King Wu of Chu

King Wu of Chu (died 690 BC) was the first king of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was the second son of Xiao'ao, and brother of former ruler Fenmao whom he is rumored to have murdered in 740 BC in order to usurp the throne.

Life

King Wu married a daughter of the ruler of Deng called Deng Man (邓曼) and installed Dou Bobi (鬬伯比), son of Ruo'ao as Prime Minister and his son Qu Xia (屈瑕) as Mo'ao.

With the power of Chu growing by the day, King Wu became dissatisfied with the title of Viscount (子) and sought to better himself. In the summer of the thirty-seventh year of his reign, 704 BCE, at the time of King Huan of Zhou, he invited the leaders of the other vassal states to a meeting at Shenlu (沈鹿). The states of Ba, Pu (濮), Deng, Jiao (绞/絞), Luo (罗/羅), Zhen (轸/軫), Shen, Er (贰/貳), Yun (鄖) and Jiang (江) all sent representatives with only the States of Huang and Sui (随/隨) not in attendance. King Wu’s minister Wei Zhang (蒍章) was dispatched to Huang to criticize their non-attendance whilst the King and Qu Xia led an army to attack the State of Sui. Sui was overthrown at the Battle of Suqi (速杞之战). The state's leader fled whilst Chu Minister Dou Dan (鬬丹) captured the Marquess of Sui’s chariot along with the chariot division military commander. Thereafter Sui did not act rashly again. Xiong Tong declared himself “King”, marking Chu’s formal independence from the Zhou Dynasty. Subsequent rulers of Chu would all style themselves “King”, heralding the start of the vassal kingdoms’ usurpation of Zhou supremacy and the decline of the House of Zhou.