Wu: Map & History
Wu was a state during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period, outside the Zhou cultural sphere.
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Wu was a state during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period, outside the Zhou cultural sphere. It was also known as Gouwu (句吳) or Gongwu (工/攻吳) from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu and south of the State of Qi. Its first capital was at Meili, then Helü's City, and later moved to Gusu.
Modern Countries Once Part of Wu
At its mapped extent, Wu covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Wu's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Wu in Depth
History
A founding myth of Wu, first recorded by Sima Qian in the Han dynasty, traced its royal lineage to Taibo, a relative of King Wen of Zhou. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Taibo was the oldest son of Gugong Danfu and the elder uncle of King Wen who started the Zhou dynasty. Gugong Danfu had three sons named Taibo, Zhongyong, and Jili. Taibo was the oldest of three brothers, Jili being the youngest. Realizing that his youngest brother, Jili, was favored by his father to inherit the throne of Predynastic Zhou, the older brothers Taibo and Zhongyong left Zhou to avoid conflict and settled southeast to Wu with a group of followers loyal to him and his brother Zhongyong. They established their first capital at Meili (梅里), believed to be today's Meicun in Wuxi.
Culture
The Records of the Grand Historian states that the people in Wu wore their hair short and sported tattoos. For Sima Qian this would have illustrated their supposed barbarism, as in his time Chinese men and women were not allowed to cut their hair or otherwise modify their body - doing so was considered an offence against the ancestors from which one had inherited one's physical features.
The famed military strategist Sun Tzu, renowned for his military treatise The Art of War, served as a general under King Helü of Wu.
The rulers of Wu are said to be descendants of the early Zhou; however, the indigenous language of the Wu region is distinct from the Old Chinese spoken by the central Chinese states.
Legacy
"Wu" continues to be used as a name for the region around Suzhou and Shanghai and their regional speech, Wu Chinese. It was employed by other states and princes holding power in the region, most notably Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms, and Wu and Wuyue of the Ten Kingdoms.
Ambassadorial visits to Japan by the later Chinese dynasties Wei and Jin recorded that the Wajin of Japan claimed to be descendants of Taibo of Wu, traditionally believed to be the mythical founder of Wu. Several scholars suggest that the Yamato people and the Imperial House of Japan are descendants of the Wu and possibly Taibo. Many Japanese historians also link the early Japanese Yayoi people to the Baiyue tribes.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Wu (state) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Wu: Key Facts
| Capitals | Ezhou, Nanjing |
|---|---|
| Religion | Taoism |
| Currency | ancient Chinese coinage |
| Founded | 229 CE |
| Dissolved | 280 CE |
Preceded by
- Eastern Han
Succeeded by
- Western Jin dynasty
Facts from Wikidata Q274488 (CC0).
Wu Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Wu appears, with the other states of the time.
Wu Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 193,280 km² in 516 BCE.
Wu: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Wu exist?
Wu is dated to 750 BCE – 451 BCE, in the Bronze & Iron Age Civilizations era.
What was the capital of Wu?
The capital of Wu was Wu (modern-day Wuxi and Suzhou, Jiangsu province).
How large was Wu at its peak?
At its peak in 516 BC Wu covered about 193,280 km².
How did the map of Wu change over time?
Wu appears on 2 dated world maps in the atlas, from 750 BCE to 500 BCE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
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