chu (stall) – Wikipedia Wikipedia

Chound ( Brilliant ) It was a kingdom located in the current center-southern China, during the period of the springs and autumn, (722-481 BC and the period of the fighting kingdoms (481-221 BC). The dominant family owned the surname “Mi” (芈), name of the “Xiong” clan 熊, and the noble title of “Zi”, corresponding to our Viscount approximately.

The first name of the state was Jing ( Jing ) and subsequently Jingchu ( Jing Brilliant ). At the maximum of its expansion, the Kingdom of Chu occupied a vast area of ​​the territory, including the current provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Henan, Shanghai, and part of the Jiangsu. The capital of the kingdom was Ying ( Bleak ), localized approximately near the current Jingzhou, in the province of Hubei.

Jing’s state was populated by the original people Chu and ruled by an aristocracy strictly related to the Zhou sovereigns dynasty, with the capital in Danyang. Before the dissolution of the power of the Zhou, the territory was transferred by authority by King Cheng of Zhou to Xiong Yi, thus starting the kingdom of the Oriental Zhou. In the early years of his formation, Chu was mainly a military state in perennial expansion, with the bad reputation to annex all the states with which he had allied himself. CHU grew as a small and employee of great empire worthy of respect, obtaining the recognition of one of the “five main feudal lines of the spring and autumn period (春秋 五霸). The power of the kingdom continued to exist even after the end of the The period of the spring and autumn that took place in 481 BC in 447 BC. Chu Annientò Cai. However, towards the end of the fifth century BC. Corruption spread to the point of making it an inefficient state also due to the emoluments due to the number of bureaucrats more and more Numerous. Many officers did not have defined tasks, except to take money. So the army lost professionalism due to the scarcity of funds.

Expansion [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Towards the end of 390 BC, King Dao of Chu (楚悼 王 王) appointed his prime minister wu qi, who from 380 BC An administrative reform of the state began in order to make it more powerful and efficient: he lowered the wages of the officers by removing the useless ones. Legal rules promulgated in order to make the Ying capital more efficient. Although Wi Qi had become very unpopular his reforms made the very powerful state until the beginning of the fourth century BC. When the Zhao and Qin states predominated

Chu with the power of weapons conquered the states of Chen and the state of Cai and defeating the States of Wei and Yue. However, during the funeral of King Dao in 381 BC Wu Qi was assassinated by officers. During the late period of the warrior states, Chu increased the pressure to the west borders of Qin, especially after Shang Yang’s administrative and legal reform. The power and dimensions achieved of Chu’s state were fundamental for the formations of the alliances against Qin. As Qin expanded in the territories of Chu, Chu tried for outburst towards the southern and oriental territories, absorbing the influence of local cultures encountered during its expansion. In 333 BC, Chu and Qi were divided by the Litorara State of Yue.

Towards the end of the period of the fighting kingdoms, approximately towards the end of the fourth century BC, however for Chu the forfeiture began. As a result of several invasions from Zhao and Qin, Chu was inevitably annexed to Qin. In 278 BC General Bai Qi of Qin conquered Ying, so the capital in exile of Chu was transferred to the province of Anhui.

The Qin conquest (225-223 B.C.) [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

In 225 BC Only three sovereign states remained independent: Chu, Yan and Qi. Chu’s state had significantly recovered its forces to set a serious resistance after the disastrous defeat against the Qin of 278 BC, with the loss of the centuries -old and ancient capital of Ying (Jingzhou). Despite the vastness of the territory and the quantity of resources and labor, the main defect of the Chu state was his corrupt government that almost completely vanified the legalistic reforms of Wu Qi.

Ying Zheng of Qin decided to defeat the strongest state first, that of Chu, but the first invasion was a failure, because the chu army rejected the Qin troops commanded by the inexperienced general li xing, on the ground not very familiar to him of Huaiyang, in today’s provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui.

In 224 BC, to command a second invasion to the head of an Qin army of 600 000 men, the famous conqueror of the state of Zhao, Wang Jian, was recalled. Chu’s state was unable to stop the invaders, and after attempting a vain resistance he was definitively conquered in 223 BC.

Since the state of Chu had been the last to fall, only eleven years before the death of Qin Shihuangdi and since he had been spared by massacres and destruction, he became the leading state in the rebellion against the Qin dynasty. In the end, two men of the land of Chu, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu led to lead the revolt and to fight each other in the Chu-Han content. It was Liu Bang who prevailed, and to create the HAN dynasty that reigned on China for 400 years.

The Chu people and their traditions had a considerable importance under the western Han dynasty, and ended up mixing with the traditions of Qin’s dominators, creating a unified Chinese culture that emerged in the period of the Eastern Han dynasty.

The culture that emerged from the archaeological excavations was initially similar to that of the other states of the Zhou era. The oldest sepulchral equipment mainly consisted of Zhou -style bronze objects, while in the later tombs, especially those of the period of the fighting kingdoms, specifically chu objects were found. One of the characteristics of the art was the use of ornamental motifs depicting snakes and dragons. Some archaeologists hypothesized that the chu people could have cultural connections with the disappearance of Shang dynasty, which had already made use of similar ornamental motifs.

A characteristic of the CHU culture was its use of shamanic rites- the Chu also developed musical genres distinct from the ZHOU ones, and used different musical notation systems, as well as particular musical instruments.

CHU culture often came into contact with the cultures of other peoples, especially in the south. Numerous tombs and funerary furnishings have been discovered in the Chu area in the style of the Ba and Yue peoples. Close to the Wu-Yue influences, the chu artisans produced swords similar to those Wuyue, and used the writing style (鸟 虫文 虫文), widespread in the Wu and Yue states.

Under the first dynasty Han CHU culture was the subject of a renewed interest, and traces of the Chu influence during the first years of Dinasti Han are evident in Mawangdui. After the Han dynasty, the CHU culture deserved an undeserved reputation of Barbara civilization. Confucian intellectuals considered chu culture with contempt, criticizing music and shamanic rituals associated with it.

• Defining Chu: Image And Reality In Ancient China , Edited by Constance A. Cook and John S. Major, ISBN 0-8248-2905-0
• Stefano Camelli, Stories of men and rivers. Along the banks of the blue river looking for China of yesterday and today , Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016, ISBN 978-88-15-2627-9.
• So, Jenny F., Music in the Age of Confucius , ISBN 0-295-97953-4
• Cook, Constance. Death in Ancient China: The Tale of One Man’s Journey . Suffering: Brill, 2006 ISBN 90-04-15312-8