The emergence of the city is one of the signs of human society entering civilization, and the emergence of the capital is one of the symbols of the country, and the capital is the political center and economic center of the country. The study of Wu culture, the study of the capital city of Wu is an indispensable page. Regarding the capital of the Wu kingdom, everyone knows that it is Suzhou, because the historical data clearly states that the ancient Wu capital city is Gusu, Guxu, and Guyu. All three are ancient place names in Suzhou. But Suzhou, as the capital of the Wu kingdom, was after 514 BC, so where was the capital of the Wu kingdom more than 600 years ago?
In addition to recording that Gusu was Wu Dacheng, the Book of Yue Jie also recorded: "Gou Wu ruled the Xijiang River, and all cattle and sunu also." "Xijiang originally referred to an ancient river connecting Taihu Lake, Changtang Lake (Taohu Lake), and Juhu (Wuhu) to the Yangtze River, and is now called Xuxi. DuNiu and Sunu are only the corresponding constellations in Chinese astrological knowledge. This record is also detailed in astronomical geography records such as the Book of Han and the Book of Jin. According to the Book of Han, the ancient Wu land in the south corresponds to the fighting division, cattle, and actresses. "Dou Fen Ye" represents the Wu and Yue demarcation lines bounded by the Guxi River, and Du Niu and Xu Nu are the corresponding ancient Wu territories. It shows that the Xijiang River is the dividing line between the wu state and the yue kingdom.
In addition to the "Book of YueJie", which explicitly mentions the capital of the Wu kingdom, the historical data describing the capital of the Wu kingdom are:
"Wu Yue Chunqiu • Wu Taibo Biography": "The last decline of Yin, the Chinese marquis used a number of troops, fearing that It would be in Jingman, so Taibo raised the city, wednesday two hundred steps, waiguo more than three hundred miles ..., the name of the old Wu, the people are cultivating it." ”
"Wu Yue Chunqiu • Wu Wang Shou Dream Biography": "The king of Tai changed to the seasonal calendar, the second uncle came to Jingman, and the city became a country." ”
The Shiben Ju Chapter contains: "孰哉居蕃離, 孰姑徙 sentence Wu" Song Zhen notes: "孰哉, Zhongyong character." Yugu, Shou Mengye. ”
The "History of Justice" says: "Shou Mengpao, Zhu Fan migrated south to Wu. ”
"Yue Zhi Shu • Wu Di Biography": "At the time of the Lu Dynasty, the great bully built the city of Wu {Yue}." ”
"Wu Yue Chunqiu • Lu Lu Nei Biography": "Wu Zixu is to make the earth and water, like heaven and earth, to build a big city, and to return to the week forty-seven miles." Eight Gates of Land; Eight Gates of Water, Eight Gates of Ephernalia. ”
That is to say, after starting from Taibo, Shou Meng, Zhu Fan, and Gongzi Guang (阖闾) had three migrations to the capital.
Let's analyze the history of the Kingdom of Wu.
According to our existing historical information, at the end of the Yin Shang Dynasty, Taibo took Zhongyong from The Qishan Mountains of Zhouyuan to the Area of Xiaodanyang Meili in Jiangnan. Later, the city of Taibo was established as the State of Gou Wu. By the time King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty, he divided the Zhou Chapters into Wu Jun and established him as princes. Until the 18th Wu Jun of the Gou Wu Kingdom went to Qi, the time was about 540. For such a long time, the state of Gou Wu has been unknown, and the migration of the capital is not recorded in the historical records. "Zuo Chuan ZhaoGong Thirty Years": "Wu, Zhou Zhizhi also abandoned on the seashore, not with Ji Tong." It shows that during this time, Wu did not have contact with the Zhou Dynasty.
In Chinese history, as a capital city, it generally did not move at will, especially during the period of dynastic status and territorial stability, the political center of the country would not change. That is to say, the capital of the Gou Wu state during this time should be in the old "Gou Wu" area.
In 585 BC, the kingdom of Gou Wu passed down to the 19th Shou Dream. "Shou Meng stood and Wu Shi Yi was great, and he was called king." It can be seen that by the shoumeng period, the state of Gou Wu began to grow stronger, and its territory continued to expand to the north of the Great River, and under the professor of the great power Jin State, it began to confront the great power Chu State. By this time the territorial centres of the state had shifted northward, and the political centres of the state could have moved northward. If the capital of the Wu kingdom moves to the north, then the location of the "Yi" capital city is the most appropriate. Archaeological findings have found a large number of tombs of King Wu in the original "Yi" Dagang area, among which the tomb of The Third Son of Shou Meng, Yu Ming, has been clearly identified. From the archaeological results, it can be proved that Shou Meng indeed moved the capital of the Gou Wu State to the "Yi" land.
Song Wang Yinglin's "Poetry Geography Examination" quotes the Shiben Yun: "Yugu Migration Dan Disciple Sentence Wu." The supplementary edition of the collection of Qing Zhang Shu's "Eight Kinds of Shiben" is also called: "Yugu Shift DanTu Gou Wu". The Japanese Mizuzawa Toshidasa's "Commentary on the Supplement to the Examination of the History" composed by the Southern Song Dynasty Qingyuan Ben and the Yuan Edition of Peng Yin Weng Ben's "Shi Ji" both cite the "Shi Ben" as "YuGu Shift Dan Tu Sentence (Wu)". Yigu is Shou Meng, and Dantu's sentence Wu should be Zhu Fang in the "Zuo Zhuan", and it should also be the "Trick" (宜) in the inscription of "Yihou Yagui".
The "Spring and Autumn Left Biography" contains: In the seventh year of Cheng Gong (584 BC), Wu Shifa Chu, Cutting Nests, Cutting Xu. The son is running for his life. The Meeting of Maling, Wu into the state. Zi Zhong zi zheng ben fate. Zi Zhong and Zi were one year old and seven years old. Barbarians belong to the Chu, and Wu takes it. "This is the result of the Shou Dream period, which can be described as huge. However, the great power chu then counterattacked and soon recaptured the state to wait for the lost land. The capital city on the Yangtze River soon became a forward position for both the enemy and us. After The death of Gu Shoumeng, when he arrived in Zhufan, he had to consider moving the political center south. The "Four Years of Zuo Chuan and Dinggong" records: "Chu Zizhao took the throne, and there was no Wu master at all ages." "There is no Wu Master without age". It means that since King Chu Zhao ascended the throne, there has not been a year without the Wu-Chu War. In this way, the time of Gou Wuguo in Yidi is not very long, that is, the reign of Shou Meng, about 25 years or so. During this period, it was mainly the expansion of the territory to the north.
The "History of Justice" says: "Shou Mengpao, Zhu Fan migrated south to Wu. "Wu" is actually the name of the province of "Gou Wu", especially in later generations, the Gou Wu State before Shou Meng is often referred to as "Old Wu" or "Gou Wu", and the territory expanded by the Gou Wu State after that is only called Wu Di.
Zhu Fan's southern migration should be a fact, first, in 545 BC, Yu Ji sealed Qi Chenqing in Zhu Fang, and Zhu Fang's location was exactly the former Dantu Ancient "Yi" land. This historical record shows that before the Yu Festival, Wu Capital had moved south. The second is that Tang Luguangwei wrote the "Record of Wu Di": Lu Cheng, the sixth year of King Jing of Zhou (514 BC), wu yuan fell into Chu Huan, Yunrun Prefecture Lihu soil built, insufficient, and also took Wudi Huangdu soil, as a large and small two cities. The Book of Yue Zhi reads: "Wu Yuan took the Huangdu soil of Lipu to build lu city". In the sixth year of King Jing of Zhou, that is, in the first year of The Lu Dynasty, Wu Zixu built the "Lu City" using the soil of The Li Lake in Runzhou. It shows that the city of Zhufan's southern migration should not be too far from the "Lu City", and it is on the ground in Runzhou.
So where did Zhu Fan migrate to the south?
During the Shoumeng period, the State of Gou Wu had expanded all the territory of southern Jiangsu into the territory of the State of Wu, so this place should be the center of southern Jiangsu, according to the map, it should be in Changzhou and southern Danyang. In ancient times, there were three cities in this area: Yancheng, Yanlucheng, and Gecheng. Of the three cities, only Gecheng qualified, which belonged to the territory of Runzhou, and it was located next to the Danjin Li Cao Canal, which was the way for Wuzi Xu to return to Chu. Considering that the tomb of King Wu Yu is in Dantu "Yi" Land, the gecheng ruins must be not far from DanTu YiDi, and the waterway traffic should be very convenient. Katsuragi meets these conditions in every way.
According to the archaeological results of the Danyang Gecheng ruins, the Gecheng ruins are a large city site of the Wu Kingdom from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn Period. The site lasts for a long time, is well preserved, and its use time runs through the entire process of the history of the Wu Kingdom, so the connotation is richer. During the excavation, the site of the third phase of Gecheng's city wall, the city gate and the corresponding ditch were revealed. Considering the geographical location of the Gecheng site, the remains found, and the bronze cellars and tombs excavated in the neighboring area, it is speculated that this city site may have been an important site in the process of moving the political center of the Wu kingdom from Zhenjiang Dantu to the Taihu Plain area. It shows that gecheng existed as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, which may be a capital city like the Yanguo, or a border city of the early Wu kingdom. Zhu fan moved the capital only to use the original city pool.
This capital city has experienced Zhufan, Yujie, Yuming, and Wu Wangfu for about 46 years. With the support of the great power Jin, the State of Wu went to war with the State of Chu. After the State of Chu suffered a heavy blow from the State of Wu, in order to contain the State of Wu from behind, the State of Chu also began to support the State of Yue, and the State of Yue in the south began to harass the State of Wu, during which the State of Wu mainly waged war with the State of Chu and the State of Yue.
In 514 BC, Zhu Fan's son Gongzi Guang assassinated Wu Wangfu and became the 24th monarch of the Gou Wu state, changing his name to Lu Lu. After coming to power, he heeded the advice of the chancellor Wu Zixu and conquered the Yue state in the south before cutting down Chu. Also in order to change the environment, Lu Lu ordered Wu Zixu to choose the site of the city and once again moved the capital south. Wu Zixu fully investigated the geographical and hydrological conditions in the land of Wuzhong, and believed that there were lakes and hills on the east bank of Taihu Lake as a barrier, which was not conducive to the Chu army and could provide a large amount of stone for the construction of the city; the fertile wilderness of the Wuzhong Plain and the land of fish and rice were the excellent rear areas. Wu Dacheng built by Wu Zixu in Gusu is the last capital of the Gou Wu Kingdom known as "Wu Dacheng".
The last capital city went through the 42-year period of the Wu kings of Lu and Fucha. During this period, he first conquered the Yue state in the south, and then Fu Cha led his troops to the north to open up the northern Central Plains territory and dominate the Spring and Autumn Period, until finally the Wu state was destroyed by the Yue state.
These four different periods of history correspond to the three migrations of the capital mentioned above. See figure:
It is summarized as follows:
The first capital city name should be "Gou Wu". It was built by Tabor, and "Gou Wu [yu]" is both a country name and a place name, and the place is in Jurong. Looking at the history of the construction of Jurong City, Jurong City was first built in the Three Kingdoms Era. So where was Jurong City before the Three Kingdoms? Historical records are not recorded, but there is a place that resembles the Gou Wu site, that is, the Village of Ge by Chishan Lake in the central area, which has yet to be confirmed by archaeology.
The second capital was originally the capital of the ancient "Yi" kingdom, which was the city where Shoumeng migrated, which lasted about 25 years. Nearby is the tomb of Shou Meng and his children. The specific location of the ancient "Yi" capital has not yet been excavated, and Dinggangge Village is the object of suspicion.
The third capital was the relocated city of Zhu Fan, the eldest son of Shou Meng, using the original ancient city, which lasted for about 46 years, and the ruins of Gecheng have been excavated.
The fourth capital city was built by Zhu Fan's eldest son Guang, which lasted for 42 years and belonged to the last capital of the Gou Wu Kingdom, "Wu Dacheng", located in present-day Suzhou, which has been excavated by archaeology.
In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the capital city migrated with a certain pattern of naming, such as the Shang Dynasty, after the migration of the capital city, its naming was with "bo" and "Yin" sounds, such as Fan, 蕃, 邺, 亳, Pi, 奄, Yin. So does the Gou Wu capital city have a unique pronunciation of the WuYue language? It was found that Gou Wu (Jurong), Ju Wu (Guyang), Gecheng and Gusu (Guxu) all had the pronunciation of Ko in southeastErn China.
Among the ancient place names left by the existing historical materials from the Western Zhou To the Spring and Autumn Period of Southern Jiangsu, if you look up according to the Wuyue pronunciation of "Gou [Ko]", a total of five place names with Ko words were found, namely: Gu Wei, Gou Wu (Jurong), Gu Wu (Gu Yang), Ge Cheng, Gu Su (Gu Xu), it was found that except for Gu Yi was Tai Bo, Zhongyong Ben Wu Shi Ben, the other four were once the capital of the Wu Kingdom. When Taibo built the "Taibo City" and established the "Gou Wu" state, Gu Yu was guarded by Zhongyong as a border city.)