King Zhuāng of Chu (楚莊王) (died 591 BC) was leader in the state of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His name was Mi Lǚ (羋侶). He took his throne in 613 BC. When he ascended the throne the Kingdom of Chu was in disarray. For the first three years of his kingship, Zhuang wasted time, hunted excessively and partied lavishly. Several courtiers were anxious about the king but none dared speak up as the king had given orders that anyone who challenges his rules shall be killed. When a particularly senior minister challenged him through a riddle, the king responded that he had been waiting for 3 years for someone from his court to show some nationalistic pride. He made Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖) Prime Minister and started reforms. The agricultural output of the state of Chu was much better under his reign, improved by Sunshu Ao's large dam-works and enormous planned reservoir created in modern-day northern Anhui province. In 611 BC he annexed the state of Yong and made Chu much stronger. After some brilliant victories with his army, he attempted to take the place of the King of Zhou through shrewd symbolism (comparing size of a ceremonial vase). In the Battle of Bi, his army defeated the state of Jin, another strong state at that time. Later he got hegemony among some other states. His exploits from a lazy regent to the hegemon of his time gave rise to the Chinese Four-character idiom of "Yī Mǐng Jīng Rén" (一鸣惊人), literally "Amazing [others] with one cry", which comes from a comment given to him: "不嗚則已，一嗚驚人；不飛則已，一飛冲天", translated as "[It would be] fine if he does not cry, [if he does,] one cry is enough to amaze all others; [It would be fine] if he does not fly, [if he does,] he would charge through the sky". Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC 600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC 540s BC Events and Trends 598 BC - Jehoaichin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah 598 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem... State of Chu (small seal script, 220 BC) Chu (楚) was a kingdom in what is now southern China during the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BCE) and Warring States Period (481-212 BCE). ... The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) represented an era in Chinese history between 722 BC and 481 BC. The period takes its name from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the period whose authorship was traditionally attributed to Confucius. ... History studies the past in human terms. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 660s BC 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC - 610s BC - 600s BC 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC Events and Trends 619 BC - Alyattes becomes king of Lydia 619 BC _ Death of Zhou xiang... A prime minister is the very most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Anhui (Chinese: 安徽; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: An-hui; Postal System Pinyin: Ngan-hui, Anhwei or An-hwei) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 110s BC - 100s BC - 90s BC - 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC - 30s BC - 20s BC - 10s BC Years: 69 BC 68 BC 67 BC 66 BC 65 BC 64 BC 63 BC 62 BC 61... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Boundaries of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 - 771 BC) in China The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chou Ch`ao; 1122 BC to 256 BC (ref) followed the Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ... The Battle of Bi or Pi was fought in 595 BC, between the armies of Chu and Tsin. ... Categories: Ancient Chinese states | China-related stubs ... Hegemony (pronounced or ) (Greek: ) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. ... 成语 chéngyÇ” Four-character idioms, or chéngyÇ” (成語/成语, literally to become (part of) the language) are widely used in 文言 Classical Chinese, a literary form used in the Chinese written language from antiquity to until 1919, and are still commonly used in Vernacular writing today. ...

References

Editors Lin Handa (林汉达), Cao Yuzhang (曹余章). "Five thousand Years of Chinese History" (上下五千年). 1990, Youth & Children Publishing, PRC.