From a small barbarian state to a vassal overlord The rise and fall of the Chu State for eight hundr

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-02

In order to gain the recognition and acceptance of the Central Plains culture, they resolutely participated in the warrior king's war, even at the expense of the head of the tribe, but they were forgotten when they were divided, frustrated but never gave up, until they obtained a small viscount's fief, but even if they obtained the title? Or have been despised by the Central Plains for a long time, angry they are determined to be self-reliant, speak with their own strength, and under the silent cultivation of several generations, they have become the overlords of the princes, dominating the south, this is the state of Chu, a nation that worships the god of fire Zhurong.

Eight hundred years of the state of Chu.

Legend has it that the Chu people are the descendants of the fire god Zhu Rong, Zhu Rong is the fire master of the Yan Emperor, who mastered fire in ancient times, and they themselves say that they are the descendants of one of the three emperors and five emperors, so the Chu people are actually the descendants of the Chinese nation, but they have not been accepted and recognized by the Central Plains Dynasty for a long time, and have been continuously expelled and forced to move south.

The Chu people are a people who worship fire.

In the Book of Songs, Shang Song, the merchants called them "the Yi of Nanxiang", regarded them as barbarians, and constantly crusaded, especially when the Shang king Wuding went deep into the southern region many times, expelled and attacked the ancestors of the Chu people, and asked them to regularly contribute tribute to the Great Shang like other barbarian tribes, at this time the Shang Dynasty was strong, and the ancestors of the Chu people could only bow down to the vassals, and there was no other choice, but they were very eager to be accepted by the Central Plains in their hearts, because they were also the descendants of Huaxia.

Forced to move south. In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, the king of Shang was extravagant, and the Zhou people saw an opportunity to lead other vassal states to rebel against the rule of the Shang Dynasty, and the leader of the Chu people, Mane Xiong, felt that this was an opportunity for their tribe to be accepted, and defected to King Wen of Zhou, after all, they waited for hundreds of years to change the fate of the tribe, and Mane Xiong was also the ** of the "Chu" of the "Chu people", when he married a strong wife, but she was pregnant and broke her abdomen because of dystocia, under the conditions of thousands of years ago, Yan Li and the child could only keep one, after Yan Li's death, The sorcerers of the tribe wrapped her belly with wattle sticks and buried her.

Later, in order to commemorate his wife and thank her for her contribution to the birth of offspring, Mane Bear changed his tribe to "Chu", the so-called "Chu" is the meaning of Jingtiao, which is also the origin of the Chu people.

King Wu of Zhou, Mane Bear and other tribes fought against the Shang Dynasty, but unfortunately, Mane Bear failed to see the day of victory, died young in King Wu's war, the battle of Muye, the Zhou people overthrew the rule of the Shang Dynasty in one fell swoop, established the Zhou Dynasty, and divided the various tribes, and the various tribes in the war were rewarded, except for the Chu people.

The Western Zhou Dynasty was mainly a feudal state.

In order to be accepted by the Central Plains Dynasty, the Chu people gave everything they had and even their own tribal leaders, but in the eyes of the Zhou Dynasty, the Chu people were just a barbarian tribe, and they did their best to divide the land, which was tantamount to a fool's dream, and it was a major blow to the Chu people who wanted to integrate into the Central Plains.

With the stability of the Zhou Dynasty's rule, King Zhou Cheng began to think of the conscientious Chu people in the war, in order to thank the Chu people for their contribution to the Shang Dynasty's war, King Zhou Cheng gave Xiong Xiong's grandson Xiong Yi as the viscount, the viscount belonged to the lowest kind under the Zhou Dynasty's feudal system, second only to the viscount is the only baron Xu Guo of the Zhou Dynasty.

The state of Chu was founded. According to the regulations, the viscount's fief is only fifty miles in radius, which is about the size of a village now, but it is enough for the Chu people, because they have paid a huge sacrifice to obtain this title, even if it is a viscount, it is worth it, this Chu people who have wandered for hundreds of years and are regarded as barbarians have finally been officially recognized by the Central Plains Dynasty, the Chu people have finally established the country, and the Chu State was born.

After the state of Chu, the territory was too small, and it was all barren land, very poor, and even at the beginning of the founding of the country, the poor did not even have sacrificial cattle, so they had to go to the neighboring country to steal a calf, because they were afraid of finding out, and only dared to secretly sacrifice at night, Xiong Yi saw that the state of Chu was so poor, and vowed to lead the state of Chu to become strong.

Although King Cheng of Zhou made the Chu people a vassal state, but the Chu state, as a barbarian, was still despised by the Central Plains Dynasty, and the angry Chu people decided not to blindly please the Zhou royal family, and their own strength is fundamental, and the Chu people have lived in the south for a long time, where there are many ethnic groups, and the martial style prevails, and the Chu people have also developed a brave and aggressive style, constantly expanding their territory and strengthening their strength.

King Zhao of Zhou set out on an expedition.

As the state of Chu continued to grow stronger, and refused to pay tribute to the Zhou dynasty, which angered King Zhao of Zhou, the prince of Zhou Zhao led six divisions to crusade against the state of Chu, the second monarch of the state of Chu Xiong Ai led the people of Chu to resist, but did not expect that although the Zhou royal family is the lord of the world, it took eight years to attack the state of Chu, and failed to succeed in defeating it, but the Chu people won a complete victory, the army of the Zhou Dynasty was defeated, and the king of Zhou Zhao also drowned in the river, King Zhao of Zhou's crusade against the state of Chu marked the complete break between the state of Chu and the Central Plains dynasty, and the monarch of the state of Chu began to stand on his own to challenge the authority of the emperor of Zhou.

When Xiong Qu, the sixth monarch of Chu State, was in power, Chu State was further developed, he took advantage of the weakness of the Zhou royal family and the turmoil in the Central Plains, continued to expand the territory, attacked the surrounding Yongguo, Yangyue, and E, and pushed the power of Chu to the Jianghan Plain, Chu State began to gradually prosper, with its own strength, Xiong Qu made his three sons kings, of which the eldest son Xiong Kang was the king of Ju Kang, the second son Xiong Zhihong was the king of E, and the younger son Xiong Zhifeng was the king of Yuezhang, and the purpose of the king was to challenge the authority of the Zhou royal family. Since you look down on me, then I will call the king and you on an equal footing, this is also the first time that the Chu State wants to break away from the rule of the Zhou Dynasty, but at this time the Zhou Dynasty is still the era of the co-lord of the world, in order to prevent the Zhou Dynasty from continuing the crusade, Xiong Qu canceled the king's title of his sons.

Attack the state of Chu. Although Xiong Qu canceled the king's title, but the Zhou Dynasty still did not intend to let them go, King Xuan of Zhou ascended the throne and attacked the State of Chu again, this time the State of Chu failed to resist successfully, and was defeated by the Zhou royal family, and even the most important sacrificial bronze that symbolized the status of the princes was taken away, and was rewarded by King Xuan of Zhou to the then King of Jin Muhou, the monarch of the State of Jin, which was a great shame for the State of Chu, of course, the State of Chu failed to destroy the country, because after that, the Western Zhou Dynasty was destroyed by the dogs, and the newly enthroned King Ping of Zhou was forced to move east to Luoyang, At this point, history has entered the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

After King Zhou Ping moved eastward, the Zhou royal family declined, prestige gradually lost, the various vassal states began to conquer each other, the world entered an era of chaos, in the early Spring and Autumn Period, although the Chu State occupied the Jianghan Plain, but there were still other vassal states in the Jianghan region, in order to have a stable rear, the seventeenth generation of the Chu State Xiong Tong began to fight everywhere after ascending the throne, the first to destroy was the right country in the west of the Chu State, after the destruction of the right country, the threat of the Chu State in the west of the Han State was solved, Subsequently, the state of Chu targeted the most powerful and copper-rich state in the Jianghan region.

Destroy the power first. For Suiguo, Xiong Tong regarded it as the most important place to intervene in the Central Plains order, first let Suiguo submit, and then in the sixteenth year of King Huan of Zhou (704 BC), he proclaimed himself King of Chu, which was also the first vassal state to be called king in the Spring and Autumn Period, which also meant that the Chu State officially broke away from the Central Plains order dominated by the Zhou royal family, Xiong Tong was the famous King of Chu Wu in the future, and the Queen of Chu was called the queen, and in Shen Lu would ally the princes of Jianghan and rebuild the order of the south as the overlord of Jianghan, but the surrendered Suiguo failed to come, and King Wu of Chu went directly to Suiguo, The complete destruction of Suiguo and the acquisition of copper mines in Suiguo meant that the hegemony of the Jiang and Han dynasties of Chu was officially determined.

Destroy the country. However, there are always people who disagree with the state of Chu, in the forty years of King Wu of Chu (700 years ago), the state of Yun instigated the rebellion of Zhou, hanging, and Tate, and King Wu of Chu went out to quell the rebellion, and this also made the hegemony of Jianghan of Chu completely stable, and the Jianghan region became the most stable rear of Chu.

After the death of King Wu of Chu, King Wen of Chu inherited his career and continued to expand the territory of Chu, this time, King Wen of Chu aimed at Shen and Xi, Shen was the key place for Chu to go north to the Central Plains, and to seize this is to open up the passage of Chu to the north of the Central Plains, and can also use this to enter the Huai River valley eastward, to compete for hegemony, King Wen of Chu just ascended the throne and destroyed Shen Guo, which shows his desire for here, after destroying Shen Guo, and destroying the adjacent Deng State, so that Shen and Chu are connected.

After seizing Shendi, King Wen of Chu took advantage of the contradiction between Cai and Xi to destroy Xi and seize the second northward front line of Chu, and it was also from this time that the Jianghan region of Chu was completely stabilized, and the expansion direction of Chu began to Huaibei and Huaihe River Valley, making it possible for Chu to win the hegemony of the Central Plains, and established the Shenxi Division here, which became the sharp blade of Chu to expand its territory.

In the era of King Chu Cheng after King Wen of Chu, he began to try to go north to the Central Plains, King Cheng of Chu first attacked Zheng three times, trying to use Zheng as a breakthrough to establish the Central Plains order dominated by Chu, Chu's behavior caused the vigilance of the overlord of the Central Plains at that time, Qi Huan Gong led the princes to attack Chu, forcing Chu to reach an alliance of Zhaoling, restricting the development of Chu to the north, of course, Chu's own strength was not damaged, and it also made King Chu Cheng realize that it was not the right time to enter the Central Plains at this time, and began to turn his attention to the east.

Subsequently, King Cheng of Chu successively eliminated the three kingdoms of Xian, Huang, and Ying, and expanded his power to the middle reaches of the Huai River, and the speed of the advance caught many princes off guard.

Expansion of the state of Chu.

On the other hand, after the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the State of Qi fell into civil strife, and the order of the Central Plains established by Duke Huan of Qi began to gradually disintegrate, which also made King Cheng of Chu realize that the time had come to fight for hegemony, and defeated another overlord Song Xianggong in Hongshui, and then defeated Chen State, and the entire Huaibei Plain completely fell into the hands of Chu State, and King Cheng of Chu also initially established the Central Plains order dominated by Chu State.

The territory of the Chu State in the early Spring and Autumn Period.

However, at this time, the princes of the Central Plains competed for hegemony, and the Chu State was constantly challenged by the Song State and the Qi State, especially the Jin State, during the reign of Jin Wengong, the Chu State launched a major war with the Chu State in Chengpu, and the Chu State was defeated, and the action of letting the King of Chu Cheng go north to dominate was a complete failure, of course, this was also the first time that the Chu State tried to establish the Central Plains order, although it failed, but laid the foundation for the later King Chu Zhuang to win the Central Plains.

Battle of Chengpu. King Chu Cheng was followed by King Chu Mu, after the battle of Chengpu, the State of Chu began to put its eyes back on the Huai River Valley, and successively eliminated the Jiang, Liu, Dongli, Jiang, Shu, Zong and other countries here, and expanded the territory of Chu in the Yellow River Valley, but King Chu Mu reigned for a short time, failed to lead the Chu State to take off like the ancestors, and handed over the important task of winning the Central Plains to the King of Chu Zhuang.

King Chuzhuang was shocked.

King Chu Zhuang was still very young when he ascended the throne, and the power was in the hands of the magnates, and King Chu Zhuang could only endure it, not only that, but there was also a famine within Chu State, and the western Yong State of Chu State also took the opportunity to launch a group of barbarian rebellions, it can be said that King Chu Zhuang faced a serious crisis at the beginning of his accession to the throne, but fortunately, with the assistance of Ba State, King Chu Zhuang quelled the rebellion of Yongguo and restored the order in the Jianghan region.

After solving the internal crisis, the king of Chuzhuang once again ignited the dream of dominating the Central Plains, just when the king of Chuzhuang and the Jin State were in the Zheng and Song Dynasty confrontation and tug-of-war, the internal rebellion of the Ruoao clan broke out, although the king of Chuzhuang once again quelled the rebellion, but the national strength was greatly damaged, and the road to hegemony was postponed again.

After recuperation, the king of Chu Zhuang once again hegemonized, successively made the submission of Zheng and Chen, and gradually gained an advantage in the confrontation with the Jin state, and finally in the sixteenth year of the king of Chu Zhuang (598 years ago), the decisive battle between the Chu state and the Jin state broke out, and the Chu state won a big victory, so far the Chu state formally determined the order of the Central Plains led by itself, and then pursued by victory, defeated the Song state, and controlled the entire Huaibei region, the hegemony of the Chu state reached its peak, and the king of Chu Zhuang also left a good story of "winning the Central Plains".

Won the Central Plains. From less than 50 miles after the founding of the state of Chu to Xiongqu to the king, from the foundation of King Wu of Chu and King Wen of Chu to the first attempt of King Cheng of Chu to fight for hegemony, the state of Chu spent more than 100 years to forge ahead, and finally realized the hegemony of winning the Central Plains in the hands of King Chuzhuang.

After the hegemony of the Chu State, in order to maintain the hegemony status, the confrontation and tug-of-war with the Jin State for a long time, but after the defeat of Yanling, the Chu State gradually fell into a disadvantage, and at the same time, the internal secretary of the Jin State continued to intensify, and the development of the politics of the princes within the Chu State, the Jin and Chu countries were faced with severe internal problems, unable to strive for hegemony, and finally under the mediation of the Song State, the second meeting of the Jin and Chu countries was reached, and the two sides pacified the hegemony, which also means that the hegemonic order of the Spring and Autumn Period began to collapse, and the Warring States era of great changes is about to begin.

During the period of King Chu Ling, he advocated the development of Huaibei, and tried to restore the first centralized power, since the Chu State conquered the countries, the establishment of the county system, which is also the beginning of the county system, the original monarchy directly under the county system in the late Chu State formed a situation that could not be lost, forming a situation of group politics, the monarchical power of the Chu State was weakened, so the King of Chu Ling began to fight against local forces, but was resisted by the nobles, and they directly overthrew the rule of King Chu Ling.

The rise of the state of Wu.

After King Chuping ascended the throne, he abolished the various policies of the original King of Chu Ling, so that the aristocratic politics within the Chu State was further strengthened, the Chu State was constantly expanding, but it fell into a stage of expansion stagnation during the period of King Chu Ping, he just wanted to keep the territory in front of him, so that he was at a disadvantage in the confrontation with the newly rising Wu State, and finally Wu Zixu, who escaped from the Chu State many years ago, led the elite of the Wu State to return to the Chu State, and broke the capital of the Chu State, Yingdu, which was the first time that the Chu State was destroyed. Although the reinforcements of the Qin State and the nobles of the Chu State joined the lower Chu State to restore the national capital, the destruction of the Chu State this time completely shattered the Central Plains order created before the Chu State, which was also the most difficult moment since the Chu State.

Wu destroyed Chu. After the successful restoration of the state of Chu, under the hard work of the two generations of kings of Chu Zhao and King Hui of Chu, the state of Chu obtained a temporary revival, especially after the Yue State eliminated the state of Wu, the state of Chu took the opportunity to integrate the previous order, and the territory of the state of Chu was once again greatly expanded, laying the foundation for the future dominance of the Warring States era.

Entering the Warring States Period, the King of Chu Mourning appointed Wu Qi to change the law, the strength of the Chu State increased greatly, and the conquest of the Baiyue tribe in the south, which further expanded the territory of the southern part of the Chu State, and the territory of the Chu State expanded to today's Hunan and Guangxi, and at the same time the Chu State and the Wei State fought and defeated the Wei State, and the Chu State was extremely powerful for a while, but the King of Chu Mourning died, Wu Qi was killed, and the Chu State changed the law and completely failed.

Early Warring States period. During the period of King Xuan of Chu and King Chu Wei, the State of Chu became strong again, successively rescued Zhao and Wei, and opened up Bashu, during the period of King Chu Wei, the territory of Chu reached the maximum, and it was the largest vassal state in the entire Warring States, and the entire south belonged to the State of Chu, but after the peak was weakened, the monarch of Chu after King Chu Wei no longer had the pioneering spirit before.

The Seven Heroes of the Warring States. In the late Warring States period, the strongest country in the world was Qi, Chu and Qin, at this time Qin was a rising star, in order to prevent Qi and Chu from uniting, Qin sent Zhang Yi to Chu to break the Qi and Chu alliance, bribed Zilan and others, and used six hundred miles of land as bait to trick King Chu Huai and Qi to break off diplomatic relations, King Chu Huai listened to Zhang Yi's rhetoric and rashly broke off the Qi and Chu alliance, as a result, Qin did not give the land as promised, and King Chu Huai attacked Qin in a fit of anger, not only three battles and three defeats, but even Qi, Wei, South Korea took the opportunity to attack Chu's territory in the Central Plains, and Chu's vitality was greatly damaged.

The ministers of the state of Chu have advised the king of Chu Huai not to ask for it, and the state of Qin has no integrity at all, but the king of Chu Huai ignored the persuasion and resolutely went to the land of Qin, but was detained and imprisoned to death.

King Chu Huai. During the detention of King Huai of Chu, King Xiang of Chu ascended the throne, but the State of Chu was already a piece of fat, Xiling, Wu, and Guizhou were all occupied by the State of Qin, and even the capital of the country was occupied again, and after the country was breached, King Xiang of Chu was forced to flee with the ministers, and the road was embarrassed.

Since the king of Chu Qingxiang, the monarch of Chu is not as good as a generation, King Chu Kaolie to Huang Xie as the order of Chu Yin, the title of Chun Shenjun, trying to restore the glory of Chu State, but at this time the Chu State has no pioneering spirit of the year, the rivers are declining, to no avail, Chu You King ascended the throne, Chu State completely collapsed, after his death his younger brother Chu Ai King ascended the throne, at this time the Chu State should be revived, but staged a drama of fighting for power, Chu Ai King was killed by his brother's henchmen less than two months after his accession to the throne, they supported the establishment of Chu as the King of Chu, Wei Wei also became the last king of Chu in the history of Chu State.

At this time, the trend of Qin's domination of the world is unstoppable, after the elimination of Han, Zhao, Wei and Yan, Ying Zheng surrendered to Chu under the next target, in order to destroy Chu, Ying Zheng poured all his troops into the country, and sent Wang Jian to lead an army of 600,000 to launch the most fierce attack on Chu, the Chu army was defeated, and Xiang Yan, the general of the protector of the country, committed suicide and died, without Xiang Yan's protection, the king of Chu was soon captured and became a prisoner of Qin.

The state of Qin destroyed Chu. Although the state of Chu was destroyed, but the nobles of the state of Chu were still there, and Xiong Qi, the younger brother of Changpingjun, was proclaimed as the king of Chu in Huainan, with Lanling as the capital, occupying the land of Wuyue and trying to resist the attack of the Qin state, but the general trend of the state of Chu has gone, under the attack of the state of Qin, the king of Changping committed suicide and martyrdom, and the state of Chu, which had been established for eight hundred years, was completely destroyed.

The strength of the Chu State is not an overnight thing, after hundreds of years of development and the efforts of more than ten generations of Chu kings, the Chu State has become the hegemon of the south, but when the wheel of history is slowly moving forward, although the Chu State still seems to be the hegemon, the internal aristocratic forces are too strong, encroaching on a large number of people and land, so that the Chu State cannot organize a strong force when the war comes, and finally gradually weakens under the pressure of the Qin State step by step, and finally dies in the country.

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