The Three Kingdoms Era - Fall of Dong Zhuo

So we started with the Rise of Dong Zhuo, progressed to the opposition to Dong Zhuo, and so this blog post will be about... you guessed it, the fall of Dong Zhuo.

A very fictitious version of the events described below can be seen in episodes six and seven of the 1994 edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which can be found here and here.

Anyway, so in 191 Dong Zhuo moved the Imperial Capital from Luoyang (which he burnt to the ground) to Chang'an, the old capital of the Western Han Dynasty. During this time, he grew increasingly paranoid, and as such had his adopted son and general Lu Bu trail him everywhere, keeping him safe from harm. However, gradually Lu Bu began to resent Dong Zhuo, first due to a tendency of Dong Zhuo to throw a halberd at Lu Bu when angry. Secondly, since he had been having an amorous affair with one of Dong Zhuo's chambermaids, he was afraid of being caught.

As such, when Interior Minister Wang Yun encouraged him to betray his adopted father, he did so in May 192, greeting Dong Zhuo at the palace gates with a dozen trusted men. When the leader of this group stepped forward and stabbed Dong Zhuo, Dong cried for Lu Bu to save him, but Lu Bu said simply "This is an Imperial Order" and then killed him. It's said that Dong Zhuo's corpse was left in the streets, and that the official guarding the corpse lit a candle that burnt for days from the fat of the corpse.

After his death, all members of the Dong clan were executed, including the dictators 90 year old mother.

Wang Yun

In Fiction

Obviously, this didn't make for the greatest of stories, so when Luo Guanzhong wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the downfall of Dong Zhuo was expanded on a bit. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Interior Minister Wang Yun began to plot to assassinate Dong Zhuo with help from Diao Chan, a song girl who he had raised as a daughter. Inviting Lu Bu over to his place one evening, Wang Yun asked Diao Chan to tend to Lu Bu, who was immediately impressed by her beauty. Wang Yun promised to marry Diao Chan to him.

Diao Chan

A few days later, Wang Yun held a feast for Dong Zhuo, and again had Diao Chan tend to the tyrant, who took her home to be his concubine. When Lu Bu found out the next morning, he spied in on Dong Zhuo's bedroom, and, Diao Chan being aware that the general was there, pretended to cry and be sad.

A month later, Dong Zhuo caught Lu bu staring at Diao Chan, and threw him out of the house.

One day while Dong Zhuo was meeting Emperor Xian, Lu Bu snuck inside the residence and meet with Diao Chan, who pleaded for him to rescue her from Diao Chan. Lu Bu hugged her and comforted her with words. Dong Zhuo then walked in on them, causing Lu Bu to turn and flee. Dong grabbed the halberd and hurled it at Lu Bu, who managed to dodge.

After this, Lu Bu got more and more dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo, and eventually plotted to kill him with assistance with Wang Yun. Luring Dong Zhuo to palace by saying that the Emperor wished to abdicate in favour of him, Lu Bu and soldiers killed the tyrant, with Lu Bu saying that "I have an Imperial Decree to slay the rebel!" before cutting off his head.

As mentioned above, there was a chambermaid that Lu Bu was having an affair with, but the character of Diao Chan was most likely an invention by Luo Guanzhong for his novel.

The Three Kingdoms Era - Rise of Dong Zhuo

The events described in this blog post are covered in episodes 2 to 3 of the 1994 edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which can be found here

Last week we examined the Yellow Turban Rebellion - an uprising that saw the further diffusion of central Han power and the rise of local warlords. One of those local warlords that rose in stature during the period of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was Dong Zhuo. Commander of forces in Liang Province (modern day Wuwei, Gansu Province) Dong Zhuo was able to build his power base during and after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Dong Zhuo

In Fiction

There are a couple of fictional stories pertaining to Dong Zhuo that come out of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo is said to have been defeated by rebel leader Zhang Jiao and his forces were being routed. Nearby, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were with their forces and came to Dong Zhuo's rescue. After the battle, Dong Zhuo asked the three brothers what positions they held in the government. When they responded with 'none', Dong Zhuo ignored them. 

This story is probably bollocks, introduced in order to firstly establish Dong Zhuo's character and to make the Three Brothers seem more noble in comparison.

In Reality

After Emperor Ling died in 189, the chief general He Jin (Overall commander during the Yellow Turban Rebellions) ordered Dong Zhuo to move troops to the Imperial Capital of Luoyang to eliminate the Eunuch Faction. Before he was able to arrive with his forces, He Jin was assassinated by the Eunuchs, and turmoil engulfed the city. Taking Emperor Shao hostage, the eunuchs fled the city, though ran into Dong Zhuo's forces and were stopped, Dong Zhuo taking the emperor back to the palace.

During the chaos, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, He Miao was killed for allegedly colluding with the eunuchs, and both He Jin and He Miao's forces came under Dong Zhuo's command. After Dong Zhou arrived in the city with his Liang Province troops, he also schemed to have Lu Bu kill his adopted father and Imperial Commandant of the Capital Guards, Ding Yuan, bringing Lu Bu under his command as his foster son. With fresh troops from Liang, combined with the capital guards and troops stationed in Luoyang under his control, Dong Zhuo became the target of the eastern warlords, who did not wish to have Dong Zhuo become influential. To counter their threat, Dong Zhuo had his forces march out of the city at night and reenter through the front gate at noon,  fooling the warlords that he had a massive army and cowing them into submission.

In 190, Dong Zhuo Emperor Shao and replaced him with the Emperor's brother, Liu Xie, who became Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo declared himself Chancellor, and gave himself special permission to carry his sword to the Imperial Court, something that others were forbidden to do. He was also allowed to enter the court without removing his shoes. It is said that he even slept in the Emperor's bed and had sex with palace maids. 

Lu Bu

A sufferer of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, Lu Bu was considered a great warrior of his age, though he was pretty bad as a commander of troops. Chen Shou, who wrote his biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms said that he 'possessed the might of a tiger, but he lacked the planning skills of a talented person.' That about sums up Lu Bu. His role in Dong Zhuo's life will be seen later on, but at the current moment he killed his foster father, joined Dong Zhuo, then became Dong Zhuo's foster son.

Lu Bu. Look at dem helmet tail things.

In Fiction

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Bu is described as an invincible warrior but incapable leader. In order to get him on side, Dong Zhuo bribes him with gifts of weapons, promotions, women and most importantly, Red Hare, a horse said to be faster than any other under heaven. It was said to be capable of travelling over 1,000li (500 km) in a day, cross rivers and climb mountains like it was on flat land, and neighed like it had the ambition of 'soaring into the sky or diving into the sea'. Basically, Red Hare was a Skyrim Horse.

Most of this portrayal is an exaggeration of the facts of Lu Bu's life - certainly, the Red Hare was valued enough to be rewarded as a gift following Lu Bu's death, but it definitely wasn't a Skyrim horse.

The Three Kingdoms Era - Yellow Turban Rebellion

Thus far in this blog series I've been going through the eras in Chinese history at a breakneck pace. The original intention had been to give a broad overview of each dynasty and era, and then go back and fill in the blanks later on. However, I'd not expected at the start of the series to have rediscovered my love for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so we're going to be spending a few weeks examining this period in detail. So this week we look at the event that kickstarts the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Yellow Turban Rebellion

Before I get cracking, I'd like to note that if this interests anyone, you can find a very accurate portrayal of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms online here. The subtitles are terrible, but that's just part of the fun! Keep in mind that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical novel, and is 50/50 fact/fiction at best.

So like I mentioned in the previous post, the Eastern Han Dynasty was beset by all manner of problems, including corruption, a loss of central power, heavy burdens of taxes and so on. In 184 CE, the Yellow Turban or Yellow Scarves Rebellion broke out, so called because of the scarves they wore on their heads. Led by three brothers (Zhang Jue, Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang) of the Daoist sect the 'Way of Supreme Peace', the uprising caused massive disruptions to Imperial Commanderies throughout the North of the Empire, near modern day Beijing and even threatening the Imperial Capital of Luoyang (Modern day Luoyang, Henan Province). For the first few months of 184 the rebels steadily gained ground, pushing back Imperial forces wherever they met them. By the middle of 184 however, the Imperial forces had pushed back the rebels and besieged them in the city of Wan (near modern day Nanyang, Henan Province) capturing the city and putting the rebels to the sword in 185. Although this ostensibly ended the rebellion, later in 185 more rebellions broke out, not fully ending as a military threat until 205. In 192 the Warlord Cao Cao (he'll be important later) gained the submission of a rebel army in Yan Province.

In the middle of all of this slaughter and fighting three very important figures step onto the stage. As the call to arms went out from the central government, a distant Imperial Uncle, Liu Bei (style name Xuande) meets Guan Yu (style name Yunchang) and Zhang Fei (style name Yide). According to folklore, the three swear an oath of brotherhood in a peach garden, and go off to fight the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

In reality, history tells us that the three were close like brothers, often sleeping in the same bed, but say nothing about an actual oath of brotherhood. These three people are important because later on in the Three Kingdoms era Liu Bei goes on to form the Kingdom of Shu-Han in the west of the nation. Guan Yu in particular was deified following his death, and is the God of War and of Bean Merchants (not making this up) in the Chinese cosmology.

Liu Bei from a Tang Dynasty print

Guan Yu

Zhang Fei

Two very important things came out of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Firstly, the rebellion was widespread, and ended in the sack of many government centres, and also resulted in the deaths of a large number of Imperial Magistrates. Secondly, the local generals and warlords who were instrumental in putting down the rebellion were given local military and administrative power, further diluting central authority and hastening the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Eastern Han Dynasty

The Eastern Han Dynasty was founded after by Emperor Guangwu of Han in 25 CE, following the overthrow of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty. Guangwu established the Imperial Capital in the modern city of Luoyang, Henan Province. Though it started off on a high note, with the height of the Empire coming in the reign of Emperor Zhang (75-88 CE), the Eastern Han was founded on much weaker foundations than the Western Han. Emperor Guangwu was forced to rely on the big landholding families in order to gain power - and he was largely unable to centralise power back to the extent that it had been under the Western Han Empire.

Emperor Guangwu

Additionally, following the reign of Emperor Zhang, the Royal Family increasingly fell under the influence of the Eunuch Faction. Though eunuchs had been present in the Western Han Dynasty (Sima Qian, the author of Records of the Grand Historian was a eunuch), they began to hold larger and larger influence, in the same way that the families of Emperors' wives were able to acquire power over the course of the Western Han Dynasty. In fact, the eunuchs were often in conflict with the families of these great families, and over time the power struggles came to dominate the internal affairs of the Imperial Court.

In terms of foreign policy, the Eastern Han were able to largely maintain their holdings in northern Korea and Vietnam, along with finally ending the Xiongnu threat in the north through a series of military campaigns. Han power and culture were projected along the Silk Road, reaching as far as Central Asia and maintaining contact with the Parthian Empire of modern day Near Asia, along with civilisations in India. In CE 97, the Han organised an attempt at reaching Da Qin (Rome), but reportedly got as far as the Southern Mediterranean before turning back; in CE 166 a Roman embassy from Emperor Marcus Aurelius (likely merchants) did reach the court of Emperor Huan, though any interactions between the two great Empires on opposite ends of the Eurasian continent did not get more intricate than that.

Despite these foreign policy successes, the corruption in internal matters eventually weakened the central authority of the Imperial Court greatly. The eunuch faction's propensity to auction off court positions caused offense with the bureaucrats, who were further alienated when Emperor Huan (125-144 CE) sided with the eunuchs.

By the time the Yellow Turban and Five Pecks of Rice (I swear I am not making these names up) Rebellions flared up in 184 CE, the power of the central government was weak enough that the courts were forced to rely on regional strongmen to raise forces to combat these rebellions - a decision that saw warlords springing up all over the country, and leading to the Three Kingdoms era.

NEXT WEEK: An overview of the Three Kingdoms era.

Xin Dynasty

Following the rule of Han Wudi, the fortunes of the Western Han Dynasty began to wane. The failure of successive Emperors to reduce the power of land owning families in the West of the Empire in Guanzhong (the old stronghold of the Qin Dynasty) would prove to be a decisive blow, not only against the Western Han, but eventually the Eastern Han as well. Successive families managed to take practical control of the Imperial Court, as Empress Dowagers and Imperial Consorts forced isolated Emperors to promote family members to positions of power. It was in this situation that Wang Mang entered. His story is one that reflects the successive waves of power that the noble families in China enjoyed over the course of decades.

Wang Mang

Initially the Wang clan was powerful in Chang'an, the capital. They dominated affairs in the Imperial Court, and members of the Wang clan held high positions throughout the Empire. However when Emperor Cheng died, the Wang clan was supplanted by another great family, and Wang Mang, who at this stage was already an official in a high position, retired to an out of the way post.

In 1BCE however, Emperor Ai died suddenly without heir, and Grand Dowager Empress Wang summoned Wang Mang back to court, putting him in charge of the government and the military. From this position, Wang then began to shore up his support, demoting relatives of Emperor Ai and inducing the deceased Emperor's allies to suicide or exile.

He then began creating a personality cult by spreading rumours that he was the second coming of famous ancient figures through Chinese history, such as the Duke of Zhou. When his son, fearing for when the new Emperor would be old enough to resent Wang Mang's actions, began to agitate against him, Wang had him and his co-conspirators executed.

Around 5CE, Wang Mang had the Emperor Ping poisoned, and then stood in as Acting Emperor while searching for a successor. In 8CE, Wang Mang overthrew the Han Dynasty, and pronounced the Xin (New) Dynasty.

In many ways this represented both a break from the past and a return to it. Wang Mang modeled his new Empire on the Sage Kings of the past. It was an attempt to return to some 'golden age' in Chinese history, though his reforms were not fully realised to this effect. In an attempt to break the power of the major land holding families, Wang Mang brought all land under the control of the central government. He issued 28 types of coins, a complete disaster that caused easy counterfeiting and general confusion in the coin based economy.

A general failure in foreign policy also caused tensions with the Xiongnu tribes in the north west and with Korean vassal states.

Eventually in an attempt to improve the position of the imperial coffers, Wang Mang issued a state monopoly on liquor, iron, salt, coinage, forestry and fishing. However, due to Imperial corruption, the position of the coffers was not much improved.

Wang Mang was overthrown in 23CE, killed in the sacking of the capital by armies of the restored Eastern Han Dynasty. He was the first and only ruler of the Xin Dynasty.

The Western Han Dynasty

Having soundly defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu-Han Contention, Han Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty. Considered one of the high points of Chinese civilisation, the Han Dynasty has left its mark on Chinese history and culture. The majority ethnic group in China today is the Han. The language of China is known as 汉语 or the language of the Han. Chinese characters are known as 汉字 or Han characters.

Despite having decried the Qin Dynasty as being overly cruel and harsh to the people, the early Han law codes borrowed heavily from the Qin Legalist system. When Liu Bang overthrew Xiang Yu and set up the Han Dynasty, he instituted a system of 13 commanderies ruled directly by him and his court, and established 10 semi-autonomous kingdoms in the East of his empire, rewarding land to those who had assisted him in his conquests. However, over the course of his reign and the reign of his successors, these independent kingdoms were induced to rebellion, and were slowly brought back into the fold, their kings replaced by members of the Liu family. By the time of Liu Bang's death in 195 BCE, his Empire consisted of 16 commanderies.

The Empire in 87 BCE

The high point of the Western Han Dynasty came during the rule of Liu Che, or Han Wudi, who ascended the throne in 141 BCE. Initially his grandmother ruled the Empire in his stead, but upon her death in 135 BCE, Han Wudi proceeded to make his own mark on the Empire.

Han Wudi

The first thing he did was take Dong Zhongshu into his confidence, and proceeded to overturn the old Legalist system, replacing it with a Confucian variant. Initially Confucianism had been a simple secular ruling philosophy, teaching filial piety and respect for authority. Under Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism was mixed with aspects of Daoism and Legalism, fusing the ethical though of Confucianism with the ideas of Yin and Yang, along with a cosmological framework into which fit Heaven, Earth, the Empire and the Emperor.

Having thus reformed the civil service, Han Wudi also expanded upon institutions made by Liu Bang. He formed the precursors to the later civil administration exams, ensuring that it was possible for promotion by merit, rather than birth.

The biggest legacy left by Han Wudi, however, was his military expansion. From 133 BCE until the end of his life, Han Wudi launched a series of campaigns aimed at expanding Han China's borders to the north and west, fighting the Xiongnu Confederation, a nomadic people of the steppe. Over a series of campaigns stretching from 133 BCE to 108 BCE the Han scored a series of victories that firmly established Han dominance of the North and West.

The campaigns continued until well after Han Wudi's death, ending in 89 CE.

Ultimately, the campaigns launched by Han Wudi ended up stretching the national treasury, and following his death in 87 BCE, the Western Han Dynasty began a long decay that ended in Wang Mang's Xin (or new) Dynasty.

Next week, we examine Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty!

(P.S. The reign of Han Wudi also saw the works of Sima Qian, known as the Grand Historian, published. He is the first historian in Chinese history)

The Chu-Han Contention

The Fall of Qin

With Qin Shi Huang's death in 210 BCE, the strong man who had unified China was gone. His sons were not up to their fathers' task, and the rise of Qin Er Shi in 210 BCE to the throne sparked a variety of rebellions. The first was in 209 BCE, which was put down by the Qin armies. However, this rebellion inspired a variety of others, and by the end of the year, most of the Qin Empire was in open rebellion, often led by those who claimed to be successors to the states that Qin had conquered to form the Empire.

Liu Bang

Liu Bang

Liu Bang was one such rebel leader. Nominally an underling of the state of Chu, Liu Bang was the one to march on the Qin capital in 206 BCE, forcing the surrender of Emperor Ziying (Qin Er Shi had been killed off and removed from the throne after his incompetence became clear). This marked the end of the Qin Empire, but not of the end of the chaos in China.

Said to be born in 256 BCE, Liu Bang was not from a noble family. Raised as a peasant, he had little time for the mannerisms and customs of the nobility. He rose to some prominence in his own little corner of the world, but when some slaves that he was tasked with escorting to construct Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum escaped, he freed the rest of them and became a fugitive to avoid the death sentence.

In 209 BCE with the first rebellions against the Qin, Liu Bang returned to his hometown of Pei County, and following the murder of the local magistrate by the civilians, declared himself Duke of Pei. In 208 BCE, Liu Bang swore himself to the service of Chu, and was granted the title of Marquis of Wu'an. At this point he was given an army and tasked with attacking Qin. To up the stakes, the King of Chu declared that the one who reached the capital first would be given the title of King of Guanzhong. The main contenders were Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, a general of Chu.

Liu Bang arrived first, and Ziying surrendered to him. By rights he should have been raised as King of Guanzhong as promised. However, Xiang Yu arriving second, was not content. He had the larger army, and the better connections, coming from a prestigious military family of the old Kingdom of Chu. At an event called the Feast at Hong Gate, he attempted to have Liu Bang assassinated several times, but each time was foiled.

Liu Bang, begging the use of the latrine, fled with his men west.

Xiang Yu

The opposite number of Liu Bang during the Chu-Han contention, Xiang Yu was a general and nobleman. Following the flight of Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, the strongest of the various warlords who had cropped up, broke the former Qin Empire into 18 parts, declaring himself ruler of 'Western Chu'. Liu Bang was instead relocated to Hanzhong in modern day Shaanxi, and given the title King of Han.

Modern day Hanzhong Prefecture

Xiang Yu was an able general, though cruel and rather ruthless (the accuracy of the stories of his cruelty are difficult to take at face value, however, due to his defeat by Liu Bang). Unlike Liu Bang who relied on more able advisers and generals, Xiang Yu instead tended to rely on his own ability. Where Liu Bang was charismatic, Xiang Yu was competent.

Xiang Yu

The Chu-Han Contention

When Liu Bei arrived in Han Zhong, he had the galley roads (wooden planks cut into the sides of the cliffs) destroyed, both to prevent future assaults into his territory and to convince Xiang Yu that he was content in his position.

When the new state of Qi rose in rebellion against Xiang Yu's hegemony in 206 BCE, Liu Bang seized the opportunity. At the behest of his general Han Xin he attacked Guanzhong, defeating the three former Qin generals who ruled there. 

In response to this, Xiang Yu sent an army against Liu Bang, and declared Zheng Chang as King of Hán. In the following year, Liu Bang moved against the states occupying the modern province of Henan, and the kings of Sai, Di and Henan all surrendered to him. However, Zheng Chang did not, and was defeated by Liu Bang's general Han Xin, and replaced by him as King of Hán.

The defeat of the Qi rebellion in the same year allowed Xiang Yu to concentrate on his Western border. However, by failing to appease the people and allowing his army to loot and plunder the state of Qi, he encouraged more rebellions, leaving a dangerous situation on his northern flank.

Seizing advantage of this, Liu Bang advanced on the Chu capital of Pengcheng with a large force and captured it. Official records state that he had an army of 550,000 with him on his march, raised from his own reserves and those of the surrendered kings. 

Hearing of the fall of Pancheng, Xiang Yu rushed back with a force of 30,000, surprising Liu Bang with a sudden attack and inflicting large casualties on Liu Bang's forces, and inducing Liu Bang to withdraw with only a small bodyguard. In the confusion, he also captured Liu Bang's family.

Following this battle, many of the surrendered kings defected to Chu. Things were looking pretty bleak for Liu Bang.

In the latter half of 205 BCE, Liu Bang's general Han Xin managed to open a northern front against Xiang Yu in a series of battles that saw Han Xin crowned as acting King of Qi in 204 BCE. Liu Bang, then besieged in Xiangyang (near modern day Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province) managed to sleuth his way out of the siege, spreading rumours that made Xiang Yu dismiss some of his able advisers, before attacking Chenggao (also near modern day Zhengzhou). Combined with the successes of Han Xin in the north, this forced Xiang Yu to the negotiating table, where Liu Bang and Xiang Yu agreed to split China between them along an East-West axis. This is known as the treaty of Hong Canal which was signed in late 204 BCE.

In 203 BCE, whilst Xiang Yu was retreating eastwards, Liu Bang broke the treaty and attacked, requesting aid from his allies Han Xin and Peng Yue to form a three pronged attack on Xiang Yu. However, his allies did not mobilise their troops, and Liu Bang was defeated in the battle of Guiling (near modern day Zhoukou in Henan Province). 

Forced to retreat, Liu Bang sent messengers to Han Xin and Peng Yue, promising them titles if they assisted him. And so, in 202 BCE, armies advancing along three routes led by Han Xin, Peng Yue and Liu Bang attacked Xiang Yu again, trapping him in Gaixia (near Suzhou, Anhui province). Han Xin instructed his men to sing Chu folk songs to create the impression that Chu had already fallen to Han forces.

Many of Xiang Yu's deserted him as supplies ran low and morale plummeted. Even Xiang Yu's favourite concubine committed suicide, blaming herself for his defeat (She had been captured and used as bait to draw Xiang Yu into the trap). Finally, with 26 loyal retainers Xiang Yu broke out of the encirclement, and reached the north bank of the Wu river, where he made a last stand as his retainers were sent across the river, killing several Han soldiers before committing suicide.

With his death, Western Chu surrendered to Liu Bang, allowing him to unify China again and declaring the beginning of the Han Dynasty in 202 BCE, with his capital in Chang'an (modern day Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province). 

Next Week: IT'S FINALLY TIME! THE BIG (well one of them anyway) ONE! THE ONE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE HAN DYNASTY!

Rise of the Qin

The Qin Wars of Unification

In 247 BCE, Ying Zheng ascended to the throne of the State of Qin. Being 13 years old at the time, he did not wield proper power until 238 BCE, when he eliminated his political rivals. With help from his chancellor Li Si, Ying prepared a plan to unify China.

In 230 BCE the state of Qin launched a campaign of conquest against the state of Han, considered to be the weakest of the Warring States, and devoured it completely within the year. What followed were a series of conquests that lasted until 221 BCE, when, one by one, the individual states of China fell to the armies of Qin.

When the state of Qi at least surrendered to Qin in 221 BCE, Ying Zheng declared himself Qin Shi Huang, or the First Emperor of Qin, and became the first ruler to lord over a united China.

The Unified Qin Empire

Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang can be compared with two other (famous) figures in Chinese history - Cao Cao, and Mao Zedong. Born in 260 BCE, the man who would one day unify the Warring States was brought up in the state of Qin. The reign of Qin Shi Huang is noted in popular history for several important things.

1. Its cruelty
2. The construction of the (first) Great Wall
3. The unification of weights and measures
4. The unification of the written language

Though the Dynasty founded by Qin Shi Huang lasted only 15 years, it would have a lasting impact on the history of China. Indeed, the name 'China' itself can possibly be traced to the Qin (pronounced Chin), as a corruption of Central Asian terms for the Qin Empire.

The reign of Qin Shi Huang introduced the above four things to China. It also introduced to history a flawed man who likely killed himself looking for the Elixir of Immortality.

There were positives too, among all the misery and suffering. The bureaucracy was greatly expanded under the reign of Qin Shi Huang, and the old Feudal system, whilst not abolished, was greatly reduced in emphasis. Though the famed examinations were not implemented during the Qin Dynasty, governmental reforms made it easier to promote both military and civil administrators based on merit, rather than familial connections.

Confucianism and Daoism were suppressed - Legalism was the state philosophy, though Qin Shi Huang did allow for Daoist religious practice. As part of this, the 'Hundred Schools of Thought' was suppressed - and and many books were burnt, scholars who refused to give them up, buried alive in 213 BCE. There is some skepticism as to how extensive this book burning program actually was, as most of the alleged cruelty was against the scholars - the people who ended up writing the history of the Qin Dynasty from the safety of the Han Dynasty.

The Great Wall was originally 'constructed' during the Qin Dynasty as well. Not the stone monstrosity that you can visit today, the Qin Great Wall was a series of earth ramparts and clay fortifications, largely already constructed, that Qin Shi Huang ordered connected in order to secure the northern border. 

After three assassination attempts, Qin Shi Huang became paranoid and obsessed with finding the Elixir of Life, and employed a variety of Daoist priests who gave him elixirs that had a lot of mercury in them, ironically likely shortening his lifespan.

Eventually, he gave up with the whole idea of living forever in flesh, and started big projects, like the Terracotta Warriors and his tomb (which to this day has yet to be opened) which would allow him to rule for 'ten thousand years' in spirit form.

He died in 210 BCE at the age of 50, still on the quest for the Elixir of Immortality. His empire fell apart 4 years later, in 206 BCE.

Short-ish entry today, will have more to talk about next week with the Han-Chu contention.

The Warring States

I left off the last blog with an examination of the Art of War, and the ways in which it has influenced Chinese military history since its introduction in the Spring and Autumn/Warring States Periods. I'm going to give a brief overview of the Warring States, but will be focusing on two campaigns carried out by an alleged descendant of Sunzi (Sun Tzu), Sun Bin.

By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the various hundred odd states that existed in China had been whittled down to just seven: Qin in the west, the successor states of Jin (Zhao, Wei, Han) in the centre, Yan and Qi in the east and Chu in the south. The Zhou Dynasty kings were still technically in charge, and had their own little bit of territory near modern day Luoyang.

What's important to understand about the Warring States period is that, unlike the previous Spring and Autumn period, despite having more years of peace, the scale of war became increasingly larger, along with the casualties sustained by the various warring states. The exact date on which the Warring States period starts is a bit murky, as there lacks a clear event that marks the start time, unlike the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty for the Spring and Autumn. Various dates have been suggested, from 481 BCE, which marked the end of the Spring and Autumn Annals, to 403 BCE, when the three states of Zhao, Wei and Han were recognised by the Zhou court. However, I personally prefer the date 453 BCE, which is the year in which Jin was partitioned into its three successor states. The period ends in 221 BCE, with the conquering of Qi by Qin armies, and the formation of the Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty that ruled over a unified China.

The Warring States Period is one of increasing bloodshed and destruction as the various states raise massive armies in their conquests of each other. Official numbers are generally thought to have been inflated, in order for the Han Dynasty to paint a picture of an extremely bloody period prior to unification. Remember that King Wu of Zhou had overthrown the Shang Dynasty with a force of 45,000 infantry and 300 chariots. Official figures for military might in the Warring States Period list the state of Qin as having an army of 1,000,000 infantry, 1,000 chariots and 10,000 horses. These numbers should be taken with a bucket load of salt, since they are likely inflated, but what can be inferred from this is that the scale of warfare increased at massively during the Warring States Period.

In terms of military technology, three things stand out. Firstly, the increased usage of iron in the process of forging weapons and armour, the invention of the crossbow, and the increased usage of cavalry to replace chariots. Although the primary metal used in the period was mainly bronze, at some point over the course of the 200 odd years of the Warring States Period, states shifted towards the usage of iron over bronze. The invention of the crossbow at some point during the 500s or 400s BCE enabled a shift away from aristocratic forms of chariot warfare, and towards the sorts of mass infantry armies that have become ubiquitous with perceptions of China. The decline of the aristocracy as a leader in terms of war making also enabled the development of dedicated cavalry forces, which were generally superior to chariots in that they were a more versatile fighting force.

The Warring States Period also saw a general spread in military philosophy, just as the Spring and Autumn had witnessed a plurality of moral and political philosophical thought. Of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, four are said to have been written during the Warring States Period. These are the Methods of the Sima, Wu Qi's Wuzi, Wei Liaozi, and the Three Strategies of Huang Shigong.

In terms of cultural development, the decreasing in stature of the aristocracy allowed for the development of a bureaucratic state, and the groundwork for the future Chinese bureaucracy were lain during the Warring States and Spring and Autumn periods.

Sun Bin

Said to have been a descendant of the famed Sunzi, Sun Bin (??? - 316 BCE) was a famed strategist of first the state of Wei, and then the state of Qin. Sun was tutored in military strategy by the hermit Guiguzi, and was considered to have been his best pupil. During his time with the hermit Guiguzi, he was good friends with another student named Pang Juan, and the two of them became sworn brothers.

Pang Juan soon left the tutelage of the hermit Guiguzi, and went off to the State of Wei, which he heard was recruiting talented men in order to conquer 'all under Heaven'. After a few years, with his star on the rise, he invited Sun Bin down to the State of Wei. But he was actually jealous of Sun Bin, who he knew to be the better general, and so he framed him for treason, and reported him to King Hui of Wei, who then ordered Sun Bin executed. Pang Juan pretended to be on Sun Bin's side, pleading for amnesty, and so the punishment was 'reduced' to face tattooing, and removal of Sun Bin's kneecaps.

Pang Juan then pretended to take pity on Sun, and treated him quite well, though he was in fact trying to trick Sun into writing a military book, after which he would have the man executed. Well, Sun figured this out, and decided to feign madness. Pang, not believing it, tried to test Sun's madness by locking him up in a pigsty, to which Sun pretended to be having fun and even ate pig feces. And so Pang stopped keeping an eye on him, allowing Sun to escape to Qi, where he eventually ended up as Chief Military Adviser.

In 354 BCE, Wei attacked Zhao, with Pang Juan at the head of the army, besieging the Zhao capital of Handan. Zhao asked Qi for help, and the King of Qi commissioned Sun Bin as military adviser, and Tian Ji as General to lead an army to assist Zhao. Knowing that a direct attack on Wei forces would be unwise, Sun proposed to attack Wei in order to relieve the pressure on Zhao.

In the Guiling Campaign, Sun first initiated a scattered series of attacks on Wei forts, all of them failing and luring Pang Juan into a sense of security, causing him to pool forces in the attack on the Zhao capital. Sun then had the Qi army attack the capital of Wei, Daliang. When word reached Pang at the Zhao Capital that Daliang was under attack, he marshaled a force to relieve the siege, and was decisively beaten at the battle of Guiling, where Sun Bin had prepared an ambush. From this campaign comes the 2nd of the thirty six stratagems - "Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao". 

Pang managed to escape back to Wei, despite the destruction of his forces.

The second of Sun Bin's two famous campaigns, the Maling campaign took place in 342 BCE, when Wei attacked Han, and Han turned to Qi for assistance. Giving the impression that Han could depend on Qi's army for assistance, Han went all in against Wei, though the promised help never materialised. After a year of resistance, Han was no longer able to maintain its armies, and again asked for help from Qi. Again, instead of assisting Han directly, Sun advised to strike at the Wei capital of Daliang.

Having learnt from his mistake in the previous Battle of Guiling, Pang Juan (annoyed at having been recalled from the war in Han a few weeks away from taking the Han capital) ordered his 100,000 strong army to go around the Qi forces, to avoid ambushes, and also ordered his troops to return to the capital hastily, before Qi could set up any good ambushes.

Sun however, just sat and waited, rather than rushing around to attack the high morale Wei army. He then split his force, sending the majority of it back towards Qi to prepare the necessary materiel for ambushes, whilst he personally led a force to face Pang Juan. When the two armies came close to each other, Sun immediately ordered a retreat towards Qi.

Along the way, he ordered his army to reduce the number of stoves used for cooking day by day. Judging from the dwindling number of campfires, Pang Juan assumed that the Qi army was deserting, and so led a smaller, elite cavalry force to give chase. As the Qi army retreated back into their own territory, Sun then ordered the men to abandon some of their baggage. When Pang Juan's force happened upon this, they assumed that there existed a state of confusion in the enemy ranks. 

When the Qi army arrived at Maling, Sun Bin noticed a narrow path that could be used for an ambush, and so, judging that Pang Juan would arrive at nightfall, ordered his men to prepare for battle. Chinese folklore has it that he also ordered his men to inscribe on a tree "Pang Juan shall die in Malingdao, under this tree".

When Pang Juan arrived with his army, he was lured into the ambush, and, knowing that the battle was lost and escape impossible, took his own life.

Map of the campaign

The campaigns of Sun Bin reflect the trends of Chinese warfare found in the Art of War. Firstly, he focused mainly on the strategic aspects of the campaigns, willing to take defeats on a tactical level to shape his strategic goals. Secondly, he relied heavily on maneuvre to force Pang Juan to fight him on his own terms, attacking strategic ground and remaining agile in order to defeat a larger force. Third, as the retreat towards Maling shows, he made good use of 'shaping operations' in order to fight on the most favourable terms to him, engaging in ground of his choosing against an enemy tired out by pursuit. Finally, his heavy usage of deception in the Maling campaign reflects the famous Sunzi quote:

"All warfare is based on deception"

Next week I'll be taking a look at the Qin campaigns of unification, where we start to get into the proper, unified Chinese Dynastic history. Hope you enjoyed this blog post!

Sunzi

I know I promised last time to write about three titans of Chinese philosophy, but I found that attempting to tackle all three in one blog post would either create a summary barely worth anything, or make a post so long as to be unwieldy. Instead, I'm going to tackle Confucius later, when I get to an examination of Emperor Wu of Han, and talk about Sunzi now, since he will be quite influential during the examination of the Warring States period.

Do note that this will form the first of several blog entries dedicated to Chinese military history/theory, and I will endeavour to cite a bit better in it than I have been in the previous posts.

Sunzi (Wade-Giles: Sun Tzu), born Sun Wu, was a famous general of the state of Wu, traditionally considered to have lived from 544BCE to 496BCE. His most obvious claim to fame is that he is considered to have been the author of the Art of War 《孙子兵法》(sun zi bing fa). Although there is some debate over his having existed, it is generally agreed that he lived in the State of Wu in tail end of the Spring and Autumn period. His birthplace is disputed. The Spring and Autumn Annals state that he was born in Qi, whilst the Records of the Grand Historian claim that he was a native of Wu.

An artist's representation of Sunzi from a later dynasty

There is also some debate as to whether or not he penned the Art of War. Historian Ralph Sawyer is of the opinion that it is likely that Sun Wu both existed and penned the core of the Art of War, though he acknowledges that a fair amount of the text consist of commentaries and later additions to the core work (1).

Of Sun Wu's life, one memorable tale stands out. According to Sima Qian's Record of the Grand Historian, Sun Wu was tested by King Helu of Wu before being employed by him, giving him a harem of 180 women to train into soldiers. Sun Wu split them into two companies and appointed the King's two favourite concubines as officers. He then ordered them to face right, and was met by giggles. He stated that the general was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the command, and reiterated his order. They giggled again, and he then ordered the execution of the two 'officers'. Sun Wu insisted on his order when the King protested, stating that if the soldiers understood the general's commands and failed to heed them, it was the fault of the officers. He also maintained that once a general was appointed, it was his duty to carry out his orders, even if the king protested. Once the concubines were executed and new officers appointed, the rest of them followed the orders flawlessly.

The Art of War

No discussion of Sunzi is complete without a discussion of the Art of War. Divided into thirteen chapters, the Art of War is one of the foundation texts of the Chinese military canon. Combined with five other texts of the Spring and Autumn/Warring States Period and a later work from the Tang Dynasty, it forms an integral part of the Seven Military Classics. Despite what its name implies, the text touches on several points of governing a country as well as the role of the general in relation to the ruler.

The Art of War on Bamboo pages

The Art of War is important in several ways. Firstly, it emphasises the strategic level of operations rather than the tactical. Second, it exalts the usage of maneuvre to outfox your enemy, rather than throwing bodies at him. Thirdly, the positioning of troops, the preparation of the field and the prior calculations to fighting are defined as equally as important if not more important than the battle itself. Finally, the importance of deception is talked about in large amounts as a foundation of warfare (2).

In relation to the larger strategic canon, the Art of War is reflective of how the Chinese wage war.

Firstly, the teachings within the Art of War have been exalted to a large degree by many influential military thinkers and generals throughout history. It is important to note however, that the teachings reflect the time period in which Sun Wu was writing. The strategies that form the core of the Art of War are useful primarily against other states with which one engages in war with. Various generals through history whom have had the task of pacifying the barbarian tribes to the north, primarily the Mongols, have had less than stellar reviews for the Art of War.

Beyond this, one may still see the influences of the Art of War on modern day Chinese strategic thinking. Above the campaigns of Imperial China, the influence of the Art of War can be seen in the Korean War, the Chinese Civil War and other campaigns fought by China in the 20th century.

There is much more that can be said of the Art of War, but this blog post is already getting on in length.

Further Reading

From Red Cliffs to Chosin: The Chinese Way of War - An excellent overview of the strategic development of Chinese military history over two thousand years. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA523450  

The Art of War - The text of the Art of War, worth a read, it's quite short. http://ctext.org/art-of-war/laying-plans

The Seven Military Classics - These were the texts that were required reading for the exams to get into military posts from the Song Dynasty onwards. http://www.amazon.com/Military-Classics-Ancient-History-Warfare/dp/0465003044/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364082824&sr=1-1&keywords=seven+military+classics+of+ancient+china

References

1. Sawyer, Ralph D. (2007), The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, 150-151

2. Pangelinan, Games G. (2010), The Chinese Way of War, 6-7

The Spring and Autumn Period

The Spring and Autumn period represents the zenith of Chinese philosophy and political thought. The decline in power of the Zhou Kings and the resultant rise of many disparate states formed an atmosphere where political and philosophical thought would be able to flourish in ways that would not be seen in China for centuries.

The Spring and Autumn is the period of Confucius, Laozi, Mozi and Sunzi. It saw the rise of the four main schools of philosophical thought that dominated the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods; Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism and Legalism. Of the two, only Confucianism and Taoism survive in recognisable form today.

Following the sacking of the Zhou capital at Zongzhou near modern day Xi'an by the Marquess of Shen and his Quanrong barbarian allies, the Zhou moved their capital eastwards, to Chengzhou in the Yellow River valley. This marked the ending of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and with it the ending of central Zhou authority. During the period in which the Zhou had consolidated their power upon ascending to primacy in China, states in the East had been carved up and given to members of the royal family. Though this had kept those potentially volatile states under Zhou control, by the fall of Zongzhou states that had once been ruled by royal brothers were now ruled by third and even fourth cousins.

Further complicating matters for the Zhou was the fact that their new capital was removed from their traditional power base in the Wei river valley. This double blow of a military defeat, combined with the removal of their power base meant that the Zhou were essentially reduced to a figurehead ruler of China.

The shifting of the capital occurred in 771BCE, and that is typically the date that historians associate with the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period. The name of the period comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 772 and 479BCE. Traditionally, this piece of literature is ascribed to Confucius, but in reality was likely put together by chroniclers from the state of Lu.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Over the course of the Spring and Autumn period, some 148 states rose, though were eventually unified by one of the seven major states that would arise by the Warring States period. The Spring and Autumn saw several important changes to the traditional Chinese methods of governing.

Firstly, the Feng Jian or Feudal system that had been in place during the Western Zhou dynasty was rendered obsolete. The rendering of the King of Zhou to a figurehead meant that real power lay in the rulers of the various states that were now vying for hegemony in China.

Secondly, the rise of these various states led to the development of a hierarchical alliance system. In it, the strongest state leader would be given the title of Hegemon or ba, who would be obliged to protect the weaker Zhou states and the Zhou royalty from intruding armies. Whilst this still had shades of the old Feng Jian system, in reality the Zhou royalty were not as important in the determination of the hegemon as might be implied.

Thirdly, the rise to power of the first hegemon, Duke Huan of Qi (Qi Huan Gong) was due largely to reforms passed by his adviser, Guan Zhong. Among these was the centralisation of power in the hands of the state, direct levies applied to the villages to bypass the reliance on the aristocracy for manpower, he devised a better method for choosing talent to be governors. During his tenure, Qi shifted from a traditional model whereby the aristocracy was responsible for governing to a system of professional bureaucrats. He also created sponsored government brothels to fund the government treasury. He also created a uniform tax code and used state power to encourage the production of salt and iron.

The success of Guan Zhong led to the emulation of his policies, which contributed further to the decline of the Feng Jian system.

Somewhat unique among the major states in the period was the state of Chu, which was not considered to be part of the Zhou cultural group, and as such were regarded as barbarians. Indeed, the state of Chu was not subservient to the Zhou at all, declaring that its king was equal, if not superior to, the King of Zhou. Many of the wars waged by the hegemons were against the state of Chu.

Following the death of the second hegemon, Duke Wen of Jin in 628BCE, tensions that had been simmering in the central plans area began to rise, and constant skirmishing erupted between Qi, Qin, Jin and Chu. By the time those four states sat down to discuss disarmament, it had become readily apparent that the traditional role of hegemon was outdated, as each state had acquired their own spheres of influence. The integration of non-Zhou peoples into various states, combined with the occupation by Chu of various areas recognised as Zhou blurred the line between Zhou and non-Zhou peoples.

When Jin and Chu backed off each other, Wu in modern Jiangsu and Yue in modern Zhejiang rose. In 583BCE Jin negotiated an alliance with Wu, which meant that even as Jin and Chu agreed to a truce in 546BCE, Jin was able to fight a proxy war via Wu, peaking in a full scale invasion of Chu by Wu in 506BCE.

Even as this was developing, the power of the Jin dukes was declining, resulting in a civil war in 497BCE, which lasted until 453BCE, the results of which were the elimination of most noble lines. The remaining families divided Jin into three states: Han Wei and Zhao.

This left seven major powers in the Zhou world: the three partitioned states of Jin, the three remaining powers of Qin, Chu and Qi, and the weaker state of Yan near Beijing. This set the stage for the Warring States period, which will not be covered next. Instead, I will be examining a few of the major characters of the Spring and Autumn period, namely Confucius, Laozi and Sunzi.

The (Western) Zhou Dynasty

This is going to be the last update for a while. I'm going to be switching to weekly rather than daily updates after this post.

I ended the last post with an overview of how the Shang lost power to the Zhou. I'll be talking primarily in this blog post about the rise of the Zhou, and giving an overview of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The first King of the Zhou Dynasty was King Wu of Zhou who overthrew King Zhou of Shang at the Battle of Muye in 1046BCE. However, his father, King Wen of Zhou is credited as the actual founder of the Zhou Dynasty. King Wen was born Ji Chang, and the Kingdom of Zhou in his youth was a small state along the Wei River in present day Shaanxi.

At one point in his reign, King Zhou of Shang had Ji Chang imprisoned in Youli, near present day Tangyin in Henan, fearing his growing power. His son, Ji Fa, the future King Wu of Zhou, along with King Wen's adviser Jiang Ziya, came up with a cunning plan to get his dad out of prison.

I've got a cunning plan...

They showered King Zhou of Shang with gifts of good horses, women, good wine, treasure of all sorts, and King Zhou, being an idiot who succumbed to the age old trap of filling a lake with wine, took the bait, released Ji Chang, bestowed upon him gifts of many kinds, including weapons and supplies, and gave him a commission to guard the West of the Empire.

Ji Chang then went home and started building up his power base. He was careful though to appear slovenly, as if he'd given up his ambitions so that King Zhou wouldn't throw him back into prison. The ruse worked, and King Zhou stopped keeping such a close eye on Ji Chang. At some point during his reign, year of which is in debate/unknown, Ji Chang unleashed his forces on a variety of small states to the West, increasing Zhou territory whilst King Zhou of Shang was busy fighting Dongyi barbarians in the East. Simultaneously, he pronounced himself King of Zhou, taking the name of Wen.

In 1056BCE, King Wen of Zhou kicked the bucket. His son Ji Fa ascended the throne, and took the name King Wu of Zhou. He initially wanted to go straight out and fight the Shang straight up, but his dad's adviser, Jiang Ziya, who was now his adviser, told him to be patient.

In 1044BCE, King Wu of Zhou called a meeting of zhu hou, or dukes/minor kings. The meeting was held at Meng Jin, a district of present day Luoyang in Henan Province, and according to legend, King Wu of Zhou crossed the Yellow River in force, conducting military exercises with his army. Over eight hundred zhu hou went to the meeting.

Following his show of force, the gathered zhu hou accepted King Wu's hegemony, declaring that they would follow him in opposition to the Shang. However, King Wu was still not certain of his greater strength, and not wanting to attack until all preparations were made, declared that man could not know Heaven's will, and dispersed the gathered zhu hou, to await his instructions for when the time was right.

Within two years, King Zhou of Shang's Eastern Campaign had ground to a halt, and so he redirected the entirety of his best troops Eastward. Sensing that the time was right, King Wu of Zhou called for the zhu hou to now assemble and overthrow the Shang.

And in 1046BCE King Wu of Zhou unleashed his forces; three hundred chariots, 3,000 elite troops, 45,000 infantry. Combined with his zhu hou allies, he commanded an army of over 60,000 men. The lead strategist for this army was his dad's old adviser, Jiang Ziya. Waiting for him at Muye (located south of modern day Qi County in Henan Province) was King Zhou of Shang. Although his main strength was now diverted East, he had an army of 530,000 men. To secure his victory, he had also armed 170,000 slaves, who now took the opportunity to say "Fuck you" to King Zhou and defect to the uh... Zhou.

What ensued was a very bloody battle, and many Shang soldiers held their spears upside down in a sign that they did not wish to fight. Some defected outright. However, many loyal Shang troops did fight, and they fought to the death. Despite their resolve, the Zhou soldiers were better trained, and their morale was high. In one of his chariot charges, King Wu broke through the Shang's line, forcing King Zhou to flee to his palace. The Zhou showed no mercy to the Shang loyalists, leaving none alive, shedding enough blood to "float a log".

That's how the traditional history goes, anyway. Modern estimates place the Shang force at somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 men, along with a large contingent of armed slaves.

Anyway, King Zhou of Shang committed suicide, and King Wu of Zhou emerged as the leading figure in Chinese politics, ushering in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Here, have a handy map of the political situation in China during the Western Zhou!

Just read the damn title.

One thing to keep in mind for the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties is that the Empire as such did not exist yet, and would not exist until Qin Shi Huang united China for the first time. As such, multiple kingdoms existed, mostly subservient to the most powerful kingdom, but this was not always the case.

The Western Zhou Dynasty lasted from 1046BCE to 771BCE. The entirety of the Zhou Dynasty, both West and East constitutes the longest Dynasty in Chinese history. However, the Zhou's authority and power was only throughout China during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the Zhou Dynasty, China's bronze making reached its zenith, although the introduction of iron to China saw the shift towards its usage in weapon making, replacing bronze. King Wu of Zhou died three years after his ascension to power, and his brother, the Duke of Zhou ruled as regent while King Cheng of Zhou, the son of King Wu, was young. The Duke of Zhou conceived of one of the enduring elements of Chinese Dynastic history: The Mandate of Heaven.

Facing something of a legitimacy challenge in the years following the conquest, the Duke of Zhou came up with the Mandate of Heaven to counter the claims of Shang loyalists of a divine right to rule. The Mandate claims that only Heaven can appoint a ruler, and that a dynasty loses its right to rule when Heaven demands it. This is typically seen by a series of natural disasters and the dissatisfaction of the people.

The Duke of Zhou further cemented the Zhou's power base by giving fiefs to royal relatives in the East, which was a great idea at the time, but ultimately spelled the end of the Zhou dynasty a couple of centuries down the line.

China at this point was basically a feudal society, known as fengjian in Chinese. A rather nasty tradition in China, by which executing a political opponent also led to the execution of the person's spouse, their children, their childrens' spouses, their spouses' extended family, their grandchildren, their grandchildrens' spouses if they have them, their extended family, the executed person's parents, their extended family etc. led to the eventual cannibalization of the nobility, which is why I theorise that Feudal China didn't last all that long.

I will continue the examination of Chinese history next week with the Spring and Autumn period, part of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The Shang Dynasty

Don't expect the current pace of updates to last - I'm going to blow through the first three dynasties in short order, and then spend some amount of time on the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

As is however, let our examination into Chinese history continue with the Shang Dynasty!

The Shang Dynasty is the first Dynasty where we have archaeological and written records of its existence. The most famous of these are the oracle bones which were usually carved onto ox bones or turtle shells, and have on them ancient Chinese characters. These were used mainly as, the name would imply, divination, seeing into the future.

An Oracle Bone

The Shang Dynasty is said to have ruled from 1600BCE to 1046BCE, according to the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project.

I ended the last blog post with a rather vague statement about the last King of Xia being a tyrant. Well let's see what the Chinese myths have to say about him.

King Jie of Xia is supposed to have lived a lavish lifestyle with a lot of slaves, and treated his people with cruelty. He is said to have been infatuated with a concubine called Mo Xi, who (as a running theme in these early Chinese Dynastical failings) was fair of flesh but had no virtues. She liked to drink, and according to myth, she had Jie build her a lake filled with wine. He apparently had his food carted in from the corners of the Kingdom, and had people beheaded who messed with his food. Guy was in love with his eating!

Here he is, riding around with a halberd and being carried by two women. #AncientSwag

Sadly for him, his opponents in the Kingdom of Shang were growing in power, and in the 39th year of Jie's reign, he was demolished in the Battle of Mingtiao, and up rose the Shang as the dominant power in the Chinese heartland. Jie himself escaped and fled, was captured at Jiaomen, and deposed him. He was released to Nanchao, and eventually died of illness.

The first king of the Shang dynasty was King Tang of Shang, and his was a good one.

I mentioned in the previous post that the Xia dynasty is probably mythic, but I do find it possible that Jie of Xia existed. It's probable that a kingdom of some kind existed concurrent with the Shang, and were likely rather powerful. The Battle of Mingtiao may well have happened, and the Kingdom of Xia may have eventually evolved into the Xia Dynasty in Chinese folklore. Regardless, let's now take a look at the Shang Dynasty's development.

The Shang Dynasty moved its capital five times, the last time to Yin in the reign of Pan Gang, following which evolved the 'Golden Age' of the Dynasty. Bronze working developed over the course of the Shang Dynasty, with Bronze weapons being integrated into use as part of the Shang infantry. The ge or dagger-axe emerged as a weapon during the Shang Dynasty's reign.

One of these, but on a stick. That's a ge.

There's not a lot else to be said about the Shang, apart from the myths about the end of the Dynasty.

The last King of Shang was King Zhou of Shang, born Di Xin. He ruled from 1075BCE to 1046BCE. It gets kind of confusing at this point, because King Zhou of Shang was overthrown by King Wu of Zhou, but we'll get to that later. Anyway, King Zhou of Shang was said to have been pretty awesome early in life, able to win all his arguments and strong enough to hunt beasts with his bare hands. He is said to have expanded the territory of the Shang in a series of campaigns against the Dongyi to the East.

Later in life, he, surprise surprise, took to drinking, sex, and a complete lack of morals. He hosted a tonne of orgies and various other activities, and in legends, he was said to have, guess what? fallen in love with a wicked concubine called Daji. And guess what he did to impress her? He built a lake, and filled it with wine! But not only that, he had an island made in the middle of it, and put a bunch of trees there, and stuck meat to them.

Going on a tangent for a moment, given that China has such a long history, you'd think their myth makers would be a bit more creative when it came to showing how decadent someone is. Having two freaking Dynasties ending with a King who made a lake full of wine is both lazy and boring. Come on, Ancient Chinese dudes, get your act together.

Anyway, all this partying didn't go down well with his subjects, and eventually King Wu of Zhou put together an army, kicked King Zhou of Shang's ass to next week in the Battle of Muye. King Zhou was like "Well fuck you all", gathered his treasures together in his palace, and then set fire to himself and his palace and died with his treasure.

We'll return to the rise of the Zhou next time. Hope you enjoyed this post!

The Beginning

Hello! This is going to be a blog that I'll be maintaining, probably haphazardly, largely dealing with Chinese history. As most readers are probably aware, China has a long and storied history, dating back (depending on who you ask) between four and five thousand years. Throughout that vast span of time, the Chinese historical canon sees the rise and fall of heroes and tyrants, emperors and kings. The history of CHina saw the rise and fall of 11 or 12 great Dynasties (again depending on who you ask), wedged between times of great chaos and the splitting of the Empire. Indeed, the opening line of Luo Guanzhong's famed Romance of the Three Kingdoms is as follows:

話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分

Translated, it means “It is a general truism of the world, that that which is long united must divide, and that which is long divided must unite”.

If any general trends were to be seen in Chinese history, that truism must be at the forefront.

I will start this blog with an examination into what is considered by most Chinese to be the first Dynasty – the Xia Dynasty.

The Xia Dynasty is one which is shrouded in myth. No written record can be traced to the time period in which it was reputed to have existed – starting between 2205BCE and 1989BCE, and ending between 1766BCE and 1558BCE. As such, many modern scholars discount the Xia Dynasty as having existed at all.

Why then begin the blog with an examination into a Dynasty that may not have even existed? Because even if it were true that the Xia was a story invented by the Zhou as has been contended by some scholars, the Xia remains an important part of Chinese history, even as a foundational myth.¹

The Xia Dynasty was supposedly founded by Yu the Great, who must have been an awesome guy indeed to be granted the posthumous epithet of ‘The Great’. What was so great about him?

Chinese Heartland, or the Central Plains. We'll be seeing a lot of this area.

Well, according to myth, the Chinese heartland (which is located in the Yellow River basin, in modern day Henan, South Hebei, the southern part of Shanxi and the western part of Shandong provinces) was at the time of his life inundated with constant flooding and other water related unpleasantness. Yu’s father had spent nine years trying to control the flooding, building a large network of dikes and dams along the banks of the Yellow River. His plan failed, and he was duly executed. (Or not, depending on the version of the story you read).  As such, the task was left to Yu. Yu had different ideas to his poor old dad, and decided to build a bunch of irrigation channels and the like, rather than damming the flood itself.

The result of all this work? Chinese myth and traditional history credit Yu with the creation of the agricultural society that graces China for the next four thousand years.

 Historically, the story is generally thought to be an allegory for successive settlements on the Yellow River which steadily shifted towards agricultural pursuits.² Yu ascended the throne after it was bequeathed to him by Shun, who deemed him the most worthy. Yu in turn handed it to his son, beginning the Dynastical tradition of inheritance deeming succession, not ability. The last king of the Xia, Jie, was said to be corrupt, and was overthrown by Tang, the first king of the Shang Dynasty.

As said above, the Xia Dynasty is shrouded in myth. Most historians tend to think it as fictional, but it is still deemed to be the first Dynasty in most lists of Dynasties.

1. The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art and Cosmos in Early China, Sarah Allan

2. David Hawkes