Prince Noon Ding, can be called "the leader in the ding". Its beautiful shape, fine ornamentation, and strange inscriptions vividly express the outstanding characteristics of the culture and art of the Chu state
King Cheng of Zhou made Xiong Xuan a "viscount".
"Viscount" is the lowest rank among the princes. The land sealed was only fifty miles, which was equivalent to the size of a township today. The "Records of History" records that: "When King Zhou became king, Juwen and Wu were diligent heirs, and Feng Xiong was in Chu Man, and was given the title of Zi Nan Tian ,Surname Qi ,Ju Danyang.' ”
However, this is, after all, the beginning of the founding of the Chu state. The 800-year history of the Chu State began.
Immediately afterward, an order from King Cheng of Zhou came, asking Chu Zi Xiong to attend the court meeting of the princes.
The bear was on his way. At that time, from the Jingshan area to the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, it was necessary to cross a lot of primitive mountains and forests, and the road was untouched, which was very difficult. Zuo 's "Biography" Zhao Gong 12 years: "In the past, my ancestor King Xiong Xuan was in Jingshan Mountain, and the road was blue, to deal with grass, trekking through mountains and rivers, and doing things to the son of heaven." That is to say, Xiong Xuan sat in a simple firewood cart, his clothes were torn by thorny branches along the way, and after a difficult trek, he finally came to the heart of the Zhou Dynasty.
3,033 years ago, in the year 1020 BC, the King of Zhou held the famous "Alliance of Qiyang" at the Yang of Qishan.
Portrait of King Zhou Chengwang (Image Source Network)
Xiong Xuan got out of the car and respectfully greeted King Zhou Cheng. Take a bush of thatch from the cart, and the wooden bows: this is our tribute, the thatch used to worship the gods and the peach bow used to drive away demons. The peach wood we had there was particularly strong.
The princes next to him couldn't hide their mouths and laugh.
On the day of the official holding of the conference, Xiong Xuan came to the venue early. Xiong Xuan wanted to follow the other princes and sit in the temple, but was stopped by the guards. The guards said that the King of Zhou had ordered that Chu Zi, as a fire master, guarded the fire in the courtyard with the King of Xianbei. Originally, "According to the Zhou Rites, although the Kings of the Four Yi were listed in the Imperial Council, they were often only available for running for military service and could not formally participate in the ceremonies of the League." Therefore, the "Chinese Jin Language": it says: "The former kings of the alliance are yu Qiyang, Chu is Jingman, mao, set up a watch, and is humble and guarded, so it is not allied." That is, Chu and Xianbei were regarded as barbarians who failed to officially participate in the alliance ceremony.
Xiong Xuan understood that although he was made a viscount, in the eyes of the Zhou people, he was still just a barbarian king!
At a ceremony held shortly after King Zhou Kang's ascension to the throne, King Zhou Kang gave different gifts to the monarchs of several countries in the palace with Xiong Xuan. The four kingdoms of Qi, Wei, Jin, and Lu were given the Zhong Ding Che Banner and other items, but once again forgot about the Chu state.
More than five hundred years later, until the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu people still complained: "In the past, I was the first king XiongXuan, with Lü Jie, Wang Sunmu, Xie Father, Bird Father, and King Kang, the four kingdoms were divided, and I had no one." ”
"Zhou Zhi Zongmeng, a different surname is the queen". In the Zhou Dynasty, where blood relations determined everything, the remote barbarian countries could only be doomed to such treatment. "Qi, Uncle Wang also." Jin and Lu and Wei, the queen mother's brother also. Chu is divided into no parts, and everything else has. Xiong Xuan could only endure this breath.
After Xiong Xuan's death, the State of Chu became less active in paying tribute to the Zhou Dynasty. "Han Feizi Wai Chu said upper left" records: "Chu Zhijing Mao did not pay tribute to the Son of Heaven for three years! "They no longer care so much about whether the Central Plains Dynasty recognizes itself.
However, this small oversight caused the anger of the Central Plains Dynasty. The small barbarian country dared not pay tribute to the Central Dynasty on time, which was regarded as a rebellious act. When the Zhou Dynasty poems in the Book of Poetry mention Jing Chu, the tone is full of disdain: "Stupid Jing is barbaric, and the great state is a vendetta." "Stupid and ridiculous Chu people, you dare to make a vendetta against the powerful Central Plains State!"
Battle of King Zhou Zhao's Attack on Chu Jing (Source Network)
King Zhao of Zhou (1001 BC - 977 BC) led the chariots and horses of the Jingqi Hunting, and the neat sixth division with distinctive armor concentrated the full force of the whole country and attacked the Chu state in the south. According to the inscription of the "Wall Plate", "Honglu summoned (Zhao) King, Guangxuan Jingchu, only hunting south." It can be seen how great the momentum of Prince Zhou Zhao's army in leading the army to the south is.
When the news of Zhou Shi's southward movement came, the Chu state was shaken up and down, and it was shocked. However, the belligerent instinct in their bones makes their first reaction not to escape, but to face the battle.
The outcome of this war was unexpected. King Zhou Zhao originally regarded this southern expedition as a safari. Unexpectedly, the war was protracted and repeated three times, lasting eight years. The three attacks of the Zhou Dynasty army suffered heavy losses. In the Second War, the King of Zhou "lost the Sixth Division to Han" and almost completely destroyed his army on the Han River. In the Third War, King Zhou Zhao fell into the water and died.
Although after the war, the Chu people were forced to move to the north bank of the Yangtze River further south, it proved that the Chu people eventually lost. But the fighting power displayed by the Chu people in the course of the war was shocking. Living among a small number of fierce and belligerent people for a long time and merging with them for a long time, the shangwu factor in the blood of the Chu people is far higher than the level of the Central Plains.
About author:Zhang Hongjie, writer, scholar, speaker of hundred forums, author of "Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty", "The Front and Side of Zeng Guofan", "A Brief Reading of Chinese History" and so on.
Zhang Hongjie