Ancient Chinese States
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Ancient Chinese States
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'' system characterized by tributes paid to the ruling Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE). Such states and fiefs would again emerge during later dynasties as a political expedient when required. Rulers of these states were known as ''zhuhou'' (). Background According to the sinocentric viewpoint and the Mandate of Heaven, China was the center of the world and the incumbent emperor its only ruler; all other would-be potentates and rulers were merely vassals of the Middle Kingdom. As a result, from the earliest times the Chinese viewed the world as a series of concentric spheres of influence emanating outward from their capital. Within the closest circle lay the vassal states who pledged allegiance to the Zhou ruler. Apart from the Zhou dynasty ...
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States Of Zhou Dynasty
State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our State'', a monthly magazine published in North Carolina and formerly called ''The State'' * The State (Larry Niven), a fictional future government in three novels by Larry Niven Music Groups and labels * States Records, an American record label * The State (band), Australian band previously known as the Cutters Albums * ''State'' (album), a 2013 album by Todd Rundgren * ''States'' (album), a 2013 album by the Paper Kites * ''States'', a 1991 album by Klinik * ''The State'' (album), a 1999 album by Nickelback Television * ''The State'' (American TV series), 1993 * ''The State'' (British TV series), 2017 Other * The State (comedy troupe), an American comedy troupe Law and politics * State (polity), a centralized political organizat ...
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Cai (state)
Cài (; Old Chinese: *s.r̥ˤat-s) was an ancient China, Chinese State (Ancient China), state established at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty, rising to prominence during the Spring and Autumn period, and destroyed early in the Warring States period. History Following his overthrow of the Shang dynasty, Shang king King Zhou of Shang, Zhou, King King Wu of Zhou, Wu of Zhou dynasty, Zhou granted titles and territories to his younger brothers. The fifth brother, Cai Shu Du, was enfeoffed at present-day Shangcai County, Shangcai (lit. "Upper Cai") in Henan. During the Three Guards Rebellion, he attempted to usurp the Duke of Zhou's position as regent to the young king and his defeat meant his deposition and exile. Du's son Ji Hu, however, proved a loyal and capable ambassador for Cheng and the Duke of Zhou, and they rewarded him with the reestablishment of his father's territory and title, which he was able to pass on to his son, Ji Huang. As the Chinese peerage developed, Cai w ...
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Quanrong
The Quanrong () or Dog Rong were an ethnic group, classified by the ancient Chinese as " Qiang", active in the northwestern part of China during and after the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE). Their language or languages are considered to have been members of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages. Etymology Scholars believe Quanrong was a later name for the Xianyun 猃狁 (written with ''xian'', defined as a kind of dog with a long snout Erya.html"_;"title="'Erya">'Erya''or_a_black_dog_with_a_yellow_face_[''Shuowen_Jiezi.html" ;"title="Erya">'Erya''.html" ;"title="Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''">Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''or a black dog with a yellow face [''Shuowen Jiezi">Erya">'Erya''.html" ;"title="Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''">Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''or a black dog with a yellow face [''Shuowen Jiezi'']). According to sinologist Li Feng (sinologist), Li Feng, "It is very probable that when the term Xianyun came to be written with the two ...
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Book Of Songs (Chinese)
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, comprising 305 works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BCE. It is one of the "Five Classics" traditionally said to have been compiled by Confucius, and has been studied and memorized by scholars in China and neighboring countries over two millennia. It is also a rich source of '' chengyu'' (four-character classical idioms) that are still a part of learned discourse and even everyday language in modern Chinese. Since the Qing dynasty, its rhyme patterns have also been analysed in the study of Old Chinese phonology. Name Early references refer to the anthology as the ''300 Poems'' (''shi''). ''The Odes'' first became known as a ''jīng'', or a "classic book", in the canonical sense, as part of the Han Dynasty official adoption of Confuci ...
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Gongyang Zhuan
The ''Gongyang Zhuan'' (), also known as the ''Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals'' or the ''Commentary of Gongyang'', is a commentary on the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'', and is thus one of the Chinese classics. Along with the '' Zuo Zhuan'' and the ''Guliang Zhuan'', the work is one of the ''Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals''. In particular, ''Gongyang Zhuan'' is a central work to New Text Confucianism (), which advocates Confucius as an institutional reformer instead of a respected scholar, and ''Chunqiu'' as an embodiment of Confucius' holistic vision on political, social, and moral issues instead of a merely chronicle. ''Gongyang Zhuan'' significantly influenced the political institution in Han Dynasty. It fell out of favor among elites and was eventually replaced by the ''Zuo Zhuan''. ''Gongyang Zhuan'' scholarship was reinvigorated in late Ming Dynasty and became a major source of inspiration for Chinese reformers from eighteen to early twen ...
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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 historian Sima Qian, whose father Sima Tan had begun it several decades earlier. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty. The ''Records'' has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The ''Records'' set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historical works, the ''Records'' do not treat history as "a cont ...
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Chu (state)
Chu, or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period. At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BCE during the Qin's wars of unification. Also known as Jing () and Jingchu (), Chu included most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. For more than 400 years, the Chu capital Danyang was located at the junction of the Dan and Xi Rivers near present-day Xichuan County, Henan, but later moved to Ying. The house of Chu originally bore the clan name Nai ( OC: /*rneːlʔ/) which was later written as Mi ( OC: /*meʔ/). They also bore the lineage name Yan ( OC: /*qlamʔ/, /*qʰɯːm/) which would later ...
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Xiong Yi
Xiong Yi (, reigned 11th century BC) was the first viscount and an early ruler of the State of Chu during early Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. Son of Xiong Kuang, he was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor and Zhuanxu through his great-grandfather Yuxiong. Biographical sketch Xiong Yi lived at the time of King Cheng of Zhou (reigned 1042–1021 BC) who wished to honor the most loyal officials of his predecessors King Wu of Zhou and King Wen of Zhou. The king summoned a meeting with Xiong Yi and the other vassal lords at Qiyang () (northeast of modern-day Qishan County, Shaanxi Province) where Xiong Yi swore allegiance to the King and became keeper of the Maojue () in the order of precedence. Along with the Xianbei clan leader he was also appointed joint guardian of the ritual torch (). At the same meeting, as a result of his ancestors’ loyal service to the former kings of Zhou, Xiong Yi received a grant of land around Danyang () (modern day Xichuan County, Henan Province) where ...
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Qi (state)
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 after the Zhou overthrow of Shang in the 11th centuryBC. Its first marquis was Jiang Ziya, minister of King Wen and a legendary figure in Chinese culture. His family ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family in 386BC. In 221BC, Qi was the final major state annexed by Qin during its unification of China. History Foundation During the Zhou conquest of Shang, Jiang Ziya, a native of Ju County served as the chief minister to King Wu. After King Wu's death, Ziya remained loyal to the Duke of Zhou during the Three Guards' failed rebellion against his regency. The Shang prince Wu Geng had joined the revolt along with the Dongyi states of Yan, Xu, and Pugu. These were suppressed by 1039 BC and Jiang w ...
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Song (state)
Song (; Old Chinese: *') was a state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China, with its capital at Shangqiu. The state was founded soon after King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang dynasty to establish the Zhou dynasty in 1046 BC. It was conquered by the State of Qi in 286 BC, during the Warring States period. Confucius was a descendant of a Song nobleman who moved to the State of Lu. Origin King Zhou of Shang, Di Xin was the younger brother of Zi Qi (who was said in legends to have ruled Gija Joseon in the 11th century BCE) and Zi Yan () (later rulers of Zhou's vassal state Song), father of Wu Geng. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the last ruler of Shang, marking the transition to the Zhou Dynasty, the victor was honor-bound by a stricture of feudal etiquette known as () to allow the defeated house of Shang to continue offering sacrifices to their ancestors. As a result, for a time Shang became a vassal state of Zhou, with the Shang heir Wu Geng allowed to continue ancesto ...
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Chen (state)
Chen () was a state founded by the Duke Hu of Chen during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. It existed from c. 1045 BC–479 BC. Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Chen (surname), Chen, the 4th most popular surname in the world, and members of the Hu (surname), Hu clan would claim descent from the Duke Hu of Chen who was in turn descended from the legendary Emperor Shun. At its peak, Chen encompassed fourteen cities in modern-day Henan and Anhui. Name It is written 陳 the same as the Chen surname. In ancient texts, it is sometimes misspelled as 敶, also pronounced Chen. Territory Chen was originally from Taihao (太昊、太皞), the capital of Fuxi's clan.《左傳·昭公十七年》:陈,大皞之虚也 It was south of the Yellow River. Capital Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Zhu Xi explains that Wanqiu means "[a hill] with a crater on to ...
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Jin (Chinese State)
Jin (, Old Chinese: ''*''), originally known as Tang (唐), was a major state during the middle part of the Zhou dynasty, based near the centre of what was then China, on the lands attributed to the legendary Xia dynasty: the southern part of modern Shanxi. Although it grew in power during the Spring and Autumn period, its aristocratic structure saw it break apart when the duke lost power to his nobles. In 403BC, Jin was split into three successor states: Han, Zhao and Wei. The Partition of Jin marks the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period. Geography Jin was located in the lower Fen River drainage basin on the Shanxi plateau. To the north were the Xirong and Beidi peoples. To the west were the Lüliang Mountains and then the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi. To the southwest the Fen River turns west to join the south-flowing part of the Yellow River which soon leads to the Guanzhong, an area of the Wei River Valley that wa ...
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