The Tradition of King Ping of Chu
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THE TRADITION OF KING PING OF CHU
Introduction
!is ?rst narrative chapter of the Yuejue shu concerns the early history of Wu Zixu, whose trials and tribulations are recorded in exceptional detail in a wide variety of ancient Chinese texts. !e “King Ping of Chu” chapter is one of several in the Yuejue shu which takes Wu Zixu as its subject, and many di"erent aspects of his legend are recorded in the course of the book. Although the title of this piece is the “Tradition of King Ping of C hu ,” this title derives from the ?rst couple of lines, as was the custom in ancient China until the development of independent chapter headings, rather than providing any indication of the subject of this chapter, and the main focus of the text is on Wu Zixu. It would be no exaggeration to say that Wu Zixu is one of the best recorded individuals of the late Spring and Autumn period, and a great deal more is known about his life and death than those of the kings he served, or the ministers whose machinations he opposed.1 !e story of Wu Zixu’s rise and fall forms one of the most important literary traditions from early China, which has been extremely extensively studied in both China and the West, though interestingly the various manifestations of this tradition that are found in the Yuejue shu have been comparatively neglected.2 !is chapter describes Wu Zixu’s journey into exile a-er the arrest of his father and older brother, his reaction to their deaths, and his revenge against the kingdom of Chu in general and King Ping of Chu in particular. !e next part of his biography is found in the sixth chapter of the Yuejue shu: “A s k i n g for Food A i d .” !e reasons why Wu Zixu in particular became so famous a-er his death are not entirely clear, but are perhaps something to do with the
1 See Barry Blakeley, “Chu Society and State: Image versus Reality,” in De4ning Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China, ed., Constance Cook and John S. Major (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 0333), 55. 2 For example, David Johnson, “Epic and History in Early China: !e Matter of Wu Tzu-hsü,” JAS 4/.1 (03@0): 1.@–1.3, regards the Yuejue shu as a supplement to the Wu Yue chunqiu, rather than as an important source in its own right. @/ 'A6G*+B *8( stunning reversals of fortune that he su"ered during the course of his life. !ere were other ministers who were highly successful, and some whose loyal remonstrance was as unappreciated as that of Wu Zixu, but very few individuals combined a career which took them from destitution to the heights of power and then eventually to disgrace and suicide. Wu Zixu was born into one of the most important ministerial families in the kingdom of Chu. His ancestors played a major part in the history of the had been an advisor to King Zhuang ,נstate. His grandfather, Wu Ju E -Ҥ (50=–.30>'+), and was popularly credited with interof Chu Π esting his master in the business of government, a-er the monarch had neglected it for years.3 His father, Wu She Eƕ or Wu Zishe EƵƕ, was also a senior advisor to the Chu royal house, in his case to King Ping of Chu, and this relationship was to lead to a terrible tragedy, with appalling repercussions for the people of Chu. !e story of the fall of the Wu fam- ily and Wu Zixu’s subsequent escape and exile is found in many ancient texts. According to the Zuozhuan, which provides the earliest surviving account of these events, the death of Wu She came about through the ѢΥ. Wu She was the tutor to theۄ machinations of his rival Fei Wuji Crown Prince JianƆƵɑ, and when King Ping of Chu decided to take his son’s bride as his own, Fei Wuji is said to have consistently slandered both the Crown Prince and Wu She to the king claiming that they disap- proved of his actions.4 !e king eventually came to believe that Wu She and his own son represented a threat to his rule, and ordered their execu- tion. It was Wu She’s frank criticism of his monarch that sealed his death warrant, and brought about the downfall of the powerful Wu ministerial family. In the end it can also be said to have led directly to the invasion of Chu by Wu and the sack of Ying, the Chu capital. !e character, personal history, contemporary importance, and sig- ni?cance of Wu Zixu in the events that led up to the conquest of Wu by
3 !e Wu Yue chunqiu, 1= [“Wang Liao shi Gongzi Guang zhuan”] was the earliest text to state that Wu Ju was Wu Zixu’s grandfather. !e Shiji, 4/:02//, is the earliest text to record the existence of Wu Ju as an advisor to King Zhuang of Chu. Wu Ju was said to have tested King Zhuang of Chu with a riddle, which elsewhere in the Shiji, 015:=032, is attributed to Chunyu Kun У$ࠇ, and said to have been posed to King Wei of Qi ࠴ƨҤ (r. =.5–=1/>'+). Older versions of the same story attribute these events to other ?gures in the Chu administration; see for example Han Feizi, 401 [“Yulao”]. Wu Zixu’s family tree is described in Wu Enpei ěʘŞ, Gouwu wenhua de xianzai chanshi Õě̗ÙӞҪ Œނ݅ (Nanjing: Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 1//1), =12. 4 See Zuozhuan, 04/0 [Zhao 03]; 04/2–04/3 [Zhao 1/]. !e only proper study of the character of Fei Wuji is Matsumoto Tamio ͷͫϦޠ, “Shunju Sokoku Hi Mugoku gaidan .ѢΥƀw,” Bunka ̗Ù 4=.=–4 (03@/): 11–25ۄԢΠŌ̽