The beginning and end of the Spring and Autumn Period according to the mainstream view of historians is from 770 BC to 476 BC. 770 BC is the first year of the Zhou Ping King, the Zhou Ping King moved east, and the Eastern Zhou Began; 476 BC is the forty-fourth year of the Zhou Jing King, that is, the last year of the Zhou Jing King, a total of 295 years. After that, Chinese history entered the Warring States period. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Lu experienced fourteen monarchs: Duke Xiao of Lu (795 BC---769 BC), Duke Hui of Lu (768 BC---723 BC), Duke of Luyin (722 BC--- 712 BC), Duke Huan of Lu (711 BC--- 694 BC), Duke Zhuang of Lu (693 BC---662 BC), Duke Min of Lu (661 BC---660 BC), Duke Lu (659 BC---627 BC), Duke Wen of Lu (626 BC--- 609 BC), Duke Xuan of Lu (608 BC--- 591 BC), Duke Cheng of Lu (590 BC--- 573 BC), Duke Xiang of Lu (572 BC--- 542 BC), Duke Zhao of Lu (541 BC--- 510 BC), Duke Ding of Lu (509 BC--- 495 BC), Duke of Luai (494 BC--- 468 BC). This article covers the first four.
Statue of Zhou Gong
Duke Xiao of Lu (鲁孝公), courtesy name Ji (姬), was the son of Duke Wu of Lu, reigning from 795 BC to 769 BC, and the last two years of his reign were the Spring and Autumn Period, which was also the period when Western Zhou fell and Eastern Zhou was established. In 817 BC, Duke Luwu took his sons Ji Kuo and Ji Xi to see King Xuan of Zhou, who liked Ji Drama and ordered Duke Lu Wu to depose his eldest son Ji Kuo and set up Ji Drama, and Fan Zhongfu, the Grand Master of Zhou, dissuaded King Xuan of Zhou from this act of violating etiquette, but King Xuan of Zhou did not listen. This act of King Xuan of Zhou caused small internal turmoil in Lu and a large number of things that undermined the etiquette system, and the collapse of ceremonies in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty could not but be said to be related to the exemplary role of Zhou Tianzi. In the same year, Duke Wu of Lu died immediately after returning to the State of Lu, and Gongzi Ji took the throne as Duke Yi of Lu. Ten years later, in 807 BC, Gongzi Kuo's son Bo Yu (伯御) launched a rebellion, killing Duke Yi of Lu and establishing himself as king. This was a counterattack against King Xuan of Zhou's act of deposing his wife. King Xuan of Zhou (reigned 828 BC – 783 BC) also did not accept defeat, in 796 BC, King Xuan of Zhou led an army against the state of Lu, after winning the victory, killed Lu and deposed the Duke of Lu, Fan Zhongfu suggested that another son of Duke Wu of Lilu be called Lu Jun, because Ji was known for his zhili and was the Duke of Lu. Duke Xiao of Lu reigned for 27 years, and in 769 BC, Duke Xiao of Lu died, and his son Ji Fuhuang succeeded to the throne as Duke Hui of Lu.
Lu Huigong reigned from 768 BC to 723 BC, reigning for 46 years. During the reign of Duke Hui, the State of Lu inherited the status of a great power of the State of Lu during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the state was also strong. King Ping of Zhou allowed Qin Wen to sacrifice the Heavenly Emperor with the gift of the Son of Heaven, and Huigong also applied to the King of Ping, but the King of Zhouping did not agree, and Huigong was angry and used the gift of the Son of Heaven to sacrifice the heavens, and the King of Zhouping did not dare to ask. The biggest scandal in Lu Huigong's life was to rob his son's wife, and the opening chapter of the "Zuo Biography" records:
Princess Mencius. 卒, the successor to the voice, born hidden. Duke Wu of Song gave birth to Zhongzi. Zhongzi was born with Wen in his hand, known as Lady Lu, so Zhongzi belonged to me. To be born to the Public and to benefit the Gong is to be enshrined in the hidden public.
The Chronicle of the Lu Family records:
Forty-six years later, Hui Gong died, and the eldest son of the emperor took over the kingdom and did the work of the king, for the sake of the hidden duke. At the beginning, Lady Hui was childless, and the concubine Shengzi had children. Long, to marry Song. The song daughter is good, and the Hui Gong takes it from his wife. Give birth to a son. Deng Song's daughter was his wife, and Yun was made the crown prince. And Hui Gong 卒, for the sake of Yun Shao, the Lu people jointly ordered the regency and took the throne without saying a word.
Comparing the two records, the Zuo Zhuan obviously conceals a record of Huigong's wife snatching his son, which may be related to the Spring and Autumn Period as the history of the State of Lu, while the Zuo Zhuan is a biography of the Spring and Autumn Period. Combined with the two passages, the course of events should be as follows:
At first, Huigong's wife Mengzi died prematurely without giving birth to a son for Huigong, and Huigong married another concubine (Shengzi), and she gave birth to a son for Huigong Ji (later Yingong). When Ji Xi grew up, Hui Gong married Song Zhongzi, the daughter of Duke Wu of Song, as his wife. Huigong saw that the Princess of song who married his son Ji Xi was very beautiful, and he took her as his own woman. Song Zhongzi gave birth to a son Ji Yun for Duke Hui of Lu, and Duke Hui promoted Song Zhongzi to the right wife and made Ji Yun crown prince. Lu Huigong should have been very old when he robbed his son and wife, because Huigong had been the monarch for 46 years, and the "Zuo Biography" recorded: "Born Huan Gong and Hui Gong Xue"; when Hui Gong died, Crown Prince Yun was still too young, so he let the eldest son Xi be the regent, indicating that Hui Gong was at least fifty years old when he gave birth to Ji Yun.
Duke Hui died in the 46th year of his reign, and because crown prince Ji Yun was young, he was regent by Ji Xi, the eldest son of Shu, the Duke of Luyin. 722 BC is the year of the Hidden Common Era, and the Spring and Autumn Chronicle begins with this Luyin Common Era. Duke Lu Yin reigned for eleven years, and by 712 BC, Ji Yun was already more than ten years old, and in a few years, Duke Lu Yin should return to Ji Yun. At this moment, a coup d'état broke out, and the Zuo Chuan recorded: "Father Yu asked Huan Gong to kill him, and he would ask Dazai." Gong Yue: 'For its sake, I will give it to him.' Make the camp and I will be old. 'Father Yu is afraid, and he asks Huan Gong to kill him.' "In order to become a Dazai, Lu Guo's minister Yu Father was willing to kill Ji Yun for Yin Gong, Lu Yin Gong was moral and unwilling to do such a thing, he was ready to obey his father's will, and when Ji Yun grew up, he would return the position of monarch to this little brother and go to the place of Su Qiu himself to retire. But Father Yu and Ji Yun were not so kind, and Father Yu was afraid that Ji Yun would hear his words and kill him, but instead framed Yin Gong to Ji Yun and said, "Yin Gong wants to officially become the monarch of the country, and he wants to get rid of you, so please allow me to kill Yin Gong for you." Ji Yoon agreed. In November, the Duke of Yin will sacrifice the god of bells and witches, fasting in the community garden, and staying in the home of the Hagi clan. YuFu sent someone to kill The Duke of Yin at the Family of The Dragon Clan, and Li Ji Yun was Lu Jun, who was the Duke of Lu Huan.
In this political struggle, the initiative was originally in the hands of Lu Yingong, but he strictly adhered to morality and died innocently. Throughout Lu Yingong's life, first his father robbed his wife, and then he was killed by the son who was originally born to his wife, which cannot but be said that Lu Yingong became a victim of an era of bad etiquette and moral degeneration. This is the tragedy of an era.
Lu Yingong in the film and television drama
Duke Huan of Lu also did not have any good results, and in 709 BC, Duke Huan of Lu sent his father to the State of Qi to marry the Princess of Qi as the Duke of Huan for himself. In 706 BC, this Qi daughter gave birth to a son for Duke Huan, whose birthday was the same as That of Duke Huan, so he was named "Tong" and became the crown prince. In 694 BC, Duke Huan of Lu and his wife visited the State of Qi together, and Lady Huan had an affair with her brother Qi Xianggong. When Duke Huan learned of this, he angrily rebuked his wife, and lady told Qi Hou about Huan Gong's scolding. Qi Xianggong invited Huan Gong to a banquet, and after Huan Gong was drunk, he ordered Peng Sheng to kill Huan Gong in the car. The Lu people scolded the Qi people, and the Qi people killed Peng Sheng to apologize to Lu. The people of the State of Lu made the prince the same prince, that is, the Duke of Luzhuang. Duke Zhuang's mother, Lady Huan, then remained in the State of Qi and did not dare to return to Lu.
The evil consequence of Huan Gong may be the retribution for doing evil with his father Lu Hui. This is the experience of the first four monarchs of the State of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there are constant scandals: brothers competing for the throne, fathers robbing sons and wives, brothers and sisters committing adultery, and revenge for enmity, which is the so-called collapse of etiquette and moral degeneration.