周文王 / King Wen of Zhou
周文王 / King Wen of Zhou enters this wiki through 《资治通鉴·秦纪》102-1｜吕不韦是姜子牙后人？ as the ruler whose recognition turns 姜太公 / 姜子牙 from an obscure old man into the key adviser of the Zhou founding branch. The episode calls him 西伯侯姬昌 and says he divines before hunting, then encounters Jiang Taigong fishing on the north bank of the Wei River.
The source uses the meeting to explain both political recognition and delayed opportunity. Wenwang reads Jiang Taigong as the awaited talent promised by the omen, brings him back in the same carriage, honors him as 太师, and makes him the chief adviser behind Zhou’s rise. In the episode’s life-course reading, Wenwang is the outside recognizer who lets 大器晚成式人才显现 become historically effective.
The same episode also links Wenwang to 《周易》占卜. It says he systematizes inherited Yi traditions into sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred eighty-four lines, and attaches his final instruction, the Bao Xun, to a “中” or middle-way idea that later Confucian interpretation can connect with Zhongyong language. This is source-scoped intellectual background, not a full textual history of the Zhouyi.
Connections
- 姜太公 / 姜子牙 - late-recognized adviser whom he brings into Zhou service.
- 周武王 - successor whose conquest of Shang is prepared by Wenwang’s recognition of Jiang Taigong.
- 周王室 - dynastic frame created by the Zhou founding branch.
- 大器晚成式人才显现 - life-course concept grounded in the Jiang Taigong meeting.
- 《周易》占卜, 文王官人法, and Zhongyong Self - adjacent Yi, personnel-assessment, and middle-way concepts already present in the wiki.
- 芮淇讲透资治通鉴 - show context for the source-scoped retelling.