Chapter 3
Zhou 周朝
[1100-225 BC]
Western Zhou 西周 [1100-770 BC] and Eastern Zhou 東周
[770-225 BC]
Including:
The Spring & Autumn (Chun-Qiu 春秋) Period
[770–476 BC]
The Warring States Period (战国时代 – Zhàn-Guó Shí-dài) [475–221 BC]
The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history. However, in reality, the dynasty only managed to keep total control over China until 770 BC. Until this period, the dynasty was known as the Western Zhou (西周). The feudal system created many fiefdoms and barons became increasingly powerful.
As royal authority waned towards the end of the period, the capital moved eastwards to Luoyang (in Henan), thus ushering in the period known as Eastern Zhou (東周) (770-225 BC). Although the sovereigns’ authority continued to erode, their highly honoured rituals allowed the Zhou kings to stay in power for another 500 years. The early period of Eastern Zhou is called the “Spring and Autumn” (春秋) era. It was a period when great sages appeared, including the most famous of all – Confucius or Kung-Tze (孔子). Much scholarship was recorded in this period.
But by the mid-5th century, states began
to fight states, hence the “Warring States” period. Independent states comprising Yan (燕), Zhao (趙), Han (韩), Wei (魏), Qi ( 齐), Chu (楚), Qin (秦) rose
and fell over the ensuing centuries until the last of the Zhou kings, Nan
(赧), was killed by Qin,
which unified China in 221 BC.
Despite
all the upheavals, the Eastern Zhou is remembered for its progressiveness in
thoughts and is considered to be the Golden age of Chinese Philosophy. This was
the time of the rise of great sages like Kung-Tze and Lao-Tze (老子). The Zhou dynasty also brought great
advancements in bronze making and language with the modern writing system
emerging towards the end of the dynasty.
Chinese Calendar 农历 (Nóng-Lì)
It is a lunisolar
calendar. Although the Gregorian calendar is the standard of our world today, Nong-Li
('Agricultural calendar') offers many easy-to-observe advantages. The first
day of its “moon”, the night of which carries no moon in the sky, marks the
beginning of a lunar month, and on the 15th day, a full moon is all
for us to “see” at night, because the Moon is closest to the Earth during that
night of the lunar month.
And on the 15th
day of the eight “moon”, you know the Moon is nearest to the Earth – in the
annual phenomenon of their heavenly trajectories. The calendar also allows you
to know quite precisely when a season is to start.
Nong-Li
identifies years, months, and days according to astronomical phenomena and
reminds Chinese of festivals and seasons.
It also
provides the traditional Chinese nomenclature of dates within a year which
people use to select auspicious days for weddings, funerals, moving or
starting a business. The length of a month is also annotated as either long (大dà - 'big' for months with 30 days) or short (小 xiǎo - 'small'
for months with 29 days). There are leap months in sexagenary (60-year) cycle
to align with the Gregorian calendar.
The
traditional Chinese calendar was developed between 771 and 476 BC, during
the Spring and Autumn period. Solar calendars were used before
the Zhou dynasty period.
Chinese New Year (农历新年 Nóng-Lì Xīn-Nián or 春节 Chūn Jié)
The
history of the Chinese New Year festival can be traced back to more than 4000
years ago. Ancient Chinese gathered around and celebrated at the end of harvest
in autumn. The Classic of Poetry (Western Zhou) describes how people
celebrated in the 10th month of an ancient solar calendar. The
celebration is believed to be one of the prototypes of the Chinese New Year.
(That celebration was not the mid-Autumn Festival.)
The first
dated celebration can be traced back to the Warring States period. An exorcistic
ritual called "Dà-Nuo (大儺)" was recorded being
carried out in Qin at the end of a year to ward off illnesses and misfortunes.
But the first mention of the celebration was recorded in the Han
dynasty where the celebration evolved into a time for families to get
together and for one to pay respects to elders and officials.
Today
Chinese New Year is perhaps the most important festival amongst Chinese. The
celebration can last 15 days.
A “Perfect” Man…
The Duke of Zhou 周公 (Zhōu-Gōng) was singled out by Kung-Tze
as the perfect example of great and enlightened leadership. It is said that the
duke’s righteousness had played a major role in consolidating the kingdom
established by his elder brother King Wu. He acted as a capable and loyal
regent for his young nephew King Cheng (周成王). He is also credited
with the authorship of I-Jing (易經, the Scripture of
Change)
and the Classic of Poetry
(詩経Shi-Jing) and the Rites of Zhou (周禮 Zhou-Lễ)
The Art of War (孫子兵法; Sūn-Tze Bīng-Fǎ)
This great military treatise was written in the late Spring & Autumn period. Sun-Tze (孙子) is considered one of history's finest military tacticians and analysts. His work has 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. It has influenced both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, politics, sports, lifestyles and beyond. It has also been widely translated. Many military planners and corporate leaders swear by it.
Beginning around the 12th century, some Chinese scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sun-Tze, primarily on the grounds that he was not mentioned in the historical classics. But in 1972, discoveries from two Han tombs in Shandong revealed two separate texts, one attributed to "Sun-Tze", corresponding to the text known, and another attributed to Sun Bin (孙膑), which explains and expands upon the former. This discovery showed that much of the historical confusion was due to the fact that there were two texts that could have been referred to as "Master Sun's Art of War", not one. The content of the earlier text is about one-third of the chapters of the modern The Art of War, and their text matches very closely. It is now generally accepted that the earlier The Art of War was completed sometime between 500 and 430 BC.
The
roots of Confucianism…
(A)
Chinese Concept of Things under the
Heaven
There
are many other philosophies and occult arts believed and practised by Chinese,
but few are as profound as those mentioned below.
Philosophy: The Different School of
Thoughts and Their Sages
There are basically two principal schools:
(a) The “Dào-Dé” (道德) School, and
(b) The “Rú”
(儒) School.
There are also the lesser schools: the “Xiá” (侠) School and the “Fǎ” (法) or Legalist School of philosophy.
Under the Dao-De School, the great sage is Lao-Tze,
and in the Ru School, you have Kung-Tze, Men-Tze
(孟子) (Mencius), and Xun-Tze
(荀子). The sage in the Xia School is Mer-Tze
(墨子) and the Fa School, Han Fei-Tze
(韓非子). These thoughts were subject to varied interpretations
in the ensuing centuries.
Lao-Tze’s
Dao-De School is different from the
spiritual or mystical or religious Daoism (道教)
that one often sees in temples in the Chinese world today. The practice
of this form of Daoism was already evident in the early days of Chinese
civilisation. Its more formal articulation can be attributed to Yang
Chu (杨朱, 440–c.360
BC), followed later by Chuang-Tze
(莊子).
(Tze (子, some spell as Zi)
in these names can loosely be translated as “Master”. Thus,
Kung-Tze is simply Master Kung. Kung was the family name; their full names
would contain another given name.)
Who are these sages or great masters?
Lao-Tze
Chinese greatest philosopher
There is a strong misconception that Lao-Tze is the founder
of Daoism. Lao-Tze’s philosophy is in many respects opposite to what modern
Daoists subscribe and practise. Lao-Tze is all about abstracts, the latter is spiritualism,
materialism, and indeed superstitions to many.
There is no authoritative record on the life of Li Êr
(李耳),
the man behind the name Lao-Tze. He is generally believed to be the
older contemporary of Kung-Tze. He is credited with the authorship of “Dao-De Jing” (道德经)
(Scripture of the “Right Path” and “Good Deeds” or “Virtues”). It is regarded
by some as Chinese first philosophical work, albeit a very abstract one.
However, some scholars believe the system of thoughts in the book as a whole
cannot be the product of a time either before or contemporary with that of Kung-Tze.
It is a law of nature. If anything develops certain extreme
characteristics, these characteristics will invariably revert to become the
opposites. It is upon calamity that blessing leans, and upon blessing that
calamity rests. Those with little will acquire, those with much will be led
astray. His concept of wu-wei (无为)
does not mean “having no-activity”; it is actually acts that are carried out
without artificiality or arbitrariness. All very ying-yang (阴阳) concept indeed!
Lao-Tze appeared contemptuous of the Confucian virtues as
human-heartedness and righteousness, for according to him these virtues
represent degeneration from dao (道, Right
Path) and de (德, Good
Deeds). Ceremonials are the degeneration of loyalty and good faith and are the
beginning of disorder in the world. To Lao-Tze, there is no disaster greater
than not knowing contentment with what one has; no greater sin than having
desire for acquisition. In essence, people should have few desires. Wisdom (智, ch’e) and ignorance (愚, yee) are two sides of the same coin. The yee of the sage is great wisdom, and not
the yee of the child or ordinary
people. The latter kind of yee is the
gift of nature, while that of the sage is an achievement of the spirits.
Lao-Tze is a household name amongst Chinese; however, few
really understand his philosophy in depth. It is abstract – this is the way,
and this is also not the way kind of stuff – however, his concept is very
popular with intellectual Chinese.
Kung-Tze
Chinese greatest sage
One thinker whose pre-eminence remains to this day is Kung-Tze.
Born Kung Ch’iu (孔丘)
in 551 BC (in the era of Chun-Qiu (春秋) when China, though nominally ruled by
the House of Zhou (周), was carved into
many fiefdoms by the barons of the day) in the state of Lu (鲁国), in the southern
part of the present Shandong
province. (Many Koreans claim Kung-Tze to be theirs.) Kung-Tze was essentially
an idealist on political and social reforms. He drifted from one state to
another, failing to make much headway with the various barons to whom he was
trying to advance his concept of statecraft. He died a disappointed man in 479
BC.
He is generally credited with the following six works,
which are said to form the basis of Confucianism on which the Chinese
philosophy and culture are principally premised:
* Lun-Yüe (论语)
(The Analects, or
thesis), which is a collection of his scattered sayings compiled by his
students or disciples.
* Liu-Yi (六艺) (the Six Arts or Six Classics):
* “I” (易) pronounced as Yi or Book of Changes
* Shih (詩) or Book of Odes (or
Poetry)
* Shu (书, 史) or Book of History
* Li (礼) or Rituals or Rites
* Yüeh (乐)
or Music
* Chun-Qiu (春秋) or the Spring and Autumn annals – a chronicle
history of Lu (鲁国) extending from
722 to 479 BC.
Later historians were inclined to conclude that he was also
not the author of Liu Yi (六艺). It is believed Liu Yi had existed before his time, for
it had been the basis of education for the aristocrats during the early
centuries of feudalism.
Nonetheless, Kung-Tze must be first person, in Chinese
history – in private capacity – to teach students in large numbers. The
students also travelled with him during his various visits. Kung-Tze was
a conservative and a traditionalist; to him social hierarchy and generational
respect and deference (正名主义)
“Chern-Ming Cu-Yi” was not to be
compromised. The concept may sound airy-fairy; a simple elaboration is: One
must act correctly in the capacity he is about: “Let the ruler be ruler; the
minister, minister; the father, father; and the son, son.” In other words,
every hierarchical status deserves the essence or station it carries. Every
rung in the social relationship implies certain responsibilities and duties.
Kung-Tze’s own moral beliefs, which centre on his concept of his “superior
man”, are the backbone of the philosophy about state and society. He is said to
be the founder of the Ru (儒) (Literati)
school. These four words – Ch’er, Jen, Chung
and Sh’oe (直, 仁, 忠,
恕)
are supposed to be the embodiment of Confucianism:
Ch’er (直) (straightforwardness, absence of
ulterior motives). The superior man abhors hypocrisy. A superior man conducts
himself with genuineness. He does not take advantage of others. However, even
though ch’er is an important virtue,
it must be dispensed with Li (礼) or great
mannerism with humility.
Jen (仁) (human heartedness). A man of jen is supposed to be one whose virtue
has reached a stage that is beyond any level of selfishness or self-interest.
Chung (忠) – loyalty, devotion to others; no
betrayal.
Sh’oe (恕) – forgiveness, accommodation.
Kung-Tze believed in great exemplariness. His Lun-Yüe emphasizes xing (性)
(human character). A superior man acts with yi (义) (great principle, attitude that is
morally right) and an inferior man thinks of lih (利)
(profit) before he does anything. And not unlike the other sages, dao (way or truth) and de (virtuous deeds) are also part and
parcel of Kung-Tze’s teaching. But Kung-Tze appeared to think li (rituals, ceremonies, proper conduct,
or correct protocol) should serve as the driver of all these other virtues.
Readers
may want to understand the background of some of the customs or traditions that
are deemed Confucian, for example, a filial son (孝子, xiao-tze) is supposed to mourn for a period of
three years and the logic is this: “A child cannot leave the arms of his
parents until he is three years old; in return he should therefore mourn for an
equal length of time. (This certainly sounds archaic in modern times.)
After
his death, he gradually came to be considered as the teacher, superior to all others, and a sage who is the
embodiment of good Chinese culture.
But
Confucianism is more than Kung-Tze. Two other philosophers expanded it further.
The first is Men-Tze or Mencius
to the West. Men-Tze (371-289 BC, or thereabout) represented the idealistic wing of Confucianism. The
second is Xun-Tze, who probably
lived between 298 and 238 BC. Xun-Tze represents the realistic wing of Confucianism.
And a quick run-through of the
lesser-known sages:
Men-Tze
His
hypothesis is that humans are born “sân”
(善,
a sense of compassion that extends to an innate behaviour not to do harm unto
others”). His hao-ran-chih-ch’i (浩然之气 – exuding
air of great morale) is a concept about man and his obligation as a “citizen”
of the “Great Nature”. However, it is his concept of social organisation that
carries a profound impact on the way Chinese conduct themselves. For example,
he advocated the concept of “graded” love. To fellow humans, a superior man
exercises ren-sing (人性, human-heartedness);
to family, it is affection. If a ruler lacks ethical qualities, his people have
the moral right to rise up, even to the extent of getting rid of the ruler. These
ideas of Men-Tze have exercised a tremendous influence in Chinese history. The
right of revolution is enshrined provided the cause is just. Understanding dao is also part and parcel of his
concept of the “accumulation of righteousness.
Xun-Tze
His
theory is the opposite of Men-Tze’s. It argues that men are by nature “er” (恶 – not exactly “evil;” maybe “bad
motive”). His hypothesis was that man was born with inherent desire for profit
and sensual pleasure. Fortunately, man possesses intelligence, which makes it
possible for him to develop “goodness”.
*
* * * *
The
Ru School’s impact on Chinese is most
profound. Take marriage for an example: The primary function of marriage, to Ru, is “creation for replacement” – the
creation of a new “me” for the demised “me”. The demised “me” hopes that the
new “me” can continue the demised me’s life and achievements. This would ensure
the sustenance of the family line for ten-thousand generations (万世, wan-shi). Each new “me”, if he is able to uphold this hope, is
termed a filial son. The way he upholds this hope is the way of a filial son.
To
Men-Tze, the consequences of being non-filial are grave and the paramount of
which is the deprivation of any male offspring.
Although
Kung-Tze and Men-Tze both advocated filial pieties, they did not consider it as
the fundaments of dao and ter. Jen
is supreme in dao-de, and siau (filial piety) naturally follows if
one is jen.
Mer-Tze
A
large part of Mer-Tze’s teaching was an extension of the “yu-xia” (游侠,
knight-wanderers) ethics – sincerity and honour in their promises, and
decisiveness in their actions, even to the extent of endangering their own
lives. And unlike Men-Tze, his concept of love is without scale. While the
students of Ru were mainly from the
upper or middle classes, Hsieh attracted
followers from the lower classes.
Xia
School followers consider ceremonies, rituals music, and arts as unproductive.
However, they do agree with Confucianists on the virtues of jen and yi, but on the principle
of a more all-embracing love (兼爱, chien-ai).
(B)
Spiritual Daoism and Its Founders
Yang
Chu
The starting point of the spiritual Daoist philosophy is
the preservation of life and the avoidance of injury. Yang Chu’s belief
represents the first phase of that “philosophy”.
His principles are: “Each for himself” as opposed to Mer-Tze’s
“all-embracing love.” Here was a hermit who would not take the world, even if
it was given to him for free.
Chuang-Tze
He
lived from 369 to 286 BC. He represents the later phase of Daoism.
Chuang-Tze
emphasised the distinction between what is of nature and what is of man. The
more the former is overcome by the latter, the more there will be misery and
unhappiness.
The
Chinese traditional respect for the past stems from the nature of their
overwhelmingly agrarian population. Farmers were rooted in the soil and
travelled rarely. They cultivated their land according to seasonal changes
which repeated themselves year after year. Past experience was their beacon.
Whenever they wanted to try something new, they had first to look back for
precedents.
Since
the time of Kung-Tze, most philosophers have appealed to ancient authority to justify their own
teaching. Kung-Tze’s
authority was based on King Wen (文王) and the Duke of Zhou. Mer-Tze based
his authority on the legendary Yü,
who supposedly lived a thousand years earlier than King Wen and the Duke of
Zhou. Men-Tze cited Yao and
Shuen, who were supposed to
have antedated Yü. The advocates of Daoism drew upon the
authority of Fu Hsi and Shen Nung, who were reputed to have
lived several centuries earlier than either Yao or Shuen.
Most
of these philosophers lived either in the Chun-Qiu
or the Warring State period. During the reign of China’s “First” emperor – Qin Shih-Huang (秦始皇)
– he ordered all historical records (except those of Qin’s) and works of these
philosophers burned. But books of medicine were spared.
However,
the very violence of the Qin dynasty led to its speedy downfall (213
BC).
The
demise of Qin paved the way for Han. Han Dynasty’s Emperor Wu
[汉武帝]
(140-87 BC) approved Tung Chung-Shu (董仲舒) (179-104 BC)’s recommendation and
formally announced that Confucianism, in which the Six Classics held a dominant
place, was to be the official state teaching. With this pronouncement, Kung-Tze
was gradually elevated, in the eyes of Chinese, to be a super-human being, a
god among men to Chinese.
(C)
Early Chinese Cosmology
Ancestral
worshipping has been practised by Chinese well before the Yellow Emperor (Hwang-Di)’s time. Early Chinese took
spirits and ghosts seriously. They also represented the two sides of the
supernatural world – the former protective, and the latter, destructive, to
one’s well-being. The former had therefore to be worshipped and the latter,
bribed or subdued with the help of the former. Early Chinese had long observed
that the movements of the sun, the moon and the stars seemed to dictate the
well-being of di (地, Mother Earth) and, consequently,
on human activities. There must be some form of celestial determination and intervention!
Nobody likes uncertainty, and with Chinese minds being so fertile, arts and
calculations aimed at foretelling fortunes and misfortunes took roots in
Chinese societies like wild weeds. sûh-sûr (术数)
(crudely translated, the arts of calculation), or fung-sûh (方术),
which are not really occult arts per se, take many forms, amongst them: Astrology,
Almanacs, Five Elements, Divinations, Forms or Physiognomy. However, it is perhaps feng-shui (風水) that the mystique of the
Chinese culture is most identified. Believers and practitioners, some of whom
are highly regarded intellectuals, would argue that Fengshui is not an occult art. Its ao-miao’ness (奥妙, abstruseness and mystery) are too deep for mortals to
fathom. (To many, it is even science in
its study and practices.)
It is believed that Chinese practised feng-shui in a formal manner as far back as early In Chun-Qiu era, there was even an official
called tu-fang guan (土方官) whose principal
responsibility was to determine the suitability of sites for town and country;
in essence, this official was the town-and-country planner for the imperial
house.
Ironically, except for the concept of I (pronounced as Yi - 易, constant change or evolution), Kung-Tze
appeared to be a sceptic of xuan-korng (玄空, the overall description of spirits and
ghosts, sûh-sûr [术数]
and the likes) which was the predecessor of feng-shui.
But this fact has conveniently been ignored by those who are subscribers of
both Ru philosophy and feng-shui.
This belief has been so extrapolated that it is now a big
business opportunity for many.
(D) The Role of Buddhism
The
introduction of Buddhism seems to have given many Chinese the realization that civilized
people other than the Chinese existed. Those who believed in Buddhism regarded
India as the “pure land of the West.” However, Buddhism combined with Mystique Daoism
has become almost an occult practice of many forms amongst Chinese.
However,
a distinction has to be made between Fó-jiào
(佛教) and Fó-xué (佛学). The former is Buddhism as a religion and the latter,
Buddhism as a philosophy. Buddhism as a religion did much to inspire the
institutional organisation of religious Daoism. Daoism was almost invariably
opposed to the Buddhist religion, but Daoist philosophy took Buddhist
philosophy as its ally. Chinese Buddhism is deeply impregnated with Chinese
thoughts; it has evolved with a distinct Chinese philosophical tradition. And
again, the process of its dissemination and diffusion has given rise to much
distortion and idiosyncratic interpretation that Daiost-Buddhism has become an
occult art of many forms by itself.
The way in which Mahayana
Buddhism most influenced the Chinese has been the concept of the Universal Mind
– in what may be called its negative method of metaphysics. According to
Buddhism, all the phenomena of the universe are the manifestations of his mind.
Whenever he acts, speaks, or even thinks, his mind is doing something, and that
something must produce its results, no matter how far in the future. This
result is the retribution of karma. The karma is the cause (因 yīn) and its
retribution is the effect (果 guǒ). The being of an individual is made up of a chain
of causes and effects. And this karma may be accumulated in the course of many
rebirths. The result is an emancipation of the individual possessing this karma
from the wheel of birth and death. And this emancipation is called Nirvana.
Conclusion
Be those as they may above, Confucianism, Mystique Daoism,
Dao-de’ism and Buddhism are not mutually exclusive. There is me in you,
and you in me, the result of a big cooking pot! Diversity makes a culture even
more resilient!
Qing-Ming Festival 清明节 (Qing-Ming Jié)
The Qing-Ming
festival, also known as Tomb-sweeping Day, falls on the 15th
day after the Spring Equinox. It is therefore either April 4, or 5 or 6 in a
given year. During Qing Ming, families visit the tombs of their ancestors
to clean the gravesites, pray to their ancestors and make ritual offerings.
The
festival is said to have originated about 2,500 years ago – during the Spring
and Autumn period to honour a nobleman. The stories are a little incredible;
nonetheless, the legend and practice live on.
The
festival in its present form is credited to Tang’s Emperor Xuan (Xuan-Zong).
Apparently, Chinese had gone overboard in holding too many extravagant and
ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honour of their ancestors, probably
because of Confucius’s great filial piety advocations. In AD
732, Xuan-Zong sought to curb this practice by declaring that such
respects should only be formally done once a year, i.e., during the Qing-Ming
festival.
Today, Qing-Ming,
together with its attendant practices, is observed as an essential cultural
element of Chinese in their emphasis on familial ties and filial piety.
Great Wisdom from
Idioms
An Example
Chinese
idioms offer great wisdom. The following is such an example:
A
Taste of the Bile (吃苦,
chī-kǔ)
We Chinese often hear of
the term chī-kǔ, which literally mean “eat or
swallow bitterness”. Chinese language, unlike English, is not grammatically
rigid. An “activity” term can also be used to describe a “virtue”. I am no
expert, but I believe it is one of the virtues that has shaped Chinese DNA for
millennia and generations.
Chi-ku means the all-out
preparedness to slog hard for one’s future – it can be one’s own future, but it
can also be one’s next generations’ future, or it can also be the future of the
nation.
I really do not know how
this term has originated, but having had an interest in Chinese history, I
always believe it has to do with an idiom. The origin of this idiom, I suspect,
is based on a historical fact that happened during the dying days of the Spring
& Autumn period of the Chinese history.
The idiom is Wò Xīn Cháng
Dǎn (卧薪尝胆) – Using hard firewood as bed and tasting Bile – as a constant reminder of bad humiliation once suffered.
In 496 BC, near the end of
the Spring & Autumn era of the Chinese history, He Lu (阖闾), the King of the State of Wu (吴), invaded the State of Yue, but was soundly beaten
by the king of Yue Gou Jian (勾践). He Lu was fatally
injured and before his death he urged his son Fu Cha (夫差) to avenge his loss.
After two years of
preparation, Fu Cha’s army defeated Gou Jian. Gou Jian contemplated suicide,
but a trusted minister Wen Zhong (文种) advised against it and suggested to him
to bribe a key, but vulnerable to corruption, minister in the Wu court for him
to have an audience with the King of Wu, pledging that Gou Jian’s total
subserviency.
Wu’s key minister, WU
Zi-Xu (伍子胥), was totally against the suggestion, saying
that Gou Jian would bid his time and make a comeback. But the Wu
king thought Yue was already a spent force and agreed to the surrender.
Gou Jian brought his wife to serve in Wu and won the trust of Fu Cha.
Three years later, Gou
Jian returned to Yue. In his room, he hung the gallbladder of an animal and
every morning, he would bring himself to have a taste of it. He also lived a
very simple and exemplary life. After ten years of hard slog, he had rebuilt
his army to be sufficiently strong. In the meantime, the king of Wu was going
everywhere to exert hegemony. But his people are suffering. It had already
started to show decline.
In 482 BC, Fu Cha was
in a campaign to battle for supremacy with the State of Chin [1]
(晋), Gou Jian launched a
surprise attack and dealt a big blow to Wu and later sued for peace. Although
it was granted, Gou Jian in 473 BC launched a second attack and finished
Wu. Fu Cha committed suicide.
I have never tasted any gallbladder myself. But
I heard it is ultra-bitter in taste.
Biden should know this is China's invincible
weapon!
The Dragon
Boat Festival (端午节 Duān-Wǔ Jié)
(The
5th Day of the 5th Moon)
Principally
to honour of Great Patriot/Poet Qu Yuan (屈原)
It is a Chinese festival that occurs on the 5th day
of the 5th moon of the Lunar calendar, which is around the late May
or June in the Gregorian calendar.
The festival is to commemorate
the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) of
the state of Chǔ (楚) during the Warring States period of the Zhou dynasty. When
the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was
accused of treason and banished for opposing the alliance. During his
exile, Qu Yuan wrote many poems. Twenty-eight years later, Qin
captured the Chu capital. In despair,
Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in Mi-Luo River (汨罗江 Mì-Luó Jiāng) in Hunan. It is said that the local people, who admired him,
raced out in their boats to retrieve his body. This is said to have been the
origin of dragon boat races. When his body could not be found, they dropped
balls of sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river so that
Qu Yuan could eat them. (Others believe it was the other way round – the fish
could eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body.) This mass of glutinous rice (usually
wrapped in bamboo leaves) is said to be the origin of zong-tze (粽子).
Qu Yuan has been
regarded as "China's first patriotic poet" for his social idealism
and unbending patriotism.
There are other
versions on the origin of the Dragon Boat festival, though. One is about Wu Zi-Xu
(伍子胥died 484 BC), who was the chancellor of Wu (吳).
Apparently, the king of Wu became angry at WU Zi-Xu after the latter forewarned
him of the danger of the beauty who was sent by king of a rival state (Gou Jian句踐 of Yue (越) to seduce the former. Wu Zi-Xu was forced to
commit suicide, with his body thrown into the river. And therefore, the zong-tze
to sustain his spirit!
[1] 晋 has generally been translated as “Jin” in most books. I beg to differ, for it can be confused with 金, which is another ruling house in Chinese history.