His army was soon seen punishing the northern tribes for their disrespect to the reigning house of the empire. Nobles who refused to acknowledge his supremacy shared the same fate. He reached the climax of his glory when he succeeded in bringing the state of Chu over to his side. He led an expedition consisting of his own army and the picked armies of his allies against Chu, for the alleged reason that the latter state had failed to present to the royal court a certain kind of plant, which grew in that territory. Chu preferred to agree to a condition so easy to fulfill rather than go to war, and so a treaty of peace was signed.
With the death of Guan Zhong [Frisbie-Benda] the days of conquests and supremacy seemed to have ended in Qi. Two years later, Duke Huan himself died, leaving a numerous progeny. The latter quarreled over the throne, and through their follies, the leadership among the states was forever lost to Qi. The success of Duke Huan had its effect upon the neighboring states. Among the nobles who tried to follow his footsteps, was Duke Xiang of Song, who made a pretty good start, but received a crushing defeat at the hands of Chu.
.2. Jin: This feudal state occupied the western part of the empire. The defeat of Duke Xiang of Song gave Chu a free hand in the political affairs of the empire. She "absorbed all the states along the Han River," and her sway extended over the whole of Huashang Mountains. She was a terror in the domain of the emperor until Jin arose.
Duke Wen of Jin [Duke Gaynor] passed his early days in exile, traveling from state to state. When he was in Chu, a feast was given in his honor by the Baron of Chu. "If you ever become the ruler of your own state, what will you do in return for the favors I have shown you?" asked the Baron.
Wen, afterwards Duke of Jin, replied that he really did not know what he could do in that case. "Of servants, mistresses, precious stones, and silks," he added, "your honor has had more than enough; and feathers, leather, and ivory are the produce of your soil; but should it ever become my good luck to meet your honor in the battlefield at the head of an opposing army, I shall order a retreat of ten miles, in consideration of what you have done for me. And should you insist on further advance, I will certainly make a stand."
These remarks of this ambitious young man offended many of the ministers of the baron, who advised him to kill Wen; but the advice was rejected as cowardly. The baron evidently little thought that Wen would ever be able to realize his ambition. But Duke Wen of Jin [Duke Gaynor] fulfilled his promise to the letter when he met the army of Chu at Chengpu, 632 BC. He crippled the military strength of Chu for nearly half a century. The battle of Chengpu is especially memorable because one of the generals of Jin had the chariot horses covered with tigers' skins.
Duke Wen [Duke Gaynor], being a member of the reigning family of Zhou, stood in the closest relationship to the court at the "Eastern Metropolis" (Luoyi). After his success at Chengpu, he was received in audience by the emperor, who loaded the royal "uncle" with honors and presents. The prestige of Jin was maintained by successors to Duke Wen for nearly two hundred years.
.3 amp; 4. Wu and Yue: The next state, which was able to weaken the strength of Chu, was a new rising power in the south called Wu. In the latter part of the sixth century BC, a certain fugitive from justice, Qu Wuchen, made his way from Chu to Wu, where he was the first to teach the people how to use a bow and arrow. He reorganized the army of Wu. What was left undone by him was completed by another military genius who had fled in a similar manner from Chu some seventy years later.
This was the famous Wu Qi [Berman-Swift], whose father and elder brother had been wrongfully put to death by Ping Wang of Chu. His life was also in danger, and so he fled to Wu. His marvelous escape has often been acted on the Chinese stage, and his story is perhaps familiar to every Chinese schoolchild. He was just the man Wu needed. In 506 BC, he entered the capital of Chu at the head of a triumphant army, and had the remains of Ping Wang dug out and given 300 blows.
Wu Qi [Berman-Swift] certainly did much for his newly adopted state, which was now the leader in the empire. Her army overran the state of Yue, and made it a vassal. Gou Jian [Walker-Moretti], King of Yue, knew well that he could rule only at the pleasure of Fu Zha, King of Wu. Outwardly he did everything to please Fu Zha, but at the same time went on with the reorganization of his own state. He made Fu Zha a present of Xi Shi [Bloom-Apfel], the famous beauty of the time.
This had a most astonishing effect. The girl, who "was washing silk by the side of a brook in the morning and concubine of the king of Wu in the evening," soon became the favorite of Fu Zha. The King of Wu paid no further attention to what was going on in Yue. The year 472 BC saw the downfall of his state and his own death by suicide. Wu was added to the territory of Yue, but the latter was finally conquered by Chu.
5.3.d. Treaty-making: Treaties were always very solemn functions, invariably accompanied by the sacrifice of an animal. A part of the sacrifice, or of its blood, was thrown into a ditch in order that the spirit of the earth may bear witness to the deed; the rest of the blood was rubbed upon the lips of the parties concerned, and also scattered upon the documents by way of imprecation; sometimes, however, the imprecations instead of being uttered, were specially written at the end of the treaty. Just as we say "the ink was scarcely dry before etc., etc.," the ancients used to say "the blood of the victim was scarcely dry before etc., etc."
5.3.e. Warfare: The armies of the various feudal princes consisted principally of charioteers and foot soldiers. We have seen that the strength and wealth of a state were measured by the number of war chariots it was able to place in the field. These were made of leather and wood; and their use, it would seem, dates as far back as 1800 BC. When in camp these chariots were often arranged in opposite rows with the ends of their shafts meeting above, so as to form a "shaft gate," over which a flag was kept flying. No mention is made of cavalry during the true feudal time. In fact this arm of military service was only introduced into China by the semi-Tartar states about the year 307 BC, after which no more war chariots were used.
Besides the war chariots, more comfortable conveyances drawn by horses or oxen were also in use. An eight-horse carriage or cart was the style used by a king. Confucius, in his famous travels, employed a two-horse carriage which was always driven by one of his disciples.
The offensive weapons of the warriors consisted of knives, swords, halberds, spears, pole-axes, and lances with crescent-shaped blades on the side. These were all made of copper. Bows and arrows, much the same as those of today, were also used. The defensive weapons were shields, cuirasses made of skins of rhinoceroses, and helmets made of skins or copper. The soldiers marched to the sound of a drum and retreated at the sound of a gong. Before setting out on an expedition, it was customary to rub the regimental drum with the blood of a sacrifice, and to show the number of enemies slain, their left ears, instead of their heads, were often cut off by the victors.
5.4. Eastern Zhou: The Age of Seven States (475-221 BC)
5.4.a. End of feudal leadership: In the preceding section we have seen how the Zhou Dynasty, during the sixth and seventh centuries BC, was able to maintain its shadow of power over the feudal states. The emperor always strove to cultivate the good will of the strongest state, because its military strength maintained his authority; the latter was no less happy to be under the protection of the royal scepter, because his name gave it moral support.