King Cuo of Zhongshan (reigned 327–309 BC) was the fifth ruler of the state of

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...

during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

in ancient

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. He reigned for 15 years. In 323 BC, he styled himself "king" along with the rulers of Han,

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

and

Zhao Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chine ...

, becoming the first ruler of Zhongshan to do so. As the son of Duke Cheng of Zhongshan, he inherited the state from his father and expanded it to its peak size. He attacked

to the north and

to the south and expanded his territory to nearly double what he inherited. His new gains from Zhao broke the state of Zhao into two pieces, North and South, providing the justification for the state of Zhao to seek to destroy Zhongshan.

Tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan

The Tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan is an archaeological site located in Sanji, Pingshan,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

. The tomb was built near the ancient city of Lingshou () on the

Hutuo River The Hutuo River is a major river in northern China and an important member of Hai River system. It derives from Wutai Mountain in Shanxi province and flows through the Taihang Mountains to reach the North China Plain, and meets the Ziya River n ...

. The tomb contained the remains of King Cuo. Initially, farmers discovered a large river rock inscribed in archaic ( large seal) characters during the 1940s or 1950s and stored it for several decades. In the early 1970s, local artefact administrators received news of this rock and examined it. A copy was sent to Li Xueqin, a renowned expert on ancient Chinese writing. He immediately recognised its importance. The inscription was about two men, Gongsheng De and Jiujiang Man, who were servants and fishermen during the king's life and later guarded his tomb after his death. Later it was determined that the king was King Cuo from the inscriptions found on the bronze ware. The plans for the tomb complex were engraved on a bronze diagram found inside the tomb (this is the earliest architectural drawing known from ancient China). The original plan was designed to house five tomb complexes (''xiangtang'' 饗堂) in a row, with the tomb of the king in the centre, flanked by tombs of two queens, then flanked by outer tombs of two consorts. The tomb complex was never completed as designed. The site was excavated in the 1970s. Although the central burial chamber had already been looted in antiquity, archaeologists were still able to uncover hundreds of bronze, jade, lacquer and pottery artefacts. Six others were buried alongside the king. Two horse and chariot pits were included in King Cuo's burial complex. Three boats were uncovered, and an underground canal linked the tomb to the Hutuo River. The style and usage of bronze artefacts underwent a drastic change by the time King Cuo died in the fourteenth year of his reign. Among the changes was a de-emphasis on

ritual bronze vessels Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process, but also beca ...

and a new focus on luxury bronze objects. A bronze vessel from the tomb recorded a previously unrecorded invasion of

during that year that may have contributed to the change in style; some archaeologists believe that the new techniques may have been introduced by Yan artisans or copied from looted Yan bronzes.''Wu, pp. 599-600 The new technique included the use of inlaid silver and gold onto bronze objects, often portraying mythical beasts.

Notes

References

* * Yang, Xiaoneng (ed.), The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China, .

External links

* {{coord missing, Hebei Archaeological sites in China Chinese architectural history History of Hebei Buildings and structures in Hebei