The facial makeup of princes in the Spring and Autumn Period

When the pointer of history points to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou royal family, which had been in the forefront for a long time, lost its power, its power declined, and its control and influence were far less than before. Therefore, it gradually ceased to be the most beautiful boy under the spotlight. But those princes who had previously been trembling with fear when they saw Emperor Zhou slowly straightened their backs.

They continued to grow in strength, and then began to fight everywhere, vying to be the boss among the princes, so that the entire Eastern Zhou Dynasty suddenly collapsed and chaos arose. From then on, the Emperor of Zhou was like a luxurious gold-lettered signboard. Whichever prince held it in his hands would have moral integrity and become the most handsome boy in the world. History thus entered the Spring and Autumn Period.

Before talking about the history of the Spring and Autumn Period, it is necessary for us to pull out these princes one by one to meet you today and show off their little status, so as to prepare for the next step. The theme foreshadows the theme.

01 Lu

The State of Lu was the feudal state of Bo Qin, the son of Zhou Gongdan. Everyone is familiar with Zhou Gongdan. He was the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou. He assisted King Cheng of Zhou in his early years and later contributed greatly to the pacification of the Eastern Rebellion. When the Zhou royal family needed heroes from the clan to guard the vassal, King Zhou Cheng granted the land of the original Yan Kingdom and the six remaining tribes of the Yin and Shang Dynasties to Boqin, the son of Zhou Gongdan, and asked him to guard the east. Boqin is also known as Ming Gongbao, Ming Baoyin and Ming Gong. "Book of Zhou·Fei Shi" records his oath to defeat Huaiyi and Xurong, which shows that he also made meritorious service to the Zhou royal family. Boqin reigned for a long time. During his reign, he reformed local people's customs and strictly implemented Zhou people's etiquette and laws, making Lu a great Zhou etiquette country and a cultural state.

Bo Qin passed the eighth generation to Wugong, when King Xuan of Zhou was on the throne. Duke Wu took his eldest son Kuo and his youngest son Xi to visit King Zhou Xuan. King Zhou Xuan liked Xi for some reason, so he forcibly made Xi the crown prince of Lu. We know that the core of the Zhou etiquette system is the eldest son inheritance system. This move by King Zhou Xuan seriously violated this etiquette system. The State of Lu, which had always been "in charge of the etiquette of the emperor (responsible for the etiquette work of the Zhou Dynasty)", was naturally very opposed to it, but it had nothing to do because of the power of the emperor of Zhou. After Duke Wu died, Xi succeeded him as Duke Yi. The succession of Duke Yi caused great shock to the entire Lu State and laid hidden dangers for the development of the Lu State. Nine years later, Duke Yi's brother Kuo's son Bo Yu united with the people, killed Duke Yi and became independent. The world thought that this matter was over, but King Zhou Xuan, who wanted to act arbitrarily, was not happy. He believed that Boyu had challenged his authority. Eleven years later, he led an army to attack Lu, killed Boyu, and appointed his uncle, the son, as the king of the country, which was Xiaogong. At this point, the civil strife in Lu that lasted for more than 20 years was finally settled.

However, the civil strife caused by Emperor Zhou's crude interference in the succession of the throne of Lu not only consumed the strength of Lu, but also caused the Lu family to have extreme hatred for the Zhou royal family. His resentment and dissatisfaction gradually separated him from the Zhou royal family. After that, King Zhou You blatantly abolished the elders and established the younger ones, trampled on the patriarchal laws, deposed the prince Yijiu and attracted his cousin Shenhou, who colluded with Quanrong to kill his father and seize the throne. This once again refreshed the Lu State's understanding of etiquette and law. Afterwards, the State of Lu basically stayed out of the affairs of the Zhou royal family and watched with a cold eye.

As for the "Bamboo Book Annals" record, the state of Lu was also involved in the establishment of King Ping of Zhou. Later historians basically deny it. Either "Zeng (Zhen, Juan)" was mistakenly written as Lu when writing, or the Zhou royal family deliberately included Lu in order to increase the legitimacy and legitimacy of King Zhou Ping's succession. sex.

After Xiao Gong, there is his son Hui Gong. Hui Gong's eldest wife died early and had no son. The concubine's wife gave birth to a son named Xigu (a concubine, theoretically unable to succeed to the throne). Later, Hui Gong married Zhongzi, the daughter of the monarch of Song Dynasty, as his wife, and gave birth to a son named Xigu. Rail (legitimate son, can succeed). After Hui Gong's death, Gui was still young, so Xigu took over the throne and became the Yin Gong. In the first year of Yin AD, history entered the Spring and Autumn Period. At this time, it was King Ping of Zhou, and the State of Lu still had no interest in the Emperor Zhou and the dynasty established by him, and ignored him. King Ping of Zhou was powerless to do anything about this and allowed the State of Lu to do its own thing.

02 Qi

The founder of the Qi State was Jiang Shang (namely Lu Shang, Taigong Wang, Shi Shang), a hero of the Zhou Dynasty. Father) is the first famous general to appear in ancient Chinese military history. The Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty and gained his greatest strength, so he was granted a seal in Yingqiu (now Changle County, Weifang, Shandong). At first, the Qi State was still relatively small, limited to Yingqiu and nearby areas.

After Jiang Shang arrived in the fiefdom of Yingqiu, he rectified politics, adapted measures to local conditions, simplified etiquette, communicated with industry and commerce, and developed fish and salt. Many people nearby joined him. Later, he conquered Laiyi everywhere and obtained their land. The State of Qi thus occupied the northeastern half of present-day Shandong Province, and together with the State of Lu, became a great power in the early Zhou Dynasty.

Jiang Shangwu reached Duke Ai. Everyone should have heard of this man. Because he was reported by his neighbor, the King of Ji State, he was put into a large pot by the then King of Zhou Yi and cooked in front of the court. He was not only very miserable, but also extremely miserable. This incident caused Qi Guo to lose face and withdraw from the inner circle of the Zhou royal family. From then on, he was full of hatred for the Zhou royal family and Ji Guo.

After Duke Ai died, he was not succeeded by his son, but by his younger brother Duke Hu. The traditional way of succession between father and son was broken. In the eighth year of Hu Gong's reign, Ai Gong's half-brother killed Hu Gong and established himself as king. After Xian Gong reigned for ten years, he finally smoothly handed over the baton of power to his son Wu Gong. During this period of time, Qi State did not participate in the major events of the Zhou royal family, and always quietly hid on the edge. Duke Ai's painful lesson always warned them to be cautious.

In the twenty-fourth year of Duke Wu's reign, King Xuan of Zhou succeeded to the throne, and then married Duke Wu's daughter, Queen Jiang, who was the mother of King Zhou You. It is for this reason that during this period, the Zhou royal family's attitude towards Qi Guo became relatively tolerant and relaxed. But even so, Qi State did not reintegrate into the inner circle of the Zhou royal family. The grudge of Duke Ai's death has never been eliminated from the hearts of the people of Qi.

After Duke Wu, we arrived at Duke Li. It is not difficult to see from the posthumous title given to him by later generations that this person seemed to be very violent and very unpopular. However, it is still a bit arbitrary to judge a person based on his posthumous title alone. In fact, what he faced at that time was the dual oppression of the rebellion of the Qi Duke's clan forces and the seizure of power by Hu Gong's son. Under the combined attack of these two forces, he was killed, and Hu Gong's son who participated in the seizure of power also died. Eventually, his son succeeded him as Duke Wen. Duke Wen was very tough. As soon as he took office, he executed all the more than 70 people who participated in the murder of his father, Duke Li, thus fundamentally changing the political situation of Qi.

If these matters in Qi were brought forward, they would definitely attract the attention of the Zhou royal family, and if not done, it would lead to disaster. However, King Zhou Xuan at that time did not interfere in Qi's internal affairs, which undoubtedly gave Qi a great deal of autonomy.

When he arrived at Duke Zhuang (that is, Jiang Gou, different from Jiang Guang, another Duke of Zhuang after Qi), he first experienced King You of Zhou acting recklessly, and then the dogs and soldiers killed King You of Zhou. , destroyed Haojing, and finally King Ping of Zhou succeeded to the throne and moved the capital to Luoyi. He always insisted not to wade into the muddy waters of the Zhou royal family. He watched from the other side, kept a low profile, gathered talents from all over the world, opened up the source of wealth for the country, and made himself bigger and stronger. The State of Qi accumulated a large foundation, laying a solid foundation for the hegemony of Qi Xi and Qi Huan.

In the ninth year after Duke Xi succeeded to the throne, history entered the Spring and Autumn Period.

03 Jin

In the Kingdom of Jin, it is said that the founder was Yu, the younger brother of King Cheng of Zhou. There is an allusion in the history books about "Tong Ye confering the title of younger brother", which refers to King Zhou Cheng's conferment of the title of his younger brother Yu to the Tang Dynasty, which was known as Tang Shu Yu in history. Its purpose is to strengthen the control of the Hedong (east of the Yellow River) area to resist the attack of Rong and Di from the north.

At first, Tang Shuyu was called Tang Hou in the ancient ruins of the Tang Dynasty (the place where Emperor Yao's old capital was located, today's Jinyuan District, Taiyuan, Shanxi). Later, he arrived at Xie, the son of Yu. Because there was Jinshui (today's Xuanweng Mountain in Taiyuan, Shanxi) to the south, he changed the name of the country to Jin and was called the Marquis of Jin.

Seven generations after Xie, it was passed down to Ji Fei, the Marquis of Jin Mu.

Ji Fei gave birth to two legitimate sons, the older one was named Qiu and the younger one was named Chengshi. There is some origin of the names of these two legitimate sons. In the 23rd year of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty (805 BC), Ji Feifei sent troops to attack Tiao Rong, but was defeated. After returning to the country, his eldest son was born, so he named his eldest son "Qiu" to remind himself not to forget enemies. Three years later, Ji Fei led his troops to stop the Rong people in Qianmu. This time he won the battle and happened to catch up with the birth of his youngest son. He was so happy that he named him "Chengshi" to commemorate this victory.

It has to be said that Jin Muhou Jifei is indeed a man of temperament. But his willful behavior soon aroused objections. The minister Shifu pointed out: "The name you gave your son is really strange! You must know that the name will have a corresponding meaning. A good marriage is called 'concubine', and a bad relationship is called 'enmity'. This This is the naming method of the ancients. Now you name your eldest son Qiu and your younger son Chengshi. This is a sign of trouble. Are you letting your younger brother usurp your elder brother's throne?"

We don’t know whether this teacher has any ability to predict. Anyway, disaster finally happened. However, when Ji Fei, the Marquis of Jin Dynasty, died, it was not his younger brother Chengshi who usurped his elder brother's throne, but his uncle Shang Shu.

Ji Chou was just twenty years old at the time. He immediately fled the Jin Kingdom and disappeared. Some people speculate that he went to the state of Qi (his mother's natal family), while others say that he went to Haojing. But these are not important. What is important is the reaction of the Zhou royal family to this matter.

Uncle Shang is waiting, and so is Ji Chou. Uncle Shang was waiting for King Zhou Xuan to recognize his throne, while Ji Chou was waiting for King Zhou Xuan to uphold justice for him. However, it was a pity that Ji Chou was unlucky and King Zhou Xuan did not take any action.

The lack of justice is the connivance of evil, and it is a ruthless blow to the weak. Ji Fei, the Marquis of Jin Mu, followed King Xuan of Zhou throughout his life and made outstanding military exploits. However, in the end, the Zhou royal family remained silent about the fact that his son was deprived of the throne. No matter for whatever reason, in Ji Chou's heart, the early expectations eventually turned into resentment. So he decided to take the risk.

Four years later, Ji Chou returned to Jin. With his own efforts, he successfully attacked and killed Uncle Shang and regained the throne, becoming Marquis Wen of Jin. After this incident, Marquis Jin Wen matured a lot and understood the truth that "you have to rely on yourself at critical moments." Therefore, for a long time in the future, Jin Wenhou no longer had illusions, no longer relied on others, no longer talked about feelings, and was extremely rational in everything he did.

When King You of Zhou was killed by Quan Rong, he weighed the pros and cons and established King Ping of Zhou with the princes. The condition for doing so was that the Jin State obtained the vassal land of Hanoi. Immediately afterwards, he helped King Zhou Ping to eradicate King Zhou Xie, ending the situation of "two kings standing side by side" and completely stabilizing King Zhou Ping's position. It would be wrong to think that he did this out of his duty as a minister. From the moment King Xuan of Zhou failed to uphold justice for him, he had long lost any affection for the Zhou royal family in his heart. The reason why he eradicated King Zhou Xie was because he wanted to take the opportunity to seize King Zhou Xie's land, and also obtain the development rights of Pidi (the middle and lower reaches of Fenhe River) from King Zhou Ping. He succeeded. At this point, the Jin State expanded to the area where the Fen River and the Yellow River met, and its power gradually penetrated into the eastern part of Guanzhong. As for him, he had a conflict with Duke Wu of the Zheng State at that time, and became the main support of King Ping of Zhou. He worked with him to assist the Zhou Dynasty, thus reaching the pinnacle of his life.

Four years later, Jin Wenhou passed away. His son Ji Bo succeeded to the throne and was named Zhaohou of Jin. As soon as Jin Zhaohou came to power, he awarded Quwo (now Linfen, Shanxi) to his uncle Chengshi (the younger brother of Jin Wenhou, namely Quwohuan Shu). The reason is probably due to the previous experience of Uncle Shang usurping his father's position as Marquis of Jin Wen. In order to prevent tragedy from happening to him, he sent his uncle away as a teacher. However, who would have thought that Jin Zhaohou's approach would actually provide a development platform and opportunity for his uncle Chengshi's lineage. In the nearly seventy years since then, Quwo and Yi (the capital of the Jin State) have never stopped attacking, so that the Jin State did nothing in the early Spring and Autumn Period.

In the end, Qu Wo replaced Yi, and the descendants of Chengshi usurped the throne of Qiu's descendants, which in disguise fulfilled the prophecy of "the younger brother usurps the elder brother's throne" when the original master served. , things are really unpredictable.

04 Qin

Qin State, the clan with the surname Ying. It is said that their ancestor was called Daye. Great deeds produce great expenses, and this is Bai Yi. Shun gave him the surname Ying. Da Fei gave birth to two sons: one was Dalian, the ancestor of the Niaosu family; the other was Ruomu, the ancestor of the Fei family. Dalian's great-great-grandson was named Meng Xi Zhongyan. He had a body like a bird but could speak human language (just like a bird-man). He became the charioteer of King Taiwu of Shang Dynasty. Because of his merits in life, he became a prince. His great-great-grandson Zhongyi lived in Xirong and protected Xicui (frontier). Zhongyi later became Feilian, and Feilian became evil again. Both of them were favored ministers of Shang Zhou. King Wu of Zhou destroyed Shang and killed Feilian and Eilai. Feilian's grandson was named Meng Zeng, also known as Zhai Gaolang. He later became a minister of King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty. This is the record about the lineage of Qin people in "Historical Records".

However, according to ancient book records and recent research, the Qin people should be an oriental race. After King Zhou Cheng succeeded to the throne, Wu Geng, the son of Shang Zhou, launched a large-scale rebellion, which was put down by Zhou Gongdan. The ancestors of the Qin people who participated in the rebellion (Zhou Gongdan marched eastward and captured nine Xiong Ying tribes who returned to the country, "Ying" is "Ying") were moved to the west and became the largest family with the surname Ying. Because they were captives, they were often discriminated against and even hostile by the Zhou royal family and the princes of the Central Plains. They had no choice but to move to the barren land in the west, living together with the Rong and Di, and their political status was extremely low.

Zhai Gaolang is passed down as Cepheus again. "Historical Records" records that Zaofu was good at driving horses. According to legend, he once presented famous horses such as Hualiu and Luer to King Mu of Zhou, a senior travel companion. King Mu of Zhou asked him to take control of him and patrolled Kunlun in the west. When he saw the Queen Mother of the West, he was so happy that he forgot to return. King Mu of the later Zhou Dynasty granted him the city of Zhao (now Linfen, Shanxi, so his descendants took Zhao as their surname), and he became the ancestor of the Zhao State during the Warring States Period.

Feizi, who was of the same clan as Zaofu, was the sixth-generation grandson of Feilian and lived in Quanqiu (i.e. West Quanqiu, present-day Li County, Longnan, Gansu). He was good at raising horses and was highly appreciated by King Xiao of Zhou for his good work. King Xiao of Zhou made him a vassal in the land of Qin (now Zhangjiachuan, Tianshui, Gansu), continued the Ying family temple worship, and called him Qin Ying. The most important reason why King Zhou Xiao paid so much attention to Qin Ying was that he had realized that the Qin people played an irreplaceable role in checking and balancing Xirong at that time.

After the third generation of Qin Ying passed to Qin Zhong, the Xirong began to rebel and captured Quanqiu. King Xuan of Zhou appointed Qin Zhong as a doctor and sent him to attack Xirong. Qin Zhong had a bad start and was killed by Xirong. Qin Zhong had five sons. The eldest son Ying Qi was Duke Zhuang of Qin. He fought very bravely. King Xuan of Zhou sent him to lead troops to attack Xirong again. Duke Zhuang of Qin defeated Xirong and took back the land of Quanqiu. King Xuan of Zhou named him Doctor Xicui, but his status as a vassal of Qin was not changed. In the eyes of the Zhou royal family, Qin was always no different from Rong Di, and there was still a grudge in their hearts.

After Qin Zhuanggong passed away, his son Yingkai succeeded to the throne and became Qin Xianggong. Duke Xianggang of Qin was a monarch who was very tolerant and good at seizing opportunities. In the seventh year, Quan Rong killed King You of Zhou. He saw the right opportunity to lead troops to help Zhou, and also escorted King Ping of Zhou to move eastward, which made great achievements. In order to win over him, King Ping of Zhou made him a prince. Qin has since got rid of its vassal status. Later, King Ping of Zhou Dynasty promised him the land west of Qishan Mountain. He then led Qin to a decisive battle with Xirong. At the time of his son Qin Wengong, Qin State drove away the Xirong and occupied the land west of Qishan Mountain. At this point, the Qin State became a vassal state in the true sense, thus laying the foundation for future development and growth.

In the forty-fourth year of Duke Wen of Qin, history entered the Spring and Autumn Period.

05 Chu

Chu State, a clan with the surname Mi. According to legend, their ancestor served as the Huozheng (official in charge of fire) of the Gaoxin clan (the name of the ancient emperor Ku), and his name was Zhu Rong. Zhu Rong's descendants are divided into six surnames, the last of which is Mi. The ancestor of the surname Mi was Ji Lian, and one of Ji Lian's descendants was named Wan Xiong, who became a minister of King Wen of Zhou. The third generation passed to Xiong Yi and founded the country in Danyang (where the Dan River and the Xi River flow into the Han River). He became the first monarch of the Chu State.

In fact, the Chu people, like the Qin people, are also an oriental race. Duke Zhou conquered the seventeen countries of the Xiong Ying tribe in the east, and captured nine Xiong Ying tribe countries. "Xiong" is the Chu family, and "Ying" is "Ying". They were all forced to move to the west. After the Chu people moved to the west, they lived where Danshui and Xishui communicated. Their leader, Xiong Yi, served King Zhou Cheng with a mahogany bow and thorn arrows, exorcising evil spirits and eliminating disasters for the emperor. Finally, he was recognized by King Zhou Cheng. Was named "Viscount".

Xiong Yiwu passed to Xiong Qu. Xiong Qu then raised troops to attack Yongguo (near today's Zhushan, Hubei) and Yang Yue (that is, Yangyue, an ancient ethnic group, living in Jiangxi, Hubei), and fought all the way to Edi (in today's Ezhou City, Hubei). He named his eldest son Kang the King of Judan ( The second son Hong was the king of E (responsible for the management of the land of Yong), and the youngest son Zhichi was the king of Yuezhang (responsible for the management of the land of Yang Yue).

At that time, only the Emperor of Zhou could use the title of king. Xiong Qu's move was an act of transgression and treason. But King Zhou Yi was weak at that time, and Xiong Qu, who always only recognized strength, would naturally not be afraid of him. However, after King Zhou Li succeeded to the throne, Xiong Qu obediently removed the titles of his three sons. He knew in his heart that King Zhou Li was not a good person.

After Xiong Qu, it was passed down for seven generations. When it came to Xiong Yi, it was Ruao. After Ruo Ao passed away, it was passed down to Xiao Ao, and it was called Fu Mao. When Fu died, his brother Xiong Tong killed his son and established himself as King Wu of Chu. And that year happened to be the 30th year of King Zhou Ping (741 BC).

Xiong Tong was strong and warlike. He conquered east and west, and his momentum shocked the entire Jianghan region, and all the Jingman countries surrendered. As a result, the Chu people's desire to become kings arose again.

In fact, the people of Chu and Qin are quite similar. They are often not looked down upon by the Zhou royal family and the princes of the Central Plains. They have been regarded as barbarians for a long time, which makes them feel very unhappy. But the people of Chu and Qin had different approaches to this. The people of Chu admitted that they were barbarians, and often used their strength to prove that they, as barbarians, were stronger than the princes of the Central Plains and the emperor of Zhou (so he always wanted to be king). However, the people of Qin did not want others to call them barbarians even if they were beaten to death. They would destroy whoever called them, holding back a ball of fire in their hearts, and fought to the death with those princes who regarded themselves as noble.

Xiong Tong wanted to become king, so he wanted to test the attitude of the Zhou royal family. He sent troops to harass the princes of the Central Plains from time to time, which made King Zhou Ping almost nervous. By the 19th year of Xiong Tong, history entered the Spring and Autumn Period.

06 Zheng

The founder of Zheng was the youngest son of King Li of Zhou, named Ji You. After King Zhou Xuan succeeded to the throne, he did not treat his younger brother badly. He gave him a piece of land and established the State of Zheng. The location was probably in Huazhou District, Weinan, Shaanxi today, not far from Haojing. Because Zheng Guo's rank was earl, Ji You was often called Zheng Boyou.

In his own fiefdom, Zheng Boyou was doing his duty as a man and conscientiously as a king, and he was somewhat successful. Sima Qian spoke highly of him, saying that he was "loved by all the people" and that he was a good and competent king. Perhaps for this reason, after his nephew King You of Zhou succeeded to the throne, he recalled his uncle from Zheng to Haojing and named him Situ. After returning to the political center, Zheng Boyou still maintained his true character, remained modest and prudent, and continued to do his job conscientiously and responsibly. Therefore, he was "very popular among the people of Zhou and the East" ("Guoyu").

From being the king's brother to being a good king, and then being a good minister, Zheng Boyou has a very good reputation, and his life is going smoothly. It should be said that he can sit back and relax. But he happened to be a very cautious person. As time went by, he found that the signs of the Western Zhou Dynasty's defeat were becoming more and more obvious. Therefore, he was worried that the Zhou royal family would harm the newly born Zheng State in the future. He did not want to perish together with the Zhou royal family, so he began to look for a place to take refuge. Finally, he asked Taishi Boyang where he could take refuge.

This Taishi Boyang is an outstanding person. He told Zheng Boyu that the places where Dongguo and Hao were located between the Ji, Luo, He and Ying rivers were the safest. Zheng Boyou then took his wife, children and belongings to live in these two countries. This is the famous story in history of "Huan Gong (Zheng Boyou's posthumous name) sent a child".

When the Western Zhou Dynasty fell, Zheng Boyu was martyred with King Zhou You, and his son Jutu succeeded to the throne as Duke Wu. Wu Gong supported King Ping of Zhou Dynasty and made meritorious service. He became a minister of Zhou Dynasty and successively destroyed the country of Xi and Dongguo where his father had given birth to his child. In this way, Duke Wu forcibly obtained a piece of territory for Zheng Guo from the rich land of the Central Plains.

After Duke Wu, Prince Wusheng succeeded to the throne and became Duke Zhuang. This man is powerful and one of the "Three Little Tyrants of Spring and Autumn". Before history entered the Spring and Autumn Period, he was patient and restrained and did not make much movement. In the 22nd year after taking office, after entering the Spring and Autumn Period, he led Zheng Guo to immediately fire the first shot of the Spring and Autumn Period for hegemony.

07 Song Dynasty

The founder of the Song Dynasty was Wei Ziqi, the elder brother of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. During the period of King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty, the Wu Geng Rebellion and the "Three Supervisors Rebellion" broke out. After Zhou Gongdan put down the rebellion, he followed the tradition of "continuation of rise and fall" and established the Song Dynasty in Shangqiu, the old capital of the Shang Dynasty. He was allowed to use the emperor's rituals and music to worship the Shang Dynasty, and to be a guest of the Zhou Dynasty (a guest of the Zhou Dynasty).

The Song Dynasty is a duke, which belongs to the highest rank among the titles (gong, marquis, uncle, son, male), and its status is second only to the emperor. There are only 8 vassal states with this kind of title in total. The Song Dynasty was also one of the "Three Kes". "Three Kes", in addition to the Song Dynasty, there are also the descendants of Yushun who were enfeoffed to the Chen State and the descendants of the Xia Dynasty who were enfeoffed to the Qi State. They all have the privilege of using the emperor's rites to worship the ancestors of their respective old dynasties.

It was this special identity that gave the Song Dynasty a kind of xenophobia in its psychology. It always considered itself a guest, unable to integrate into the Zhou Dynasty, and aloof from things. , slowly became an alternative among the princes. But this does not affect the fact that the Song Dynasty is the source of Chinese sage culture and the birthplace of the four major thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and famous schools that are at the core of Chinese traditional culture. The three sages Mozi, Zhuangzi and Huizi came from the Song Dynasty. Confucius' ancestral home is also in the Song Dynasty.

The news of Wei Zi Twelve reached Duke Xuan. When Duke Xuan died, he gave way to his younger brother, who was Duke Mu. In the seventh year of Duke Mu, history entered the Spring and Autumn Period.

08 Wei

The founder of Wei was Uncle Kang, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou. After the "Three Prisons Rebellion", Zhou Gongdan sent Uncle Kang to his hometown of Yin, which was the Weiguo. Kang Shuba was passed down to the Marquis of Xi, who had two sons. The eldest was called Boyu Boyu, and the younger was named He. The Marquis of Xi favored He and often gave him many gifts. However, He distributed these belongings to the samurai in order to build relationships. After the death of Xihou, Emperor Boyu succeeded to the throne. At Xihou's funeral, warriors attacked Boyu. The seriously injured Emperor Boyu had no choice but to hide in the tomb passage of Xihou and commit suicide. He Bian successfully succeeded to the throne as the eleventh king of Weiguo, who was Duke Wu ("Historical Records").

After taking office, Duke Wu worked diligently on political affairs and was deeply loved by the people. After King You of Zhou was killed, he led the army to save Zhou and quickly became the most famous prince. Duke Wu was passed down as Duke Huan, and in the thirteenth year of Duke Huan the Spring and Autumn Period entered.

09 Wu

It is generally said that the founders of the Wu Kingdom were the eldest son Taibo and the second son Zhongyong of King Taibo of Zhou. But this argument is highly implausible. Because Taibo and Zhongyong are the ancestors of the Yu State, they have nothing to do with the Wu State far away in Jiangsu.

In fact, "Historical Records" follows a unified view of history. Sima Qian traced the ancestors of surrounding nations almost without exception to the sage kings and sages of ancient China. Even if he is not a sage king and a wise king, he must be an assistant and capable minister. Careful analysis of the 25 kings in the Wu lineage reveals that the first four kings Taibo, Zhongyong, Ji Jian, and Shuda respectively correspond to the rankings of "Bo, Zhong, Ji, and Shu", and the artificial grafting component is obvious. Therefore, the 21 kings from the fifth king Zhouzhang to the last king Fucha should be the real lineage of Wu.

Starting from Zhou Zhang, it was not until the 19th King Shoumeng that the state of Wu began to become powerful.

10 Yue

The founder of the Yue Kingdom is said to be Wuyu, the bastard son of Xia Shaokang. Yu traveled around the world and died in Kuaiji. Shaokang was worried that Yu's sacrifices in Kuaiji would be exhausted, so he made his concubine Wuyu Yue and observed the etiquette of offering sacrifices to Yu.

This statement is also very problematic. Yu died in Kuaiji. The location of Kuaiji is still uncertain. Many people now believe that the Yue and Chu states should be of the same race. The country of Yue only began to become strong and prosperous when it reached Yunchang.