After King Kang of Zhou, Ji Zhao, passed away, his son, Ji Xia, inherited the throne. This was King Zhao of Zhou, the fourth ruler of the Zhou Dynasty.
King Zhao of Zhou was a diligent monarch who was determined to carry forward the rule of Cheng and Kang. However, he did something wrong. For example, in the autumn and July of the 14th year of King Zhao of Zhou, there was a coup in the State of Lu. The younger brother of the Marquis of Lu, Ji Fei, killed his elder brother, Duke Ji Zai of Lu You, and seized the position of Marquis. He called himself the Duke of Wei. King Zhao of Zhou allowed such a treasonous act to happen, neither sending troops to attack nor denouncing him. As a result, the phenomenon of bullying the weak repeatedly occurred in the world, and the ritual and music system that Duke Dan of Zhou painstakingly established was brutally trampled by powerful people.
During the reign of King Zhao of Zhou, natural disasters also occurred. On the eighth day of the fourth month in the summer of the 14th year of King Zhao of Zhou (982 B.C.), an abnormal natural phenomenon suddenly appeared in Haojing (now Xi'an). The water in the river, well, spring, and pool rose at the same time. The water in the well actually overflowed out of the well, and then the palaces, houses, mountains, and rivers shook. This was probably due to an earthquake, but the ancients believed that the celestial phenomena and the human world were inside and outside, and that the lack of kingly way led to the phenomenon.
Therefore, people hated King Zhao of Zhou. According to Sima Qian's " Records of the Historian ", once, King Zhao of Zhou went to the south to patrol. People gave him a boat glued together and drowned him in the Han River.
After the death of King Zhao of Zhou, his son Ji Man inherited the throne. This was King Mu of Zhou. When King Mu of Zhou succeeded to the throne, he was already fifty years old. The country showed signs of decline. He believed that there were problems within the ruling class, so he ordered Bo Tong to restate the ruling norms to the court officials and warn them to manage the state affairs well. He wrote the "Tong Ming." He also appointed Marquis Lu as the commander of the army and ordered him to write "Lu Punishment," which was issued to the four quarters to rectify the world. The punishment book formulated five punishments, namely Mo, Mo, Bin, Gong and Da Pi, with as many as 3000 detailed rules. Under King Mu of Zhou's hard work, the world once again became peaceful, maintaining the prosperity of Chengkang.
King Mu of Zhou liked to travel far away. He drove a carriage pulled by eight thousand-li horses, brought seven teams of warriors selected, and carried a large number of treasures. He first traveled north to the territory of Mongolia today, then turned west and visited the famous mountains and rivers in Xinjiang today. It was said that there was an extremely beautiful Queen Mother of the West living in the Jade Pool of Kunlun Mountain. In the 13th to 17th year of King Mu of Zhou (963 - 959 B.C.), he chose an auspicious day to meet the Queen Mother of the West at Kunlun Mountain with precious white jade and beautiful silk. According to later generations, the Queen Mother of the West was in West Asia or Europe. People found murals of the Queen Mother of the West on the cliffs of Tianshan.
When the Queen Mother of the West learned that the emperor had come, she was overjoyed. She set up a sumptuous banquet by the Jade Pool to welcome this distinguished guest. They drank and chatted happily. The Queen Mother of the West sang a beautiful song for King Mu of Zhou."The white clouds are in the sky, and the mountains and mausoleums are out. The road is far away, surrounded by mountains and rivers. If you don't die, you can still come back." The gist of it was the love song that people were familiar with today: On the mountain where horses gallop, the clouds where horses gallop; Will you still come to see me again, you horse?
Faced with the Queen Mother of the West's deep affection, King Mu of Zhou could not forget the military affairs. He sang,"I will return to the East and rule the Xia. The people are fair, and I look back at you. In three years, I'll be back." What he meant was," I shoulder the heavy responsibility of governing the country. When I manage the country to be very rich and powerful, and the people live a happy and healthy life, I will come to see you. This will take three years. After three years, I'll come to the Jade Lake to spend some quality time with you.”
The Queen Mother of the West saw that it was difficult for King Mu of Zhou to stay, so she continued to sing,"I went to the west and lived in the wild. Tigers and leopards live in groups, and crows and magpies live together. If you don't change your destiny, I'll be the emperor's daughter. He Shimin is going to leave his son again. Play the sheng and drum, soar in the center. The son of Li Shimin is the hope of heaven." The gist of it was," Although there are many tigers and leopards in West Earth where I live, I am the daughter of the Celestial Emperor. I have to protect the land he gave me and cannot leave with you. In the future, we can miss each other from afar. If you don't forget me, I won't forget you.”
Good times were always short. King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West were having a good time when the battle report arrived. King Mu of Zhou traveled from Xi'an to Kunlun Mountain in a carriage pulled by eight thousand-li horses. It took him 542 days to travel. The person who delivered the battle report sped up and sent the battle report to King Mu of Zhou in less than a month. Where was there a war? King Mu of Zhou opened the battle report and read that the State of Xu (now Suqian City, Jiangsu Province) had rebelled. King Mu of Zhou said to the Queen Mother of the West,"I have to go back to quell the rebellion."”King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West reluctantly parted. King Mu of Zhou planted a locust tree on a mountain and wrote "The Mountain of the Queen Mother of the West" to commemorate his precious relationship with the Queen Mother of the West.
King Mu of Zhou put down the rebellion of Xu and returned to Haojing (now Xi'an). The Queen Mother of the West sent a precious jade (according to later generations, it might be Hetian jade) to remind him not to forget his original promise. However, not long after, King Mu of Zhou passed away. He failed to fulfill his promise to meet the Queen Mother of the West again. He died at the age of 105 and was buried in the south of Gongzhang Village, Guodu Street Office, Chang 'an District, Xi'an. This was the tomb of King Mu of Zhou.
The story of King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West was passed down by later generations. The Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin wrote a poem about it:
Jade pool mother's window opened, yellow bamboo song moved the ground sad.
Eight horses travel 30,000 miles a day. Why didn't King Mu come again?
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