Beginning of Zhou Dynasty

Considered the omen that “Heaven granted the Mandate” for the founding of the Zhou dynasty.

The Zhou were originally western vassals of the Shang. The Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) was China's longest-ruling dynasty, establishing foundational political and cultural ideas like the Mandate of Heaven (divine right to rule), which justified their overthrow of the Shang. Divided into Western Zhou (centralized rule) and Eastern Zhou (fractured into states: Spring & Autumn, Warring States periods), it saw major philosophical developments (Confucianism, Daoism), iron technology, and feudal systems, paving the way for imperial China.