King Zhuang of Chu

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King Zhuāng of Chǔ (楚莊王) (died 591 BC) was leader in the state of Chu and one of the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His name was Mi Lǚ (羋侶).

He took his throne in 613 BC. When he ascended the throne the Kingdom of Chu was in disarray. For the first three years of his kingship, Zhuang wasted time on hunting excessively and partying lavishly. Several courtiers were anxious about the king but none dared speak up as the king had given orders that anyone who challenges his rules shall be killed. When a particularly senior minister challenged him through a riddle, the king responded that he had been waiting for 3 years for someone from his court to show some nationalistic pride.

He made Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖) Chancellor and started reforms. The agricultural output of the state of Chu was much better under his reign, improved by Sunshu Ao's large dam-works and enormous planned reservoir created in modern-day northern Anhui province. In 611 BC he annexed the state of Yong and made Chu much stronger.

After some brilliant victories with his army, he attempted to take the place of the King of Zhou. He asked the messenger of Zhou about the weight of the 9 dings of Zhou, which were the symbols of hegemony, but was scolded by the messenger.

In the Battle of Bi, his army defeated the state of Jin, another strong state at that time. Later he got hegemony among some other states. His exploits from a lazy regent to the hegemon of his time gave rise to the Chinese Four-character idiom of "Yī Mǐng Jīng Rén" (一嗚驚人), literally "Amazing [the others] with one cry", which comes from a promise of him: "不嗚則已，一嗚驚人；不飛則已，一飛衝天", translated as "[It would be] fine if he does not cry, [if he does,] one cry is enough to amaze all others; [It would be fine] if he does not fly, [if he does,] he would charge through the sky".