Jin (Chinese state)


Jin, originally known as Tang, was a major state during the middle part of the Zhou dynasty, based near the centre of what was then China, on the lands attributed to the legendary Xia dynasty: the southern part of modern Shanxi. Although it grew in power during the Spring and Autumn period, its aristocratic structure saw it break apart when the duke lost power to his nobles. In 453, Jin was split into three successor states: Han, Zhao and Wei. The Partition of Jin marks the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period.

Geography

Jin was located in the lower Fen River drainage basin on the Shanxi plateau. To the north were the Xirong and Beidi peoples. To the west were the Lüliang Mountains and then the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi. To the southwest the Fen River turns west to join the south-flowing part of the Yellow River which soon leads to the Guanzhong, an area of the Wei River Valley that was the heartland of the Western Zhou and later of the Qin. To the south are the Zhongtiao Mountains and then the east-west valley of the Yellow River which was the main route to the Wei Valley to the west. To the east were the Taihang Mountains and then the North China Plain. This location gave ambitious Jin dukes the opportunity to move north to conquer and absorb the Xirong tribes, move southwest and fight Qin, and move southeast to absorb the many smaller Zhou states.
Also important to the region were the large states of Chu to the south in the Yangtze and Huai River regions and Qi to the east in Shandong.
Jin had multiple capitals. The first capital of Jin was Tang. The capital was later moved to E, then Jiang, then Xintian. From 746 to 677, Quwo was the capital of a fragment of Jin.

Western Zhou (1046-771)

When the Zhou Dynasty was founded, the conquered lands were given to Zhou relatives and ministers as hereditary fiefs. King Cheng of Zhou, the second Zhou king, gave the land called Tang, west of modern Yicheng County in Shanxi, to his younger brother, Tang Shuyu with the rank of a marquis. Tang Shuyu's son and successor, Marquis Xie of Jin, changed the name of Tang to Jin. There is little information about Jin for this period beyond a list of rulers.

Spring and Autumn period

In 771 the Quanrong nomads drove the Zhou out of the Wei River valley and killed the king. Marquis Wen of Jin, the eleventh marquis of Jin, supported King Ping of Zhou by killing his rival, King Xie of Zhou, an act that King Ping heavily rewarded him for.

The breakaway state of Quwo (745-677)

When Marquis Zhao of Jin acceded to the throne, he gave the land of Quwo to his uncle Chengshi who became Huan Shu of Quwo. In 739, an official named Panfu murdered Marquis Zhao and invited Huan Shu to take the throne. Huan Shu entered Jin but was driven out by the people and retreated to Quwo. All three Quwo rulers, Huan Shu, Zhuang Bo and Duke Wu made attempts to take over Jin. In 678, Duke Wu of Quwo conquered Jin and killed Marquis Min of Jin. One year later, after receiving gifts from Duke Wu, King Xi of Zhou made Duke Wu the legal ruler of Jin, who became known as Duke Wu of Jin.

Ascendency

With the establishment of the Quwo line, Jin became the most powerful state for three generations and remained powerful for a century or more after that. Duke Wu died soon after gaining control of Jin. He was followed by Duke Xian of Jin. Xian broke with Zhou feudalism by killing or exiling his cousins and ruling with appointees of various social backgrounds. He annexed 16 or 17 small states in Shanxi, dominated 38 others, and absorbed a number of Rong tribes. Some of the states conquered were Geng, Huo, old Wei, Yu and Western Guo. His death led to a succession struggle which ended with the enthronement of Duke Hui of Jin. In 646, Duke Hui was captured by Qin and restored as a vassal.
Another son of Duke Xian was Duke Wen of Jin, who spent 19 years exile in various courts. He came to the throne in 636 escorted by the troops of his father-in-law, Duke Mu of Qin. Duke Wen quickly established himself as an independent ruler by driving the Di barbarians west of the Yellow River. In 635 he supported King Xiang of Zhou against a rival and was rewarded with lands near the royal capital. In 633, he confronted the rising power of the southern state of Chu which was then besieging Song. Instead of directly assisting Song, he attacked two vassals of Chu, Cao and Wei. The following year, he formed a military alliance with Qin, Qi and Song that defeated Chu at the Battle of Chengpu, perhaps the largest battle in the Spring and Autumn period. Shortly after the battle, he held an interstate conference at Jitu with King Xiang of Zhou and the rulers of six other states. He affirmed the lords' loyalty and received from the King the title of "ba" or hegemon. At some point there was a war with Qin which ended in peace. Duke Wen erected monuments to the fallen on both sides. The Chinese proverb "The Friendship of Qin and Jin", meaning an unbreakable bond, dates from this period.
Over the next century, a four-way balance of power developed between Qin, Jin, Chu and Qi, with a number of smaller states between Jin and Qi. In 627, Jin defeated Qin while it was attacking Zheng. Jin invaded Qin in 625 and was driven back the following year. In 598, Chu defeated Jin at the Battle of Mi. In 589, Jin defeated Qi, which had invaded Lu and Wei. About this time Jin began to support the southeastern state of Wu as a means of weakening Chu. Duke Li of Jin allied with Qin and Qi to make an east-west front against the threat of Chu from the south. In 579, a minister of the state of Song arranged a four-power conference in which the states agreed to limit their military strength. Four years later, fighting broke out again; Jin and its allies defeated Chu at the battle of Yingling. Duke Dao of Jin strengthened the state by internal improvements rather than external wars. He absorbed a number of Rong tribes and was recognized as Hegemon.

Decline and fall

In 607, Duke Ling of Jin was killed by Zhao Chuan under the orders of his uncle Zhao Dun. Prince Heitun was placed on the throne as Duke Cheng of Jin. This was the beginning of the slow shift of power from the Jin dukes to the ministerial clans. Duke Li of Jin, the grandson of Duke Cheng, tried to break the power of the clans by fostering conflicts between them. In 573, he was killed by the Luan and Zhonghang clans. Duke Dao of Jin strengthened the ducal power, but could not eliminate the power of the other aristocratic families.
After the reign of Duke Zhao of Jin, the Jin dukes were figureheads and the state was controlled by six clans: Fan , Zhonghang, Zhi, Han, Zhao and Wei.
The clans soon began to fight among themselves. During the time of Duke Ding of Jin, the Fan and Zhonghang clans were eliminated by Xiangzi of Zhi. By about 450, the Zhi were dominant and began demanding territory from the other clans. When Zhao resisted, Zhi attacked Zhao and brought along Han and Wei as allies. After a long siege at Taiyuan, Han and Wei switched sides and the three weaker clans annihilated the Zhi. They then divided the Zhi lands, as well as most of the rest of Jin, among themselves. When Duke You of Jin came to the throne, the three clans had taken over much of the remaining Jin lands, leaving the dukes only the area around Jiang and Quwo. From then on, the three clans were known as the "Three Jins".
In 403, during the reign of Duke Lie of Jin, King Weilie of Zhou recognized Marquis Jing of Han, Marquis Wen of Wei and Marquess Lie of Zhao, as marquises of Han in the south, Wei in the center and Zhao in the north, completing the partition of Jin. The state of Jin still nominally existed for several decades afterwards. The Bamboo Annals mentions that in the 20th year of Duke Huan's reign, Marquess Cheng of Zhao and Marquess Gong of Han moved Duke Huan to Tunliu, and after that there were no more records of Duke Huan or any other Jin ruler. Modern historians such as Yang Kuan, Ch'ien Mu, and Han Zhaoqi generally consider 369 BC the final year of Jin's existence.

Military forces

Jin united civil and military authority. Traditionally, Jin had three armies: the upper army, the central army and the lower army. Three more armies were later added. Each army contained 12500 soldiers.
According to the convention of Zhou dynasty, a large fiefdom was allowed to have as many as three armies. Since Jin was a large fiefdom, it was permitted by the Zhou king to own three armies. However, Jin originally had only one army: the limitation was imposed by the Zhou dynasty king in order to observe the rite of Zhou. In 679 BCE, Duke Wu of Quwo assassinated Marquis Xiaozi of Jin and became the ruler of Jin. Quwo was a cadet branch of Jin's ruling house; Ji clan descended from Shu Yu of Tang. The Zhou court, which regarded the lineal legitimacy as an extremely important matter, could not agree with such an usurpation. As a consequence, the king revoked Jin's permission to have three armies.
In 661 BCE, Duke Xian of Jin lifted this prohibition by establishing the upper army; led by himself and the lower army; commanded by his son Shengshen. Jin's central army was established in the year of 633 BCE by Duke Wen of Jin. In 634 BCE, Duke Wen additionally formed three "ranks" with the purpose of defending against a Beidi invasion. The three ranks were later redeployed into the "New armies". The new armies were largely dependent on the actual military necessity instead of being permanent units. Due to their flexibility, the new armies were sometimes omitted.
According to Tang dynasty scholar Kong Yingda, The central army was the most prestigious army among Jin's three armies. Its commander Zhongjunjiang also governs the state of Jin as Zhengqing ----Jin's prime minister. Commander of the upper army and commander of the lower army did not have the access of political influence in Jin's court and were merely military staffs. Every commander of an Jin army was accompanied by a Junzuo who was the assistant of Junjiang. Other posts in Jin' army were: Junsima and Junwei. The two were subordinated under Junjiang and Junzuo.

Military ranks

List of Jin rulers based on the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals.
The original branch:
TitleGiven nameReign
Shu Yu of Tang 唐叔虞Yú 虞1042–?
Xie, Marquis of Jin 晉侯燮Xiè 燮
Marquis Wu of Jin 晉武侯Níngzú 寧族
Marquis Cheng of Jin 晉成侯Fúrén 服人
Marquis Li of Jin 晉厲侯Fú 福?–859
Marquis Jing of Jin 晉靖侯Yíjìu 宜臼858–841
Marquis Xi of Jin 晉釐侯Sītú 司徒840–823
Marquis Xian of Jin 晉獻侯Jí 籍822–812
Marquis Mu of Jin 晉穆侯Fèiwáng 費王811–785
Shang Shu 殤叔unknown784–781
Marquis Wen of Jin 晉文侯Chóu 仇780–746
Marquis Zhao of Jin 晉昭侯Bó 伯745–740
Marquis Xiao of Jin 晉孝侯Píng 平739–724
Marquis E of Jin 晉鄂侯Xì 郤723–718
Marquis Ai of Jin 晉哀侯Guāng 光717–709
Marquis Xiaozi of Jin 晉小子侯unknown708–705
Min, Marquis of Jin 晉侯緡Mín 緡704–678

The Quwo branch, replacing the original branch in 678:
TitleGiven nameReign
Huan Shu of Quwo 曲沃桓叔Chéngshī 成師745–732
Zhuang Bo of Quwo 曲沃莊伯Shàn 鱓731–716
Duke Wu of Quwo and Jin 曲沃武公Chēng 稱715–679 as Duke of Quwo
678–677 as Duke of Jin
Duke Xian of Jin 晉獻公Guǐzhū 詭諸676–651
noneXīqí 奚齊651
Zhuozi 卓子Zhuō 卓651
Duke Hui of Jin 晉恵公Yíwú 夷吾650–637
Duke Huai of Jin 晉懷公Yǔ 圉637
Duke Wen of Jin 晉文公Chóng'ěr 重耳636–628
Duke Xiang of Jin 晉襄公Huān 驩627–621
Duke Ling of Jin 晉靈公Yígāo 夷皋620–607
Duke Cheng of Jin 晉成公Hēitún 黑臀606–600
Duke Jing of Jin 晉景公Jù 據599–581
Duke Li of Jin 晉厲公Shòumàn 壽曼580–573
Duke Dao of Jin 晉悼公Zhōu 周573–558
Duke Ping of Jin 晉平公Biāo 彪557–532
Duke Zhao of Jin 晉昭公Yí 夷531–526
Duke Qing of Jin 晉頃公Qùjí 去疾525–512
Duke Ding of Jin 晉定公Wǔ 午511–475
Duke Chu of Jin 晉出公Záo 鑿474–452
Duke Jing 晉敬公/哀公/懿公Jiāo 驕451–434
Duke You of Jin 晉幽公Liǔ 柳433–416
Duke Lie of Jin 晉烈公Zhǐ 止415–389
Duke Huan 晉桓公/孝公Qí 頎388–369

The Records of the Grand Historian also has another Duke Jing after Duke Xiao. However, Shiji's account of the last rulers of Jin is often self-contradictory, and is further contradicted by the Bamboo Annals, which does not mention any Jin ruler after Duke Huan of Jin. Historians such as Yang Kuan, Ch'ien Mu, and Han Zhaoqi generally regard the Bamboo Annals as more reliable, as it was unearthed from the tomb of King Xiang of the State of Wei, one of the three successor states of Jin. Duke Huan is therefore generally considered the final ruler of Jin.

Later tradition

Claimed descendants

The Sui dynasty Emperors were from the northwest military aristocracy, and emphasized that their patrilineal ancestry was ethnic Han, claiming descent from the Han official Yang Zhen. and the New Book of Tang traced his patrilineal ancestry to the Zhou dynasty kings via Ji Boqiao 姬, who was the son of Duke Wu of Jin. Ji Boqiao's family became known as the "sheep tongue family".
The Yang of Hongnong were asserted as ancestors by the Sui Emperors like the Longxi Li's were asserted as ancestors of the Tang Emperors. The Li of Zhaojun and the Lu of Fanyang hailed from Shandong and were related to the Liu clan which was also linked to the Yang of Hongnong and other clans of Guanlong. Duke Wu of Jin was claimed as the ancestors of the Hongnong Yang.
The Yang of Hongnong, Jia of Hedong, Xiang of Henei, and Wang of Taiyuan from the Tang dynasty were claimed as ancestors by Song dynasty lineages.
There were Dukedoms for the offspring of the royal families of the Zhou dynasty, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty in the Later Jin.

Astrology

Jin is represented by the star 36 Capricorni in the asterism Twelve States, Girl mansion. Jin is also represented by the star Kappa Herculis in asterism Right Wall, Heavenly Market enclosure.