The Zhou Shu is the official history of the Northern Zhou dynasty. It was compiled under the Tang. For the Göktürks it is the single most important Chinese source. It contains the principal and earliest account of the First Göktürk Khaganate.[1]
Göktürk chapter
Juan 50 is the chapter on the peoples beyond the frontier. It contains the Göktürk account. It gives the Ashina origin narratives and the association of the clan with metalworking. It names the father Tuwu. It reports the embassy of 545 and the campaign against the Tiele in 546. It then tells of the refused marriage and gives Anagui’s answer in direct speech. It ends with the war of 552 and the assumption of the title Illig Khan.[1]
Biography of Yuwen Ce
Juan 27 is the biography of Yuwen Ce. It stands apart from the Göktürk chapters. It records the raid of 542 from a Chinese provincial perspective.[2] This is the only place where that episode is reported. It names no Göktürk commander. The attribution of the raid to Bumin is therefore an inference.
The Zhou Shu contains both a frontier account and a provincial biography. The two are not independent of one another in transmission. They were, however, written from different vantage points and for different purposes. That difference bears on the weight each can carry.
Dependence on other works
Of the Zhou Shu, the Sui Shu, the Bei Shi and the Zizhi tongjian, the Zhou Shu is the earliest. It depends on none of the other three. The Bei Shi draws substantially on it. The Zizhi tongjian, in turn, compiles from it. Where the four works report the same thing, that counts as one line of transmission, not four.
Perspective
The work was compiled roughly eighty-four years after Bumin’s death. It was written at a court whose predecessors had dealt with the Göktürks, by turns, as rivals and as allies. In places, it draws the Göktürks in a diminishing light. That is the view of the source, not a finding.
Bibliographical details
The dynastic histories are cited by chapter, not by page.
The passage
突厥者，蓋匈奴之別種，姓阿史那氏。
別為部落。
後為鄰國所破，盡滅其族。
有一兒，年且十歲，兵人見其小，不忍殺之，乃刖其足，棄草澤中。
有牝狼以肉飼之，及長，與狼合，遂有孕焉。
彼王聞此兒尚在，重遣殺之。
使者見狼在側，並欲殺狼。
狼遂逃于高昌國之北山。
山有洞穴，穴內有平壤茂草，周回數百里，四面俱山。
狼匿其中，遂生十男。
十男長大，外託妻孕，其後各有一姓，阿史那即一也。
子孫蕃育，漸至數百家。
經數世，相與出穴，臣於茹茹。
居金山之陽，為茹茹鐵工。
金山形似兜鍪，其俗謂兜鍪為「突厥」，遂因以為號焉。
The Göktürks were, it seems, a separate branch of the Xiongnu, and their family name was Ashina.
They lived apart, as a tribe of their own.
Later a neighbouring state defeated them and destroyed their whole clan.
There was one boy, nearly ten years old. When the soldiers saw how small he was, they could not bear to kill him. So they cut off his feet and threw him into a marsh overgrown with grass.
A she-wolf fed him with meat. When he had grown up, he mated with the wolf, and she became pregnant.
When the king of that state heard that the boy was still alive, he sent men again to kill him.
The envoys saw the wolf at his side and wanted to kill the wolf as well.
So the wolf fled to the mountain north of the kingdom of Gaochang.
The mountain had a cave. Inside the cave was level ground with thick grass, several hundred li around, with mountains on all four sides.
The wolf hid in it and bore ten sons.
When the ten sons had grown up, they took wives from outside, and the wives became pregnant. After that each of them had a family name of his own, and Ashina was one of them.
Their descendants multiplied and in time grew to several hundred households.
After several generations they left the cave together and became subjects of the Rouran.
They lived on the south side of the Golden Mountain and worked as iron smiths for the Rouran.
The Golden Mountain is shaped like a helmet. In their speech a helmet is called “Tujue”, and so they took this as their name.
References
Drawn on by
Bei Shi · Tongdian · Zizhi tongjian
Articles resting on this source 239
Abangbu · Afu River · Altai · Amrak · An Nuopantuo · Anagui · Ancestor Cult · Animism · Anluochen · Archaeogenetics of the Steppe Empires · Army of the Steppe Empires · Asena the She-Wolf (Gök Börü) · Ashina · Avars · Axian Shad · Ay Ata · Baidie Cotton · Battle of Bukhara · Battle of Dzungaria, 552 · Battle of Huaihuang, 552 · Battle of Mount Mulai (553) · Beihai · Berel · Bloomery Furnaces of the South Altai · Bodeng Ningli · Border Markets · Böri (Guard) · Börü Khan · Buddhism among the Göktürks · Bugut inscription · Bumin Khan · Burial and the balbal · Captives and the Unfree · Cave of the ancestors · Chanyu · Chinese transcriptions of Turkic · Chuzhe River · Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires · Culture of the Turkic Peoples · Daxi Wu · Death of Princess Dayi · Defeat of the Tiele, 546 · Dengzhu · Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires · Dochia · Drums and Banners for the Khans · Dujin Garrison · Dzungaria · Eastern Wei · Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou · Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi · Empress Ashina · Envoys and Embassies · Eurasian Nomads · Farming and Taxes in Gaochang · Felt · Fire Worship · First Göktürk Khaganate · Fulin Khan · Funeral of Istemi (576) · Gao Huan · Göktürk Dress and Hair · Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road · Göktürk Face-Cutting · Göktürk Games · Göktürk Ironworking · Göktürk raid of 542 · Göktürk Succession Crisis (581) · Göktürk Weapons · Göktürk–Wei Campaign against Tuyuhun (556) · Göktürks · Grape Wine in Central Asia · Hegemony Wars in Northern China · Hephthalites · History of the Turkic peoples · Honour of Death in Battle · Horse and Camel Races at the Xiongnu Sacrifices · Horse Sacrifice · Horses in Göktürk Law · Hu · Huaihuang · Hunting among the Göktürks · Illig · Ishbara Khan · Issik Khan · Istemi · Iye · Jian River · Jiaohe · Jinyang · Jinyang campaign, 563–564 · Jiuquan · Kam (Turkic Shaman) · Karashahr · Katun · Khan (Khagan) · Khitan · Kirghiz Iron and Gold · Kün Tengri · Lesser Khan · Levirate · Li Chengqian's Göktürk Camp · Liaohai · Luntai · Mayi · Mount Jiansi Chuzheshi · Mount Mulai · Mukan Khan · Mukan's Destruction of Dengshuzi (553–555) · Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars · Mumocheng · Music of Empress Ashina (568) · Nadulu Shad · Northern Qi · Northern Wei · Northern Zhou · Old Turkic · Ordos · Ordu · Ötüken · Pingliang · Post and Communication · Princess Changle · Princess Qianjin · Proclamation of Bumin Khan (552) · Procopius · Raiding at the Full Moon · Raising on the Felt · Raw Materials and Trade among the Turkic Peoples · Riding Round the Dead · Rise of Anagui Khan · Rouran · Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples · Rouran Khaganate · Sacred Mountains · Sacrifice and the year · Salt among the Turkic Peoples · Sasanian Persia · Scapulimancy · Seasonal Pastures · Shad · Shamanism · Shanshan · Sheep · Shiboqu Azhan · Sifa · Silifa · Silk in the Steppe · Six Garrisons · Sogdiana · Sogdians · Soul Words · Steppe Diet · Stone Figures · Sui · Suo · Taizong's Speech on the Signs of Ruin (628) · Tally Sticks and the Golden Arrow · Taren River · Tarim Basin · Taspar Khan · Taspar's Appointment of the Lesser Khans (572) · Tegin · Tengri · Tengrism · The Bargain with Mukan (562–563) · The Chile Song · The Economy of the Steppe Empires · The Flight of the Ashina (439) · The Gaoche Wedding · The Göktürk Civil War · The Göktürk–Hephthalite war, 555–563 · The Göktürk–Rouran Wars · The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict · The Göktürk–Wei alliance · The Göktürk–Zhou alliance · The Göktürks and the Xiongnu · The Great Empires of the Steppe · The making of Tengrism · The Marriage of Princess Qianjin (580) · The New Year on the Steppe · The Old Turkic script · The origin of the Avars · The origin of the Old Turkic script · The origin of the title Khan · The Qi Court in Exile (577–580) · The Qi March to Shuozhou (553) · The Qingmen Executions (555) · The Raid on Youzhou (578) · The Rouran Marriage Refusal (546) · The Rouran–Wei wars, 402–449 · The Siege of Jiuquan (578) · The Sogdian language · The three worlds · The Three Xiongnu Assemblies · The Turkic ethnogenesis debate · The Turkic War of Independence · The twelve-year animal cycle · The Twenty-Eight Ranks · The Woye and Luoyang Campaign (564) · The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 · Tiele · Töre · Töremen Apa · Toy · Trade Routes of the Steppe · Tribute Missions and Bestowals · Tudun · Tuğ · Tuoba · Turkic Mythology · Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis · Tuwu · Tuyuhun · Ülgen and Kayra Khan · Ulukayın (Turkic World Tree) · Warfare of the Steppe Empires · Water Cult · Wei Jie · Western Göktürk Khaganate · Western Wei · Western Wei embassy of 545 · Women among the Turkic Peoples · Woye · Xihai · Xing Ridge · Xiongnu · Yabgu · Yada Stone · Yang Zhong · Yenisei Kirghiz · Yenisei Kirghiz Khaganate · Yer-Su Spirits · Yinghefu · Yizhi Nishidu · Youzhou · Yujiulü · Yuwen Hu · Yuwen Tai
What links here139
- Persons
- Abangbu · An Nuopantuo · Anluochen · Axian Shad · Börü Khan · Dengzhu · Empress Ashina · Mukan Khan · Nadulu Shad · Princess Qianjin · Shiboqu Azhan · Silifa · Tuwu · Yizhi Nishidu · Yuwen Tai
- States
- First Göktürk Khaganate · Northern Zhou · Rouran Khaganate · Shanshan · Suo · Western Wei · Xiongnu
- Conflicts
- Hegemony Wars in Northern China · Mukan's Eastern and Northern Wars · Rouran Domination of the Turkic Peoples · The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict · The Turkic War of Independence
- Battles & Events
- Battle of Bukhara · Battle of Dzungaria, 552 · Battle of Huaihuang, 552 · Battle of Mount Mulai (553) · Funeral of Istemi (576) · Göktürk raid of 542 · Göktürk–Wei Campaign against Tuyuhun (556) · Li Chengqian's Göktürk Camp · Music of Empress Ashina (568) · Proclamation of Bumin Khan (552) · Taizong's Speech on the Signs of Ruin (628) · Taspar's Appointment of the Lesser Khans (572) · The Bargain with Mukan (562–563) · The Flight of the Ashina (439) · The Marriage of Princess Qianjin (580) · The Qi Court in Exile (577–580) · The Qingmen Executions (555) · The Raid on Youzhou (578) · The Rouran Marriage Refusal (546) · The Siege of Jiuquan (578) · The Woye and Luoyang Campaign (564)
- Places
- Afu River · Altai · Beihai · Bodeng Ningli · Chuzhe River · Dujin Garrison · Dzungaria · Huaihuang · Jian River · Jiuquan · Liaohai · Mayi · Mount Jiansi Chuzheshi · Mount Mulai · Mumocheng · Ordos · Ötüken · Pingliang · Taren River · Tarim Basin · Xihai · Xing Ridge · Youzhou
- Peoples
- Hephthalites · Sogdians · Tuyuhun · Wusun
- Lineages
- Ashina
- Institutions and Titles
- Border Markets · Böri (Guard) · Drums and Banners for the Khans · Fulin Khan · Göktürk Dress and Hair · Göktürk Ironworking · Göktürk Weapons · Honour of Death in Battle · Illig · Levirate · Raw Materials and Trade among the Turkic Peoples · Shad · Sifa · Silk in the Steppe · Tally Sticks and the Golden Arrow · Tegin · The Economy of the Steppe Empires · The twelve-year animal cycle · The Twenty-Eight Ranks · Töre · Tudun · Yabgu
- Religions
- Ancestor Cult · Asena the She-Wolf (Gök Börü) · Burial and the balbal · Dochia · Fire Worship · Göktürk Face-Cutting · Horse Sacrifice · Kam (Turkic Shaman) · Raiding at the Full Moon · Raising on the Felt · Riding Round the Dead · Sacrifice and the year · Tengri · The three worlds · Turkic Mythology · Ulukayın (Turkic World Tree) · Water Cult · Yer-Su Spirits
- Languages
- Old Turkic · The Old Turkic script · The Sogdian language
- Customs & Pastimes
- Hunting among the Göktürks · The Gaoche Wedding · The New Year on the Steppe · The Three Xiongnu Assemblies
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou).” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/sources/zhoushu/
Last revised: 8 November 2026
