Chu (state)

Chǔ (楚) was a kingdom in what is now central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BC) and Warring States Period (481-221 BC). Its ruling house had surname mi (芈), and clan name xiong 熊, and originally was of the noble rank of zi, roughly comparable to a viscount.

It was originally known as Jing (荆) and then as Jingchu (荆楚). At the height of its power, the Chu kingdom occupied vast areas of land, including the present-day provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Henan, Shanghai, and parts of Jiangsu. The Chu capital was at Ying (郢), around modern-day Jingzhou, which is located in what is today Hubei province.

History

File:Chu State Lacquer Coffin.JPG

A lacquer coffin decorated with birds and dragons, from the State of Chu, 4th century BC.

The land of Jing was inhabited by the native Chu people. The early Chu state was ruled by an aristocracy with close affinity to the Zhou kings, with its capital at Danyang. Prior to the dissolution of Zhou's power, the territory was transferred by authority of the King Cheng of Zhou of Eastern Zhou to Xiong Yi.

In its early years, Chu was a successful expansionist and militaristic state. Chu developed a reputation for coercing and absorbing its allies. Chu grew from a small, dependent state into a large empire worthy of contention, even attaining the traditional title of one of "The Five Overlord States of the Spring and Autumn Period" (春秋五霸). Chu first consolidated its power by absorbing the lesser states within its immediate vicinity in Hubei; then, it expanded into the north towards the North China Plain. The threat from Chu resulted in multiple northern alliances against Chu and its allies; these alliances successfully kept Chu in check, with its first major victory at the Battle of Chengpu.

The kingdom's power continued even after the end of the Spring and Autumn period in 481 BC. Chu overran Cai to the north in 447 BC. However, by the end of the 5th century BC, the Chu government had become very corrupt and inefficient with much of the state's treasury to pay for a large official retinue. Many officials had no meaningful task to the state except taking money. Thus, Chu's large army was of low quality due to poor funding.

In the late 390s BC, King Dao of Chu (楚悼王) made Wu Qi his prime minister. Wu Qi's reforms began in 389 BCE to transform Chu into an efficient and powerful state, lowering the salaries of officials and removing useless ones. He also enacted building codes to make the capital, Ying seem less barbaric. Despite Wu Qi's massive unpopularity with the Chu government (except the King), his reforms made Chu very powerful until the early 4th century BC, when Zhao and Qin were ascendant. Chu's powerful army annexed Chen and Cai states, defeating the states of Wei and Yue. However, Wu Qi was assassinated by the Chu officials at the funeral of King Dao in 381 BC.

During the late Warring States Period, Chu was increasingly pressured by Qin to its west, especially after Qin enacted and preserved the legalistic reforms of Shang Yang. Chu's size and power made it the key state in alliances against Qin. As Qin expanded into Chu territory, Chu was forced to expand southwards and eastwards, absorbing local cultural influences along the way. In 333 BC, Chu and Qi partitioned and annexed the coastal state of Yue.

By the late Warring States period (about the late 4th century BC), however, Chu's prominent status had fallen into decay. As a result of several invasions headed by Zhao and Qin, Chu was eventually subjugated by Qin.

In 278 BC, Qin general Bai Qi conquered Yingdu. Following the fall of Yingdu, Shouchun (in today's Anhui province) became the state's capital-in-exile.

Qin's Conquest of Chu 225-223 BC

Bronze bells from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, dated 433 BC, State of Chu.

In 225 BC, only three kingdoms (states) remained independent: Chu, Yan and Qi. Chu had recovered significantly enough to mount serious resistance after their disastrous defeats to Qin in 278 BC and losing their centuries-old capital of Ying (Jingzhou). Despite its territorial size, resources and manpower, Chu's fatal flaw was its largely corrupt government that mostly overturned the legalistic-style reforms of Wu Qi 150 years ago, when Wu Qi transformed Chu into the most powerful state with an area of almost half of all the states combined. Ironically, Wu Qi was from the same state (Wei) as Shang Yang, whose legalistic reforms turned Qin into an invincible war machine at this stage.

The King of Qin, Ying Zheng, decided to first defeat the strongest state, Chu. However, the first invasion was a disaster when 100,000 Qin troops were defeated by 500,000 Chu troops in the unfamiliar territory of Huaiyang, modern-day northern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The Qin general was Li Xing, who was inexperienced.

In 224 BC, the famed conqueror of the state of Zhao, Wang Jian, was recalled to lead a second invasion with 600,000 men. Chu's morale was greatly increased after their success in defeating the seemingly invincible army of Qin the year before. The Chu forces were content to sit back and defend and believed it was Qin's intention to besiege Chu. However, Wang Jian tricked the Chu army by appearing to stay idle in his fortifications but secretly training his troops to fight in Chu territory. After a year, Chu decided to disband due to inaction. Wang Jian invaded at the best moment with full force to overrun Huaiyang and the remaining Chu forces. Chu lost the initiative and could only sustain local guerrilla-style resistance until fully conquered in 223 BC. During their peak sizes, both armies of Chu and Qin combined numbered over 1,000,000 troops, more than the massive battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao 35 years before. The excavated personal letters of two Qin regular soldiers, Hei Fu {黑夫} and Jin {惊}, tell of a protracted campaign in Huaiyang under general Wang Jian. Both soldiers wrote letters requesting supplies (clothing) and money from home to sustain the long waiting campaign.

After defeating the strong northern states of Wei, Han, Zhao and Qi did Qin face Chu, since the Chu realm was vast with many ethnicities. Qin had difficulty supplying troops in the vast forests, rivers and mountains of southern China, especially in later campaigns to subdue the Baiyue. Furthermore, locals in recently conquered Chu areas openly ignored the stringent Qin laws and governance, which was recorded in the excavated bamboo slips of a Qin administrator in Hubei, Xi{喜}. Since Chu was the last state to fall, only 11 years before the death of Qin Shihuang and did not suffer great massacres or destruction, its people initiated much of the anti-Qin rebellion. The people of Chu, whose culture was a naturalistic and Daoist one, were resentful of the forced labor under Qin, and folk poems recorded the sadness of the Chu families of men who worked in the frigid north to construct the Great Wall of China. Eventually, two men from the Chu land, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu led the anti-Qin revolution and fought each other in the Chu-Han Contention to reunite and rule China. Liu Bang prevailed and created the Han Dynasty that lasted for 400 years.

The Chu people and customs were major influences in the new era of Western Han. Eventually, by the time of Han Wudi, Chu folk culture and aesthetics were gradually amalgamated with Qin-styled centralized governance to create a distinct and unified "Chinese" culture, visible during the Eastern Han period.

Culture

State of Chu
(bronzeware script, ca. 800 BC)

State of Chu
(small seal script, 220 BC)

Based on archaeological finds, Chu's culture was initially quite similar to that of other Zhou states. Later on, Chu culture absorbed indigenous elements as the state expanded to the south and east, developing a distinct culture from the traditional Northern Zhou states.

Early Chu burial offerings consisted primarily of bronze vessels in the Zhou style. Later Chu burials, especially during the Warring States Period, featured distinct Chu burial objects, such as colorful lacquerware, iron and silk, accompanied by a reduction in bronze vessel offerings.

A common Chu motif was the depiction of snakes, mystical dragons, free-flowing clouds and serpent-like beings. Some archaeologists speculate that Chu may have had cultural connections to the vanished Shang dynasty, since many motifs used by Chu appeared earlier at Shang sites, such as motifs depicting serpent-tailed gods.

Later Chu culture was known for its affinity for employing shamanistic rituals. Chu was also known for its distinct music; archaeological evidence shows that Chu music was annotated differently from Zhou music; Chu music also showed an inclination for using different performance ensembles, as well as unique instruments; In Chu, the se was preferred over the qin, while both instruments were equally preferred in the northern Zhou states.

Chu came into frequent contact with other peoples in the south, most notably the Ba, Yue and the Hundred Yue. Numerous burials and burial objects in the Ba and Yue styles were discovered throughout the territory of Chu, co-existing with Chu-style burials and burial objects.

The early rulers of the Han Dynasty romanticized the culture of Chu, sparking a renewed interest in Chu cultural elements such as the Chu Ci. Evidence of heavy Chu cultural influence during the early years of Han Dynasty appears in Mawangdui. After the Han dynasty, Chu developed an undeserved reputation for being a barbarian state; Confucian scholars considered Chu culture with distaste, criticizing the "lewd" music and shamanistic rituals associated with Chu culture.

Chu artisanship shows a mastery of form and color, especially the lacquer woodworks. Red and black pigmented lacquer were most used. Silk-weaving also attained a high level of craftsmanship, creating lightweight robes with flowing designs. These examples were preserved in waterlogged tombs (this preserved lacquerware, which is vulnerable to peel off in dry conditions) and coal/white clay sealed tombs (this preserved everything extremely well, since fine white clay is extremely tight-packed). Mawangdui is the prefect example of well-sealed tomb.

As a southern state, Chu was close to the Wu-Yue influences. Chu produced broad bronze swords that were similar to Wuyue swords, but not as intricate. Chu also used the difficult to read script called "Birds and Worms (鸟虫文}" style, which was common in the Wu and Yue states.

Chu was in the region of many rivers, so it created an efficient riverine boat transport system augmented by wagons. These are detailed in bronze tallies with gold inlay regarding trade regulations around the capital, Ying.

Famous people

Famed poet Qu Yuan hailed from Chu. A government minister and a patriot, he had advocated uniting with the other states to combat the rising hegemon Qin, yet to no avail; he was banished by the king of Chu. According to tradition, such was his grief upon learning of the Qin invasion, he committed suicide in the Miluo River. The Duanwu Festival honors his death for his country.
Warrior King Xiang Yu, also known as "Overlord of Western Chu"; he destroyed every single Qin army and also was rival to Han Dynasty founder Liu Bang. He was fearsome in the battlefield but arrogance lead to his downfall.
Han Dynasty founder Liu Bang. He was born in Pei County, in modern Xuzhou, which is in northern Jiangsu. An intelligent statesman and ruler, he defeated the military genius Xiang Yu through his ability to attract and command talented generals and allies. After the formation of Western Han Dynasty, a blossoming of interest in Chu culture arose under Liu Bang's patronage.

References

Defining Chu: Image And Reality In Ancient China, Edited by Constance A. Cook and John S. Major, ISBN 0-8248-2905-0
So, Jenny F., Music in the Age of Confucius, ISBN 0-295-97953-4