WuwangWade-Giles romanization Wu-wang, Pinyin Wuwang (posthumous name, or shih), personal name (hsing-mingxingming) Chi Ji Fa  ( flourished 12th 11th century BC , Chinafounder  China reign name (nianhao) of the founder and first ruler (reigned 1111–1104 1046–43 BC) of the Chou Zhou dynasty (1111–255 1046–256 BC). He was regarded by later Confucians as a wise king.

Wu Ji Fa succeeded his father, the famous Wen-wangWenwang, as head of the semibarbaric state of ChouZhou, located on the western border of China. Wen Wenwang had assumed the title Hsi Po Xi Bo (“King of the West”) and had begun to plot against the Chinese Shang dynasty (18th–12th century c. 1600–1046 BC). Wu The Wuwang emperor continued his father’s work and formed a coalition with eight other border states, which defeated the evil last ruler of the Shang. The final battles were said to have been extremely bloody, and Shang survivors may well have served as Chinese culture bearers to places as far removed as Korea.

After establishing the Chou Zhou dynasty, WuWuwang, assisted by his brother, known as the duke of ChouZhou, consolidated his rule by establishing a feudalistic form of government, which parceled out territory to relatives and vassals willing to acknowledge Chou Zhou suzerainty. Even descendants of the defeated Shang were allowed to rule over a portion of their former domain.