Chu (Ten Kingdoms)

Last updated
Chu
楚
907–951
Location of Chu (Ten Kingdoms) L.LIANG.jpg
Location of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)
Capital Changsha
Languages Middle Chinese
Government Monarchy
Prince/King
 • 907–930 Ma Yin
 • 950–951 Ma Xichong
Historical era Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
 • Became the State907 907
 • establishment of the Kingdom927
 • Ended by Southern Tang 951 951
Currency Silk, Coin (Iron)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Blank.png Tang Dynasty
Southern Tang Blank.png

Chu (Chinese : 楚 ; pinyin :Chǔ), often referred to as Ma Chu (马楚) or Southern Chu (南楚) to distinguish it from other historical states called Chu, was a kingdom in south China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960). It existed from 907 to 951.

Chinese language family of languages

Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language.

Hanyu Pinyin, often abbreviated to pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China and to some extent in Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Mandarin Chinese, which is normally written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones. Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters.

South China geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China

South China or Southern China is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context.

Contents

Founding

Ma Yin was named regional governor by the Tang court in 896 after fighting against a rebel named Yang Xingmi. He declared himself as the Prince of Chu with the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907. Ma’s position as Prince of Chu was confirmed by the Later Tang in the north in 927 and was given the posthumous title of King Wumu of Chu.

Ma Yin, courtesy name Batu (霸圖), formally King Wumu of Chu (楚武穆王), was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who became the first ruler of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Chu and the only one who carried the title of "king." He initially took control of the Changsha region in 896 after the death of his predecessor Liu Jianfeng, and subsequently increased his territorial hold to roughly modern Hunan and northeastern Guangxi, which became the territory of Chu.

Yang Xingmi, né Yang Xingmin, courtesy name Huayuan (化源), formally Prince Wuzhong of Wu, later posthumously honored King Xiaowu of Wu then Emperor Wu of Wu (吳武帝) with the temple name of Taizu (太祖), was a military governor (Jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit late in the Chinese Tang Dynasty, whose takeover of Huainan and several nearby circuits allowed him and his family to rule over territory that would eventually become the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms state Wu, including most of modern Jiangsu and Anhui and parts of modern Jiangxi and Hubei.

Later Tang Chinese dynasty

Tang, known in history as Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty that lasted from 923 to 937 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in the history of China.

Territories

The capital of the Chu Kingdom was Changsha (Tanzhou). [1] Present-day Hunan and northeastern Guangxi were under the control of the kingdom.

Changsha Prefecture-level city in Hunan, Peoples Republic of China

Changsha is the capital and most populous city of Hunan province in the south central part of the People's Republic of China. It covers 11,819 km2 (4,563 sq mi) and is bordered by Yueyang and Yiyang to the north, Loudi to the west, Xiangtan and Zhuzhou to the south, Yichun and Pingxiang of Jiangxi province to the east. According to 2010 Census, Changsha has 7,044,118 residents, constituting 10.72% of the province's population. It is part of the Chang-Zhu-Tan city cluster or megalopolis.

Hunan Province

Hunan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed in South Central China; it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. With a population of just over 67 million as of 2014 residing in an area of approximately 210,000 km2 (81,000 sq mi), it is China's 7th most populous and the 10th most extensive province-level by area.

Guangxi Autonomous region

Guangxi ( ; formerly romanised as Kwangsi; Chinese: 广西; Zhuang: Gvangjsih, officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in south China and bordering Vietnam. Formerly a province, Guangxi became an autonomous region in 1958.


Economy

Chu was peaceful and prosperous under Ma Yin's rule, exporting horses, silk and tea. Silk and lead coinage were often used as currency, particularly with external communities which would not accept other coinage of the land. Taxation was low for the peasantry and merchants.

Horse Domesticated four-footed mammal from the equine family

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have never been domesticated, such as the endangered Przewalski's horse, a separate subspecies, and the only remaining true wild horse. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Silk fine, lustrous, natural fiber produced by the larvae of various silk moths, especially the species Bombyx mori

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

Tea drink made from infusing boiling water with the leaves of the tea plant

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub (bush) native to East Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some, like Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.

Fall of Chu

After Ma Yin died the leadership was subject to struggle and conflict which resulted in the fall of the kingdom. The Southern Tang, fresh from its conquest of the Min Kingdom, took advantage and conquered the kingdom in 951. The ruling family was removed to the Southern Tang capital of Jinling. However, the following year, Chu generals rose against Southern Tang and expelled the Southern Tang expeditionary force, leaving the former Chu territory to be ruled by several of those generals in succession until 963, when the territory was seized by Song Dynasty. During these post-Chu years of de facto independence, the center of power was usually at Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern Changde, Hunan).

Southern Tang Former country in Chinas 5 dynasties and 10 kingdoms period

Southern Tang, later known as Jiangnan (江南), was one of the Ten Kingdoms in Southern China created following the Tang dynasty from 937–976. Southern Tang replaced the Wu empire when Li Bian deposed the emperor Yang Pu.

Nanjing Prefecture-level & Sub-provincial city in Jiangsu, Peoples Republic of China

Nanjing, formerly romanized as Nanking and Nankin, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China and the second largest city in the East China region, with an administrative area of 6,600 km2 (2,500 sq mi) and a total population of 8,270,500 as of 2016. The inner area of Nanjing enclosed by the city wall is Nanjing City (南京城), with an area of 55 km2 (21 sq mi), while the Nanjing Metropolitan Region includes surrounding cities and areas, covering over 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi), with a population of over 30 million.

Changde Prefecture-level city in Hunan, Peoples Republic of China

Changde is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China, with a population of 5,717,218 as of the 2010 census, of which 1,232,182 reside in the built-up area (metro) made of 2 urban districts of Dingcheng and Wuling. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent to Dongting Lake to the east, the city of Yiyang to the south, Wuling and Xuefeng Mountains to the west, and Hubei province to the north.

Rulers

Sovereigns in Chu Kingdom 907–951 (+ Rulers of Formerly Chu Lands 951–963)
Temple Names ( Miao Hao 廟號; miaò haò)Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 諡號 )Personal NamesPeriod of ReignsEra Names (Nian Hao 年號) and their according range of years
Did not existWǔmù Wáng武穆王 Mǎ Yīn
馬殷		907–930Did not exist
Did not existNone (commonly known as Prince of Hengyang (衡陽王; Héngyáng Wáng)) Mǎ Xīshēng
馬希聲		930–932Did not exist
Did not existWénzhāo Wáng文昭王 Mǎ Xīfàn
馬希範		932–947Did not exist
Did not existNone (commonly known as Deposed Prince (廢王; Fèi Wáng)) Mǎ Xīguǎng
馬希廣		947–951Did not exist
Did not existGōngxìao Wáng恭孝王 Mǎ Xī'è
馬希萼		951Did not exist
Did not existDid not exist Mǎ Xīchóng
馬希崇		951Did not exist
Did not existDid not exist Líu Yán
劉言		951–953Did not exist
Did not existDid not exist Wáng Kúi
王逵		953–956Did not exist
Did not existDid not exist Zhōu Xíngféng
周行逢		956–962Did not exist
Did not existDid not exist Zhōu Bǎoquán
周保權		962–963Did not exist

Ma rulers family tree

Notes

  1. ↑ New History of the Five Dynasties , vol. 66 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-04-20..

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Changsha has a history going back over 3000 years. It has grown to an important town of economy, culture and garrison in the southern area of Chu State. In the Later Tang dynasty (923-936), the king of Chu, Ma Yin, founded the Chu Kingdom (927-963) and set it as the capital, the city quickly became the largest and most important population, commercial and financial center in southern China. It was devastated by the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Wenxi Fire in 1938 but was quickly rebuilt. As of 2016, Changsha was ranked 13th of ciities of China by comprehensive strength in 2016.

Ma Xiguang (馬希廣), courtesy name Depi (德丕), was the fourth ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Chu.

Ma Xichong (馬希崇) was the sixth and final ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Chu.

Ma Guanghui (馬光惠) was a member of the Ma ruling house of Chu, one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states of China. During Chu's final days, he was declared the military governor (Jiedushi) of one of Chu's main circuits, Wuping by officers disaffected with his uncle Ma Xi'e, but was soon removed by the same officers.

Ma Xiyin (馬希隱) was a member of the Ma ruling house of Chu, one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms states of China. After Chu's fall, he briefly continued to hold control of Chu's Jingjiang Circuit before abandoning it in face of a Southern Han attack, allowing Southern Han to seize control of the circuit.

Military history of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

The military history of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms covers the period of Chinese history from the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907 to the demise of Northern Han in 979. This period of Chinese history is noteworthy for the introduction of gunpowder weapons and as a transitional phase from the aristocratic imperial system to the Confucian bureaucracy which characterized the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

References

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