Ancient China · Second king of Zhou, initially governed under the Duke of Zhou's regency

King Cheng of Zhou 周成王

Zhou Cheng Wang

Attested c. BC 1042 - BC 1021

Passages: 33
Chapters: 18
Histories: 6

Overview

King Cheng of Zhou was a Second king of Zhou, initially governed under the Duke of Zhou's regency.

Life and dates

Age

young when the Duke of Zhou served as regent
Directly stated · houhanshu:033:s0010a

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 31, passage 127; Book of Han 6, passage 191; Book of Later Han 37, passage 92
legendary antiquity
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 50, passage 123
BC 1042 to BC 1021 BC 1042-1021
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 32, passage 100
BC 1042 to BC 1021 周公抱成王宴居
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 131, passage 50
BC 1042 to BC 1021 周公相成王
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 89, passage 13
BC 1042 to BC 1021 周成
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 13, passage 230

Show 6 more source-backed claims

c. BC 1042 周成王
Directly stated · History of Ming 115, passage 6
BC 1042 to BC 1021 周成王初立
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 78
c. BC 1042 to c. BC 1021 成王
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 70, passage 162
BC 1042 to BC 1021 成王幼少，周公攝政
Dated from the passage context · houhanshu:033:s0010a
BC 1040 成王與小弱弟
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 58, passage 150
BC 1042 昔
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 8, passage 144

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Duke of Zhou (周公)
Duke of Zhou to King Cheng 周公 · paternal line
Duke of Zhou 周公
Sources vary in certainty · Book of Northern Qi 31, passage 127; Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 78
Child of King Wu of Zhou (武王)
paternal uncle 叔父
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 70, passage 162
Sibling of Younger Brother of King Cheng (成王小弱弟)
younger brother 弟 · Full siblings
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 58, passage 150

Key source chapters

Places and affiliations

BC 1042 to BC 1021 成王幼少，周公攝政
Polity Zhou 周 · Relation Ruled
Dated from the passage context · houhanshu:033:s0010a
Polity Zhou 周 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Book of Han 6, passage 191; Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 78

Events and relationships

Relation Student of · Person Duke of Zhou (周公)
Directly stated · History of Ming 115, passage 24
Relation Ward of · Person Duke of Zhou (周公)
Directly stated · houhanshu:033:s0010a

Assessments and attributes

praised in the edict as supremely enlightened 詔中稱為至明
AD 955 · Mode narrator
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 115, passage 14

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · houhanshu:033:s0010a
Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 31, passage 127

References in the histories

Search passages

History

33 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 13Volume 13 Biographies 5: Gao Chen; Gao Rui (Northern Qi); Gao Yue (Northern Qi); Gao Mai · 1 passage

豈道光四海，不遇周成之明； Yet though his virtue might have lit the four seas, he did not meet a King Cheng of Zhou;

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 31Volume 31 Biographies 23: Wang Xin; Wang Xi · 1 passage

晞曰：「周公抱成王朝諸侯，攝政七年，然後復子明辟，幸有故事，惟殿下慮之。」 Wang Xi said, "The Duke of Zhou held King Cheng in his arms while receiving the feudal lords at court and served as regent for seven years. He then returned the government to his sovereign. Fortunately, there is a precedent; Your Highness need only consider it."

Book of Han, Chapter 6Volume 5: Annals of Emperor Jing · 1 passage

周云成康，漢言文景，美矣！ Zhou is praised for Cheng and Kang, Han for Wen and Jing—what excellence!

Book of Han, Chapter 8Volume 7: Annals of Emperor Zhao · 2 passages

贊曰：昔周成以孺子繼統，而有管、蔡四國流言之變。 In appraisal: In antiquity King Cheng of Zhou succeeded to the throne as a young child, and there arose the affair of the four states of Guan and Cai spreading slanderous rumors.

成王不疑周公，孝昭委任霍光，各因其時以成名，大矣哉！ King Cheng did not doubt the Duke of Zhou; Emperor Zhao entrusted Huo Guang with power. Each, in his own time, achieved renown thereby. How great this was!

Book of Han, Chapter 70Volume 60: Du Zhou · 3 passages

見鳳專政泰重，戒之曰：「昔周公身有至聖之德，屬有叔父之親，而成王有獨見之明，無信讒之聽，然管、蔡流言而周公懼。 Seeing Wang Feng's grip on power grow oppressive, Du Qin warned him: "The Duke of Zhou was the paragon of sagehood and the king's uncle, and King Cheng was a discerning sovereign who refused slander—yet the rumor spread by Guan and Cai still struck terror into the duke.

夫欲天下治安變異之意，莫有將軍，主上照然知之，故攀援不遣，《書》稱『公毋困我！』 No one cares more than you for the realm's peace or for ending these portents, and the emperor knows it. That is why he holds on to you and refuses to let you go. In the Documents, King Cheng pleads, "Duke, do not leave me in distress!"

唯將軍不為四國流言自疑於成王，以固至忠。」 Do not let rumors like those spread by the four rebel states give your King Cheng reason to doubt you. Make your perfect loyalty unmistakable."

Book of Han, Chapter 74Volume 64a: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 1 · 2 passages

名何必夏、子，俗何必成、康！ You need not yet rival Yu and Tang in fame, nor Cheng and Kang in the purity of your age.

雖然，臣竊以陛下天然之質，寬仁之資，而誠以天下為務，則不難侔，而成、康之俗未必不復興也。 Yet given your natural breadth of mind, if you make the people's peace your daily work, you may yet rival the sage founders, and the age of Cheng and Kang may rise again.

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 2 passages

朔對曰：「堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武、成、康上古之事，經歷數千載，尚難言也，臣不敢陳。 Shuo answered, "The deeds of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, Cheng, and Kang lie so far back in time that even after millennia they are hard to discuss clearly; I would not presume to rehearse them here.

朔對曰：「自唐、虞之隆，成、康之際，未足以諭當世。 Shuo answered, "Not even the heights of Yao and Shun's age, nor the peace of King Cheng and King Kang, gives us a fair yardstick for today.

Book of Han, Chapter 89Volume 78: Xiao Wangzhi · 2 passages

今士見者皆先露索挾持，恐非周公相成王躬吐握之禮，致白屋之意。」 Yet every caller is searched and pinioned first. That is hardly the Duke of Zhou's way with the young King Cheng—interrupting meals and baths to see a petitioner—nor does it show the regard due men in rough cottages."

若此不怠，成、康之道其庶幾乎！ Persevere in this, and the age of Kings Cheng and Kang is not beyond reach.

Book of Han, Chapter 96Volume 85: Gu Yong and Du Ye · 2 passages

四輔既備，成王靡有過事。 With the four counselors in place, the young King Cheng never stumbled.

大風暴過，成王怛然。 when the gale tore the mulberry grove, King Cheng trembled.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 32Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage

頌成、康之載德兮，詠《南風》之歌聲。 I hymn Cheng and Kang's virtue and the tune of the 'South Wind.'

Book of Later Han, Chapter 33Volume 29: Biographies of Shentu Gang; Bao Yong; Zhi Yun · 1 passage

臣聞成王幼少，周公攝政，聽言不賢，均權市寵，無舊無新，唯仁是親，動順天地，舉措不失。 Your servant has heard that when King Cheng was young and the Duke of Zhou served as regent, he listened broadly, shared authority, showed no bias toward old or new associates, drew near only to the humane, acted in accord with Heaven and Earth, and made no misstep.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 37Volume 32: Biographies of Fan Hong; Yin Shi · 1 passage

成王賢主，崇明師傅。 King Cheng was a wise king who honored his teachers.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 131Volume 120: Treatise on Carriages and Dress, Part Two · 1 passage

袍者，或曰周公抱成王宴居，故施袍。 Commentators link the robe to the Duke of Zhou cradling the boy king at ease—hence the loose outer robe.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 50Volume 50 Book of Later Tang 26: Biographies 2: Imperial Family · 1 passage

史臣曰：昔武皇發跡於陰山，莊宗肇基於河朔，雖奄有天下，而享國日淺，眷言枝屬，空秀棣華，固未及推帝堯敦敘之恩，廣成王封建之義。 The historiographer writes: The Martial Emperor rose from the Yin Mountains and Emperor Zhuangzong founded his rule in Hebei. Though they briefly held the realm, their dynasties were short-lived. Their kinsmen bloomed like catalpa blossoms yet bore no fruit—they never attained Emperor Yao's generous ordering of kin or broadly extended King Cheng's principles of enfeoffment.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 115Volume 115 Book of Later Zhou 17: Shizong Annals 2 · 1 passage

雖堯、舜、禹、湯之上聖，文、武、成康之至明，尚猶思逆耳之言，求苦口之藥，何況後人之不逮哉！ Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang were supreme sages; Wen, Wu, Cheng, and Kang were supremely enlightened—yet they still welcomed unwelcome counsel and sought bitter medicine for the state. How much more must lesser rulers do so!

History of Ming, Chapter 115Volume 115 Biographies 3: Emperor Xingzong Xiaokang, Emperor Ruizong Xingxian · 2 passages

吳元年，年十三矣，命省臨濠墓，諭曰：「商高宗舊勞于外，周成王早聞《無逸》之訓，皆知小民疾苦，故在位勤儉，為守成令主。 In the first year of the Wu regime, when he was thirteen, he was sent to inspect the ancestral tombs at Fengyang. Hongwu instructed him: "The Shang High Ancestor once labored in the provinces; King Cheng of Zhou was taught the 'Against Idleness' early on—both understood the people's hardships, and so ruled diligently and frugally as successful heirs.

昔周公教成王克詰戎兵，召公教康王張惶六師，此居安慮危，不忘武備。 The Duke of Zhou taught King Cheng to master arms; the Duke of Shao taught King Kang to keep the six hosts on alert—security that still remembers war.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 58House of Prince Xiao of Liang · 3 passages

故成王與小弱弟立樹下，取一桐葉以與之，曰：「吾用封汝。」 In ancient times, King Cheng of Zhou stood with his young brother beneath a tree, plucked a paulownia leaf, and said, "With this I shall enfeoff you."

成王曰：「吾直與戲耳。」 King Cheng replied, "I was only playing."

是後成王沒齒不敢有戲言，言必行之。 From that day forward, King Cheng never dared to speak in jest for the rest of his life; every word he uttered, he carried out.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 88Biography of Meng Tian · 6 passages

昔周成王初立，未離襁緥周公旦負王以朝，卒定天下。 Long ago, when King Cheng of Zhou first came to the throne, he was still an infant in swaddling clothes. The Duke of Zhou carried the young king in his arms to hold court and ultimately brought peace to the realm.

及成王有病甚殆，公旦自揃其爪以沈於河，曰：『王未有識，是旦執事。 When King Cheng fell gravely ill, the Duke of Zhou cut his own fingernails and sank them in the river as an offering to the spirits, praying: 'The King is still too young to know right from wrong. It is I, Dan, who have governed in his stead.

及王能治國，有賊臣言：『周公旦欲為亂久矣，王若不備，必有大事。』 When the King came of age and assumed power, a treacherous minister whispered: 'The Duke of Zhou has long plotted rebellion. If Your Majesty does not act, disaster will surely follow.'

王乃大怒，周公旦走而奔於楚。 The King flew into a rage, and the Duke of Zhou was forced to flee to the state of Chu.

成王觀於記府，得周公旦沈書，乃流涕曰：『孰謂周公旦欲為亂乎！』 But when King Cheng later examined the royal archives and discovered the Duke of Zhou's prayer, he wept and said: 'Who dared claim that the Duke of Zhou wished to rebel!'

夫成王失而復振則卒昌； King Cheng erred but corrected his course, and his dynasty ultimately flourished.