the imperial dynasty of China from 1122 to 221 BC; notable for the rise of Confucianism and Taoism

Originally a vassal family of Shang China; possibly Turkic in origin; overthrew Shang and established second historical Chinese dynasty. (p. 66)

The zhōu (å·ž) was a historical political division of China. First established during the Han Dynasty, zhou continued to exist until the establishment of the Republic of China — a period of over 2000 years. "Zhou" were also used in Korea, with the word borrowed into the Korean language as ju (주).

Zhōu is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 周, which now ranks the 9th most common surname in Mainland China. It has been one of the most popular 10 surnames in China since the Yuan Dynasty.