Zou/Zhu 鄒/邾 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1046–4th century BCE | |||||||
 Zou can be seen as Tsou | |||||||
| Status |
| ||||||
| Capital | Zhu (now south of Qufu) Zou (now southeast of Zoucheng) | ||||||
| Religion | |||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
| History | |||||||
• Enfeoffment | 1046 | ||||||
• Conquered by Chu | 4th century BCE | ||||||
| |||||||
Zou (simplified Chinese: 邹; traditional Chinese: 鄒), originally Zhu (邾) or Zhulou (邾婁), was a minor state that existed during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China.[1] It centered near today's Zoucheng, Shandong province.
History
Origin
King Wu of Zhou granted Cao Xia (曹挾) control of the small state of Zhu as a vassal ruler under the State of Lu with the feudal title Viscount (子), but later holding the title Duke of Zhu (邾公).[2][3][4] The ancestral surname of the ruling family was Cao (曹).[1]
Develop
During the Spring and Autumn period, the State of Zhu gradually grew stronger and was known as "Zhoulou".
In 659 BC, Duke Xi of Lu, along with the rulers of the states of Qi, Song, Zheng, Cao, and Zhu, met in the area of Cheng (檉).[5] The following month, Duke Xi of Lu's army defeated the army of Zhu in the area of Yan (偃).[6]
During the reign of Duke Mu of Lu (417 BC – 377 BC), Zhu's name was changed to Zou.[7] The state of Zou was located in the southwest of modern-day Shandong Province.[8] Its territory is now the county-level city of Zoucheng.
Demise
Zou was conquered and annexed by the state of Chu during the reign of King Xuan of Chu (r. 369–340 BC).[8] The people of Zou and their descendants adopted the Zhu (朱) or Zou as their surnames.[3][8]
Legacy
Zhu (朱), without the radical, is one of the most common surnames of modern-day China. Another, albeit less common surname Zou (鄒/邹) is also derived from the former name of the state.
The noted Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi descends from the ruling house. The small state of Zou, however, is most famous as the birthplace of the Chinese philosopher Mencius. As the overlord State of Lu was the home state of Confucius and many of his disciples, this means that Confucianism's founder, and most of its minor sages and wise men hailed from or had ancestral roots in these two ancient states of China.
See also
References
- ^ a b Li Xueqin (1985). Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations. Trans. Kwang-Chih Chang. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03286-2. p. 144
- ^ Li Chi (1967). The Formation of the Chinese People. Russell & Russell. p. 138
- ^ a b Tan, Thomas Tsu-Wee (1986). Your Chinese Roots. Times Books International. ISBN 0-89346-285-3. p. 239
- ^ Wu Kuo-Cheng (1982). The Chinese Heritage. Crown Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-517-54475-X. p. 306
- ^ 《春秋左氏傳/僖公》：(僖公元年)八月。公會齊侯、宋公、鄭伯、曹伯、邾人于檉。
- ^ 《春秋左氏傳/僖公》：(僖公元年)九月。公敗邾師于偃。
- ^ Eno, Robert (2003). "The background of the Kong family of Lu and the origins Ruism". Early China. 28. Cambridge University Press: 1–41 at 27. doi:10.1017/S0362502800000651. JSTOR 23354229. S2CID 20828205.
- ^ a b c Chao Sheau-Yueh (2000). In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames. Clearfield. ISBN 0-8063-4946-8. p. 43
