 PST (GMT -0800)
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