Fuchai (reigned 495–473BC), sometimes also written Fucha, was the last

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Wu during the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. His armies constructed important canals linking the

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

, Ji, and

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

systems of the

North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...

with central China's

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, but he is most remembered in Chinese culture for the role he played in the legends concerning

Goujian Goujian (; r. 496–465 BC) was a king of the Yue state. He succeeded his father, Yunchang (允常), to the Yue throne. Goujian's reign coincided with arguably the last major conflict of the Spring and Autumn period: the struggle between Wu ...

, the revenge-seeking king of Yue.

Life

Fuchai was the son of King Helü. He became king in 495 BC, following the death of his father from injuries sustained during an invasion of Yue. In 494BC,

, the king of Yue, heard rumours that Fuchai was planning to attack him in order to avenge the death of his father. Goujian's minister Fan Li advised caution, but Goujian decided on a pre-emptive strike. Fuchai in turn heard rumours of Goujian's plans and sent his army against Yue. The forces met at Fujiao where Wu won a complete victory, with only 5,000 Yue men surviving. These men fell back to

Mount Kuaiji Mount Xianglu () is a mountain near Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China. Its summit has an elevation of . History Its historic name was Mount Kuaiji (), formerly romanized as Mount K'uai-chi. It was an important site for ancient China's Yue civilization ...

, with the Wu army occupying Kuaiji (now

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

) and then surrounding the mountain. At Fan Li's suggestion, Goujian sent Wen Zhong to bribe the Wu

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

, Bo Pi, in order to obtain more favourable terms. Bo accepted the gifts and promised to help Goujian's case. Because Fuchai had been more anxious to expand northward against Qi, he accepted Bo's advice to make a favourable peace with Yue rather than engage in the lengthy pacification campaign that would have been necessary to annex the state of Yue to Wu. After Fuchai withdrew his men from Yue, Goujian took his wife and Fan Li to the Wu court to serve his opponent. His hard work on Fuchai's behalf earned him the king's trust and favour, and Goujian was permitted to return to his kingdom after three years. In 486BC, Fuchai's men built the Hangou Canal ( t s ''Hángōu'') to connect the

with the Huai. and, via the existing Honggou Canal ( t s ''Hónggōu'', "Canal of the Wild Geese"),. with the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

beyond. This eased their supply lines during Fuchai's war with Qi, which was concluded successfully at the Battle of Ailing. During 483 and 482BC, Fuchai's men built the Heshui Canal ( t s ''Héshuǐ Yùnhé'') connecting the Si River, a tributary of the Huai, with the Ji, which ran parallel to the Yellow River through densely populated districts in what is now western Shandong. In 482BC, Fuchai successfully challenged the duke of Jin for the status of

hegemon Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...

in the regional lords' conference in Huangchi. Cho-Yun Hsu, "The Spring and Autumn period" in ''The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilisation to 221 BC'', edited by Edward L. Shaughnessy and

Michael Loewe Michael Arthur Nathan Loewe (2 November 1922 – 1 January 2025) was a British historian, Sinologist, and writer who authored dozens of books, articles, and other publications in the fields of Classical Chinese as well as the history of ancien ...

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 564. However, while Fuchai was away in the north with his army, Goujian advanced his army into what was now defenceless Wu. It was said that Goujian had been nursing his bitterness by sleeping on straw with a sword beside his head and by tasting gall each morning ( t s ''wò xīn, cháng dǎn'').''The King of Yue's Revenge''.(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2013, from shanghai guide, culture and legend website
The King of Yue's Revenge
/ref> For ten years, he improved his realm's governance under Wen Zhong and its army under Fan Li, while personally inspiring his people by working his own fields as his wife made thread and wove by hand. His men defeated the Wu garrisons and killed Fuchai's heir Prince You. Fuchai hurried with his army to return south and sent an emissary ahead to come to terms with Goujian, which were accepted. Goujian had decided that he would be unable to defeat Wu in a single campaign and returned home to further strengthen his army. He also took advantage of the further weakening of Wu, as Fuchai led an extravagant and dissipated life. Following Bo Pi's advice, Fuchai executed his faithful minister

Wu Zixu :''Note: names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration.'' Wu Yun (died 484 BC), better known by his courtesy name Zixu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu (state), Wu kingdom in the Spr ...

. King Fuchai also became completely distracted from state affairs by the Yue beauty Xi Shi, who it was said had been sent to Wu specifically for this purpose by Goujian or his ministers. Wuwangfuchaimao

In 473BC, Goujian's forces again attacked Wu and dealt repeated defeats on the Wu forces. Fuchai again sought terms, but Fan Li's opposition steeled Goujian's resolve. In the end, Fuchai was forced to commit suicide and Wu was annexed by Yue.

Legacy

Fuchai had at least four sons, three of whom were named You, Hong and Hui. You was his heir but was killed in the battles leading to the defeat of Wu, and Hong became the new heir. After the collapse of the state, the other three sons of Fuchai were exiled. They and their descendants took Wu as their clan name. Wu Rui, King of Changsha created by

Emperor Gaozu of Han Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

, was a descendant of the House of Wu. He was said to be descended from Fuchai. The story of Goujian's revenge became proverbial in China, as did Xi Shi's

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

. Fuchai's wronged minister

has been credited as the inspiration for many of the festivities around the Dragon Boat Festival.

Family

Concubines: * Xi Shi, of the Shi lineage of Yue (), personal name Yiguang () Sons: * Crown Prince You (; d. 482 BC) * Prince De () Daughters: * A daughter whose personal name was Ziyu ()

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchai 473 BC deaths Zhou dynasty nobility Chinese kings 5th-century BC Chinese monarchs Year of birth unknown Monarchs of Wu (state) Suicides in the Spring and Autumn period Heads of state who died by suicide Royalty who died by suicide