#历史开讲 #
The State of Chu, one of the "Five Hegemons of Spring and Autumn" and "Seven Heroes of the Warring States", was first given the title of "Chu Man" during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, "surnamed Qi, living in Danyang". After hundreds of years of development, it gradually advanced southward, and by the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it had developed into a major political force in the Yangtze River basin. At its peak, the state of Chu occupied most of the Yangtze River basin and was the leader of the attack on Qin in the strategy of "combining vertical and horizontal", and King Huai of Chu served as the "longitudinal commander".
During the Warring States period, the State of Chu left a large number of relics in the land of China, especially in the Jianghuai region and south. The capital was undoubtedly the most central space of the Chu state's power, and in the nineteenth year of King Xiang of Chu, the Qin army invaded the capital of the state of Chu, and the state of Chu moved the capital to Chencheng, and then moved the capital to Juyang in the tenth year of King Kaolie, and Shouchun in the twenty-second year of King Kaolie, and finally was destroyed by the Qin army in the fifth year of his reign. The State of Chu in the late Warring States period moved its capital several times.
1. Yin
The "Records of History" records that during the reign of King Wen of Chu, the capital was Ying. At present, it is believed that Ying should be the general name of the capital city of the State of Chu, and some of the other capitals and accompanying capitals for the king of Chu to command battles and safaris were added before "Ying" to distinguish them from Ying, such as Lan Ying, Yan Ying, etc.
From the time when the state of Chu became king, it was the capital Ying. Regarding the geographical view and concept of Ying, scholars generally agree that "Ying" does not refer to the same city, but the state of Chu called the capital city Ying. One of the most representative is that the capital of the State of Chu during the Warring States period was Ji Ying. The character "郢" was first found in the Western Zhou Jinwen, and is a combination of the characters "cheng" and "yi" in oracle bone script.
It represents "Wang Sayi", which implies the meaning of "to be king". At that time, the State of Chu was in the position of "son" in the sub-sealing system of the Zhou royal family, and its strategic position was more important because it held the southern frontier of the Zhou royal family. It is recorded in the "Chu Family" that King Wu of Chu was angry and "self-respected" as king because he did not receive the "honorific title" of the Zhou royal family. Therefore, when the Zhou royal family was weak, King Wu of Chu expressed his dissatisfaction and determination to claim the throne by adding the character "Ying" to the state capital.
Among them, "Ying" is an overview, referring to the capital and homeland of the Chu state. The Chu people have the custom of nostalgic for the old and believe that the capital of King Wu of Chu is a symbol of the prosperity of the State of Chu, so whenever the capital is moved, the name of the capital city set during the period of King Wu of Chu is still used. The lower reaches of the Ji Nan City and the Jianghan Plain have been the sphere of influence of the State of Chu since the Western Zhou Dynasty, and there is still controversy over when Ji Nan City became "Ying", but at least in the middle of the Warring States period, its capital was already the current Ji Nancheng, and the surrounding area of the capital at this time was the sphere of influence of the State of Chu.
2. Chen Cheng
Many of the time records in the "Records of History" are the same, that is, "the twenty-first year of the reign of King Xiang", and under the offensive of the Qin army, the state of Chu "protected the northeast in Chencheng" and established a new capital in Chencheng. Chen Cheng was once the capital of Chen Guo, and in the "Li Ji Leji", "Wu Wang Keyin... After Emperor Shun, Yu Chen "recorded the history of the division of the Chen state during the Western Zhou Dynasty.
King Wu of Zhou divided the state of Chen in this place, on the one hand, to praise "Empress Di Shun"; On the other hand, it is because the ancestors of the Chen State "served the former king" at the end of the Shang Dynasty; The main reason was still for the consideration of national security strategy, "to the Ping Zhou", at that time, the Chen fief was the southern frontier of the Zhou royal family, and the southeastern Dongyi was looking at the tiger, and the Chen state was divided into fiefs there, which could expand the rule of the Zhou royal family to the Huaibei region.
Chen's general sphere of influence was centered on Huaiyang, east to Bo County and Wuyang in Anhui, west to Xihua County to the west of Xu Guo, south to the Yingshui River Basin, connected with Dun, Xiang, Yang, Hu and other countries, and to NATO near present-day Fugou and Taikang to have ties with Zheng and Song. Chen Guo is not large in terms of area, but it has a superior geographical location, it is located on the left side of the Huai River, there are chasm, Yingshui, Gushui and other rivers, which is a transportation artery connecting the southeast region and the Central Plains, which has full strategic significance.
Chen Guo already had battle-ready fortifications and city walls before the attack of the Chu State. According to the Spring and Autumn of the Lü Clan, when King Zhuang of Chu was preparing to attack the state of Chen, he sent an envoy to observe, and the envoy reported that "it is not possible to destroy ... The city is high, the ditch is deep, and the accumulation is also large", which shows that before King Chuhui destroyed the Chen state, the Chen state had established a relatively complete urban fortification system.
After Chen Di was incorporated into the territory of the State of Chu, it was also a regional commercial and military center, which can be reflected from the gold coin of the State of Chu "Chen Ye", and there are not many "certain masters" found so far, and its level is equivalent to "Ying Ye", which reflects the important position of Chen Di in the cities of the State of Chu, and Chen Cheng has the qualification of independent coinage and the freedom of commercial trade. It can be said that it is the political and economic center second only to the capital. The important geographical location of Chen Guo makes Chen Guo, as a small military country, if he wants to survive, he needs to actively seek changes and find allies.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chen Guo was closest to the State of Qi, and they all had the same strategic goal - to prevent the State of Chu from invading the Central Plains north, so in the early stage, Chen Guo mainly allied with the State of Qi to jointly fight against the State of Chu, and in the nineteenth year of the Duke of Lu (641 BC), Chen Guo initially established an alliance with the State of Chu, and six years later, the State of Chu rescued the Dunzi of the Dunguo who was defeated by the State of Chen, and when the troops came to the city, the State of Chen was forced to submit to the State of Chu.
After the Battle of Chengpu, the vitality of the State of Chu was greatly damaged, and the State of Chen formed an alliance with the State of Jin and the State of Lu in the third year of the Duke of Luwen (624 BC) to jointly conquer the State of Shen. After the contradiction between the State of Jin and the State of Chu intensified, Chen Guo, who was caught in the middle, swayed left and right and was in a difficult situation. He can only continue to join the stronger of the two as an ally in exchange for protection from retaliation from the other.
Chen Guo's situation is not unique, during the Spring and Autumn Period, there were many small countries, and most of these monarchs were sandwiched between powerful countries, as allies of a powerful country, struggling to survive in the complex international situation, let alone better development. In this context, the annexation of small countries is an inevitable result.
During the Warring States period, Huaibei was the main place of commercial trade between the Chu State and the Central Plains, and it was also the frontier area of the war for hegemony. In the early and middle Warring States period, the state of Chu was strong, and the Huaibei region was all Chu land. By the time of King Huai of Chu, the Song state took advantage of the fact that the state of Chu was mired in the battle of weeping sand, and took the opportunity to "defeat Chu in the south and take three hundred li of land"132, and part of the Huaibei region fell into the Song state.
By the thirteenth year of the reign of King Xiang of Chu (286 BC), the State of Qi and the State of Qin "joined forces", gained the support of the State of Qin, destroyed the State of Song, and "cut Chu from the south to the north of Huaibei", and the Huaibei region fell into the hands of the State of Qi, which had coveted the place for a long time. During the reign of King Xiang of Chu, the State of Chu followed the "Division of Qi" led by the State of Qin to retake the land of Huaibei. After that, Chen Di remained in the sphere of influence of the Chu state until after the "Bai Qi Qibao", and the Chu royal family retreated to the northeast to Dingdu.
3. Juyang
In the "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms of History", it is recorded that King Kaolie "migrated to Juyang" in ten years, which is also the only record of Juyang in the pre-Qin historical materials. Subsequent generations of scholars agree that the state of Chu moved its capital to Juyang. Scholars after the Song Dynasty have studied the place name of "Juyang", especially Gu Zuyu of the Qing Dynasty clearly recorded the geographical view of "Xianyang" in the "Minutes of Reading the History of Fangyu", that is, "forty li northwest of Yingzhou", and pointed out that the city was Juyang City in the period of King Kaolie, and it was falsely rumored to be "Xiaoyang" in the Qin and Han Dynasties, which belonged to Xianyang County, Runan County in the Han Dynasty.
It is recorded in the "Records of the Great Qing Dynasty" that "the ancient city of Xianyang is in the east of Taihe County", which provides clues for future generations to find the location of Juyang City. Most of the records in the "Chronology" part of the "Shiji" are accurate, because of their small number of words and the records are all major events, and there will be no mistakes in the copying and records, and this record should not be a clerical error by the author, but that the state of Chu did "migrate to Juyang". As for whether the Chu state migration was a relocation of the royal family as a whole, or a short-term move of the capital as an important military stronghold, it is impossible to know from historical sources, and this problem can only be solved through further archaeological discovery and research.
In the tenth year of King Kaolie, after the governance of Chunshen Jun, the state of Chu after moving east gradually recovered its military strength, and the state of Chu successively took Lu and Ju, joined forces with the state of Wei to save the siege of Zhao Handan, and the state of Chu recuperated, did not have a large-scale conflict with the state of Qin, and achieved certain development. At this time, the capital city of Chencheng, located in the eastern Yu region, was originally a frontier city for commercial exchanges between the Chu State and the cities of the Central Plains.
Although the city defense was strengthened after the capital was moved, its geographical location was still relatively close to the Wei state and Korea, and the surrounding plains were all plains, and there was no danger to defend, and from the perspective of the capital defense, there was not enough strategic depth. Therefore, the capital was set there, but in order to avoid the expediency of the Qin Dynasty, the State of Chu still needed to find a fixed, safe, and suitable city as the capital.
During the reign of King Anqi of the State of Wei, he successively carried out military operations against the army of the State of Chu, "In the matter of Suiyang, the Jing army left when he was old; Cai and Zhaoling, Jing Jun broke the "Wei state successively attacked Suiyang, Shangcai, Zhaoling and other places, all three of which are not far from Chen Cheng, located in the northeast, west, and southwest of Chen Cheng, posing a certain threat to Chen Cheng, so it is very necessary to move the capital, or it has reached the point where it is impossible not to move.
After moving the capital to Juyang, the state of Chu had begun to build a new capital, and at this time Chunshen Jun was granted the title of Twelve Counties of Huaibei, and his fiefdom may have shouldered the task of building a new capital of the state of Chu. The location of Shouchun City is dangerous, and its north is the Huai River and the Bagong Mountain, which has natural dangers to follow; Through the tributaries on the north bank of the Huai River, it can be very convenient to connect with all parts of the Central Plains, choose this place as the capital, has a large hinterland in the southeast, and is far from the Central Plains in the north, with strategic depth, which is an ideal place to build a capital.
When the capital was moved to Juyang, the State of Chu probably had anticipated the short time here, so it did not spend more energy on the construction of Juyang City, but invested more resources in the transformation and expansion of Shouchun City, and naturally did not leave too many records in historical records. When the state of Chu moved the capital, it should also be rebuilt and expanded on the basis of its military stronghold to become the capital, perhaps "Juyang" left less name because it originally had another city name, and after moving the capital, it was renamed "Juyang".
In short, Juyang should be a short-lived capital stronghold of the Chu state in the late Warring States period, and the king of Chu chose to leave Chencheng, which was closer to the Central Plains, and migrated to Juyang City in the southeastern hinterland in order to avoid being involved in the wars of the Central Plains at this time, and at this time the construction of Shouchun City had begun, presided over by Chunshen Jun.
In the Huaibei area, there were few archaeological discoveries in the past, and in the cultural relics census, the local cultural relics department recognized that there were a certain number of relics from the Warring States period in the Huaibei area. With the development of cultural relics protection projects around the Jinhuai Project, the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted archaeological investigation and exploration along some tributaries on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and found cultural relics from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in the Gongji Town section of Taihe County, Xifei River.
At the site of the ancient city village at the junction of the Ying River and the Ci River in Fuyang City, the ruins of the Warring States period Chemakeng and the ruins of the two-week period were discovered. Among them, the site of Duandingzi in the Gongji Town of Taihe County, Xifeihe, is closely related to Juyang, and meets the conditions of being the capital of the Chu State in the late Warring States period in terms of the scale and chronological attributes of the city site.
4. Shouchun
In the twenty-second year of King Kaolie, the state of Chu moved to Shouchun and spent the last 19 years of the state of Chu here. Shouchun City, located in Xianshou County on the south bank of the Huai River, was originally the living place of the Huaiyi ethnic group, and in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a Fang State "Prefecture", and in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Chu Annihilation Liu, Ying, Shu Ying", this place was included in the sphere of influence of the Chu State.
The prefecture first appeared in historical records, that is, in the seventh year of the king of Chu, when Wu Wang Shoumeng Northern Expedition, "Wu entered the prefecture", which affected the political pattern of this place, and Wu Wang Shoumeng's Northern Expedition represented the beginning of the division of Wu and Chu in the Jianghuai region. In the fourth year of Lu Zhaogong, Chu "Randan City Prefecture" sent the great doctor Randan to build a city in the prefecture, gradually strengthening the importance of the central and northern region of Jianghuai and enriching the military strength of the region.
After the Rebellion, the State of Chu relinquished control of the eastern Jianghuai region, and the prefecture was gradually incorporated into the territory of the State of Wu. In "Shiji Wu Taibo Shijia Suoyin", "the prefecture was originally Chuyi, Wu Guang was destroyed, and then he sealed Ji Ziye", which became the fief of Jiza. During the reign of King Zhao of Chu, the war between the state of Wu and the state of Chu intensified, and the state of Wu gradually advanced westward after gaining a foothold in the Jianghuai region until it attacked the capital of Chu.
summary
In addition to the above four capitals, there is a saying in "Warring States Policy" that "King Xiang wandered in Chengyang", Mr. Huang Shengzhang pointed out through research that Chengyang is the Chu King City of Xinyang today, and the Chengyang in the Western Han Dynasty was built on the basis of Chengyang of the State of Chu, and the area of present-day Xinyang belonged to the sphere of influence of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and many tombs of the State of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period were unearthed, and the local area undertook the important task of defending the frontiers of the State of Chu.
In the process of evading the Qin army to escape north, the State of Chu could reach the city of Xinyang in Xinyang after crossing the three passes, and the State of Chu was guarded locally to block the pursuit of the Qin State, so it built a military facility here and named it the City of the King of Chu, and King Xiang had a short stay in the local area.
However, the king of Chu will not stay in Chengyang for too long, both the "Chu Family" and the "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" record that the Chu people entered Chen City after leaving Ji Ying, and there is no relevant record of Chengyang City, and Chen Cheng was under the jurisdiction of the State of Chu at that time, the distance was similar, the city defense facilities were more complete, and the King of Chu did not have the need to stay in Chengyang City, so Chengyang City could not be included in the research scope of the capital of the State of Chu.