Statue of Zhuang Ji
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were two world-famous thieves. One was the thief of the State of Lu (zhi), and the other was the Zhuang Qiao (蹻) of the State of Chu. The story of the thief has been published in the "Robbery Story"
There is also a way of theft: the first great thief in ancient times, Liu Xia, angrily denounced Confucius as too hypocritical
as mentioned in the article. This article tells the story of Zhuang Shuo.
To say that Zhuang Ji is a thief is actually a bit unjust. Zhuang Ji was originally a descendant of king Zhuang of Chu, the 22nd monarch of the Chu state, and was rooted in Hongmiao Zheng. However, by the time of king Huai of Chu, the 37th monarch of the Chu kingdom, Zhuang Ji had already belonged to a distant family and could not enjoy much welfare. However, Zhuang Ji was a rare talent, good at leading soldiers to fight. In the Xunzi Discussion Of Soldiers, Zhuang Ji is listed as a good general with the same name as Tian Dan of the State of Qi, Shang Martin of the State of Qin, and Le Yi of the State of Yan. Unfortunately, the King of Chu Huai at that time was a faint monarch who reused his vassals and rejected Zhongliang. Therefore, the talents of the pillars have not been reused.
In 301 BC, the combined forces of the States of Qin, Qi, Korea, and Wei jointly attacked the State of Chu. King Huai of Chu sent the general Tang Ming (also known as Tang Qi) to lead an army to meet the battle. The two sides lined up across the water at Trisha (present-day Tanghe County, Henan) and held each other for more than 6 months. Later Qi sent elite soldiers to attack the Chu army at night and kill Tang Ming. The State of Chu was defeated, and a large area of land fell, known in history as the Battle of Chusha. After the war, the State of Chu had to submit to the State of Qi and was forced to take Crown Prince XiongHeng as a hostage and ask Qi for peace.
The defeat of the Chu state made Zhuang Ji, who had not met Huai Cai, very dissatisfied. In a fit of rage, Zhuang Launched a riot in Yuedi in the eastern part of the Chu State and became the "Leader of the Great Bandits". Zhuang's rebellion is mentioned in many historical books. The Xunzi Yibing Chapter records: "Tang died of contempt, Zhuang Rose, and Chu divided into three or four." In the Book of Shangjun and the Weak People, it is said: "Tang Contempt died of desperation, Zhuang Was born inside, and Chu was divided into five." This means that after Tang Chen's death, Zhuang Huan raised an incident, and the Chu state was divided for a while. In addition, the "Han Feizi YuLao" also records: "Zhuang Fei could not be forbidden to steal from the territory, and this political chaos was also." The "Treatise on Heng, Volume II, and The Doctrine of Fate" says: "Zhuang Ji ran rampant in the world, gathered thousands of parties, attacked and seized characters, cut off people, and had no way out." This means that Zhuang's team of bandits is rampaging through the Chu kingdom, acting recklessly and unstoppable. The "Lü Shi Chunqiu Jieli" also said: "Zhuang Shu's tyrannical Yin Ye." This means that Zhuang's bandits even once invaded the capital of the Chu state, Yingdu (郢都, in present-day Jingzhou, Hubei).
Wall sculpture: Zhuang Jian Wang Dian
Zhuang Ji became a thief, in fact, forced. Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in the "On the Nature of Heng": "Thieves are not human thieves, and Zhuang Is also indiscriminate in stabbing people." This means that the thief is not a true thief, and the thief is not a greedy person. It was only because Zhuang Ji had been suppressed for a long time in the Chu state and the hero had no place to play, that he raised an army to rebel. To be sure, many historical figures are really difficult to distinguish between "good" and "bad."
In 299 BC, the State of Chu was fiercely played by the State of Qin. At that time, the State of Qin captured the eight cities of the State of Chu, and then the King of Qin wrote to the King of Chu Huai, asking him to meet the alliance at Wuguan (武關, in present-day Shangluo, Shaanxi). King Huai of Chu had been bullied by the State of Qin for a long time, and of course wanted to make peace with the State of Qin, so he did not listen to the advice of Qu Yuan and others and decided to go to Wuguan for an appointment. Who knew that as soon as he arrived at Wuguan, he would be held hostage by the Qin State. The State of Qin forced him to cede Qianzhong Commandery and Wu Commandery to redeem himself, but King Huai of Chu refused to comply. Three years later, King Huai of Chu became depressed and died in the Qin kingdom. Obviously, King Huai of Chu was killed by the Qin state.
During the period when King Huai of Chu was detained, Xiong Heng, the crown prince who was a hostage in the State of Qi, was able to return to China to inherit the throne on the condition that he cede five hundred miles to the State of Qi, in order to be the King of Xiang of Chu. During the reign of King Xiang of Chu, the State of Qin cut down Chu many times, and the State of Chu won fewer and lost more. In view of Chu's internal and external troubles, King Xiang of Chu decided to recruit the great thief Zhuang Jiao, who was traversing the rivers and lakes. After all, it was a royal family relative, blood was thicker than water, and after zhuang huan became a thief for several years, he chose to submit to the imperial court.
In 280 BC, the State of Qin attacked the State of Chu, and the State of Chu was forced to cede the lands of Shangyong and Northern Han to the State of Qin. In 279 BC, the State of Qin attacked the State of Chu again, capturing the Xiling (present-day Yichang City, Hubei) of the State of Chu. The Qin army was approaching step by step, and the Chu state was in danger. At this time, Zhuang Ji took the initiative to ask for help, asking to lead a crack army into Yunnan (present-day Guizhou, Yunnan) to establish a base behind enemy lines. At that time, the land of Bashu had long been annexed by the State of Qin, and the Qin army was eyeing the Qianzhong And Wu Counties of the Chu State. If a base area is opened in the rear of the Qin army at this time, it will not only make the Qin army suffer from the enemy in the belly, but also take the opportunity to attack the Bashu land of the Qin state, thus breaking the pressure of the Chu state in the frontal battlefield. This bold plan, undoubtedly of great wisdom and long-term vision, was quickly approved by King Xiang of Chu.
Zhuang then led thousands of troops from Yingdu, up the Yangtze River (said to be along the Yangtze River), into The West of Qianzhong Commandery (both in present-day Guizhou), and finally reached Dianchi (present-day Kunming, Yunnan). Dianchi Lake is three hundred miles in circumference and the land is fertile. Thousands of miles around it are fertile lands. Zhuang Easily occupied it and incorporated it into the Chu territory. It is worth mentioning that both the "Records of History" and the "Book of Han" mistake Zhuang Into the Dian Dynasty for the period of the King of Chu Wei, which is actually the period of the Xiang King of Chu, and I will correct it here.
In 277 BC, after establishing a base area in Dianchi, Zhuang Planned to return to the Chu State to discuss the grand plan of resisting Qin. However, at this time, both Qianzhong Commandery and Wu Commandery had been occupied by the Qin army, and the capital was also captured by the Qin army in the previous year, and the Chu state had already moved its capital to Chen (present-day Huaiyang District, Zhoukou City, Henan). Due to the obstruction of the road, Zhuang And his sergeants had to stay in Dianchi. Later, seeing that there was no hope of returning to the Chu state, Zhuang Jian established the State of Dian in the local area, proclaiming himself the King of Dian, with the capital at Jincheng Town, Jinning District, Kunming. In order to win the hearts and minds of the people, Zhuang took the initiative to change his costume and obey the local customs. Zhuang Thus became the first person in history to develop the Yunnan frontier in the interior.
Interestingly, in Yunnan folklore, Zhuang Huan also became the door-to-door son-in-law of the Daughter Kingdom of Dianchi. It is said that dianchi at that time was a matriarchal society, because Zhuang And the princess of the Queen of Dianchi fell in love, and the Queen of Dianchi later passed the throne to Zhuang And made Zhuang the King of Dian. As a result, the Kingdom of Dian became a patriarchal society. Under the leadership of Zhuang Ji, the State of Yunnan became stronger and stronger. (Text/Xie Zhidong)
Bronze artifacts excavated from the tombs of the ancient Dian Kingdom