Shu (state)

The State of Shu (Chinese: 古蜀; pinyin: gǔ shǔ; literally "ancient Shu") was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. It was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. Shu was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the Han and Yangtze rivers was the state of Chu. To the north over the Qinling Mountains was the state of Qin. To the west and south were tribal peoples of little military power.

History

Before the Qin Conquest

Before 316BC the Sichuan Basin was isolated from what was then China, which was centered in the Yellow River basin to the northeast. The discovery of Sanxingdui in 1987 was a major surprise since it indicated a major semi-Chinese culture that was previously unknown. Circa 2050-1250BC the site of Sanxingdui 40 km north of Chengdu appears to have been the center of a fairly extensive kingdom. Objects found in two treasure pits are in a style distinct from, but influenced by, the 'Chinese' style that we know from further north. The Shu first appear in the written record in 1046BC when they helped the Zhou overthrow the Shang at the Battle of Muye. After Muye northern influences seem to have increased and then decreased while the Shu remained culturally distinct. Shu is not mentioned in any of the major texts from the Spring and Autumn Period. The expulsion of the Zhou from the Wei River valley in 771BC probably increased Shu's isolation. We have a few names of semi-legendary kings, including Dayu (杜宇) who may have been the first or last of a dynasty. In 666BC a man called Beiling founded the Kaiming (開明) dynasty which lasted twelve generations until the Qin conquest. (It is said that when Beiling died in Chu his body floated upriver to Shu and came back to life. He was successful in managing a flood and Dayu abdicated in his favor.) As the state of Chu expanded westward up the Han and Yangtze valleys it pushed the Ba peoples west toward Shu. For the fifth and fourth centuries archaeologists speak of a mixed Ba-Shu culture, although the two peoples remained distinct. There was also some Chu influence on the Shu court. In 474BC Shu emissaries presented gifts to the Qin court which was the first recorded contact between these two states. In 387 Shu and Qin troops clashed near Hanzhong on the upper Han river. Some time before this Shu troops had crossed the Qinling Mountains and approached the Qin capital of Yong. Shu might have continued as a semi-Chinese state like Korea or Vietnam, or it might have been conquered by Chu to the east. Instead it was conquered by Qin.

Conquest by Qin in 316 BC

About 356-338 Shang Yang strengthened the Qin state by centralizing it. In 337 Shu emissaries congratulated King Huiwen of Qin on his accession. At about this time the Stone Cattle Road was built over the mountains to connect Qin and Shu. About 316 the Marquis of Zu, who held part of the Stone Cattle Road, became involved with Ba and quarreled with his brother, the twelfth Kaiming King. The Marquis was defeated and fled to Ba and then to Qin. Zhang Yi proposed that Qin should ignore these barbarians and continue its eastward expansion onto the central plain. Sima Cuo proposed that Qin should use its superior army to annex Shu, develop its resources and use the added strength for a later attack eastward. Sima Cuo's proposal was accepted and both advisors were sent south as generals. The two armies met near Jaimeng on the Jialing River in Ba territory. The Kaiming king lost several battles and withdrew southward to Wuyang where he was captured and killed. Qin then turned on its allies and annexed Ba.

Sichuan under the Qin and Han

In 314 the late Kaiming king's son was appointed Marquis Yaotong of Shu to rule in conjunction with a Qin governor. In 311 an official named Chen Zhuang revolted and killed Yaotong. Sima Cuo and Zhang Yi again invaded Sichuan and killed Chen Zhuang. Another Kaiming called Hui was made Marquis. In 301 he was involved in an intrigue and chose suicide when confronted with Sima Cuo's army. His son, Wan, the last Kaiming marquis, reigned from 300 until 285 when he was put to death. (Some say that An Duong Vuong in Vietnamese history was a member of the Kaiming family who led his people southward away from the Chinese.)

The conquest had more than doubled Qin's territory and gave it an area safe from the other states except Chu, but the land had to be developed before its taxes could be converted into military strength. Shu was made a "jun" or commandery and became a testing ground for this type of administration. About 311 Chengdu was surrounded by an enormous wall. Land was redistributed and divided into rectangular plots. Tens of thousands of colonists were brought in from the north. Many were convicts or people displaced by the wars further north. They were marched south in columns supervised by Qin officials. The great Dujiangyan Irrigation System was begun to divert the Min River east to the Chengdu Plain. Qin intervention in Ba was less extensive, apparently to avoid alienating a warlike people on the border of Chu.

During the conquest Chu was still tied up in the east with the annexation of Yue. In 312 Qin and Chu troops clashed on the upper Han River. Zhang Yi used a mixture of threat and bluff to block any interference from Chu. Later a Chu general named Zhuang Qiao pushed west and occupied the tribal territory south of the Yangtze south of Shu. In 281 Sima Cuo crossed the Yangtze and cut him off from Chu. He responded by declaring himself an independent king and he and his troops gradually blended into the local population. Starting in 280 or before general Bai Qi pushed down the Han River and took the Chu capital (278). In 277 the Three Gorges area was taken. The effect was to create a new Qin frontier east of Sichuan.

Sichuan remained quiescent during the wars before and after the Qin Dynasty indicating the Qin policy of assimilation had been successful. Archaeological remains in Shu from this period are very similar to those of northern China, while the Ba area remained somewhat distinct. When Liu Bang launched his campaign to found the Han Dynasty Sichuan was an important supply base. In 135BC, under the expansionist Emperor Wu of Han, general Tang Meng, attempting an indirect approach to the Kingdom of Nanyue, made a push south of the Yangtze River and a little later Sima Xiangru pushed into the hill country west of Sichuan. These campaigns into tribal territory proved more expensive than they were worth and in 126 they were both cancelled to shift resources to the Xiongnu wars in the north. In the same year Zhang Qian returned from the west and reported that it might be possible to reach India from Sichuan. An attempt to do this was blocked by the hill tribes. In 112 Tang Meng resumed his expansionist wars southward. His harsh methods provoked a near mutiny in Sichuan and Sima Xiangru was brought in to enforce a more moderate policy. By this time Chinese expansion across flat agricultural country had reached a natural geographical limit. Expansion into the hill country to the south was west was much slower.

Shu in astronomy

Shu is represented by star Alpha Serpentis in asterism Right Wall, Heavenly Market enclosure (see Chinese constellation).^[1](together with Lambda Serpentis in R.H.Allen's works).^[2]

See also

• An Dương Vương, founder of Âu Lạc
• Jinsha
• Sanxingdui

References

Steven F. Sage. 'Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China', 1992, which this article mostly summarizes