Editing Zhou dynasty (section)

====Traditional myth====
According to [[Chinese mythology#Shang dynasty|Chinese mythology]], the Zhou lineage began when [[Jiang Yuan]], a consort of the legendary [[Emperor Ku]], [[miraculous births|miraculously conceived]] a child, [[Hou Ji|Qi]] "the Abandoned One", after stepping into the divine footprint of [[Shangdi]].<ref name="ode2ji">'"Major Hymns - Decade of the Birth of Our People - [https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/sheng-min Birth of Our People]"</ref><ref name="eb">"Hou Ji". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> Qi was a [[culture hero]] credited with surviving abandonment by his mother three times, and with greatly improving agriculture,<ref name="ode2ji"/> to the point where he was granted lordship over [[Tai (city)|Tai]], the [[Chinese surname|surname]] [[Ji (Zhou dynasty ancestral surname)|Ji]], and the title [[Houji]] "Lord of [[Millet]]", by the [[Emperor Shun]].{{sfn|''Records of the Grand Historian''|loc="Annals of Zhou", [https://ctext.org/shiji/zhou-ben-ji#n4578 §3]{{pb}}{{lang|lzh|帝舜曰：「棄，黎民始饑，爾后稷播時百穀。」封棄於邰，號曰后稷，別姓姬氏。}}{{pb}}"Emperor Shun said, 'Qi, the black-haired people begin to be famished. Do you, Lord of Millet, sow in their seasons the various kinds of grain.' He enfeoffed Qi at Tai; [Qi's] title was Lord of Millet; and his distinctive surname was Ji."}} He even received sacrifice as a [[Agriculture (Chinese mythology)|harvest god]]. The term ''Houji'' was probably a hereditary title attached to a lineage.

[[Buzhu]]—Qi's son, or rather that of the ''Houji''—is said to have abandoned his position as Agrarian Master ({{zhi|t=農師|p=Nóngshī}}) in old age and either he or his son [[Ji Ju|Ju]] abandoned their tradition, living in the manner of the [[Xirong]] and [[Rongdi]] (see [[Hua–Yi distinction]]).{{sfn|''Records of the Grand Historian''|loc="Annals of Zhou", [http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=4579&remap=gb §3]}} Ju's son [[Gong Liu|Liu]],{{sfnp|Wu|1982|p=235}} however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called [[Bin (city)|Bin]],{{efn|The exact location of Bin remains obscure, but it may have been close to [[Linfen]] on the [[Fen River]] in present-day [[Shanxi]].{{sfnmp|Shaughnessy|1999|1p=303|Wu|1982|2p=273}}}} which [[Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors#Zhou|his descendants]] ruled for generations. [[King Tai of Zhou|Tai]] later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the [[Wei River]] valley (modern [[Qishan County]]).

The duke passed over his two elder sons [[Taibo of Wu|Taibo]] and [[Zhongyong of Wu|Zhongyong]] to favor the younger [[King Ji of Zhou|Jili]], a warrior in his own right. As a vassal of the Shang kings [[Wu Yi of Shang|Wu Yi]] and [[Wen Ding]], Jili went to conquer several [[Xirong]] tribes before being treacherously killed by Shang forces. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly already fled to the Yangtze delta, where they established the [[Wu (state)|state of Wu]] among the tribes there. Jili's son [[King Wen of Zhou|Wen]] bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to [[Fenghao|Feng]] (present-day [[Xi'an]]). Around 1046&nbsp;BC, Wen's son [[King Wu of Zhou|Wu]] and his ally [[Jiang Ziya]] led an army of 45,000 men and 300 [[chariot (China)|chariots]] across the [[Yellow River]] and defeated [[King Zhou of Shang]] at the [[Battle of Muye]], marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty.{{efn|Sima Qian was only able to establish historical dates after the time of the Gonghe Regency. Earlier dates, like that of 1046&nbsp;BC for the Battle of Muye, are given in this article according to the Chinese government–sponsored [[Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project]], but they remain contentious. Various historians have offered dates for the battle ranging between 1122 and 1027&nbsp;BC.}} The Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of [[Song (state)|Song]], which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as {{ill|Er Wang San Ke|zh|二王三恪}}.