Dao () was a Chinese vassal

state 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 S ...

during the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

(1046 – 221 BCE) located in the southern part of

Runan County Runan County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhumadian, in the southeast of Henan Province, China. History In ancient times, this area was called "the middle of the world" (), since it was the center of ...

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 ...

. Dao existed in the shadow of the powerful neighbouring State of Chu which was held in check by the equally powerful

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 sh ...

. Whilst Duke Huan of Qi remained alive as 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 ...

, Qi maintained friendly relations with Dao along with the other small states of Jiang (江国),

Huang Huang or Hwang may refer to: Location * Huang County, former county in Shandong, China, current Longkou City * Yellow River, or Huang River, in China * Huangshan, mountain range in Anhui, China * Huang (state), state in ancient China. * Hwang Riv ...

and Bai (柏国) amongst others. Zuozhuan,僖公五年,"楚鬭穀於菟滅弦，弦子奔黃。於是江、黃、道、柏方睦於齊，皆弦姻也。" When the Duke died in 643 BCE, civil disorder broke out in Qi and the State of Chu seized the opportunity to expand their territory northwards. The inhabitants of Dao were resettled in a place called Jingdi (荊地) until

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� ...

ascended the throne and restored Dao to its former territory. At some point Dao was finally exterminated by Chu although the time at which this occurred is currently unknown.

References

* (in Chinese)

Yang Bojun Yang Bojun (; 1 September 1909 − 1992) was a Chinese philologist best known for his ''Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu'' (), an annotated commentary of the ancient Chinese historical text and Confucian classic '' Zuo Zhuan''. The work took him more than t ...

, ''Annoted Zuozhuan'' History of ancient China 11th-century BC establishments in China States and territories established in the 11th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC 3rd-century BC disestablishments 1st-millennium BC disestablishments in China {{China-hist-stub