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Recently, the excavation progress of the tomb of Wuwang Dunchu in Huainan, Anhui Province has attracted everyone's attention.

Wuwangdun Chu Tomb is the largest Chu State tomb excavated in the mainland so far, according to the cultural relics department, Wuwangdun Chu Tomb excavation unearthed a large number of cultural relics, including many king-level heavy weapons, according to the size of the mausoleum, location and unearthed cultural relics, combined with the records of historical documents, some scholars believe that Wuwangdun Chu Tomb may be the tomb of King Chu Kaolie during the Warring States Period, is the representative of the late Chu Dynasty.

What is the State of Chu?

How did you learn about the state of Chu?

How much do you know about Chu culture?

Retreat, blockbuster, and win the Central Plains,

This is the story of the powerful king of Chu who became a king and a king of Zhuang.

"The king of Chu has a thin waist, and the palace maids are starving to death",

This is an anecdote left by the famous King Chu Ling.

"Look at the flowers full of tears, not the words of the king of Chu",

This is Mrs. Xi's tragic life.

“亦余心之所善兮，虽九死其犹未悔”，

This is Qu Yuan, who is determined by poetry.

These idioms and allusions related to the Chu State, these historical celebrities that we are familiar with, are all the impressions left by the Chu State to "see flowers in the fog".

Qu Yuan is like by Xinfeng

So, what exactly is the state of Chu?

The state of Chu (1115 BC - 223 BC) was a vassal state located in the Yangtze River valley during the pre-Qin period.

The geographical scope of the ancient Chu State was roughly all of present-day Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi.

Ying, the capital of the state of Chu, was in today's Jingzhou, and was later forced by Qin to move Chen and Shouchun.

From the beginning of the country's "blue wisps of the road, to enlighten the mountains and forests",

In the period of peaceful development, "people's livelihood is diligent, and diligence is not scarce";

From the period of Jin and Chu hegemony, "power and conspiracy disputes, repeated battles",

After the death of Chu, "although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu".

A documentary called "Eight Hundred Years of the State of Chu" tells us vividly and comprehensively about the magnificent history of the State of Chu.

The royal family of Chu was a very small tribe that originally lived in the southwest of the Western Zhou Dynasty, during the period of King Wen of Zhou, befriended the powerful Zhou people, and actively participated in the alliance organized by King Wu of Zhou in the war against the Shang Dynasty, and after the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, he was canonized as a prince by the rulers of the Zhou Dynasty, and later became the first country to establish himself as a king.

At that time, the territory of the Chu State was very small, and the title was only the lowest viscount in the Western Fifth Rank. However, the rule of the Zhou Dynasty in the Chu people from the bones has a kind of self-esteem, self-confidence and pride, and refuse to be discriminated against and bullied, and never admit defeat, especially disdain to obey the rule of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is known as "disobedience to the Zhou" in history.

Mashan Tomb Group - Xiongjia Tomb by changing brocade flowers

The state of Chu has a long and legendary history, during the reign of King Zhao of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the state of Chu began to slowly become stronger, which attracted the attention of the Zhou Dynasty, and King Zhao of Zhou personally led the army south to attack Chu without success, and King Zhao himself died in Chu. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the state of Chu began to repeatedly disobey the orders of the Zhou dynasty and attacked the vassal states of the Zhou dynasty in the Han River valley.

After the establishment of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the king of Chu proclaimed himself the king of Chu and proclaimed himself the king of Chu, and the national strength of the state of Chu was further developed, basically unifying the middle reaches of the Yangtze River basin.

龙湾遗址-放鹰台遗址群 by欣风

After the management and conquest of three generations of Chu kings, King Wu of Chu, King Wen of Chu and King Cheng of Chu, to the period of King Zhuang of Chu, the state of Chu not only became the overlord of the south, but also went north to the Central Plains and won the title of the Zhou royal family, from which the idiom of "winning the Central Plains" came from. Later, the state of Chu defeated the invincible Jin state and ranked among the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period".

During the Warring States Period, the State of Chu destroyed the last overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Yue State, and almost unified the entire Yangtze River Basin, becoming a superpower with "5,000 miles of place and 1 million armor", and one of the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States".

In the tomb of Chu, the famous sword of King Goujian of Yue, the spear of Wu Wangfu and other kings of Wu and Yue were unearthed, which is the witness of the martial arts of the southeast region of Chu State.

越王勾践青铜剑 by Maya

Later, after the fall of the Chu state, the Chu people still did not submit to the rule of Qin, and under the leadership of their descendants Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu and others, they rebelled against Qin's rule, and eventually made important contributions to the overthrow of Qin rule.

Mr. Liu Yutang, a famous calligrapher, commented on the inscription calligraphy on the bronzes of the Chu Kingdom, saying, "The image thinking of the Chu people has a tradition of freedom, romance, wildness and even grotesqueness. Whatever is revealed, there must be a special charm."

Cultural relics are the witnesses and recorders of civilization, and the relics are the watchmen and experiencers of history.

Search for "Chu State Ruins" in the Huaxia Historical Monuments Map applet and App, and you can find 64 related results.

"The flowers and plants of the Chu Palace are buried in the path, and the clothes are like ancient mounds", but among the broken tiles and ruins of these city sites, we can trace its past style.

The ancient city of Chu Jinan

The ancient city of Chu Jinan, the most important capital site of Chu State, also known as the "Ying" capital, covers an area of about 16 million square meters, and is the political, economic and cultural center of Chu State at that time, and it is also the first metropolis in the south.

There are seven ruins of the city gate on the existing city wall, and there are moat ruins outside the city wall. There are a large number of ash pits, smelting and casting remains, architectural remains, more than 400 wells, and rows of kiln sites in the city. There are 61 pedestals in the southeast, some of which are only 5 meters apart, and are arranged according to a certain law, and there is a thick layer of rubble around them, which is the palace area of Ji Nan Castle.

The Yutai Mountain Tomb Group and the Tianxingguan Tomb Group were incorporated into the Jinan City Ruins as children.

Chu Jinan Ancient City - Yutai Mountain Tombs by Xinfeng

Longwan Ruins

The Longwan site is distributed within the range of 12 kilometers long from east to west and 9 kilometers wide from north to south, and is an important site group dominated by the relics of the Eastern Zhou and Chu cultures.

Fangyingtai No. 1 pedestal is a large Chu palace base site, the base site has a double-layer pedestal, some scholars believe that the place is the former site of Zhanghuatai built by King Chu Ling.

The ruins of Shouchun City

The ruins of Shouchun City are the capital of the late Chu Kingdom. The site was the land of Cai Qianzhou in the early days. In the northeastern part of the city, there are many large building foundations built on rammed earth platforms, and there is a moat outside the city that communicates with Anfengtang and Huangshui.

The small city in the southwest is a small city attached to Shouchun City of Chu State, and the residence of Shenjun of Chu State, one of the four gentlemen of the Warring States Period. The remains of a large palace remain on the ground.

"Death is like life", wanting to make the glory and glory of life immortal in the deep cave of the high mound, it is the "pursuit" of the emperor and general. As a result, there are ancient tombs with rich connotations, so that future generations can see the glorious years.

Mashan Tomb Group

The Mashan tomb group, the study of the pre-Qin period of Chu politics, economy, culture of the physical data, according to statistics, there are more than 300 ancient tombs with sealed mounds.

Among them, a large number of well-preserved silk fabrics unearthed from Mashan No. 1 Tomb, Wu Wangfucha bronze spear unearthed from Mashan No. 5 Tomb, and Yue Wang Goujian bronze sword unearthed from Wangshan No. 1 Tomb.

吴王夫差青铜矛 by荒海君

Li San's lonely pile of tombs

Li San Gudui Tomb Group, also known as the Discrete Gudui, is said to be the tomb of King You of Chu, and is the only tomb of the king of Chu that can be confirmed so far. Nearly 4,000 pieces of cultural relics have been unearthed, with a clear era and a clear cultural outlook, and have become the standard utensils for the late Chu Dynasty.

李三孤堆墓群出土的铸客大鼎 by王腾

Shimodera Ancient Tombs

From 1977 to 1979, archaeologists excavated 24 tombs of the Chu State in the Spring and Autumn Period near Longshan, Donggou Village, Xiasi Village, Cangfang Town, on the west bank of the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Xichuan County, and unearthed more than 8,000 pieces of various cultural relics. Among the uneartheds, the prince's noon ascension, the moire bronze ban and the bell of Wang Sun He are all first-class cultural relics in China.

According to the inscriptions on the flat-bottomed tripod unearthed from Tomb No. 2, the words "Prince Wu chooses its auspicious gold" and "Ling Yin Zigeng's respect", experts judge that the owner of Tomb No. 2 of Xiasi is the tomb of Ling Yin Zigeng during the period of King Chu Gong and King Chu Kang.

Prince Wu Shengding by Wang Teng

Although it is said that "long live the name of a thousand autumns, the aftermath of loneliness", but those characters who have left their names in history, their stories have been passed down from generation to generation.

Quyuan Shrine

Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall, formerly known as Qing Lie Ancestral Hall, was built in the fifteenth year of Tang Yuan and 15 years (820 years), Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty maintenance. Due to the construction of the Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project, it was relocated and renamed "Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall". The symmetrical layout of the central axis preserves the mountain gate, the matching room, the main hall, the bronze statue of Qu Yuan, the east and west tablet corridors, the Qu Yuan Memorial Hall and the tomb of Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall by Time Walker

Quyuan Tomb

Miluo Mountain Ancient Tombs (Qu Yuan Tomb), located in the Miluo Mountain in Shuangchu Village, Yongqing Village, Qu Zici Town, on the north bank of the Miluo River, has been sleeping here since the Warring States Period, and has been recorded in the documents of all dynasties since the Tang Dynasty.

屈原墓 by fruitran

Yellow mud lonely pile

Huangni Lonely Pile (Huang Xie Tomb), one of the "Four Sons of the Warring States" of the Chunshenjun Tomb. The mound is in the shape of a covered bucket, and the archaeological team of Anhui Province has drilled and investigated, which has confirmed that it is a wooden coffin tomb in a pit of charcoal and green gypsum.

The state of Chu has created a splendid and brilliant Chu culture. Qu Yuanzhi's "Lisao" and "Nine Songs", Song Yuzhi's "Goddess" and "Nine Arguments" are all representative works of Chu culture.

The exquisite bronze casting process, the leading silk embroidery process, the ingenious lacquerware manufacturing process, the five-tone music, the dancing with the sleeves bent and the waist, and the strange art ...... Chu culture influenced almost every category of ancient art. Today, we can also see a lot of precious cultural relics and hand-me-downs that represent the cultural features of Chu, such as the lacquerware of the Chu State represented by the hanging drum of the tiger seat phoenix frame unearthed in the Jiangling generation, and the bronze ware unearthed from the Chu tomb in Xichuan, which can be called the king's heavy weapon.

Tiger Seat Phoenix Hanging Drum by Wang Teng

The melodious Chu song, the smart and flying Chu dance, the colorful color of the Chu ware, and the bits and pieces of the Chu culture all demonstrate the self-confidence, courage and courage of the Chu people.

How many things have risen and fallen through the ages? Once, the land south of the Yangtze River was all Chu soil, and the people of Jiangnan were all Chu people, and now, more than 2,000 years have passed, and the remnants of Chu culture still echo here...... (Nan Cheng Yueyin Huagu Platform)

About the Author:

Wang Kan

The network name Nan Chengyueyin, referred to as orange, is one of the authors of "The Legacy of the Six Dynasties: Following the Footsteps of Mr. Zhu Wei", and one of the editors of "Tracing Nanjing", "Tracing Xi'an" and "Tracing Luoyang".

Keen on the search, recording and research of cultural relics and historic sites, so far, the footprints have been all over Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong and other areas rich in cultural relics and historic sites. Hundreds of thousands of words of "search records" are called the most precious "wealth" accumulated over the years.