The History of China - #13 - E. Zhou 2: The Widening Gyre

Episode Date: February 24, 2014

Spheres of domination, intrafamiliar betrayal, and tangled alliances are the markers of the second portion of the Spring and Autumn period, called the Age of Encroachments. All of this leading to the major powers of the Zhou Empire to engage in decades-long draw out proxy-wars along their borders... all leading toward war outright and the near-destruction of Chu by a new player from the southeast, Wu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. The Civil War and Reconstruction was a pivotal era in American history. When a war was fought to save the Union and to free the slaves. And when the work to rebuild the nation after that war was over turned into a struggle to guarantee liberty and justice for all Americans. I'm Tracy. And I'm Rich. And we want to invite you to join us as we take an in-depth look at this pivotal era in American history. Look for The Civil War

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Episode 12, The Widening Gyre Last time, we finished off with the age of regional cultures, the first phase of the Spring and Autumn period, with the grisly death of its first hegemonic ruler, Duke Huan of Qi. In the aftermath of the Duke's murder, his five sons desperately grappled for the power of the throne, factionalizing the state and fatally undermining its power and respect across the Zhou Empire. The hegemony would sit vacant for a full decade before any state would be able to claim it once more. This time, we launch into the middle portion of the spring and autumn, known as the Age of Encroachments. Spanning the 97-year period between 643 and 546 BCE, the Age of Encroachments is marked by the further breakdown of unity between states, the rising tempo of interstate warfare,

and the solidification of regional spheres of influence among the four super-states and their allies and satellites. We begin, though, by momentarily rewinding to 676 BCE during the hegemony of Qi under Duke Yuan. We're going to spend a few minutes in one of the multitude of historical eddies and side rooms of intrigue, court life, and intra-housel politics, before meeting back up with the main narrative on the other side. Before I get this extremely brief account of the Duchy of Jin's royal household, though, let me first say that I will not do it justice. There is enough intrigue and backstabbing in each and every noble house, in each and every state, in each and every period of Chinese history, that were I to go down each

of these amazing side paths, we might never make it out of the age of encroachments, much less the spring and autumn period. I encourage you to discover the amazingly complex and fascinating history of the states of China that we simply do not have the narrative framework to address in this podcast. So, that said, on the northwestern border of the empire was one of the other super states, the Duchy of Jin, which was, at the time, ruled by its Duke Xian. Living in the shadow of Qi, Du Xian sought to emulate the wildly successful reforms of the hege, which were, after all, explicitly founded on the idea of kinship, were now oh-so-willing to brutally subjugate the other states ruled by members of the same royal household, Ji. Family bonds,

it seemed, were now useless as a binding force within Zhou, and as best put by a Jin minister in 544 BCE to justify their expansionism, quote, were all states of the surname Ji. This is how Jin grew to be a large state. If we had not taken over the smaller states where would be the gain ever since the reign of duke wu and or executing many of his family members he perceived might be a threat to his reign. Ultimately, this included several of his own sons in the opening salvo of the protracted civil war known as the Li-Ji unrest. The unrest had its roots in the succession crisis that came about when hsien opted to have one of his younger sons the son he had produced with his new and favored wife the eponymous consort crowned Prince Shen Sheng, was framed by Li Ji for attempting to poison his father, and, not wishing to dishonor his father by pointing out his wife's treachery,

Shen Sheng committed suicide prior to being captured by his father's agents. Li Ji then falsely accused Prince Chong'er and Yi Wu, the duke's second and third sons, respectively, of plotting rebellion. Though they weren't so drastic as to off themselves like their eldest brother, both princes were driven from Jin entirely and cast into an extended exile. Though Duke Xian would repeatedly send forces to capture his sons, they would both remain beyond his grasp, Chong'er among the Di people, where his mother was from, and Yiwu taking refuge in the state of Liang. When Duke Xian died in 651 BCE,

his fourth son, the 15-year-old Prince Xi Qi, was placed on the throne. Li Ji must have been thrilled that her son had succeeded as the duke, and her plan had gone so well. At least, up until his assassination, less than a month into office. It turned out that while she had been capable of manipulating her husband to drive off his sons, she hadn't been so successful at rooting out their supporters in court. When Xi Qi's infant half-brother, Zhuozhi, was next enthroned, the assassin struck again, murdering not only the baby prince, but this time Li Ji herself, as well as imprisoning

Zhuozhi's mother. The assassin, a powerful court official called Li Ke, then sent message to Prince Chong'er, who was now in Qi studying the methods of its hegemony, notifying him of his deed and inviting him back to Jin to take up his rightful place as its duke. Chong'er, however, declined, and so Li Ke invited his younger brother, Prince Yi Wu. Yi Wu accepted, returned, and was crowned Duke Hui of Jin. Hui had a rocky 13-year stint as Duke of Jin, including being invaded and captured by the neighboring state of Qin after he refused to sell grain to the state during a period of famine,

and after Qin had helped Jin out in a similar manner just the year before. There is something to be said for not being a jerk. Wei survived his capture and was eventually returned to Jin, but upon his death in 637, his son Prince Ji Yu ascended as Duke Huai. This would only last for nine months, though, before he succumbed to illness. And thus, we circle back around to Prince Chong'er. In his 19 years of exile, Prince Chong'er had gained widespread prestige and a cadre of extremely talented followers. His wanderings had taken him from the Di peoples, to the state of Qi, to Cao when Qi became

unstable, and then to Song, Zheng, and Chu. It is reported that, on seeing his retinue, the lady of a foreign court commented, When I look at the followers of the Prince of Qin, When Chong'er's half-brother, Duke Hui, had refused to sell grain to its neighboring state Qin, Qin's Duke Mu had invited the Prince of Qin in exile to his court to potentially replace Hui. Though that ended up not happening, when Chong'er's nephew Duke Huai died of illness, he determined that the time was at hand to finally make his return. Escorted by Duke Mu of Qin and his army, Chong'er returned to Qin and took up its throne as Duke Wen of Jin.

And that is where the larger story picks back up again. Though his father's reforms to the government had strengthened the administrative mechanisms of Jin, the extensive ducal bloodletting had created gaps that needed to be filled before one could really rule with the state's full power. Duke I had implemented a three-army military system, upper, middle, and lower armies, with each force commanded by a general and a lieutenant general. His talented retinue of followers during his exile were amply rewarded with high-ranking military and governmental positions and thus able to lend their expertise to the running of states and further invigorating the duchy his dynamic military reforms along with his considerable and wide-ranging prestige allowed duke one to quickly and easily absorb yet more neighboring, either voluntarily or through force. A year into his reign, Wen managed to deeply ingratiate himself to King Xiang of Zhou by coming to the king's aid

in 635 when he had been driven out of the capital by his own brother, Prince Dai. With Jin's powerful army, King Xiang was able to retake the capital and be reinstalled as the Zhou King. At the same time, Su Kuan's armies had come into contact with the forces of the Chu Kingdom, which had renewed its northward push to gobble up Zhou states. For the first couple of years, the conflict remained largely political, and characterized by ever-shifting alliances along the overlap between the two powers' spheres of influence. The Jin resistance to Chu expansionism reached its crescendo, however, in 633,

when King Cheng of Chu invaded Jin's ally state, Song, the most exposed of the southern border states to Chu's influence along with Zheng. Along with his own powerful army, Duke Wen enlisted a coalition force consisting of the states of Qin, Qi, and Song to repulse the Chu invaders. Chu was not without allies, though, and was able to enlist its own axis, consisting of Shen, Shi, Chen, Cai, and Lu. The Jin coalition encamped three days march, or about 45 kilometers, from the Chu armies on the plains of Chengpu, and awaited a decisive battle. It would come after four days, and when the two armies met, both wings of the Jin army

advanced, seeking to surround the Chu forces in a pincer. The commander of the Jin left wing, Xu Chen, deemed his opposition to be the weakest, and sent in his armored chariots, armored in tiger skins, by the way, as proof against arrow and blades, to break the Chu lines. The rabid attack proved successful, and the enemy right wing was demolished in short order. As a side note, if you want to see a more visual representation of this battle, go to thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com, and I will be posting one in this episode's companion post. The jinn's left wing then turned to face the Chu center and became the holding force, tasked with engaging and halting the Chu center

so that it could neither engage the jinn's center nor swivel around to assist its left wing, since in doing either, it would leave its flank or rear open to a killing stroke. Next, the jinn right wing engaged in a skirmish with the ch'u's left and then faked retreat drawing them out of formation with the engaged center as the jinn retreated charioteers dragged tree limbs across the battlefield ahead of the advancing ch'u taking up billowing clouds of dust to obscure the force they had been tricked into pursuing. Within this cover, the Jin right-wing halted and swiveled around once more to engage their foe. At the same time, the charioteers arced around to meet the flanks of the Chu pursuers, and the royal bodyguard detached itself from the Jin center to flank

them from the other side. Thus doubly flanked, and unexpectedly re-engaged with the Jin infantry they had thought in retreat, the Chu left wing was torn to shreds. The Chu's main commander, seeing both of his wings annihilated, did the only thing he could, order a general retreat. The Battle of Chengpu may well have been the largest military engagement of the entire spring and autumn period, and in its wake both checked Chu's northward ambitions for a generation, although it should be noted it did not have a lasting effect on the kingdom's power or desires,

and confirmed Duke Wen of Jin as first among the feudal lords of Zhou. Upon his return to the north in 631, a multi-state conference at Jian Tu was headed by Duke Wen, whereupon he led his other lords in reaffirming their support for the royal household of Zhou, and swore a covenant of alliance with the throne. In return, the state of Jin was conferred the title Ba, and became the second hegemonic power. Hi everyone, this is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered, follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over ten generations,

or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era, then check out the Ancient World Podcast. Available on all podcasting platforms, or go to ancientworldpodcast.com. That's the Ancient World Podcast. Unlike the hegemon of Qi, however, which lasted only as long as its founder, the hegemony of Jin would endure for almost a century, from Duke Wen's confirmation in 631 until 558 when it was supplanted by the Chu kingdom as supreme state. In the meantime, though, with the death of Duke One of Jin in 628, tensions between the states quickly escalated into a state of near-permanent

proxy warfare between the smaller satellites of the four super-states. Battles were most frequent, unsurprisingly, along the borders of Jin and Chu, though Qi and even Qin got into the fray against the hegemonic state and its allies to further their own power. Immediately after the death of Duke Wen, for instance, Qin attacked Zheng, which was a close ally of Qin. The Qin army was subsequently ambushed and defeated by Qin's forces, which then invaded Qin itself in 625. The following year, Qin achieved vengeance by forcing the Qin army to retreat once more. For almost 50 years, the factional powers within the Zhou Empire ground against each other to the point of mutual exhaustion. Over time, Chu, not at all dissuaded in its effort to invade the

north by its prior defeats, claimed victory over the armies of Jin in 598 at the Battle of Mi. The northern states had realized that Chu was simply too powerful to be subdued by conventional tactics, and so Jin opted for a new approach. It began grooming the southern state of Wu along Chu's western border, ultimately turning it into an ally against Chu. From that point forward, Chu was forced to do battle on two simultaneous fronts. By 580 BCE, Jin had once again restored good relations with Qin and Qi, providing, at least temporarily, a united front against Chu. But in 579 BCE, Song, long exhausted by the constant warfare along with many of the border

states, called a conference of the four powers, Jin, Qin, Qi, and Chu, to discuss disarmament. The four powers agreed to limit their military strength, which is one of the first interstate disarmament agreements in history. And, like virtually every other disarmament agreement in history, this one didn't last for long. Less than four years, in fact. By 575, skirmishes between Jin and Chu erupted yet again into another large-scale conflict,

ending in victory for Jin and its allies against Chu. One thing was becoming ever more apparent, though, and that was that the concept of hegemon was quickly losing its meaning and importance. Certainly, Jin's hegemony had been put in place to keep the peace, yet it had been fundamentally unable to achieve that. Indeed, 50 years of non-stop interstate warfare between all major parties is a pretty dismal failure of the Ba system. In its stead, regional spheres of domination and alliance had become the preeminent factor within and along the periphery of the Zhou Empire. The old motto of the hegemon, respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, had by this point been pretty well abandoned. Rather than expelling the non-Zhou people, the regional powers had taken to incorporating them and their military power

into their spheres, resulting in a large degree of cultural assimilation. This was further complicated by the fact that Chu now held and was assimilating several areas of historic Zhou authority and culture. The already vague distinction between Zhou and non-Zhou was becoming less clear with each passing year as the various states and peoples bled together, both culturally and literally. The other half of the hegemonic motto, respecting the king, was also little more than lip service at this point. Over the course of the 7th century BCE, many new aristocratic houses and cadet branches had been founded to control the territorial expansions and cultural assimilations,

and now owed their loyalties to the powerful super-states of the era, rather than the throne in Chengzhou. Moreover, both Qin and Chu had come to realize that, realistically, there was no way either of them would be able to achieve domination over the other, nor of Qin or Qi. One way or another, for now, they would have to learn to live with each other, and hegemony would not be a realistic option. So what good is a he other, and hegemony would not be a realistic option. So what good is a hegemon without hegemony? Though the Jin state and its duke continued to receive the title of Ba by the Zhou king, by the 6th century BCE it had lost most of its meaning.

As I just mentioned relatively briefly, Jin had sought to turn Chu's neighbor states into effectual counterweights to increase the pressure on its adversary. By giving aid and material to Wu, which is modern-day Jiangsu province as well as Shanghai, it had been able to turn the region into a powerful allied state united against Chu aggression, culminating in 584 with the capture and annexation of the Chu city Zoulai by the Wu army. Wu's capital, then called Meili, is today in part of the city Wuxi in southern Jiangsu. It had launched its rebellion against Chu, which had formerly held the region in thrall,

on the advice of a defecting minister from Qiu. By 546 BCE, though Jin and Qiu had called a truce, Wu would not be dissuaded, and maintain considerable military pressure on its neighbor. Wu's self-proclaimed King Helu sought the counsel and advice of one Sun Tzu, according to the records of the grand historian, who journeyed to the state and helped it prepare for its strike against Chu. In 506 BCE, the day of reckoning came, and Wu launched a full-scale invasion of its eastward neighbor. The outcome of this invasion was a smashing success for Wu. King Helu personally

led his army along with the marshaled forces of the minor states Cai and Tang, whose monarchs had both been held prisoner by Chu's Prime Minister Nanghua and sought revenge. The Wu army sailed up the Huai River, left their their boats on the bank and then marched east to the banks of the han river where prime minister nangua and his chief military commander shen yin shu had encamped their forces on the western bank army, which he proposed to Nanghua. Shen would leave in secret to Chu's northern border, cross the Han River at Fangcheng City, and then gather the Chu forces stationed there. He would then lead them to destroy the Wu's boats on the shores of the Huai River and block the three passes on the Wu army's route of retreat. Then, and only then, would both Shen and Nangua simultaneously attack the Wu forces and crush them between their combined strength. This seemed an excellent

plan, and Nangua agreed, giving Commander Shen leave to depart for Fangcheng. After Shen's departure, however, Nangua's historiographer, Shi Huang, informed the Prime Minister that A. The people of Chu loved Commander Shen, B. They rather despised Nanghua, and C. Shen was totally going to take all the credit for the upcoming victory, and Nang would be doomed. Nang, now fearing for his position, changed his mind and ordered his army to ford the river and attack at once. The two forces met in battle three times between the Xiaobie and Dabie mountains, and each time the two armies

were forced to retreat in defeat. Nang was convinced he'd made a terrible error and had gotten himself into a fight he could not win, and so wanted to flee. But once again, Shi Huang was right there to whisper terrible, horrible advice into Nang Hua's ear and convince the Prime Minister to keep the field. On the 19th day of the 11th month, the two armies once again squared off at Bozhu. Against King Helu's orders, his younger brother, Prince Fugai, opted to attack the Chu forces with the 5,000 soldiers at his disposal. Though the Chu army was numerically

superior, both the repeated defeats and their dismay at their commander Nan Wa had sapped their will to fight. The 5,000 Wu soldiers quickly routed the Chu army, killed Shi Huang, and forced Nan to flee to the state of Zheng. The Wu army pursued the fleeing Chu, engaging them five times and slaughtering them mercilessly. The incursion had by now reached the capital of Chu, Ying, and King Zhao of Chu was forced to flee the city as it was captured by the Wu army of King Helu. Meanwhile, back at the Han River, Commander Shen Yinshu had finally finished up his half of the plan by destroying the Wu's boats and blocking up the passes. Upon returning, he found only a token force along the Han banks and no sign of Nanghua's armies. Shen likely surmised what had happened, and thus engaged and defeated the

Wu's forces still remaining. But though he claimed victory, he was wounded in each of the three battles he engaged, and not wanting to be captured alive, ordered one of his officers to kill him and bring his head back to his hometown for burial. With Chu in tatters, nearly captured outright, one of its ministers journeyed to the state of Qin to desperately plead for aid against the Wu invasion. Duke Ai of Qin, understandably, scoffed at the idea of intervening against such a turn of events, but the passion of the Chu delegates' pleas softened the duke's heart to the plight of Chu. And in 505 BCE, the combined armies of Qin and Chu jointly defeated the armies of Wu in several battles. What truly turned the tide, though, was nothing the Chu nor Qin did.

But the fact that back in the Wu capital, Meili, King Helu's younger brother, Prince Fugai, who up until now, remember, had been on campaign with the Wu army, had snuck back and used the king's absence to go ahead and declare himself the king of Wu. Thus, King Helu was forced to break off his attack and return to Wu to dethrone his pretender brother, who would flee to Chu when he realized that, oh yeah, my brother's probably not going to take this usurpation lying down. Though it had ultimately been forced to abandon its total annexation of the Chu state,

Wu reached the zenith of its power during this war and came to be regarded as the most militarily powerful state in the entire Zhou Empire, even campaigning against and defeating the state of Qi in 484 BCE. But Wu's day in the sun was cut surprisingly short. In an ironic twist, the downfall of the Wu kingdom was an upstartstart state developed as a counterweight to wu's power by ch'u just as jian had bolstered wu before province directly to the south of Jiangsu. Though the early battles between Wu and Yue typically went in Wu's favor, in 482 BCE, the Yue launched their own surprise attack and, yes, conquered the capital of Meili in short order. Wu was unable to recover and by 473 had been completely absorbed into Yue, which itself would ultimately be reabsorbed into a resurgent Chu

about a century and a half later. Ah, the whims of fate. We are tantalizingly close to the opening salvos of the Warring State period, and the spring and autumn is drawing towards its conclusion. Before we finish out the period, though, we have to make a pit stop and discuss two of its most enduring and important figures, men who will come to define the very essence of China in warfare and governance, respectively. I speak, of course, of the two figures from Chinese history that absolutely everybody knows,

by at least name, Tanzu and Confucius. Next time, we'll take an in-depth look at these two giants of history and their contributions to China and the world. Thank you for listening. You don't have to be living an ocean away to dread the idea of going to the post office. The lines, the jostling, it's a real bother. Thankfully, there's Stamps.com to save you the hassle. By using Stamps.com, you can easily print your own approved and exact US postage

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