Chapter Three Taiyuan and the First Ancestor of Jin

Understanding the importance of Shu Yu in the Chinese historical canon and whether his original fief of Tang, which later became Jin, was actually located near Jinyang in the Taiyuan basin is essential for determining the antiquity of his cult at the Jin Springs and rationale for establishing a hall for his worship at this location in the first place. For the elite of China, from warlords of the sixth century ce to literati of the seventeenth century, Shu Yu of Tang was the most important deity worshiped at the site of Jinci. His presence in the historical canon gave him legitimacy, and venerating the spirits of previous sovereigns might result in the granting of power over their former territory. The evidence for the cult of Shu Yu at Jinci indicates that from as early as the sixth century, he was perceived to have spiritual power over the Taiyuan basin and the regional capital of Taiyuan at Jinyang. The archaeological record suggests that the original fief of Tang was located not in the Taiyuan basin but rather much further to the south in the area of modern Quwo. Thus his cult is unlikely to date back to the Western Zhou dynasty; it must instead have been a later addition. The Shu Yu Shrine was most likely placed at the site of the Jin Springs in an effort to gain control over the strategically important Taiyuan basin through the support of local spirits. The Taiyuan basin was a border region fought over by agrarian and steppe peoples on and off until the Jin dynasty (1115–1234 ce) conquest of north China in the twelfth century ce, after which it became more centrally located within the domains of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The relationship between the Taiyuan basin and the site of the Jin Springs can be traced back to the Warring States Period, when the city of Taiyuan at Jinyang was the capital of Zhao, one of the Three Jin that eventually divided the Jin state. From that time through the tenth century ce, Jinyang/Taiyuan continued to be a vital military outpost. Extant textual sources from as early as the sixth century ce indicate that during this time Shu Yu of Tang was an important deity to the scions aspir- ing for imperial power. But after the regional administration of Taiyuan was moved north to Yangqu at the end of the tenth century, Jinyang became 38 Taiyuan and the First Ancestor of Jin

less politically important. The final blow to Shu Yu’s power and support for his cult at an imperial level may have come with the fall of the Northern Song to the Jin, the beginning of a 241-year period of continuous steppe rule in north China. Yet, because of his presence in the Chinese canon, he continued to be significant to the site and was used by later individuals well versed in classical texts to legitimize their claims over the land and re- sources surrounding the Jin Springs, regardless of whether Shu Yu’s original fief was at Jinyang.

Heaven, Earth, and Man: The Deities of the Jin State The Jin State in the Zuozhuan At least in part because his life stories appeared in the canonical histories, by the Han dynasty, Shu Yu was considered to be the first Zhou ruler of Taiyuan at Jinyang, and the name of the Jin state was believed to have originated with the Jin River flowing to its south.1 For anyone looking to understand the cult of Shu Yu at Jinci and the history of Jin, the signifi- cance of the written historical canon left to us from the Han dynasty cannot be underestimated. Although many were initially written centuries earlier, the texts compiled during the Han defined the parameters of Chinese cul- ture and were the standard sources for the educated elite seeking knowledge about any aspect of it. The most authoritative textual history of the Jin state is the account contained in the “Commentary of Zuo” in the Spring and Au- tumn Annals (hereafter referred to as the Zuozhuan). Here we find three sto- ries describing Shu Yu’s importance as the first ruler of what would become Jin territory. The first concerns his portended name and future rule over the Shang fief of Tang, later renamed Jin. The second is of his enfeoffment with a leaf from a wutong 梧桐 tree by his older brother, King Cheng of Zhou, of- ten referred to as “enfeoffing younger brother with a wutong cutting” (jian- tong fengdi 剪桐封弟). The third is the related stories of the “Excellent Sheaves of Grain” (jiahe 嘉禾) and “Bestowing the Cereal” (guihe 歸禾), sent to the Duke of Zhou during his eastern campaign.2 Because of Shu Yu of Tang’s status at Jinci, all of these stories are part of the place’s mytho- logical fabric and are the basis of later interpretations of Jinci and the iden- tities of the divinities worshiped there, specifically the identity that com- bined the Spirit of the Jin Springs and the mother of Shu Yu of Tang, Yi Jiang. These stories are also used to determine the location of Shu Yu’s fief, Tang, and its capital city of Taiyuan at Jinyang at the time of Shu Yu’s enfeoffment. The history of Shu Yu of Tang in the Zuozhuan begins shortly after his conception by Yi Jiang, the daughter of the famous lord Jiang Taigong 姜太公 and the wife of Zhou King Wu.3 Its importance lies in establishing