King Wei of Chu, personal name Xiong Shang, was a monarch of the
Chu state, reigning from 339 BC to 329 BC. During his reign, the Chu state reached its peak in territorial size, encompassing the middle to lower stretches of the
Yangtze
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 ...
and the basin of the
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 ...
.
Name
The precise nature of the
Chu language is uncertain but it was probably non-
Sinitic. This figure's
personal name
A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...
was
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
d or translated into
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
using the
character now written , pronounced ''Shāng'' in
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern Standard language, standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the Republic of ...
and with the
proposed ancient pronunciation of *''S-taŋ''. He belonged to the Chu
royal house
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
, the
Xiong (, *''Gʷəm'', "
Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
")
branch
A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins.
History and etymology
In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...
of the
Mi ()
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, now conjectured to transcribe a
Kam–Tai word for "bear".
He was known
posthumously
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death
* Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...
as the Awesome King of Chu (,
''Chǔ Wēiwáng'' or ''Chǔ Wēi Wáng'', *''S.r̥aʔ ʔujɢʷaŋ''), often mistreated as a personal name in English.
Life
Shang was the son of Xiong Liangfu, known posthumously as the
Xuan King of
Chu. Upon his father's death in 340 or Shang succeeded him as
king of Chu.
During his reign, Chu and
Qi defeated and partitioned the state of
Yue to their southeast in 334 or 333 BC, giving Chu control over
Suzhou
Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce.
Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
, the
Yangtze River Delta, and
Wu's
canal network.
Shang died in and was succeeded by his son Huai, known posthumously as the
Huai King.
In fiction and popular culture
* Portrayed by
Winston Chao in ''
The Legend of Mi Yue'' (2015)
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* .
* .
* .
Monarchs of Chu (state)
Chinese kings
4th-century BC Chinese monarchs
329 BC deaths
Year of birth unknown
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