father of Ji Fa (the Wuwang emperor), the founder of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) and one of the sage rulers regarded by Confucian historians as a model king.

Wen was the ruler of Zhou, one of the semibarbaric states on the western frontier of China, long a battleground between the civilized Chinese and nomadic invaders. At some point he had assumed the title Xi Bo (“King of the West”) and had begun to threaten the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). Soon thereafter he was captured and imprisoned by Zhou (or Zi Zhou), the last Shang ruler. During the three years of his imprisonment, according to tradition, he wrote the Confucian Classic Yijing (“Book of Changes”); the eight trigrams (bagua) on which the Yijing divinations are based, however, were probably conceived much earlier.

Wenwang gained his freedom when the people of Zhou paid a ransom of a beautiful girl, a fine horse, and four chariots. He returned to Zhou, where he spent the rest of his life remonstrating against the cruelty and corruption of his age. Upon his death, his son and successor, Ji Fa, destroyed the Shang and founded the Zhou dynasty.