Zhao 趙 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 403–222 BC | |||||||||||
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| Status | March → Kingdom | ||||||||||
| Capital | Jinyang,Handan | ||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
• 423–409 BCE (first) | Marquess Xian of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 403–400 BCE | Marquess Lie of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 386–375 BCE | Marquess Jing of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 374–350 BCE | Marquess Cheng of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 349–326 BCE | Marquess Su of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 325–299 BCE | King Wuling of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 298–266 BCE | King Huiwen of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 265–245 BCE | King Xiaocheng of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 244–236 BCE | King Daoxiang of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 235–228 BCE | King Youmiao of Zhao | ||||||||||
• 227–223 BCE (last) | King Jia of Zhao | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Warring States period | ||||||||||
| 403 BC | |||||||||||
• Conquered byQin | 222 BC | ||||||||||
| Currency | |||||||||||
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| Zhao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.svg) "Zhao" inseal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 趙 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 赵 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Zhao (traditional Chinese:趙;simplified Chinese:赵) was one of the seven majorstates during theWarring States period of ancient China. It emerged from thetripartite division of Jin, along withHan andWei, in the 5th century BC. Zhao gained considerable strength from the military reforms initiated during the reign ofKing Wuling, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands ofQin at theBattle of Changping. Its territory included areas in the modern provinces ofInner Mongolia,Hebei,Shanxi andShaanxi. It bordered the states of Qin, Wei, andYan, as well as various nomadic peoples including theHu andXiongnu. Its capital wasHandan, in modern Hebei province.
Zhao was home to theadministrative philosopherShen Dao,ConfucianXun Kuang, andGongsun Long, who is affiliated to theschool of names.[1]
TheZhao clan withinJin had been accumulating power for centuries, including annexing theBaidistate ofDai in the mid-5thcentury BC.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn period, Jin wasdivided between three powerful ministers, one of whom wasZhao Xiangzi, patriarch of the Zhao family. In 403 BC, theZhou king formally recognised the existence of the Zhao state along with two other states, Han and Wei. Some historians, beginning withSima Guang, take this recognition to mark the beginning of the Warring States period.
At the beginning of the Warring States period, Zhao was one of the weaker states. Despite its extensive territory, its northern border was frequently harassed by theEastern Hu, Forest Hu,Loufan,Xiongnu, and other northern nomadic peoples. Zhao lacked the military might of Wei or the wealth of Qi, and became a pawn in the struggle between them. This struggle came to a head in 354 BC when Wei invaded Zhao, forcing Zhao to seek help from Qi. The resultingBattle of Guiling was a major victory for Qi, reducing the threat to Zhao's southern border.
Zhao remained relatively weak until the military reforms ofKing Wuling of Zhao (325–299 BC). Zhao soldiers were ordered to dress like theirHu neighbours and to replacewar chariots with cavalry archers (胡服骑射;胡服騎射;húfúqíshè). This reform proved to be a brilliant and pragmatic strategy. With the advanced technology of the Chinese states and tactics of the steppe nomads, Zhao's cavalry became a powerful force. As a result, the newly empowered Zhao were more evenly matched with their greatest threat, Qi.
Zhao demonstrated its increased military prowess by conquering the state ofZhongshan in 295 BC after a protracted war and annexing territory from the neighbouring states of Wei, Yan, and Qin. During this time, Zhao cavalry also occasionally intruded intoQi during latter campaigns againstChu.
Several brilliant military commanders of the period served Zhao contemporaneously, includingLian Po,Zhao She, andLi Mu. Lian Po was instrumental in defending Zhao against Qin. Zhao She was most active in the east, leading the invasion ofYan. Li Mu defended Zhao against theXiongnu in theZhao–Xiongnu War and later against Qin.
By the end of the Warring States period, Zhao was the only state strong enough to oppose the mightyQin. An alliance with Wei against Qin began in 287 BC, but ended in defeat at Huayang in 273 BC. The struggle then culminated in the bloodiest battle of the entire period, theBattle of Changping in 260 BC. Zhao's forces were utterly defeated by Qin. Although the forces of Wei and Chu saved Handan from a subsequent siege by the victorious Qin, Zhao would never recover from the enormous loss of troops in the battle.
In 229 BC, invasions led by the Qin generalWang Jian were resisted byLi Mu and his subordinate officer Sima Shang (司馬尚) until 228 BC. Li Mu was one of the finest generals of the Warring States period, and although he was unable to defeat Wang Jian (also one of the best generals of the period), Wang Jian was unable to make any headway. The invasion ended in a stalemate. The Qin emperor,Qin Shihuang, realised that he needed to get rid of Li Mu in order to conquer Zhao, and tried to sow discord among the Zhao leadership. The Zhao kingYoumiao fell for the plot: on the false advice of disloyal court officials and Qin infiltrators, he ordered Li Mu'sexecution and relieved Sima Shang of his duties. Li Mu's replacement, Zhao Cong, was promptly defeated by Wang Jian. Qin captured King Youmiao and defeated Zhao in 228 BC. Prince Jia, half-brother of King Qian, was proclaimedKing Jia atDai and led the last Zhao forces against the Qin. This regime lasted until 222 BC, when the Qin army captured him and defeated his forces at Dai.
A rebel namedWu Chen, following the example ofChen Sheng andWu Guang inChu, proclaimed himself King of Zhao. Wu was later killed by his subordinateLi Liang (李良),Zhang Er (張耳) andChen Yu (陳餘), former officials of Zhao, created the Zhao royalZhao Xie (趙歇) as King of Zhao. In 206 BC, the rebel lordXiang Yu of Chu defeated theQin dynasty and made himself and seventeen other lordskings, appointing Zhao Xie the king of Dai. Chen Yu helped Zhao Xie reclaim the land of Zhao from Zhang Er, so Zhao Xie created Chen Yu as Prince of Dai. In 205 BC, Chen Yu's subordinate in Dai,Xia Yue (夏說), was defeated byLiu Bang's generalsHan Xin and Zhang Er. Chen Yu was defeated by Han Xin in 204 BC, and later Zhao Xie was killed by Han forces. Liu Bang gave the state of Zhao to Zhang Er.
In 154 BC, an unrelatedZhao, led by Prince of Zhao Liu Sui (劉遂), participated in the unsuccessfulRebellion of the Seven States (Chinese:七國之亂) against the newly installed sixth emperor of theHan dynasty.
BeforeQin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BC, each region had its own customs and culture, although elite culture was identical throughout. In theYu Gong (Tribute of Yu) chapter of theBook of Documents – probably written in the 4th century BC – China is described as divided into nine regions, each with its own distinctive peoples and products. The central theme of this section is that these nine regions are unified into one state through the travels of the eponymous sage,Yu the Great, and the sending of each region's unique goods to the capital as tribute. Other texts also discussed these regional differences in culture and physical environment.[2]
One such text wasWuzi (The Book of Master Wu), a military treatise of the Warring States, written in response to a request from Marquis Wu ofWei for advice on how to deal with the other states.Wu Qi, to whom work is attributed, explained that the government and nature of the people are linked to the physical environment and territory in which they live.[2]
Of Zhao, he said:
The two states of Han and Zhao train their troops rigorously but have difficulty in applying their skills to the battlefield.
— Wuzi,Master Wu
Han and Zhao are states of the Central Plain. Theirs are a gentle people, weary from war and experienced in arms, but have little regard for their generals. The soldiers' salaries are meager and their officers have no strong commitment to their countries. Although their troops are experienced, they cannot be expected to fight to the death. To defeat them, we must concentrate large numbers of troops in our attacks to present them with certain peril. When they counterattack, we must be prepared to defend our positions vigorously and make them pay dearly. When they retreat, we must pursue and give them no rest. This will grind them down.
— Wuzi,Master Wu
There are two opinions about the representing star of Zhao inChinese astronomy. The opinions are :
