Ba Manzi
| Ba Manzi | |
|---|---|
| General of Ba kingdom during Eastern Zhou dynasty | |
| Born |
Unknown Zhong County |
| Died |
Unknown Chongqing |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 巴蔓子 |
Ba Manzi was a military general in the ancient Ba kingdom during the Warring States period (475 BCE - 221 BCE) of Zhou dynasty and a legendary hero in folk cultures of Chongqing area. His stories were recorded in the history book of Chronicles of Huayang written in Jin dynasty.
Ba Manzi lived roughly in 4th century BCE. He was a general guarding the town of Linjiang (near modern Zhong County), one of important towns in Ba's eastern frontier where there were many salt fields.
Shu, another ancient kingdom near Ba, attacked Wanzhou and supported a local rebellion in Ba's capital city (near modern Chongqing). The king of Ba ordered Ba Manzi to reinforce the capital. Ba Manzi's troop was not strong enough to fight both the rebellion and Shu kingdom at once, so Ba Manzi asked Chu state (a vassal state of Zhou dynasty) for help. He made a promise to the king of Chu that he would cede three towns to Chu if Chu could help Ba put down the rebellion.
King of Chu sent out his troop and helped Ba Manzi defeat the rebels and Shu army. After that, Chu sent out an envoy to Ba to take over three towns. Ba Manzi told the Chu envoy that, as a general, he could not cede those three towns to another kingdom, but he was willing to compensate for his promises with his life. Then, he cut his throat immediately.[1]
The envoy took his chopped-off head back to Chu. The king of Chu was impressed by the bravery and loyalty that Ba Manzi showed, so he buried Ba Manzi's head with respect. The rest parts of Ba Manzi's body was shifted to Ba's capital and buried there. The memorial of Ba Manzi is currently located in the Yuzhong District of Chongqing.[2]