Ba Manzi was a Chinese military general of
the ancient Ba kingdom in the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
(475 BCE - 221 BCE) of China and a legendary hero in the folk cultures of
Chongqing. His stories were recorded in the ''
Chronicles of Huayang
The ''Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Huayang Guo Zhi'' () is the oldest extant gazetteer of a region of China. It was compiled by Chang Qu during the Jin Dynasty. It contains roughly 110,000 characters. Its contents comprise history, geography an ...
'', which was written in the
Jin dynasty.
Ba Manzi lived roughly in the 4th century BCE. He was a general guarding the town of Linjiang (near modern
Zhong County
Zhong County or Zhongxian () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, China.
The Shibaozhai Temple, which is endangered by the rising waters caused by the Three Gorges Dam, is located there.
Zhong County has two Yangtze River crossings: the Zhongx ...
), one of important towns in Ba's eastern frontier where there were many salt fields.
Shu, another ancient kingdom near Ba, attacked
Wanzhou
Wanzhou District () is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China. It is currently governed as a district of Chongqing Municipality, bordering Sichuan to the northwest ...
and supported a rebellion in Ba's capital city (near present-day
Chongqing). The king of Ba ordered Ba Manzi to lead troops to reinforce the capital. Ba Manzi's army was not strong enough to fight both the rebellion and Shu kingdom at the same time, so Ba Manzi asked the
Chu state for help. He made a promise to the king of Chu that he would cede three towns to Chu if Chu could help Ba put down the rebellion.
The king of Chu sent out his troops and helped Ba Manzi defeat the rebels and Shu army. After that, the king of Chu sent out an envoy to Ba to take over three towns. Ba Manzi told the Chu envoy that, as a general, he could not cede those three towns to another kingdom, but he was willing to compensate for his promises with his life. He then committed suicide by slitting his throat.
The Chu envoy took Ba Manzi's head back to his king. The king of Chu was so impressed by the bravery and loyalty that Ba Manzi showed that he had Ba Manzi's head buried with full honours. Ba Manzi's remains were transferred to Ba's capital and buried there. There is a memorial dedicated to Ba Manzi in present-day
Yuzhong District, Chongqing.
References
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Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Zhou dynasty generals