The term "Jingman" ()," also known as "Chuman ()", was used by the people of the Central Plains in

ancient China 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 ...

to collectively refer to the inhabitants of Wu,

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

, Yue states, their former sites, and the broader southern regions of China. In a narrow sense, it refers specifically to the designation for the uncivilized ethnic groups in the four commanderies of Lingling (), Guiyang (), Changsha (), and Wuling () under the jurisdiction of ancient Jingzhou.

Description

According to the "

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

: Annals of Zhou () ," "

Taibo Taibo () (circa 1150 BCE), or Wu Taibo, was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou and the legendary founder of the State of Wu. His exact birth and death dates are unknown. Biography According to Sima Qian, Taibo was the founder of the State of W ...

and Yuzhong () knew that Zhou King () intended to establish Jili () as his successor so that the throne could eventually be passed to Jichang (). Therefore, they fled to the land of the Jingman." Another interpretation suggests that it refers to the precursor of the Chu state, which became a

feudal state Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring societ ...

in the early

Western Zhou Dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 7 ...

. When the Chu state conquered Yue, its territory became part of Chu. Later, when the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

overthrew Chu, the territory fell under Qin's control. However, Qin avoided using the term "Chu" and instead renamed it "Jing."

References

{{improve categories, date=March 2025 Ancient peoples of China Ethnic and religious slurs