The Communists , under the eventual command Control of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai , escaped Escaping in a circling Self_motion retreat Escaping to the west and north , which reportedly traversed Motion_directional over 9,000 kilometers ( 5600 miles ) over 370 days .

The Rebellion of the Three Guards ( ) , or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion , was a civil war , instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes , Shang loyalists , vassal states and non-Chinese peoples against the Zhou government under the Duke of Zhou 's regency in the latter 11th century BC .

The Rebellion of the Three Guards ( ) , or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion , was a civil war , instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes , Shang loyalists , vassal states and non-Chinese peoples against the Zhou government under the Duke of Zhou 's regency in the latter 11th century BC .

The Rebellion of the Three Guards ( ) , or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion , was a civil war , instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes , Shang loyalists , vassal states and non-Chinese peoples against the Zhou government under the Duke of Zhou 's regency in the latter 11th century BC .

After the fall of the Shang dynasty , King Wu of Zhou had appointed Request his brothers Guanshu , Caishu and Huoshu as the `` Three Guards '' of the East to secure the newly conquered Shang lands .

After his death and his young son King Cheng 's coronation , King Wu 's brother Dan , the Duke of Zhou , declared Expressing_publicly himself regent and took over Change_of_leadership the court .

Allied with many separatist eastern nobles , Shang loyalists under Prince Wu Geng , and several Dongyi ( 東夷 ) and Huaiyi ( 淮夷 ) states , they rose Cause_to_make_progress in rebellion against the Duke of Zhou .

In doing so , he also further expanded Expansion the Zhou kingdom into eastern China , transforming it into an empire using the new Fengjian system .

Edward L. Shaughnessy called Name_conferral the rebellion `` a succession crisis that has come to be seen as defining moment not only for the Western Zhou dynasty but for the entire history of Chinese statecraft '' .