History

He was the son of King You of Zhou and Queen Shen (申后).

King You had exiled Queen Shen and Ji Yijiu after the king became enamoured with his concubine Bao Si and made her queen and his son Bofu his heir. As a result, Queen Shen』s father, the Marquess of Shen, teamed with the Quanrong nomads and local satellite states to overthrow King You. In the Battle of Mount Li King You and Bofu were killed, and Bao Si was captured. Ji Yijiu ascended the throne. At about the same time, Jī Hàn (姬翰), Duke of Guó (虢公), elevated Jī Yúchén (姬余臣) to the throne as King Xie of Zhou (周携王), and the Zhou Dynasty saw a period of two parallel kings until King Xie was killed by Marquis Wen of Jin (晋文侯) in 750 BCE.

The Xinian manuscript, however, has challenged this traditional narrative. It seems to indicate that King Xie (also known as King Hui, or the King at Xie) was originally accepted by many of the regional lords over King Ping. After Marquis Wen of Jin killed Xie, there was not an officially accepted King of Zhou for 9 years, until, in 741 BCE, Marquis Wen recognized Ping. Three years later, in 738 BCE, Wen helped Ping move to Chengzhou.

King Ping moved the Western Zhou dynasty's capital east from Haojing to Luoyang, thus ending the Western Zhou and the beginning of the Eastern Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period. He is the first Zhou king to be mentioned in the chronological account of the Zuo Zhuan.

Over 14 centuries after King Ping』s death, Tang dynasty Empress regnant Wu Zetian claimed ancestry from King Ping through his son Prince Wu, and changed the dynastic name to Zhou, which was reverted to Tang after her death.

Family

Sons

• First son, Crown Prince Xiefu (太子洩父), the father of King Huan of Zhou

• Second son, Prince Hu (王子狐)

　• Served as a hostage of Duke Zhuang of Zheng

• Youngest son, Prince Wu (王子武)

Ancestry

生平

姬宜臼本是周幽王太子，後因周幽王寵愛美女褒姒，褒姒生下一子伯服，得寵更甚。褒姒卻與權臣勾結，陰謀奪嫡，而幽王竟為了討美人歡心，便廢掉王后申后與太子宜臼母子，改封褒姒與其子伯服為王后和太子。宜臼逃奔申國。

周幽王十一年（前771年），周幽王被殺。申侯、繒侯及許文公，在申國擁立宜臼為周天子，即「周平王」。而虢公翰則在攜，擁立周幽王之弟姬余臣為周天子，即「攜王」（攜惠王），形成「二王並立」的局面。

周平王元年（前770年），由於鎬京在戰後已殘破不堪，宜臼為避犬戎，在晉國和鄭國的支持下遷都雒邑，史稱「平王東遷」。周朝至此以後，為史家稱作「東周」。

周平王二十一年（前750年），攜王被晉文侯所弒。周平王五十一年三月二十四日（前720年4月16日），周王宜臼去世，諡號平王。

評價

• 當時傳聞平王和母親申后因被其父周幽王廢掉後一直懷恨在心，故意聯合諸侯國繒和外族犬戎入宮殺害幽王和褒姒，然後即位為天子，故此周平王有弒父之嫌，亦令周朝的國勢一落千丈。除晉鄭二國之外，其餘諸侯認為宜臼有弒父之嫌疑，故都不再聽從天子，平王唯「晉、鄭是依」，勉強支運國勢，而造成春秋時代的開始。

家庭

• 父，周幽王

• 母，申后

子女

• 太子洩父：周平王太子，早逝。周桓王之父。

• 王子狐：公元前720年，鄭莊公怨王，王子狐作為與鄭國相互交換的人質。

• 周睿祖（存疑）：平王少子，武則天稱睿祖為自己武家先祖。

孫

• 林，即周桓王，太子洩父早逝，由其子繼位。

在位年與西曆對照表

影視作品

• 《東周列國春秋篇》由史忠紅飾演。

注釋

相關條目

• 周攜王

• 周幽王

• 春秋時代，始於周平王年間