周幽王 / King You of Zhou

Overview

周幽王 / King You of Zhou is the Western Zhou crisis ruler who appears in the wiki through a Qin-origin digression and a later 褒姒 legend episode. He marks the collapse context that lets 秦襄公 aid Zhou and later receive recognition from 周平王.

Current Profile

The current profile is deliberately source-bounded. In the Qin-origin branch, Zhou Youwang is the crisis-era ruler whose fall gives 秦国 an opportunity to move from attached fief toward recognized regional power through Qin Xiang Gong’s service and Zhou Pingwang’s later grants.

The Bao Si episode adds a reception-heavy version: Zhou Youwang attacks Bao in 779 BCE, receives Bao Si, tries to make her smile through the beacon-fire story, and is killed near Lishan in 771 BCE after Shen Hou, Quanrong, and Zeng attack. Because the episode itself warns that Bao Si’s supernatural biography is myth-like, Zhou Youwang’s page preserves the collapse narrative without making Bao Si’s smile a complete causal explanation.

Key Characteristics

• Western Zhou end-crisis ruler whose fall becomes a hinge for later Qin recognition.
• Narrative partner to Bao Si in the famous beacon-fire and “一笑亡国” tradition.
• Ruler whose failure is remembered through both military-political collapse and moralized court legend.
• Source-bounded figure where the Bao Si material needs myth-and-reception qualification.

Evidence

Qin recognition hinge:

• 《资治通鉴·周纪》10丨 以家族单位 有蚂蚁吃大象的精神（1） says 秦襄公 aided Zhou during the Zhou Youwang crisis and that 周平王 later rewarded Qin with rank and western land claims.

Bao Si legend:

• 《资治通鉴·汉纪》601-2丨烽火戏诸侯：一笑天下亡，褒姒是何方“妖孽”？ retells the story in which Zhou Youwang uses beacon fires to amuse Bao Si and loses vassal rescue credibility.

Military-political collapse:

• 《资治通鉴·汉纪》601-2丨烽火戏诸侯：一笑天下亡，褒姒是何方“妖孽”？ says Shen Hou, Quanrong, and Zeng attack in 771 BCE, Zhou Youwang dies at Lishan, Western Zhou ends, and Bao Si is taken away.

Myth-and-reception qualification:

• 《资治通鉴·汉纪》601-2丨烽火戏诸侯：一笑天下亡，褒姒是何方“妖孽”？ explicitly warns that the supernatural Bao Si origin story should not be treated as literal history.

Qualifications

The page does not yet synthesize a full account of Western Zhou’s fall. Shen Hou, Quanrong, Zeng, Bao, and the historicity of the beacon-fire story remain source-scoped here.

What Changed

• Migrated the page to synthesis-v1 using its existing Zhouji 10 source plus Hanji 601-2.
• Added Bao Si and beacon-fire reception while qualifying the “一笑亡国” causal shortcut.

Relationships

• 褒姒 - consort-linked figure in the beacon-fire and collapse tradition.
• 周王室 - dynasty whose Western Zhou authority collapses in the source frame.
• 秦襄公 - Qin ruler whose aid during the crisis supports later Qin recognition.
• 周平王 - successor who grants Qin rank and western claims.
• Kinship Legitimacy Diplomacy / 同源合法性外交 - later interpretation built from Zhou-Qin ties.
• 女性亡国归咎叙事 - reception pattern that turns Bao Si into a collapse explanation.