Wu (;

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

: ''*'') was one of the states during 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 noma ...

dynasty and the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

. It was also known as Gouwu ( /''*''/) or Gongwu ( /''*''/) from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at the mouth of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

River east of the State of Chu. Its first capital was at Meili (probably in modern

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

) and was later moved to Gusu (姑蘇, modern

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

) and then Helu City (the old town of present-day Suzhou).

History

founding myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...

of Wu, first recorded by

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

in the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, traced its royal lineage to

Taibo Taibo () (circa 1150 BCE), or Wu Taibo, was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou and the legendary founder of the State of Wu. His exact birth and death dates are unknown. Biography According to Sima Qian, Taibo was the founder of the State of ...

, a relative of

King Wen of Zhou King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...

. According to the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

'', Taibo was the oldest son of

Gugong Danfu King Tai of Zhou () or Gugong Danfu () was a great leader of the Zhou clan during the Shang dynasty. His great-grandson Fa would later conquer the Shang and establish the Zhou dynasty. Name "King Tai" was a posthumous name bestowed upon him by hi ...

and the elder uncle of King Wen who started the Zhou Dynasty.

had three sons named Taibo, Zhongyong, and Jili. Taibo was the oldest of three brothers, Jili being the youngest. Realizing that his youngest brother, Jili, was favored by his father to inherit the throne of

Predynastic Zhou The Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou (; ) refers to the state of Zhou that existed in the Guanzhong region of modern Shaanxi province during the Shang dynasty of ancient China, before its conquest of Shang in 1046/45 BC which led to the establishmen ...

, the older brothers Taibo and Zhongyong left Zhou to avoid conflict and settled southeast to Wu with a group of followers loyal to him and his brother Zhongyong. They established their first capital at Meili (), believed to be today's Meicun in

. Taibo's youngest brother Jili who was eventually the heir of the throne became the father of King Wen, who is attributed to starting the Zhou dynasty. Little is known about the history of Wu before the

. Wu rose to power in the 6th century BC, after it was aided by the State of Jin as a useful ally against the State of Chu. In 584 BC, Wu rebelled against Chu upon the advice of Wuchen, a Jin minister, who defected from Chu. From then on, Wu would become a constant threat to the Chu Kingdom. Wu planted seeds of rebellion amongst Chu's vassals along the Yangtze valley.

Wu Zixu :''Note: names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration.'' Wu Yun (died 484 BC), better known by his courtesy name Zixu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu kingdom in the Spring and Aut ...

, a highly influential Chu politician's mother and brother was murdered by

King Ping of Chu King Píng of Chu (, died 516 BC). During the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, he was king of the State of Chu from 528 BC to 516 BC. He was a son of King Gong of Chu and his consort (a sibling of King Zi'ao). Born Xiong Qiji (), P� ...

and fled to Wu plotting revenge. Wu Zixu later became a trusted advisor of Prince Guang and helped him assassinate his cousin

King Liao of Wu Liao, King of Wu (; died 515 BC), also named Zhouyu, was king of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period. Biography Liao was the grandson of King Shoumeng. He took the throne in 526 BC. During his time as king he led several battles agai ...

and usurp the throne. After the successful assassination of King Liao, Prince Guang ascended the throne and became known as

King Helü of Wu King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. In 506 BC, during the reign of

King Zhao of Chu King Zhao of Chu (, died 489 BC) was from 515 to 489 BC the king of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Zhen () and King Zhao was his posthumous title. Documents unearthed in the former state ...

, King Helü decided to invade Chu. The king personally led the army, along with his younger brother Fugai, Wu Zixu, as well as

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

, author of ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...

''. Although Chu had a strong army led by

Nang Wa Nang or nangs may refer to: * Nang County, Nyingchi, Tibet, China * Nang yai, a form of shadow play * ''Nang!'', a general interest magazine * Nang, a slang term for nitrous oxide (N2O, laughing gas) when used as a recreational drug; or for whippe ...

and

Shen Yinshu Shenyin Shu () or Shenyin Xu () (died 506 BC) was a general of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was a great-grandson of King Zhuang of Chu. Killing of Fei Wuji ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', a Chinese classic text ...

, it suffered a heavy defeat at the

Battle of Boju The Battle of Boju () was the decisive battle of the war fought in 506 BC between Wu and Chu, two major kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. The Wu forces were led by King Helü, his brother Fugai, and Chu exile Wu ...

. King Zhao of Chu fled to Sui and the Wu army captured

Ying Ying may refer to: People * Yíng (嬴), a Chinese surname, the ancestral name of Qin Shi Huang, first Emperor of China in the Qin Dynasty, and some contemporary rival royal families such as the Zhaos * Yīng (应), a Chinese surname from the Z ...

, Chu's capital. After entering Ying, Wu Zixu exhumed King Ping's corpse, and gave it 300 lashes to exact vengeance on for his mother and brother who were murdered by the Chu King. The military victory led to Wu Zixu's elevation to Duke of Shen and his alias Shenxu. After these victories, Wu was briefly the most powerful nation and turned to other campaigns, defeating the

State of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a state of the Zhou dynasty-era in ancient China, variously reckoned as a march, duchy, and independent kingdom. Its capital was Linzi, located in present-day Shandong. Qi was founded shortly ...

in 484 BC.

is considered to be one of the

Five Hegemons The Five Hegemons () refers to several especially powerful rulers of Chinese states of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history (770 to 476 BCE), sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of five ...

of China during the Spring and Autumn period due to his military successes at this time with the help of his famous commander/strategist

. Wu is also generally regarded as developing the first Chinese Navy. This Navy was quite complex and had different classes of ships. These "classes" of ships were the great wing (da yi), the little wing (xiao yi), the stomach striker (tu wei), the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

ship (lou chuan), and the bridge ship (qiao chuan). These were listed in the ''Yuejueshu'' (''Lost Records of the

State of Yue Yue (, Old Chinese: ''*''), also known as Yuyue (), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Sha ...

'') as a written dialogue between

(r. 514 BC–496 BC) and

(526 BC–484 BC) in which the latter stated:

Nowadays in training naval forces we use the tactics of land forces for the best effect. Thus great wing ships correspond to the army's heavy
chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
s, little wing ships to light chariots, stomach strikers to
battering ram A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient history, ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, hea ...
s, castle ships to mobile assault towers, and bridge ships to light
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
.

Ironically, Wu was later threatened by an upstart state to its own south, Yue; Chu then aided Yue's rise as a counter to Wu. Although Wu won majority of battles against the Yue and captured their King

Goujian Goujian () (reigned 496–465 BC) was the king of the Kingdom of Yue (越國, present-day northern Zhejiang) near the end of the Spring and Autumn period (春秋). He was the son of Marquis Yunchang. Goujian's reign coincided with arguably th ...

, Wu failed to completely subjugate Yue, in part because of Fuchai's willingness to let King Goujian live in Wu as his servant. King Goujian suffered for years as Fuchai's servant/slave and planned his revenge. Fuchai under the promise of peace, let Goujian return to Yue, his homeland which later proved to be a fatal mistake for Wu. While Wu was engaged in a military campaign in the north, Goujian enacted his revenge and launched a surprise attack on Wu in 482 BC and conquered the capital. Over the next decade, Wu was unable to recover and Yue absorbed the state in 473 BC. Wu, Yue, and Chu all proclaimed themselves kings in the 6th century BC, showing the drastic weakening of the Zhou court's authority during the

. Wu and Yue were masters of metallurgy, fabricating excellent swords with incised messages, geometric patterns, and inlaid gold or silver. Wu and Yue swords tend to use much more tin than copper compared to those of other states. Wu often sent swords as gifts to northern states, such as Qi and Cai. Examples include the spearhead of

King Fuchai Fuchai (reigned 495–473BC), sometimes also written Fucha, was the last king of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His armies constructed important canals linking the Yellow, Ji, and Huai River systems of ...

and the sword of Prince Guang.

Kings of Wu family tree

Chinese historical texts linked the kings of Wu to

, the uncle of

. Their

ancestral name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

was Ji and their clan name was Gufa. The last king of Wu, King Fuchai had at least four sons, three of whom were named You, Hong and Hui. You was his heir but was killed in one of the battles leading to the defeat of Wu, and Hong became the new heir. After the collapse of the state, the other three sons of Fuchai were exiled. Themselves, their blood relatives and descendants took Wu as their clan name in honor of their fallen kingdom.

Culture

The ''

'' states that the people in Wu wore their hair short and sported tattoos. For

this would have illustrated their supposed barbarism, as in his time Chinese men and women were not allowed to cut their hair or otherwise modify their body - doing so was considered an offence against the ancestors from which one had inherited one's physical features. Wu rulers did not receive

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

s after death.

Literature

The famed military strategist

, renowned for his military treatise ''

'', served as a general under King Helü of Wu.

Language

The rulers of Wu are said to be descendants of early Zhou, however the indigenous language of the Wu region is distinct from

spoken by central Chinese states. Historians have attempted to link the language with Austronesian languages, Kra–Dai or a distinct

Sino-Tibetan language Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

Legacy

"Wu" continues to be used as a name for the region around

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and their regional speech,

Wu Chinese The Wu languages (; Romanization of Wu Chinese, Wu romanization and Romanization of Wu Chinese#IPA, IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] (Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languag ...

. It was employed by other states and princes holding power in the region, most notably

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

of the

Three Kingdoms 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 Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

, and Wu and

Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...

of the

Ten Kingdoms The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...

Connections with Japan

Ambassadorial visits to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

by the later Chinese dynasties Wei and Jin recorded that the Wajin of Japan claimed to be descendants of Taibo of Wu, traditionally believed to be the mythical founder of Wu. Several scholars suggest that the

Yamato people The (or the )David Blake Willis and Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu''Transcultural Japan: At the Borderlands of Race, Gender and Identity,'' p. 272: "“Wajin,” which is written with Chinese characters that can also be read “Yamato no hito” (Ya ...

and the

Imperial House of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

are descendants of the Wu and possibly Taibo. Many Japanese historians also link the early Japanese Yayoi people to 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, ...

tribes.

Wu in astronomy

Wu, together with Yue, is represented with the star

Zeta Aquilae Zeta Aquilae, or ζ Aquilae, is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is readily visible with the naked eye, being of the third magnitude. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos missi ...

in asterism ''Left Wall'',

Heavenly Market enclosure The Heavenly Market Enclosure (天市垣, ''Tian Shi Yuan''), is one of the ''San Yuan'' or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group are visible during late summer and early autumn in the Northern Hemisphere (late winter and early ...

(see

Chinese constellation Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" (Chinese ''xīng guān''). The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic t ...

s).AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 6 月 23 日