During the Spring and Autumn Period, the eastern territory of Chu State mainly referred to the eastern Chu region. Regarding the scope of the Eastern Kingdom of Chu, according to the "Zuo Zhuan Zhaogong Four Years" record:
Due to the floods in the Eastern Kingdom, it was impossible for Zhongli, Chao, and Zhoulai to build cities. Zhongli is located on the south bank of the Huaihe River in the east of Fengyang, Anhui Province; Chao is located in the northeast of Liu'an, Anhui Province; Zhou Lai is located in Fengtai, Anhui Province. It can be seen that Huainan belongs to the Chudong Kingdom. According to the records in "Zuo Zhuan Zhao Gong's Fourteenth Year":
It shows that Zhaoling should also be within the Chudong Kingdom. Zhaoling is located in the east of present-day Yancheng County, Henan Province, between Chen, Cai, Bogen and Ye. Judging from the record in "Zuo Zhuan" in the thirteenth year of Duke Zhao of Lu that Prince Qiji led the armies of Chen, Cai, Bugen, Ye, etc. to revolt, it is obvious that the troops of the Eastern Kingdom sent by King Chu Ping, sent by Qu Bo, refer to Chen, Cai, and Bu Geng and Ye's army. Therefore, Chen, Cai, Bugen, and Ye outside Fangcheng should also belong to the East Kingdom. Therefore, Chen Wei believes that the "Eastern Kingdom" of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period generally refers to the eastern Chu territory north and south of the Huaihe River.
The Huaihe River runs through China from east to west, dividing Chudong Kingdom into two parts: Huainan and Huaibei. The northern part of Huaihe is mainly the Huanghuai Plain, that is, the plain area south of the Yellow River, north of the Huai River, east of the Funiu Mountains, and west of the Ju River. In the west of the Huanghuai Plain, the Ru and Ying rivers flow from northwest to southeast, forming the Ruying area in Huaibei. The Chu people entered this area when they left Fangchengkou in the northeast of the Nanyang Basin to compete for hegemony in the Central Plains. Therefore, the Ruying area It is the basis for the Chu people to manage the Eastern Kingdom, and it is also the barrier to ensure the safety between Jiang and Han. The Huainan part is mainly the Jianghuai Plain, which refers to the area east of the Dabie Mountains such as Lu'an, Shucheng, Huoshan, and Chaohu. The Chu people and the Wu people fought here to control the Jianghuai area. Later, I will conduct a detailed analysis of the process of the Chu people running the Eastern Kingdom to explain the relationship between the expansion of the Chu Eastern Kingdom’s territory and geopolitics.
The Eastern Kingdom of Chu is located in the Huaihe River Basin between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. It has been the intersection of civilizations in the north and south of my country since the Neolithic Age, and is home to many ethnic groups and tribes. During the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties, the Huaihe River Basin became an important place for conflicts and confrontations between ethnic groups in the north and south. The Zhou people established numerous vassal states here and established a geopolitical system in the south dominated by the Zhou people to defend the royal family and maintain their power in the Central Plains. of dominance. However, as King Ping moved eastward, the political power of the Zhou people declined, and the geopolitical system of their southern lands was also in the process of disintegration. The Chu people took advantage of the situation and rose up, unifying Jiang and Han, laying a solid rear foundation, and then began to go north out of Fangcheng to compete in the Central Plains.
At this time, in addition to the princes entrusted by the Zhou people, there were also many Fang states and ethnic groups scattered in the Huaihe River Basin. In the Ruying area, there are mainly Ying, Fang, Dao, Bai, Shen, Hu, Yang, Cai, Dun, Xiang, Chen, Xu, Li, etc. In the upper reaches of the Huai River, there are Jiang, Xi, Xian, Huang, Jiang, Liao, Fan, Fan, Zhongli, Xu, etc., in the Huainan area, there are Ying, Liu, Zong, Chao, Shu and Qunshu. They occupy different geographical areas and nodes, and together form a complex geographical relationship, becoming the geopolitical environment for the Chu people to manage the Eastern Kingdom.
In addition to the Yan group with the surname Qunshu, there are also the Huaiyi group mainly with the surname Ying widely distributed in the Huaihe River Basin. The Yi people are an ancient ethnic group living in Shandong, and are called "Dongyi". Duke Zhou's eastern expedition and the opening of frontiers by Qi and Lu caused the Yi people to migrate southward and enter the Xu land between Huaisi and Si. King Mu of Zhou's eastward campaign against Xu Yi forced the Yi people to move to the south of the Huai River and to the west along the Huai River, spreading over the vast area of ??the Huai River. Some of them went north along Ru and Ying, which not only endangered the security of the Zhou people in the Central Plains, but also blocked traffic and impacted the Zhou people's geopolitical order in the south. Therefore, judging from the unearthed bronze inscriptions, in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, the struggle between the Zhou people and the Huaiyi has always been the protagonist of the geopolitics of the South.
In order to resist the invasion of Huaiyi and maintain the geopolitical order of the Zhou people in the southern land, King Xuan of Zhou enfeoffed a large number of princes with the same and different surnames in Huairuying District. Among them, the princes surnamed Ji were called They are called "Concubines of Hanyang". Judging from the topography of the above-mentioned countries, the princes entrusted by the royal family all occupy the most favorable terrain, to the west or north of the Fang Kingdoms with the surname Ying and Yan, while the Fang Kingdoms with the surname Ying and Yan are mostly located on the south bank of the Huaihe River or On the east side, its route from west to north was controlled by the feudal dynasty. For example, the three kingdoms of Cai, Hu, and Ying with the surname Ji controlled the entire Ru River, and could echo the Shen, Lu, and Tang states in Fangcheng; while the Hu state with the surname of Dun, Xiang, Chen, Xu, and Zheng were along the Ying River. It has been lined up, controlling the entire waterway of Yingshui, and echoing Luoyi. Xi and Xian blocked Jiang and Huang's westward advance, while Jiang and Liao blocked Ying, Liu, and Qunshu's northward advance. The feudal states of these dynasties, together with the princes between Jiang and Han, formed a barrier to defend the royal family. They became a major political force in this region.
In addition, there are Zheng, Song, Lu, Wei, etc. on the edges of the territory, and there are Qi, Jin, Wu, Yue and other countries outside the territory. Like the Chu people, they all want to become the masters of this land and establish a! A geopolitical order dominated by self-interest. Regarding the geographical pattern of the Central Plains during the Spring and Autumn Period, Liang Qichao gave a good summary, saying:
Such a complex geographical situation had both advantages and disadvantages for the ambitious Chu people. What is advantageous is that the Chu people use the area between Jiang and Han as their base and the Fangcheng Fortress as their gateway. They can advance and attack, retreat and defend, and have the advantage of geographical advantages. The Chu people leave Fangcheng in the north and Mingzhe in the east to travel between Han and Huaihe. Very convenient, no need to travel far.
Although the two countries of Jin and Wu have the advantage of mountains and rivers, their struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains requires one to cross the Yellow River and the other to cross the Yangtze River, which means there is no convenient transportation. Qi State also has Lu, Cao, Song and other countries separated from each other, so it is impossible to conquer far by false roads. Very inconvenient. The disadvantage is that the great powers are fighting each other, and the princes in the region are wavering and rebelling. As a result, the geopolitical system established by the Chu people in the Central Plains is often in a precarious state. The territory cannot be consolidated and developed in a timely manner, and the political integration and ethnic integration within the region cannot be achieved. strengthen.
As early as the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu people unified the Jianghan River Basin and their national power grew rapidly. "Zuo Zhuan Zhao Gong Seven Years" contains Shen Wuyu saying: "My ancestor King Wen, who made the law of the servant area, said that 'stealing a hidden weapon is the same crime as stealing', so I sealed you." This emphasized that ruling the country by law was the national strength of Chu State. The fundamental reason for its strength and vast territory. In the "Zuo Zhuan of the Seventeenth Year of Ai Gong", Zigu said: "Peng Zhongshuang was the prisoner of Shen. King Wen thought that Ling Yin was responsible for Shen and Xi of Shi County, and he went to Chen and Cai to grant you the title of treasure." He believed that talents should be used in an eclectic way. It is the real driving force for the strength of Chu State and the fundamental reason why the border reaches Rushui. Although the reasons emphasized by the two are different, the result achieved is the same, that is, the Chu people kicked off the opening up of the Eastern Kingdom and reached the shores of Ru River.
According to "Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong's Tenth Year":
According to "Zuo Zhuan's Fourteenth Year Zhuang Gong":
Obviously, the Chu people used Due to the conflict between Cai and Xi, they set foot in the Huaihe River Basin, defeated the Cai people, captured their king, and destroyed their capital. For the Chu people, it was a small victory. , as far as Chu people are concerned, it is a great wisdom, which can be said to be a hidden edge.
Xiguo is on the north bank of the upper reaches of the Huai River. Didang Mingzhuokou controls an important port across the Huai River and is the gateway to Ru River. Therefore, its geographical location is very important. After the Chu people occupied the territory, they not only ensured the security between Jiang and Han, but also obtained a key stronghold for marching eastward to Huainan and northward to the Central Plains, which has great strategic value. And Cai is located in the upper reaches of Ru River, which is now Shangcai in Henan Province. It not only controls the Ru River waterway, but also is an important transportation route to Chen, Xu, and Song Dynasties. Therefore, occupying Cai can be said to occupy the center of Ru Ying. The strategic value is also extremely huge. However, Chu's strategies for dealing with Cai and Xi were completely different. Xi was destroyed by Chu and included in the territory of Chu, while Cai was saved by Chu and became a vassal of the Chu people. The reason may be that Cai is close to the Central Plains. If it is destroyed, it will have a great impact, which will easily cause the princes to panic and form an alliance, which is not conducive to the Chu people's development of the Huai region. Subduing it and keeping it not only conforms to the etiquette of the Zhou people, but also promotes the Chu people. Faithfulness can easily make the princes of the Central Plains get close to and obey you. The interest is far away from the Central Plains, and it is destroyed and established in counties, which has little impact on the Central Plains.
Two years after the death of Xi, the Chu people immediately sent their troops north to attack Zheng. "Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong's Sixteenth Year" records: "Zheng Bo entered from Dongdong and reported to Chu slowly. In autumn, Chu attacked Zheng and Jidong because of impoliteness." It can be seen that Chu people attacked Zheng in the name of protection. The banner of Zhou Li has good reasons. Duke Li of Zheng was restored to power, but he failed to inform the Chu State in time, which was a sign of neglect and contempt for the Chu people. Zheng lived in the world, and his capital is now Xinzheng, Henan. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Zhuanggong Xiaoba was slightly stronger and more prestigious among the princes of the Central Plains. Chu attacked Zheng, firstly to punish Zheng for his rudeness, and secondly to establish authority among the princes of the Central Plains.
Dongdi is the place where Zheng Ligong lived when he fled in panic. It is equivalent to the capital of the Zheng Kingdom. It is located in the southwest of Xinzheng, which is now Yuzhou City, Henan. When the Chu people arrived at Dongdi, their forces crossed the upper reaches of the Ru River and reached the upper reaches of the Ying River. The Ying State outside Fangchengkou and above the present-day Shah River was destroyed by the Chu people, because the Ying State happened to be on the route of this army. superior. The demise of Ying State ensured the Chu people's control of Fangcheng's entrance and the security of the Jianghan River Basin, the core area of ??Chu State, and it became more convenient for them to enter and exit Fangcheng.
After occupying the old land of Xiguo, the Chu people destroyed Fanguo in the south of Xinyang, and connected Xiguo and Mingyou. In 676 BC, the fourteenth year of King Wen of Chu, the Chu people went east to attack the Huang Kingdom after being defeated by the Ba people. "Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong Nineteenth Year" records: "In the spring, Chu Zi attacked him and was severely defeated in Jin. He returned with a fist and a fist. Then he attacked Huang and defeated the Huang army in Taling." Because Xiguo is close to Huangguo. , so this time King Wen's attack on Huang was not necessarily led by the defeated troops. It was probably that he mobilized troops from Xiguo to join the war. Since the Chu people had the restriction that "unless the victorious king is not allowed to enter the palace," King Wen rushed back to the capital of Ying after his victory. Gengshen died of illness in Qiu in June.
After King Chu Cheng came to the throne, he "distributed virtues and benefited, made old friends better than the princes, and made people offer sacrifices to the emperor" to stabilize the order of the Jianghan River Basin. In the sixth year of King Cheng's reign (666 BC), Yin Ziyuan was ordered to attack Zheng in order to perform dances. Although he entered the capital of Zheng, he returned without success. This attack on Zheng caused such a shock to the princes of the Central Plains that ten years after becoming king, "the Marquis of Qi invited the princes to avenge the Zheng people because of Chu's attack on Zheng."
Starting from the thirteenth year of King Cheng of Chu, the Chu people sent troops to attack Zheng for three consecutive years. According to the records in "The First Year of Zuo Zhuan Xi", Chu attacked Zheng because Zheng was close to the Qi people and intended to plot against Chu. Although Zheng Danbo was captured and Zheng Wengong planned to surrender, the Chu people failed to achieve their goal of conquering Zheng due to the rescue of the princes.
Qi is a big country in the east. During the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, he reused Guan Zhong and pursued reforms, which greatly enhanced Qi's national power and made it the de facto overlord who commanded the princes of the world. Therefore, the Qi State at this time undoubtedly became an obstacle for the Chu people to expand their territory and establish their hegemony. In order to break the geopolitical order of the Central Plains established by the Qi people, it was necessary to conquer Qi's vassal states.
Since the State of Zheng was located in the upper reaches of Yingshui River, it not only controlled the key routes for the eastern princes to make pilgrimages to the Zhou royal family, but was also located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, so it became the first choice of the Chu people for their conquests. Gu Donggao made a good comment on this situation, saying:
Duke Huan of Qi led the princes to rescue Zheng. He not only successfully prevented the Chu people from realizing their strategic goals, but also defeated Chu's vassal state Cai. , and wooed Jiang, Huang, Xu and other countries to form an anti-Chu alliance. In 656 BC, that is, the sixteenth year of King Cheng of Chu, Duke Huan of Qi led the armies of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, Wei, Cao, Xu, and Zheng to attack Chu, which was in danger. Since both sides had no intention of fighting, Qi and Chu finally formed an alliance in Zhaoling. In the Zhaoling Alliance, Qi won a superficial victory and restricted Chu's northward development, but Chu's strength was not substantially weakened. In fact, the struggle for hegemony between Qi and Chu did not end with this, but instead officially began the process of Qi and Chu's struggle for hegemony.
The dominance of Qi aroused the suspicion of the Zhou royal family, so they instigated Zheng to turn against Qi and go to Chu. "Zuo Zhuan, the Fifth Year of Duke Xi" has a detailed record of this. The article says:
The behavior of King Zhou was really a bitter irony for the Qi people who called for "respecting the king and repelling the barbarians". As expected, Zheng Wengong's behavior of fleeing from the alliance was attacked by the Qi people. Next year, Qi will attack Zheng with the six-nation coalition, while the Chu people will go north from Fangcheng to surround Xu and rescue Zheng. According to the "Zuo Zhuan Sixth Year of Duke Xi" records:
Xu State was south of Zheng State and was an ally of Qi. The Six Kingdoms abandoned Zheng to save Xu, and the Chu people retreated slightly. The Allied Forces of the Six Nations were all withdrawn. When Xu Xigong saw that the Chu people were still outside Fangcheng and were about to arrive in the evening, he was worried. So he and Cai Muhou went to Wucheng to meet King Chu Cheng, surrendered to Chu, and became a vassal state of the Chu people.
The Xu people's attachment to Chu consolidated the Chu people's territory between Ruying and the situation in the north, thus allowing the Chu people time to expand their territory between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. "Spring and Autumn Period, the Second Year of Duke Xi" records: "In the ninth month of autumn, the Marquis of Qi, the Duke of Song, the people of Jiang, and the people of Huang all formed an alliance in Guan." "Zuo Zhuan" said: "Allied in Guan, and submitted to Jiang and Huang." Du's Notes He said: "Jiang and Huang are Chu and the country. They first came to submit to Qi, so they became the princes of the union." Jiang and Huang were Chu and the country. When Fan was conquered, Duke Huan of Qi was strong at this time, so he turned to Chu and joined Qi. In the seventeenth year of King Cheng of Chu, the Chu people destroyed Xian. "Zuo Zhuan Xi Gong's Fifth Year" records: "Chu fought against the valley and killed Xianzi, and Xianzi ran to Huang. Therefore, Jiang, Huang, Dao, and Bai Fang were in harmony with each other, and they were all married. Xianzi relied on it and did not do anything to Chu. There was no equipment, so he died." It can be seen that an anti-Chu and pro-Qi alliance was formed on both sides of the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, which was certainly not tolerated by the Chu people. After destroying Xian, in the 24th year of King Chu Cheng's reign, the Chu people destroyed Huang again.
The demise of Xian and Huang was of great significance to the Chu people's territorial expansion on both sides of the upper reaches of the Huai River and in Huainan. Xian and Huang are located in the westernmost section of the south bank of the Huai River, close to the exit of the Three Passes of the Dabie Mountains. They were the first areas that the Chu people arrived when they crossed the Dabie Mountains. Not only were they closest to the lower reaches of the Ru River, they were also the must-go areas for the Chu people to cross the Huai River and head north to the Central Plains. The area is also the area closest to Huainan and is the base for the Chu people to further advance eastward along the Huaihe River Basin. On the other hand, in terms of resisting enemies coming from the south or west, this area is also the best buffer zone for the Chu people to defend the Dabie Mountain Pass in the northeast.