Danyang (Chu)

Last updated

Danyang (Chinese : 丹陽 ) was the first capital of the State of Chu. It is located near modern-day Xichuan County in Henan Province.

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, and in the Kangxi Dictionary. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century.

Chu (state) ancient chinese state

Chu was a hegemonic, Zhou dynasty era state. From King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE, the rulers of Chu declared themselves kings on an equal footing with the Zhou kings. Though initially inconsequential, removed to the south of the Zhou heartland and practising differing customs, Chu began a series of administrative reforms, becoming a successful expansionist state during the Spring and Autumn period. With its continued expansion Chu became a great Warring States period power, until it was overthrown by the Qin in 223 BCE.

Xichuan County County in Henan, Peoples Republic of China

Xichuan County is a county in the southwest of Henan province, China, bordering the provinces of Hubei to the south and Shaanxi to the northwest. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nanyang.

Contents

Following a number of battles with neighboring states the Chu capital moved to Ying, near modern-day Jingzhou City on the Jianghan Plain in the western part of Hubei Province. [1]

Ying was a capital city of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of Chinese History.

Jingzhou Prefecture-level city in Hubei, Peoples Republic of China

Jingzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Based on the 2010 census, its total population was 5,691,707, 1,154,086 of whom resided in the built-up area comprising the two urban districts.

Jianghan Plain

Jianghan Plain, named for the confluence of the Yangtze ('Jiang') and Han ('han') rivers, is an alluvial plain located in the middle and south of Hubei, China. Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, is located on the plain. It shares the border with Dongtinghu Plain. It has an area of more than 30 thousands square kilometers. The region was once a large wetland, but was gradually colonized by settlers beginning in the Neolithic period. This accelerated when the state of Chu established its capital there in the middle of the 1st millennium BC, and when the Qin and Han states built dikes to protect farmland from seasonal floods. The Jianghan area has been an important food grain region of China since at least the Ming Dynasty.

Cultural relics from Xichuan Chu tomb

Related Research Articles

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period period of Chinese history

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-979) was an era of political upheaval in 10th-century Imperial China. Five states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in South China. It was the last prolonged period of multiple political division in Chinese imperial history.

Chen (state) former country

Chen (陳) was a Zhou dynasty vassal state of ancient China. Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province.

Chu River river in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan

The Chu is a river in northern Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan. Of its total length of approximately 1 067 kilometres, the first 115 kilometres are in Kyrgyzystan, then for 221 kilometres the river is the border between Kyrgyzystan and Kazakhstan, and the last 731 kilometres are in Kazakhstan. It is one of the longest rivers in Kyrgyzstan and in Kazakhstan.

Ma Chu kingdom in southern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

Chu, 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.

Ba (state) former country in ancient China

Ba was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng, Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The modern minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the people of Ba.

Meng Zhixiang was a general of the Later Tang who went on to found the independent state of Later Shu during the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Meng Zhixiang was an in-law of the Later Tang ruling family, who went by the family name Li. Meng married the eldest sister or perhaps a cousin of the founding emperor, Zhuangzong. Meng served the Later Tang as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Xichuan Circuit, after the conquest of Former Shu. After Emperor Zhuangzong's death, Meng was more distant to the succeeding emperor. The new emperor was Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother, Emperor Mingzong. Meng, fearing accusations by Emperor Mingzong's chief advisor An Chonghui, rebelled, in alliance with Dong Zhang, military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit. The Meng-Dong alliance repelled subsequent attempts to suppress or control them, although they continued as nominal subjects of Mingzong. Eventually, Meng overpowered Dong, thus assuming control of both allied domains. Meng continued as titular vassal to Mingzong for the rest of that emperor's reign; but, afterwards, Meng Zhixiang declared himself suzerain of an independent state named Shu, in 934, now called Later Shu to avoid confusion with other political entities sharing the same name.

Shen (state)

The State of Shen was a Chinese vassal state during the Zhou dynasty ruled by the Jiāng family (姜) as an earldom. At the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period the State of Shen was annexed by the State of Chu and became one of its counties.

E (state) vassal state

The State of E, whose Middle and Old Chinese name has been reconstructed as Ngak, was an ancient Chinese state in the area of present-day Henan and Hubei in China from around the 12th century BCE until its overthrow in 863 BCE. It was a vassal of the Shang state and its ruler was one of the Three Ducal Ministers appointed by Dixin of Shang, who is known pejoratively as King Zhou of Shang.

The State of Ruò was a small vassal state during the Chinese Zhou Dynasty whose rulers used the title (子), roughly equivalent to a Viscount. Located between the States of Qin and Chu, Ruo was eventually annexed by the State of Chu.

Liǎo was a Zhou dynasty vassal state during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. There were two actual states called Liao at this time. The first of these is mentioned in the Zuo Zhuan • 11th Year of Duke Huan of Lu, which records that in 701 BCE, the 40th year of the reign of King Wu of Chu: "The army of the State of Yun (郧国/鄖國) were at Pusao (蒲骚/蒲騷) together with the armies of the States of Sui, Jiao (绞国/绞國), Zhou (州国/州國) and Liao ready to attack Chu. Pusao was on the site of modern-day Tanghe County, Hubei Province then capital of the State of Liao." The Zuo Zhuan • 17th Year of Duke Ai of Lu records that at the end of the Spring and Autumn period, the Chu State Minister reflected on the achievements of King Wu of Chu in his alliances with the state of Zhao amongst others and the suppression of the state of Liao.

Xiong Yi was the first viscount and an early ruler of the State of Chu during early Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. Son of Xiong Kuang, he was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor and Zhuanxu through his great-grandfather Yuxiong.

Gu Yanlang (顧彥朗) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Dongchuan Circuit from 887 to his death in 891 as its military governor (Jiedushi).

Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya and Rites of Zhou. It became an administrative division during the reign of Emperor Wu in the Western Han dynasty.

Zhou Xiang was a chief strategist for Wang Jian, the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Former Shu, during Wang Jian's years of warfare to firmly establish himself as a warlord late in preceding Tang Dynasty. After the founding of Former Shu, Zhou served as a chancellor.

Dong Zhang (董璋) was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period states Later Liang and Later Tang. After submitting to Later Tang after Later Liang's destruction, he became a general favored by both Later Tang's founding emperor Li Cunxu and Li Cunxu's chief of staff Guo Chongtao, causing Guo to commission Dong as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Dongchuan Circuit after Guo's conquest of Former Shu. Because of this, after Li Cunxu's downfall and succession by his adoptive brother Li Siyuan, Li Siyuan's chief of staff An Chonghui came to suspect both Dong and Meng Zhixiang, the military governor of neighboring Xichuan Circuit. Dong and Meng jointly rebelled against Li Siyuan and were successful military, forcing the imperial government to eventually move into a reconciliatory posture. Dong, however, as his son Dong Guangye (董光業) and Dong Guangye's family were slaughtered, refused the imperial overture, and later launched an attack on Meng, as Meng was moving to reconciliation with the imperial government. Meng defeated him, and he was later killed by his own subordinates.

King Xiang of Wei, personal name Wei Si, was king of Wei from 318 BC to 296 BC. He was the son of King Hui of Wei. In 318 BC, at the suggestion of the Wei minister, Gongsun Yan, he entered into an alliance against Qin created by King Huai of Chu which also included the states of Zhao, Han and Yan. Chu then betrayed this alliance.

Xian (state) Zhou dynasty state

Xian was a minor state of the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods, whose capital was located at modern-day Qishui, Huangzhou District. While it controlled only a small territory along the Yangtze, the Wei clan (隗) that ruled Xian maintained far-reaching diplomatic and marital relations with many neighboring states.

References

  1. 吴云贵 (1994). 《淅川县简志 1986-1992》. 河南人民出版社. pp. 第7頁. ISBN   7-215-03202-7.