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ancient Chinese state until conquered by the State of Wu in 512 BC
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Xu (Chinese: 徐; pinyin: Xú), also called Xu Rong (徐戎) or Xu Yi (徐夷) by its enemies, was an independent Huaiyi state of the Chinese Bronze Age that was ruled by a branch of the Ying family (嬴) and controlled much of the Huai River valley for at least two centuries. It was centered in northern Jiangsu and Anhui.
An ancient but originally minor state that already existed during the late Shang dynasty, Xu was subjugated by the Western Zhou dynasty around 1039 BC, and was gradually sinified from then on. It eventually regained its independence and formed a confederation of 36 states that became powerful enough to challenge the Zhou empire for supremacy over the Central Plain. Able to consolidate its rule over a territory that stretched from Hubei in the south, through eastern Henan, northern Anhui and Jiangsu, as far north as southern Shandong, Xu's confederation remained a major power until the early Spring and Autumn period. It reached its apogee in the mid 8th century BC, expanding its influence as far as Zhejiang in the south. By that time, however, Xu's confederation began to break up as result of internal unrest. As its power waned, Xu was increasingly threatened by neighboring states, losing control over the Huai River to Chu. Reduced to its heartland, Xu was eventually conquered by Wu in 512 BC.
According to the Rongcheng Shi bamboo slips from the Warring States period, the Yu Gong from the Han dynasty and various other sources, Yu the Great divided the world into the Nine Provinces in prehistoric times, one of them Xu. The Yuanhe Xingzuan, a Tang dynasty compilation of information on the origins of Chinese surnames, as well as the Tongzhi, a Southern Song dynasty historical book, also state that Yu enfeoffed Ruomu, grandson of the mythological emperor Zhuanxu, as lord of Xu around 2100 BC. In turn the Xu peoples were supposed to be Ruomu's descendants. Furthermore, it was claimed this Xu state or province had originally occupied the entire area between the Huai and Yellow River. No contemporary evidence exists to verify this information and the oldest literary sources available, the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty, do not mention such an empire. As result, the stories of Xu's foundation remain legendary.
Archaeological excavations have proven that the area around modern-day Xuzhou, including the later heartland of Xu, was a major trading hub and cultural centre for the Yangshao, Dawenkou and Longshan cultures since the 3rd millennium BC. Oracle bones and later historical records both indicate that the Xuzhou area was occupied by the indigenous Dapeng kingdom since the middle Shang dynasty. A powerful polity, Dapeng was eventually destroyed by the Shang under King Di Xin. In turn, Xu's existence is first reliably reported by the Yi Zhou Shu for 1042 BC, only a few decades after Dapeng's fall. It remains unknown if these two polities were related in any way.
At the time of its first recorded appearance, Xu was already a powerful Yi state that was probably located in southeastern Shandong or northwestern Jiangsu. Besides this state, a number of small Xu enclaves existed in western Shandong. Like the Dongyi states at Pugu and Yan, Xu participated in the Rebellion of the Three Guards against the Duke of Zhou, although it had no known direct relation to the three competing parties. Ralph D. Sawyer speculates that Xu joined the rebels because it did not wanted to alienate its neighboring states that had co-founded the rebel alliance. In contrast to other sources, the Records of the Grand Historian suggest that Xu and the Huaiyi were not involved in the initial rebellion at all, and only clashed with Zhou forces later.
Regardless of Xu's involvement, the rebels eventually lost the war. The Huai River valley was consequently invaded and subjugated by the Zhou royal army in 1039 BC. To what extent Xu was also defeated during that campaign remains unclear; reports in the Zuo Zhuan and the Bamboo Annals make it likely that Xu forces continued to resist the implementation of Zhou power in southeastern Shandong. After the foundation of Lu, Xu and other Huaiyi statelets reportedly attacked the new Zhou state until Bo Qin defeated them. Afterwards, the Xu state appears to have been largely pacified and became a vassal of the Zhou dynasty. In this position, it was strongly influenced by the Zhou culture and also served as link to the dynasty's southernmost ally, Wu. Despite that, Xu remained somewhat defiant, and moved its core area further south into northern Anhui in order to escape the constant pressure from the Zhou dynasty in the north. The Xu enclaves in western Shandong even continued to openly resist, but most of them were destroyed by Lu and Song over time.
After its subjugation, the state of Xu was forced to remain a vassal of the Zhou dynasty for almost one hundred years. The turning point came in the mid 10th century BC: Around 957 BC, the Zhou dynasty lost a disastrous war against Chu. This defeat appears to have thrown the dynasty into chaos. Based on archaeological findings, Edward L. Shaughnessy even speculates that the Zhou dynasty was so weakened that it largely retreated to its capital area, leaving most of its empire to fend for itself. Building upon this theory, historian Manfred Frühauf believes that the Huaiyi, among them Xu, regained their independence as consequence of this general Zhou retreat. Xu consequently grew into a "very powerful state".
By 944 BC, Lord Yan of Xu managed to unite thirty-six Dongyi and Huaiyi states under his leadership, declared himself king and proceeded to invade the Zhou empire. The reasons for this invasion are unknown, but Frühauf speculates that it aimed at preventing the Zhou dynasty from restoring its rule over the Huaiyi, while Sawyer considers it possible that the Xu either wanted to plunder the Zhou royal domain or aimed to supplant the Zhou rule and establish their own dynasty. The course and scale of the invasion are equally controversial, based on different interpretations of bronze inscriptions and historical texts. It is even disputed if there was just one or two invasions. Generally agreed, however, is the result of the attacks: Even though the Zhou forces had eventually succeeded in driving the invaders back, they could not subjugate the Huaiyi again and were forced to acknowledge their independence in a peace treaty. If records in the Book of the Later Han, probably based upon early texts of the Bamboo Annals, are to be believed, Xu was particularly strengthened by the war. Recognizing that he could not defeat the Huaiyi, King Mu of Zhou recognized King Yan of Xu as overlord ("officially "elder" or bo) over a large confederation that covered most of the Huai River valley and regions south of it. As result, Xu became the new major power of the east and a serious political rival to the Zhou dynasty. In the course of its political ascent, Xu's cultural influence began to spread as far as the Yangtze delta region. The Han Feizi and other texts claimed that King Mu subsequently requested King Yan to lead his coalition of states against the "Xu Yi", possibly local Xu factions which had not submitted to Yan's regime. The Bamboo Annals stated that Mu later incited the state of Chu to attack Xu.
Xu maintained its dominance over the southeast after King Mu's death, while the armistice proved inadequate to ensure peace. The military contest between the Huaiyi and Zhou kingdom never really stopped, and even though the latter increasingly suffered from internal disorder and even chaos, it remained a formidable adversary for Xu's confederation. King Li of Zhou (857-842/28) led several campaigns against the states of the Huai River, such as Jiao and Yu. In turn, the Huaiyi confederation under Xu began a massive counter offensive in 850 BC, aiming to conquer the North China Plain and to destroy the Zhou rule over the East. Allied with Ehou, rebellious ruler of E, and the Dongyi states, the Huaiyi brought the Zhou dynasty to the brink of destruction. Their forces even reached the Luo and Yi River valleys, threatening or even plundering the dynasty's royal domain. Eventually, however, the anti-Zhou alliance collapsed after the destruction of E by Zhou loyalists, and Xu was driven back.
War was renewed under King Xuan of Zhou, who aimed to restabilize and restore the Zhou kingdom. Enlisting the military aid of several loyalist states of Shandong, he launched a massive campaign against the Xu-led Huaiyi coalition in 822 BC, eventually claiming to have won a great victory. The Classic of Poetry even boasted:
The region of Hsü [Xu] is shaken without interruption, it trembles in terror, the region of Hsü as before the rolling and the bursts of thunder, the region of Hsü trembles for terror!
Notwithstanding these claims, Xuan's expedition probably did not result in a total victory, as Xu does not appear to have been severely weakened during this period. It is more likely that the war ended with a minor Zhou victory or a peace treaty, with tributes sent by the Huaiyi to King Xuan for his remaining reign. According to the Yu Gong, Xu sent pheasant plumes and sounding stones as regular tributes.
Despite Xuan's restoration attempts, the Zhou dynasty's royal power largely collapsed in 771 BC after the Battle of Mount Li, ushering into the Spring and Autumn period. Initially, Xu not only retained its power during this new era of warfare and chaos, but probably further expanded into the south. Xu bronzes from the early Spring and Autumn period were found in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, indicating the state's influence in or possibly even control over these regions. Around this time, however, Xu also began to suffer from serious internal unrest, resulting in the gradual disintegration of its confederation. Several polities seceded: The Xu enclaves of western Shandong aligned themselves with the state of Lu in 720 BC, the Shu peoples formed independent states, the state of Zhoulai occupied the middle Huai River valley, and a part of ruling Ying family broke off to form their own state, Zhongli.
Despite its confederation's end, the Xu kingdom still held considerable power, so that the dukes Yin and Huan of Lu tried to remain "on good terms with [the Xu peoples]". Their successor, Duke Zhuang of Lu, on the other side, considered the remaining Xu tribes of Shandong a threat and started a war to eliminate them. By that time, the only remaining northern Xu enclave of any significance was centered at Caozhou, holding the local marshes from where the Chi River originated. According to the Zuo Zhuan, the continued raiding activities of the Caozhou-Xu were responsible for the war. Duke Zhuang was able to gain the military assistance of Song, Zheng, and, most importantly, the powerful state of Qi. On the other side, the Xu of Shandong allied with the Xu kingdom. Qi first attacked the Xu of Shandong in 674 BC, but failed to subdue them. In 667, the Qi-led coalition launched not only another assault on Caozhou, but also invaded Xu's territory in the Huai River valley. While the latter state remained undefeated, the Caozhou-Xu were destroyed, and with them, the last remnants of Xu rule in Shandong. Afterwards, relations between Xu and its northern neighbors improved.
Beginning in 655 BC, the state of Chu began to expand into the Huai River valley, causing several local Huaiyi polities such as the Shu states to ally with it in order to profit from its military assistance. In response to this aggressive expansion into its heartland, the Xu kingdom began to cooperate with Chu's northern enemies, and occupied one of the now-hostile Shu states in 656 BC. Chu retaliated in 645 BC, and launched an invasion of Xu. Duke Huan of Qi, hegemon of China at that time, organised an alliance of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, Wey, Zheng, Cao, and Xǔ to aid Xu. They sent an expedition to relieve the small kingdom, but the anti-Chu alliance was decisively defeated during the Battle of Loulin. While it was not destroyed and continued to fight for its independence, Xu was severely weakened, marking the beginning of its final decline.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Xu (state)”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.