In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, Duke Zhou started building Luoyi in the fifth year of his rule as regent. In the seventh
year of Duke Zhou's rule, the city took shape. People of the time called it“Xinyi”(the new
capital). Two chapters in Shang Shu(The Book og History),“Zhao Gao”(召诰)and“Luo Gao”(洛诰), record Duke Zhao and Duke Zhou's choosing a house site in the newly built city in the seventh year of Duke Zhou's rule. They were in fact choosing a site to build the royal palace for King
Cheng. In the same year, Duke Zhou returned the power to King Cheng. The latter held a great ceremony of sacrificing in the new capital. That is what is called“Yuan Si”(the first sacrifice) in historical records. The inscriptions on the He zun-vessel record the events of the fifth year of the reign of King Cheng, when the royal palace was completed in Luoyi, and King Cheng moved the capital there. Luoyi was also called Chengzhou thenceforth. The“Wangcheng”(capital city) of the Western Zhou located on the southern bank of the Hanhe River, recorded in documents after the Han Dynasty, did not exist in the Western Zhou, nor did its name. Chengzhou was on the Chan River, to the north of the Luo River. As the sacrificing center and political center of the Western Zhou, it was more important than Zongzhou in military and political terms.