Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2017

 

The Politics of the Reign of the King Li of Zhou as Seen in Multiple Sources, and a Reevaluation of the King

(Abstract)

 

Du Yong

 

“Rui Liangfu Bi” (A poem of caution by Rui Liangfu), recently found in the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips, is a satirical political poem. Its author could have been another nobleman who lived in the same time as Rui Liangfu and who occupied some official position. Truthfully reflecting the political crisis in the latter half of the reign of King Li of Zhou, the poem is valuable in that it enables a correct academic evaluation of the king. A comprehensive analysis of the external wars and ruling policies of the reign of the King Li of Zhou based on “Rui Liangfu Bi” and other literature reveals that in terms of national defense, King Li of Zhou neglected the threat from nomad peoples and did not keep up the frontier defenses; in terms of domestic affairs, he was a greedy ruler who valued profit and abused the people. This evidence indicates that the King Li of Zhou broke through bottom line national ethics and was a total tyrant. He was not a “reformer” with “achievement” whose reputation must be restored.