Transcript The Kingdom of Chu and Its Culture

The Kingdom of Chu and Its Culture
Introduction
► Chu
(楚) was a sovereign state in presentday central and southern China during the
Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BC)
and Warring States Period (481-221 BC).
The Spring and Autumn Period
►
During the Spring and Autumn period, China was ruled by
a feudal system. The Zhou Dynasty kings held nominal
power, but only directly ruled over a small Royal Demesne,
revolving around their capital (modern-day Luoyang). They
granted fiefdoms over the rest of China to several hundred
hereditary nobles (Zhuhou 諸侯). These were descendants
of members of the Zhou clan, close associates of the
founders of the dynasty, or local potentates. The most
important feudal princes (known later as the twelve princes,
十二諸侯) met during regular conferences, where
important matters, such as military expeditions against
foreign groups or offending nobles were decided. During
these conferences, one prince was sometimes declared
hegemon (伯, later 霸), and given leadership over the
armies of all the feudal states.
Map of the Period
Origin of the Chu
►
The kingdom was originally known as Jing (荆) and then as Jingchu
(荆楚). The land of Jing (present-day Hubei province) 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. In the
early Western Zhou period, the territory was transferred by authority
of the King Cheng of Zhou (1042-1021 BC) of Western Zhou to . King
Zhao of Zhou led six armies to pacify the Southern Dongyi (南东夷)
Duke of E (噩侯/鄂侯) in present-day Suizhou and his tribe south of
the Han River, but King Zhao was ambushed and killed. The six armies
were wiped out. At the time, Zhou had 14 armies. Due to this defeat
and the death of the Zhou king, Zhou did not expand further in the
south, and this allowed the southern tribes and Chu to cement their
own autonomy and independence much earlier than the states to the
north. The Chu rulers were the first to designate themselves as kings
in the eighth century BCE during the transition to Eastern Zhou and
Zhou's loss of central power.
Territories
► At
the height of its power, the Chu state
occupied vast areas of land, including the
present-day provinces of Hunan, Hubei,
Chongqing, Henan, Anhui and parts of
Jiangsu and Jiangxi. The Chu capital was at
Ying (郢), near present-day Jingzhou, Hubei
province. It was the largest kingdom at the
time.
The Ruling House
ruling house had the surname Mi (芈),
and clan name Xiong (熊), and originally
was of the noble rank of Zi, roughly
comparable to a viscount.
► It is alleged that the nobles in Chu were
descendents of Zhuanxu (颛顼)
► Its
Chu Culture
► Chu
is not only the name of a state but also
of a clan. The Chu state lasted about 800
years until it was conquered by Qin in 223
BC.
Martial Spirit of Chu People
► Chu
people, generally speaking, were not
peace-loving folks.
► The martial spirit and an intense interest of
staging wars and expanding territories were
manifested in every respect of social life.
► It is said that if a Chu king does not stage
and win at least one war during his reign, it
would be nothing but a shame.
Heritages
►
Qu Yuan (ca. 340 BCE - 278 BCE) was a Chinese scholar and minister to the
King from the southern Chu during the Warring States Period. His works are
mostly found in an anthology of poetry known as Chu Ci. His death is
traditionally commemorated on Duanwu Festival ,which is commonly known
in English as the Dragon Boat Festival or Double Fifth (fifth day of the fifth
month of the traditional Chinese calendar).
generations of Chinese People.
His works Li Shao has fascinated
Comparison of Qin civilization and
Chu civilization
► Economics:
Agriculture vs Trades
► Religious and Political Ideas: Legalism vs
animist religion and witchcraft
► Cultural Values: Pragmatism vs. Idealism
► Color Preference: Black vs. Red
► Emblem (animal): Dragon vs. Phoenix
Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
► Since
the 1960s, more than 5,000 tombs
have been excavated in Hubei Province with
the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng being of
most famous one.
► The tomb is located in the present-day
Suizhou in Hubei, and was excavated in
1978. It is the tomb of a feudal king buried
2400 years ago.
Sword of Goujian, king of Yue
Spear of Fuchai, king of Wu
The prototype of the Nine-head bird
Bian Zhong
► Bianzhong
bells rank among the highest
achievements of Chinese bronze casting
technology, yet the secret of their design and the
method of casting them—which was known only
to the Chinese in antiquity—was lost in later
generations. It was not fully rediscovered and
understood until 1978, when a complete
ceremonial set of 65 zhong bells was found in a
near-perfect state of preservation during the
excavation of the tomb of Marquis Yi,