Song was an ancient Chinese state during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

with its capital at

Shangqiu Shangqiu ( zh, ), Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast ...

. The state was founded soon after King Wu of Zhou conquered the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

to establish the

in 1046 BC. It was conquered by the

state of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a ancient Chinese state, regional state of the Zhou dynasty in History of China#Ancient China, ancient China, whose rulers held Zhou dynasty nobility, titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong (title), Go ...

in 286 BC, during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

is traditionally considered to have been a descendant of a Song nobleman who moved to the

state of Lu Lu (; 249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji () that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The f ...

Origin

King Zhou of Shang, Di Xin was the younger brother of Zi Qi—who was said in legends to have ruled

Gija Joseon Gija Joseon (1120–194 BC) was a dynasty of Gojoseon allegedly founded by the sage Jizi (Gija), a member of the Shang (Yin) dynasty royal house. Understanding before 20th century Chinese records Chinese records before the Qin dynasty descr ...

in the 11th century BCE—and Zi Yan (), later rulers of Zhou's vassal state Song, father of

Wu Geng Wu Geng or Wugeng (Chinese language, Chinese: ''Wǔgēng''), a.k.a. ''Lùfù'', was an ancient Chinese people, Chinese Chinese nobility, noble who was the son of King Zhou of Shang, King Zhou, the last chinese king, king of the Shang dynasty, Shan ...

. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the last ruler of Shang, marking the transition to the

, 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 ancestor worship at Yin. However, after King Wu's death, Wu Geng fomented a rebellion with an alliance of eastern states, and was killed by the

Duke of Zhou Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou, commonly known as the Duke of Zhou, was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting as ...

. Another Shang royal family descendant, Weizi, was granted land at

, the 'hill of Shang', where the capital of the new state of Song was built. A sign of its descent from the Shang is that the state of Song in its early period followed the succession principle of

agnatic seniority Agnatic seniority is a patrilineality, patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only ...

, rather than agnatic primogeniture like the Zhou.

History

In 701 BC, a political marriage between Lady Yong of Song () and Duke Zhuang of Zheng—as well as the capture of Zhai Zhong (), a leading warrior—empowered Song to manipulate the administration of Zheng. In 651, Duke Huan of Song () died, leaving the district to be ruled by Duke Xiang, who reigned from 651 to 637. He was considered a

hegemon Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...

by some, but was unable to maintain that role. He eventually fell to the troops of Chu. In 355, Dai Ticheng (), a distant relative of the ruling royal line and once a minister of Duke Huan II, managed to usurp the throne. In 328, Dai Yan, a younger brother of Ticheng, took the throne and declared himself to be King Kang of Song, with Ticheng murdered or exiled. The king was ambitious and had succeeded in beating troops from Chu, Wei and Qi and annexing Teng. However, the kingdom was finally annexed by Qi in 286, with troops from Chu and Wei serving on behalf of Qi. Qin, which had been an ally of Song, refused to intervene for strategic and diplomatic reasons after being convinced by Su Dai from Wei. Su's predictions were proven correct and Qin benefited from the downfall of its former ally. The philosopher

Mozi Mozi, personal name Mo Di, was a Chinese philosopher, logician, and founder of the Mohist school of thought, making him one of the most important figures of the Warring States period (221 BCE). Alongside Confucianism, Mohism became the ...

references this state in the chapter "Obvious Existence of Ghosts", in which he mentions a number of ''Spring and Autumn Annals'', including those of the Zhou, Yan, and Qi. The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of Song'' has not survived.

Rulers

Unless otherwise indicated, the ruler is the son of his predecessor. # Weizi (Qi 啟), brother of the last king of Shang, Di Xin # Weizhong 微仲 (Yan 衍), younger brother of the above # Ji, Duke of Song 宋公稽 # Duke Ding 宋丁公 (Shen 申) # Duke Min I 宋湣公 (Gong 共), alleged

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

Eno concludes of Confucius's ancestry that the descent from Song nobility has been constructed to serve an ideological purpose. However he rejects the stronger statement that Confucius's immediate parentage is also fabricated, as proposed by Creel and Jensen. p. 409Cited in Eno. # Duke Yang 宋煬公 (Xi 熙), younger brother of the above # Duke Li 宋厲公 (Fusi 鮒祀), son of Duke Min I # Duke Xi 宋僖公 (Ju 舉), 859–831 # Duke Hui 宋惠公 (Jian 覵), 830–800 # Duke Ai 宋哀公, 799 # Duke Dai 宋戴公, 799–766 # Duke Wu 宋武公 (Sikong 司空), 765–748 # Duke Xuan 宋宣公 (Li 力), 747–729 # Duke Mu 宋穆公 (He 和), 728–720, younger brother of the above # Duke Shang 宋殤公 (Yuyi 與夷), 719–711 # Duke Zhuang 宋莊公 (Feng 馮), 710–692 # Duke Min II 宋閔公 (Jie 捷), 691–682 # You, Duke of Song 宋公游, assassinated less than 3 months after accession. # Duke Huan I 宋桓公 (Yuyue 御說), 681–651, younger brother of Duke Min II # Duke Xiang (Zifu 茲父), 650–637 # Duke Cheng 宋成公 (Wangchen 王臣), 636–620 # Yu, Duke of Song 宋公禦, younger brother of the above, assassinated less than one month after accession. # Duke Zhao I 宋昭公 (Chujiu 杵臼), 619–611, son of Duke Cheng # Duke Wen 宋文公 (Bao 鮑), 610–589, younger brother of the above # Duke Gong 宋共公 (Xia 瑕), 588–576 # Duke Ping 宋平公 (Cheng 成), 575–532 # Duke Yuan 宋元公 (Zuo 佐), 531–517 # Duke Jing 宋景公 (Touman 頭曼), 516–451 # Duke Zhao II 宋昭公 (De 得), 450–404, great-grandson of Duke Yuan; possibly 468–404, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs. # Duke Dao 宋悼公 (Gouyou 購由), 403–396 # Duke Xiu 宋休公 (Tian 田), 395–373 # Duke Huan II 宋桓公 (Bibing 辟兵), 372–370 # Lord Ticheng of Song 宋剔成君, 369–329, descendant of the 11th duke, Dai # Yan, King of Song 宋王偃, King Kang 宋康王, 328–286, younger brother of the above

Family tree

Descendants

is traditionally considered to have been a descendant of the Dukes of Song. His descendants hold the honorary title Duke Yansheng. The title of Duke of Song and ''"Duke Who Continues and Honours the Yin"'' ( 殷紹嘉公) were bestowed upon by the Eastern Han dynasty because he was part of the Shang dynasty's legacy. This branch of the Kong family is a separate branch from the line that held the title of Marquis of Fengsheng village and later Duke Yansheng.

Song in astronomy

Song is represented by the star Eta Ophiuchi in the asterism ''Left Wall'', Heavenly Market enclosure (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 Hellenisti ...

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

References

{{Zhou Dynasty topics Ancient Chinese states States of the Spring and Autumn period States of the Warring States period 11th-century BC establishments in China States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC 3rd-century BC disestablishments in China Former monarchies