Transcriptions | |
---|---|
Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Hélú |
Wade–Giles | Ho-lu |
Helü or Helu was king of the state of Wu [1] from 514 to 496 BC,toward the end of the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. His given name was Guang (Chinese :光);he was initially known as Prince Guang.
Prince Guang was the son of King Yumei,and the nephew of King Liao. [4] He welcomed the Chu exile Wu Zixu into his entourage and,when he sought to usurp the throne of Wu,was introduced by him to Zhuan Zhu. Zhuan assassinated King Liao in 515 BC and the prince became King Helü. The king assigned Wu Zixu to lead the design and building of his "great city",which forms the basis of Suzhou's present old town. [5]
In 506 BC,Helü,with the help of Wu Zixu and Sun Tzu,the author of The Art of War ,launched major offensives against the state of Chu. They prevailed in five battles,one of which was the Battle of Boju,and conquered the capital Ying. During the sack of the capital,Helüattempted to sexually assault the Dowager Queen,but she fought him off with a knife and remonstrated with him,leading to Helüleaving in shame. [6] Chu managed to ask the state of Qin for help,and after he was defeated by Qin,the vanguard general of Wu troops,Fugai,a younger brother of Helü,led a rebellion. After beating Fugai,Helüwas forced to leave Chu. Fugai later retired to Chu and settled there.
In 496 BC,upon hearing that Yunchang of Yue had died,he launched an invasion of Yue,but was injured and subsequently died from his injuries while telling his son to avenge him. His son,Fuchai,succeeded him in 495 BC who later annexed Yue and ended up capturing and enslaving their King Goujian. Helühad two other sons named Bo and Shan. Bo was initially his heir but died before him.
The Spring and Autumn period in Chinese history lasted approximately from 770 to 481 BCE which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals,a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE,which tradition associates with Confucius.
Chu was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period. At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BC during the Qin's wars of unification.
Wu was a state during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period,outside the Zhou cultural sphere. It was also known as Gouwu or Gongwu from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu and south of the State of Qi. Its first capital was at Meili,then Helü's City,and later moved to Gusu.
Fuchai,sometimes also written Fucha,was the last king of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. His armies constructed important canals linking the Yellow,Ji,and Huai River systems of the North China Plain with central China's Yangtze River,but he is most remembered in Chinese culture for the role he played in the legends concerning Goujian,the revenge-seeking king of Yue.
Liao,King of Wu,also named Zhouyu,was king of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period.
Bo Pi (Chinese:伯嚭;pinyin:BóPǐ;Wade–Giles:Po2 P'i3;died 473 BC) was an official in the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China.
Zhuan Zhu was an assassin in the Spring and Autumn period. Zhuan Zhu used to be a butcher,he was very filial to his mother. As Prince Guang wanted to kill King Liao of Wu and take the throne himself,Zhuan Zhu was recommended to Prince Guang by Wu Zixu. In 515 BC he managed to kill King Liao in a party with a dagger hidden in a fish. He was killed after he had completed his mission. In folklore,the dagger he used to kill King Liao was named Yuchang (魚腸),or "Fish intestines",because it was small enough to be hidden in a fish.
The Battle of Boju was the decisive battle of the war fought in 506 BC between Wu and Chu,two major kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. The Wu forces were led by King Helü,his brother Fugai,and Chu exile Wu Zixu. According to Sima Qian's Shiji,Sun Tzu,the author of The Art of War,was a main commander of the Wu army,but he was not mentioned in the Zuo Zhuan and other earlier historical texts. The Chu forces were led by Lingyin Nang Wa and Sima Shen Yin Shu. The Wu were victorious,and captured and destroyed the Chu capital Ying.
Wu Yun,better known by his courtesy name Zixu,was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu kingdom in the Spring and Autumn period. Since his death,he has evolved into a model of loyalty in Chinese culture. He is the best known historical figure with the Chinese family name "Wu" (伍). All branches of the Wu clan claim that he was their "first ancestor".
The Five Hegemons refers to several especially powerful rulers of Chinese states of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history,sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of five hegemon rulers of those certain states which rose to power over the other states of this time period,states which were also formed during the period of dissolution of a once real and strong central state,namely the empire of the Zhou dynasty. The Hegemons mobilized the remnants of the Zhou empire,according to shared mutual political and martial interests. An especially prominent Hegemon was Duke Huan of Qi.
Qin's wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the state of Qin against the other six powers remaining in China —Han,Zhao,Yan,Wei,Chu and Qi. Between 247 and 221 BC,Qin had developed into one of the most powerful of China's Seven Warring States that coalesced in the wake of the Zhou dynasty's decline,by now retaining a weak and merely ceremonial position among the warring states. In 230 BC,King Ying Zheng of Qin began the sequence of campaigns that would bring the Warring States period to a close,setting out to conquer each remaining sovereign one by one. This was completed in 221 BC with the fall of Qi,leaving the former Zhou sphere unified under a more centralized Qin control. Ying Zheng declared himself the First Emperor,or Qin Shi Huang—becoming the first sovereign over a unified China under the imperial Qin dynasty.
Bing Sheng is a 2008 Chinese television series produced by Zhang Jizhong,starring Zhu Yawen,Li Tai,Hu Jing,Zhao Yi,He Zhuoyan,Xu Huanhuan,Tu Men and Wu Ma. It is loosely based on the life of the ancient Chinese militarist Sun Tzu,who wrote The Art of War. It was first broadcast on Changde TV in 2009.
The State of Xu was an independent Huaiyi state of the Chinese Bronze Age that was ruled by the Ying family (嬴) and controlled much of the Huai River valley for at least two centuries. It was centered in northern Jiangsu and Anhui.
King Zhao of Chu was from 515 to 491 BC the king of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Zhen (熊珍) and King Zhao was his posthumous title. Documents unearthed in the former state also show his title as King Shao (卲王). King Zhao was the son of King Ping of Chu.
Shenyin Shu or Shenyin Xu was a general of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was a great-grandson of King Zhuang of Chu.
Fei Wuji was a corrupt official of the state of Chu during the reign of King Ping whose persecution of Crown Prince Jian and the family of Wu Zixu led to the defeat and decline of Chu.
Duke Ai of Qin,personal name unknown,was from 536 to 501 BC the duke of the Qin state. Duke Ai succeeded his father Duke Jing,who died in 537 BC,as ruler of Qin.
Lord Chunshen,born Huang Xie,was a Chinese military general and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Chu during the late Warring States period of ancient China. He was one of the Four Lords of the Warring States.
The Shuixian Zunwang are five Chinese Deities worshipped as water and sea deities. They have various names in English including the Honorable Water Immortal Kings and the Lords of the Water. All five deities were formerly famous heroes and are related to water in certain ways. They are also believed to protect vessels in transit.
Bo Ying was a consort to the sixth-century BCE Chu ruler,King Ping,and mother of his successor,King Zhao.