The Duke of Zheng Conquered Duan at Yan City
(A historical event in 722 BCE)
Zuo's Extended Version of the Spring and Autumn Annals
1
To interpret this historical event properly, we must trace back to its
origin. In the beginning, King Wu-gong of the State of Zheng
2
married a woman, Wu-jiang, from the State of Shen 3. She gave birth
to Zhuang-gong and then Duan, who later became the Uncle of the State of Gong.
When Zhuang-gong was born, his feet came out first. This scared Wu-jiang, so she
disliked him and called him Wu-sheng 4. She gave all her love to Duan
and wanted him to be the king's heir. She repeatedly asked the king to consider
this, but he did not approve.
After Zhuang-gong inherited the throne, Wu-jiang asked him to give Duan
control over Zhi City 5. King Zhuang-gong said,
"Zhi City is an
invincible mountain fortress. Duke Shu Guo 6 was executed because he
thought that by occupying the city he could avoid punishment despite his evil
deeds. I will grant your request if you ask for any city other than Zhi City."
So Wu-jiang asked for Jing City 7 instead. Then King Zhuang-gong
summoned Duan to the court and granted him the city. From then on, Duan was
called the Great Uncle of Jing City.
Adviser Zhong Zhai 8 told King Zhuang-gong, "If a city's diameter
exceeds thirty miles, it is detrimental to the country. According to the law of
great kings, a big city's diameter cannot exceed one third of the capital's
diameter; a medium size city’s cannot exceed one fifth; a small city's cannot
exceed one ninth. Now Jing City is too large to meet this standard. Giving your
brother control of Jing City will cause you a lot of trouble later." "My mother
wanted me to do it. How can I avoid this trouble?" asked the king. Zhong Zhai
replied, "Your mother's greed will never end. You should stop it early so that
it will not spread out of control like weeds. Overgrown weeds are difficult to
eliminate. Subduing your favored brother will be an even more difficult task."
The king said, "I believe one who frequently commits evil deeds will destroy
oneself. Please wait for a while."
Later, the Great Uncle ordered the western and northern neighboring towns to
pay taxes to him. Official Lü
9
told King Zhuang-gong, "People cannot endure the burden of double taxes. What do
you plan to do? If you want to abdicate the throne to the Great Uncle, let me go
work for him. If you want to remain king, then please get rid of him. Otherwise,
people may support him as their king." King Zhuang-gong said, "It is not
necessary. Duan will suffer the consequences."
A short while later, the Great Uncle decided that the taxes from the two
neighboring towns were no longer sufficient, so he gained control of the two
towns and Lin-yan City. General Zi-feng suggested, "It is time to reduce the
Great Uncle's power. Otherwise, it will grow so formidable that people may
consider him the king." King Zhuang-gong said, "Duan is neither loyal to his
king nor friendly to his brother. The more his power grows, the faster he will
fail."
The Great Uncle stored food supplies and built a tall wall around Jing City.
He also built a strong cavalry force equipped with chariots, and planned to
attack the State of Zheng. Wu-jiang agreed to open the capital's gate for Duan.
After learning the date of Duan's attack, King Zhuang-gong said, "Now it is time
to crush Duan's troops." Consequently, the king ordered General Zi-feng to lead
200 chariots to seize Jing City. The people in Jing City betrayed the Great
Uncle, causing his troops to withdraw to Yan City. So King Zhuang-gong attacked
Yan City, and on May 31st the Great Uncle fled to the State of Gong.
The Spring and Autumn Annals, written by Confucius, records the
historical event as "The Duke of Zheng Conquered Duan at Yan City". Duan did not
deserve to be called a brother, so Confucius called him Duan instead of "Brother Duan". The Duke of Zheng and Duan fought each other like two kings, so Confucius
said that the Duke of Zheng actually "conquered" rather than punished Duan. Also
Confucius, following the opinion of all the people in the State of Zheng, called
the king "the Duke of Zheng", a title used to ridicule the king for failing to
teach Duan to be a good brother. Furthermore, Confucius said that the Duke of
Zheng "conquered" Duan instead of sending him into exile because it took a
tremendous effort to crush Duan.
After the war, the king put Wu-jiang under house arrest in Ying City and
swore, "We shall not see each other until I reach yellow water underground
10." Later, he regretted his decision. After Uncle Ying-kao, a general in
charge of defending Ying City, heard the story, he presented some gifts to the
king. In return, King Zhuang-gong treated him to a gourmet dinner. Uncle Ying-kao
saved the beef stew. The king asked him why. Uncle Ying-kao said, "Out of
respect for my mother, I share all my food with her. However, she has never
tasted your beef stew. Please allow me to take it home to my mother." The king
sighed, "You have a mother with whom to share food. I, however, do not have a
mother." Uncle Ying-kao asked, "May I know why?" The king explained it to him
and expressed his regret. Uncle Ying-kao said, "There is nothing to worry about.
If you dig a tunnel deep enough to reach water and then meet your mother in the
tunnel, who can say that you have violated your oath?" King Zhuang-gong followed
his advice.
After the king entered the tunnel, he improvised a poem, "Inside the grand
tunnel, the joy keeps me in great harmony." After Wu-jiang exited the tunnel,
she also improvised a poem, "Outside the grand tunnel, I am relieved and
delighted." As a result, the mother and son felt that they had a fresh start
together.
Gentlemen said, "Uncle Ying-kao is a kind man who loves his mother and shares
the joy of love with the king." The Book of Poetry says, "The heart of a
caring son is so powerful that it moves others to love their parents." Perhaps
the character of the son refers to a man such as Uncle Ying-kao.
Notes
1 The Spring and Autumn Annals is a book about Chinese history written
by Confucius. Later, Qiu-Ming Zuo (556?-451? BCE), the official historian of the
State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period, also wrote a book on Chinese
history which was closely related to The Spring and Autumn Annals. Some
people call the latter book Zuo’s Extended Version of the Spring and Autumn
Annals. Others call it Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals. It contains
the above essay. After Qiu-ming Zuo became blind, he wrote another history book,
The National Languages of China.
Zuo's Extended Version of the Spring and Autumn Annals records Chinese
history from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. There is a lot of information in it. It records
historical events in great detail. Its essays are elegant. Ning Fan (339-401) of the Jin
dynasty wrote in the preface of Gu-liang's Extended Version of the Spring and
Autumn Annals, "Zuo's Extended Version of the Spring and Autumn Annals
is rich and beautiful." His comment was appropriate. Consequently, later
generations valued it highly. As for its drawback, Ning Fan said, "It links
fortune and misfortune to gods and ghosts." On the whole, this drawback can be
ignored.
2
You, a younger brother of Emperor Wen-wang of the Zhou dynasty, was made
the King of the State of Zheng. Originally, the State of Zheng was located north
of present day Hua-xian City in Shaanxi Province. Later, the kingdom moved
eastward with Emperor Ping-wang. Its capital was Xin-zheng City in present day
Henan Province. Its territory included the middle part of present day Henan
Province. Jue-tu was Wu-gong’s alternate first name.
3
The surname of the kings of the State of Shen was Jiang. These kings were
Bo-yi's descendents. The capital of the State of Shen was located north of
present day Nan-yang-xian City in Henan Province.
4
"Wu-sheng" means "breech delivery".
5
Zhi City was also known as Hu-lao (tiger's prison) City. It was located
west of present day Si-shui-xian City in Henan Province.
6
Zhong Guo and Shu Guo were sons of King Ji and younger brothers of Emperor
Wen-wang during the Zhou dynasty. Zhong Guo was made the King of the State of
Western Guo and Shu Guo was made the King of the State of Eastern Guo. Eastern
Guo was located in Zhi City. Shu Guo failed to be virtuous because he thought
Zhi City was an invincible fortress. Consequently, the State of Zheng destroyed
Eastern Guo.
7
Jing City was located 4.3 miles southeast of Ying-yang-xian City in
Henan Province.
8
Zhong Zhai was a member of the extended royal family. He used the name of
the city where he lived as his surname.
9
Zi-feng was Official Lü 's first name.
He was a member of the extended royal family.
10
"Reach yellow water" means "enter the underworld".