The State of E (IPA:/ ɤ̂/), whose Middle and

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 ...

name has been reconstructed as Ngak (IPA:/ŋˤak/), was an

ancient Chinese state Ancient Chinese states () were typified by variously sized city-states and territories that existed in China prior to its unification by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BCE. In many cases these were vassal states and fiefs established in the '' fengjian'' ...

in the area of present-day

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from around the 12th century BCE until its overthrow in 863 BCE. It was a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the Shang state and its ruler was one of the

Three Ducal Ministers The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

appointed by Dixin of Shang, who is known pejoratively as

King Zhou of Shang King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse cr ...

. E was originally located in the southern part of the modern province of Henan but later moved to Hubei. Its name is now used as the provincial abbreviation for Hubei.

History

There are a number of different theories about the origins of E, including that its original rulers were descended from the

Baiyue The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...

or the Daxi culture. Another theory claims that during the Shang dynasty, descendants of the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

surnamed '' Jí'' () were granted land by Dixin around modern-day Xiangning County in Shanxi and that it became the original nucleus of E. In Chinese historical records, Dixin was said to have wanted to make the daughter of the Marquess of Jiu an imperial concubine but she was a dignified woman who regarded such a role as beneath her. In a fit of anger, Dixin murdered both the Marquess and his daughter and turned the marquess's body into mincemeat. The Marquess of E, protesting this injustice, renounced his vassalage but was also then murdered. Following the BCE establishment of the

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong n ...

, the state of Jin moved into E's territory and forced its people to flee southward into the northern part of modern-day Nanyang, Henan. The relocation exposed them to the powerful southern state of Chu. By the middle of the Western Zhou, E had fled once again, settling east of present-day

Ezhou Ezhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area was home ...

in Hubei. E led a confederation of Southern Huaiyi tribes in a rebellion during the seventh year of the reign of King Yi of Zhou (863 BCE) and was destroyed by Zhou forces, permitting Chu to finally absorb the smaller state. Chu's ruler

Xiong Qu Xiong Qu () was the sixth viscount of the state of Chu during the early Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) of ancient China. Like other early Chu rulers, he held the hereditary noble rank of viscount first granted to his ancestor Xiong Yi by King Che ...

conferred its former lands upon his son

Xiong Zhi Xiong Zhi () was the eighth viscount of the state of Chu during the early Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) of ancient China. Like other early Chu rulers, he held the hereditary noble rank of viscount first granted to his ancestor Xiong Yi by King C ...

. The destruction of E was inscribed upon a bronze tripod cauldron, the ''Yu Ding''.

continued to live in E's capital after the death of his father, making it the ''de facto'' capital of Chu. Subsequent rulers remained there until

Xiong E Xiong E (, died 791 BC) was from 799 to 791 BC the monarch of the state of Chu during the Western Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. Like other early Chu rulers, he held the hereditary noble rank of viscount first granted to his ancestor Xiong Yi b ...

(r. 799-791 BCE) decided to reduce it to the status of an alternative capital. After Chu became an independent state in the Spring and Autumn period,

King Gong of Chu King Gong of Chu (, 600–560 BC) was from 590 to 560 BC the king of Chu, a major power during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Shen (), and at the age of 10 succeeded his father King Zhuang of Chu, who was the He ...

(, r. 590–560 BCE) made his third son Lord of E. In the sixth year of the reign of

King Huai of Chu King Huai of Chu (, died 296 BC) was from 328 to 299 BC the king of the state of Chu during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Huai () and King Huai (懷, a different Chinese character) was his posthumous title. Kin ...

(323 BCE), the king made his younger brother

the Lord of E. Following the destruction of Chu by

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

in 223, E became a county under the

and

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

dynasties. Xi'e was a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

during the

and

dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

and the

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

which took its name from the State of E.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:E (State) Ancient Chinese states Shang dynasty Former monarchies

History

See also

References