A Primary Inquiry into the Chronology of Western Zhou after Gong-he Era and Eastern Zhou in Shiji

Based on an analysis of years and dates record ed in “chronology of the twelve vassals”,the 12 biographies of dukes and some of the “basic annals” in Shiji ,this paper shows that after the Gong he E ra and throughout the Eastern Zhou,the main way of calculating the year of a c ertain king or vassal is to calculate from the one following the death of his predecessor,while the subsidiary way is to calculate from the very year the ol d king died,and on some occasions,irregular method is also adopted.During the Sp ring and Autumn Period,calendars used by other States are largely identical bu t with minor differences to that used in State Lu,and the first month of a year may be the one containing or after winter solstice.Sima Qian's account of thos e chronologies and calendar dates is based on reliable historical materials such as Chunqiu Lipu Die ,so the chronology of Western Zhou after the Gon g he Era and that of the Eastern Zhou reconstructed by him is reliable on the whole,with only very low rate of errors.The year 841 BC,the first year of th e Gong he period,is an unshakable base point for calculation of the years both after it and before it.