Chu ( Chinese : 楚 ; pinyin : Chǔ ; Wade–Giles : Ch'u , Old Chinese : *s-r̥aʔ ) was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty . Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period . At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BC during the Qin's wars of unification .
136-444: The Jingchu Suishiji , also known by various English translations, is a description of holidays in central China during the 6th and 7th centuries. It was compiled by Du Gongzhan in the Sui or early Tang (early 7th century) as a revised, annotated edition of Zong Lin 's mid-6th-century Record of Jingchu or Jingchuji . The original Record is now lost; the original text of
272-546: A mixed language or a creole —a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis . Although the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages including Dutch , German , and Swedish . These shared innovations show that
408-546: A "new canon" of major festivals. The Chinese New Year , Lantern , Tomb Sweeping , Dragon Boat , Double Seven , Ghost , and Double Ninth Festivals all took most of their present form during the periods leading up to the composition of the Jingchu Suishiji (from the late Han to the Six Dynasties). The Double Seven and Double Ninth Festivals reflect the growing use from the late Han onward of monthly dating rather than
544-635: A 2012 official Eurobarometer poll (conducted when the UK was still a member of the EU), 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents. A working knowledge of English has become
680-607: A cadet branch of Chu's royal house of Mi . Mo'ao, one of the three chancellors of Chu, was exclusively chosen from Qu ( 屈 ) clan. During the early spring and autumn period and before the Ruo'ao rebellion , Lingyin was a position held by Ruo'aos, namely Dou ( 鬭 ) and Cheng ( 成 ). Progenitors of Chu such as viscount Xiong Yi were said to originate from the Jing Mountains ; a chain of mountains located in today's Hubei province . Rulers of Chu systematically migrated states annexed by Chu to
816-562: A counterweight against Chu. Wu defeated Qi and then invaded Chu in 506 BC. Following the Battle of Boju , it occupied Chu's capital at Ying, forcing King Zhao to flee to his allies in Yun and " Sui ". King Zhao eventually returned to Ying but, after another attack from Wu in 504 BC, he temporarily moved the capital into the territory of the former state of Ruo . Chu began to strengthen Yue in modern Zhejiang to serve as allies against Wu. Yue
952-570: A distinct " Chinese " culture. Based on the archaeological finds, Chu's culture was initially quite similar to that of the other Zhou states of the Yellow River basin. However, subsequently, Chu absorbed indigenous elements from the Baiyue lands that it conquered to the south and east, developing a blended culture compared to the northern plains. During the Western Zhou period, the difference between
1088-651: A distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms , and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns ( he , him , his ) and has a few verb inflections ( speak , speaks , speaking , spoke , spoken ), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings. Its closest relative
1224-484: A foreign language, make up the "expanding circle". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English
1360-638: A group of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons . Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Then, Middle English borrowed vocabulary extensively from French dialects , which are the source of approximately 28% of Modern English words , and from Latin , which is the source of an additional 28% . As such, though most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages , Modern English's grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words in everyday use keep it genealogically classified under
1496-615: A long struggle for supremacy over the lands of the former Qin Empire, which became known as the Chu–Han Contention . The conflict ended in victory for Liu Bang: he proclaimed the Han dynasty and was later honored with the temple name Gaozu, while Xiang Yu committed suicide in defeat. Liu Bang immediately enacted a more traditional and less intrusive administration than the Qin before him, made peace with
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#17328687624471632-412: A meeting with his subjects to discuss his plans for the invasion of Chu. Wang Jian said that the invasion force needed to be at least 600,000 strong, while Li Xin thought that less than 200,000 men would be sufficient. Ying Zheng ordered Li Xin and Meng Wu to lead the army against Chu. The Chu army, led by Xiang Yan , secretly followed Li Xin's army for three days and three nights, before launching
1768-520: A more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English as they grow up through day-to-day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by non-native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in
1904-688: A number of other Anglic languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian dialect and Yola language of Ireland. Like Icelandic and Faroese , the development of English in the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and it has since diverged considerably. English is not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, as it differs in vocabulary , syntax , and phonology . However, some of these, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages. Unlike Icelandic and Faroese, which were isolated,
2040-518: A protracted campaign in Huaiyang under Wang Jian. Both soldiers wrote letters requesting supplies of clothing and money from home to sustain the long waiting campaign. The Chu populace in areas conquered by Qin openly ignored the stringent Qin laws and governance, as recorded in the excavated bamboo slips of a Qin administrator in Hubei. Chu aspired to overthrow the painful yoke of Qin rule and re-establishing
2176-679: A requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995. International communities such as international business people may use English as an auxiliary language , with an emphasis on vocabulary suitable for their domain of interest. This has led some scholars to develop
2312-407: A rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection and a fairly fixed subject–verb–object word order . Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses , aspects and moods , as well as passive constructions , interrogatives , and some negation . The earliest form of English
2448-632: A riverine transport system of boats augmented by wagons. These are detailed in bronze tallies with gold inlay regarding trade along the river systems connecting with those of the Chu capital at Ying. Although bronze inscriptions from the ancient state of Chu show little linguistic differences from the "Elegant Speech" (yǎyán 雅言) during the Eastern Zhou period , the variety of Old Chinese spoken in Chu has long been assumed to reflect lexical borrowings and syntactical interferences from non-Sinitic substrates , which
2584-484: A separate state. The attitude was captured in a Chinese expression about implacable hostility: "Though Chu has but three clans , Qin shall fall by Chu's hand" ( 楚雖三戶, 亡秦必楚 ). After Ying Zheng declared himself the First Emperor ( Shi Huangdi ) and reigned briefly, the people of Chu and its former ruling house organized the first violent insurrections against the new Qin administration. They were especially resentful of
2720-744: A significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages and new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide
2856-442: A surprise offensive and destroying Li Xin army. Upon learning of Li's defeat, Ying Zheng replaced Li with Wang Jian, putting Wang in command of the 600,000-strong army he had requested earlier and placing Meng Wu beneath him as a deputy. Worried that the Qin tyrant might fear the power he now possessed and order him executed upon some pretense, Wang Jian constantly sent messengers back to the king in order to remain in contact and reduce
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#17328687624472992-463: A swift assault. The Qin forces pursued the retreating Chu forces to Qinan ( 蕲南 ; northwest of present-day Qichun in Hubei ) and Xiang Yan was either killed in the action or committed suicide following his defeat. The next year, in 223 BC, Qin launched another campaign and captured the Chu capital Shouchun. King Fuchu was captured and his state annexed. The following year, Wang Jian and Meng Wu led
3128-447: A verb ending ( present plural): From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Old English gradually transformed through language contact with Old Norse in some regions. The waves of Norse (Viking) colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the north-eastern varieties of Old English spoken in
3264-552: Is Old Frisian , but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the Danelaw and other Viking invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility, although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than
3400-459: Is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the United States as a world power. As of 2016 , 400 million people spoke English as their first language , and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. English is the largest language by number of speakers . English
3536-603: Is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However, English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in
3672-407: Is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru distinguished countries where English is spoken with a three circles model . In his model, Kachru based his model on
3808-528: Is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( c. 450–1150 ). Old English developed from a set of West Germanic dialects, often grouped as Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic , and originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia , Lower Saxony and southern Jutland by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes . From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as
3944-527: Is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1150 to 1500. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now-Norsified Old English language was subject to another wave of intense contact, this time with Old French , in particular Old Norman French , influencing it as a superstrate. The Norman French spoken by
4080-424: Is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in
4216-510: Is sometimes difficult to distinguish Zong's text from Du's emendations—seems to have been lost under the Song (10th–13th centuries). Surviving editions of the work differ greatly and appear to be Ming and Qing (14th–20th-century) attempts to recreate the work from fragments elsewhere in sources like the Yiwen Leiju and Taiping Yulan . Du died in office as the magistrate of Anyang . Jingchu
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4352-517: Is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English
4488-473: Is the Angles , one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain . It is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations ) and the United States . English is the third-most spoken native language , after Standard Chinese and Spanish ; it is also the most widely learned second language in
4624-777: Is the third person pronoun group beginning with th- ( they, them, their ) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- ( hie, him, hera ). Other core Norse loanwords include "give", "get", "sky", "skirt", "egg", and "cake", typically displacing a native Anglo-Saxon equivalent. Old Norse in this era retained considerable mutual intelligibility with some dialects of Old English, particularly northern ones. Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, ... Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting. Although, from
4760-515: The Songs of Chu , historical records, excavated bamboo documents such as the Guodian slips , and other artifacts reveal heavy Taoist and native folk influence in Chu culture. The disposition to a spiritual, often pleasurable and decadent lifestyle, and the confidence in the size of the Chu realm led to the inefficiency and eventual destruction of the Chu state by the ruthless Legalist state of Qin. Even though
4896-524: The se was preferred over the zither , while both instruments were equally preferred in the northern Zhou states. Chu came into frequent contact with other peoples in the south, most notably the Ba , Yue , and the Baiyue . Numerous burials and burial objects in the Ba and Yue styles have been discovered throughout the territory of Chu, co-existing with Chu-style burials and burial objects. Some archaeological records of
5032-943: The Anglic languages in the British Isles , and into the Frisian languages and Low German /Low Saxon on the continent. The Frisian languages, which together with the Anglic languages form the Anglo-Frisian languages , are the closest living relatives of English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the North Sea Germanic languages, though this grouping remains debated. Old English evolved into Middle English , which in turn evolved into Modern English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into
5168-479: The Augustinian canon Orrm , which highlights the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English for the first time. In Wycliff'e Bible of the 1380s, the verse Matthew 8:20 was written: Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis . Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present. By the 12th century Middle English
5304-537: The Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English . The centre of Norsified English was in the Midlands around Lindsey . After 920 CE, when Lindsey was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, English spread extensively throughout the region. An element of Norse influence that continues in all English varieties today
5440-532: The European Free Trade Association , Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of
5576-518: The Jingchu Suishiji seems to have been lost as well, with current editions consisting of various attempts of Ming and Qing scholars to recover the text from fragments in other works. Zong Lin ( 宗 懍 , Zōng Lǐn , w Tsung Lin ; AD 498–561) was a member of the Nanyang immigrants to Jiangling , Hubei , who composed his Record of Jingchu under the Liang . It seems likely he wrote
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5712-514: The Legalistic reforms of Shang Yang . In 241 BC, five of the seven major warring states–Chu, Zhao, Wei, Yan and Han–formed an alliance to fight the rising power of Qin. King Kaolie of Chu was named the leader of the alliance and Lord Chunshen the military commander. According to historian Yang Kuan , the Zhao general Pang Nuan ( 庞煖 ) was the actual commander in the battle. The allies attacked Qin at
5848-518: The Sichuan Basin was its great agricultural output and its control over the upper reaches of the Yangtze River , leading directly into the Chu heartland. King Huiwen of Qin opted to support Sima Cuo. In 316 BC, Qin invaded and conquered Shu and nearby Ba , expanding downriver in the following decades. In 278 BC, the Qin general Bai Qi finally conquered Chu's capital at Ying. Following
5984-641: The United Nations at the end of World War II , English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee , specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation. Many regional international organisations such as
6120-697: The Xiongnu through heqin intermarriages, rewarded his allies with large fiefdoms, and allowed the population to rest from centuries of warfare. The core Chu territories centered in Pengcheng was granted first to general Han Xin and then to Liu Bang's brother Liu Jiao as the Kingdom of Chu . By the time of Emperor Wu of Han , the southern folk culture and aesthetics were mixed with the Han-sponsored Confucian tradition and Qin-influenced central governance to create
6256-492: The apocryphal Yulanpen Sutra and described the holiday during his time: people offered temples flowers, flags , and bowls and joined monks and nuns in drumming and singing . Du's commentary on Zong's section about the Cold Food Festival supports the idea that it derived from an old Zhou ritual about banning fire in the capital during the last month of spring. This derives, however, from an ignorance that
6392-606: The fiefdom of Chu in the Nanyang Basin and the hereditary title of 子 ( zǐ , " viscount "). Then the first capital of Chu was established at Danyang (present-day Xichuan in Henan). In 977 BC, during his campaign against Chu , King Zhao of Zhou 's boat sank and he drowned in the Han River . After this death, Zhou ceased to expand to the south, allowing the southern tribes and Chu to cement their own autonomy much earlier than
6528-511: The palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization ). The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in
6664-558: The "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines , Jamaica , India , Pakistan , Singapore , Malaysia and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and its routine use for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to
6800-485: The 14th century. His nephew Du Gongzhan ( 杜 公 瞻 , Dù Gōngzhān , w Tu Kung-chan ; died after 590) used the Precious Canon to revise and annotate Zong's text sometime in the late Sui or early Tang . Du's family came from Boling (probably Dingzhou , Hebei ) and some of his notes are about the differences in the festivals' observance in northern China. The original text of this work—in which it
6936-596: The 8th and 9th centuries. Middle English began in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England, when a considerable amount of Old French vocabulary was incorporated into English over some three centuries. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the start of the Great Vowel Shift and the Renaissance trend of borrowing further Latin and Greek words and roots, concurrent with
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#17328687624477072-595: The Angles. English may have a small amount of substrate influence from Common Brittonic, and a number of possible Brittonicisms in English have been proposed, but whether most of these supposed Brittonicisms are actually a direct result of Brittonic substrate influence is disputed. Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ( Mercian and Northumbrian ) and the Saxon dialects ( Kentish and West Saxon ). Through
7208-512: The British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English
7344-502: The Central plains. However, this image originated with the later development of Chu relative to the Central plains, and the stereotype was retrospectively cultivated by Confucian scholars in the Qin dynasty, to indirectly criticise the ruling regime, and the Han dynasty as a means of curbing their ideological opponents who were associated with such cultural practices. As the founder of the Han dynasty
7480-499: The Chu appear at Mawangdui . After the Han dynasty , some Confucian scholars considered Chu culture with distaste, criticizing the "lewd" music and shamanistic rituals associated with Chu culture. Chu artisanship includes color, especially the lacquer woodworks. Red and black pigmented lacquer were most used. Silk-weaving also attained a high level of craftsmanship, creating lightweight robes with flowing designs. These examples (as at Mawangdui) were preserved in waterlogged tombs where
7616-535: The Chu capital moved south-east from Danyang to Ying. Chu first consolidated its power by absorbing other states in its original area (modern Hubei ), then it expanded into the north towards the North China Plain . In the summer of 648 BC, the State of Huang was annexed by the state of Chu. The threat from Chu resulted in multiple northern alliances under the leadership of Jin . These alliances kept Chu in check, and
7752-451: The Chu kingdom lost their first major battle at the Chengpu in 632 BC. During the 6th century BC, Jin and Chu fought numerous battles over the hegemony of central plain . In 597 BC , Jin was defeated by Chu in the battle of Bi , causing Jin's temporary inability to counter Chu's expansion. Chu strategically used the state of Zheng as its representative in the central plain area, through
7888-459: The Chu may have acquired as a result of its southern migration into what Tian Jizhou believed to be a Kra–Dai or (para-) Hmong–Mien area in southern China. Recent excavated texts, corroborated by dialect words recorded in the Fangyan , further demonstrated substrate influences, but there are competing hypotheses on their genealogical affiliation. Noticing that both 荆 Jīng and 楚 Chǔ refer to
8024-555: The Chu tomb in Xichuan, Henan Province are complex in shape. Dated to the mid sixth century BC, it was one of the early confirmed lost-wax cast artifacts discovered in China proper. Later Chu burials, especially during the Warring States, featured distinct burial objects , such as colorful lacquerware , iron, and silk, accompanied by a reduction in bronze vessel offerings . A common Chu motif
8160-537: The Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I . Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight , gnat , and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent
8296-628: The English Language , which introduced standard spellings of words and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language to try to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent of the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of
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#17328687624478432-429: The English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers. English has ceased to be an "English language" in
8568-541: The Fangcheng mountain. Strategically, Fangcheng is an ideal defense against states of central plain . Due to its strategic value, numerous castles were built on the Fangcheng mountain. Yunmeng Ze in Jianghan Plain was an immense freshwater lake that historically existed in Chu's realm, It was crossed by Yanzi river, the northern Yunmeng was named Meng ( 夢 ), the southern Yunmeng was known as Yun ( 雲 ). The lake's body covers parts of today's Zhijiang, Jianli , Shishou , Macheng , Huanggang , and Anlu . Shaoxi Pass
8704-410: The Germanic branch. It exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is then most closely related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages . English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . Old English originated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the Frisian North Sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into
8840-443: The Jing mountains in order to control them more efficiently. East of Jing mountains are the Tu ( 塗 ) mountains. In the north-east part of Chu are the Dabie mountains ; the drainage divide of Huai river and Yangtse river . The first capital of Chu, Danyang ( 丹陽 ) was located in today's Zhijiang , Hubei province. Ying ( 郢 ), one of the later capitals of Chu, is known by its contemporary name Jingzhou . In Chu's northern border lies
8976-408: The Qin corvée ; folk poems record the mournful sadness of Chu families whose men worked in the frigid north to construct the Great Wall of China . The Dazexiang Uprising occurred in 209 BC under the leadership of a Chu peasant, Chen Sheng , who proclaimed himself "King of Rising Chu" ( Zhangchu ). This uprising was crushed by the Qin army but it inspired a new wave of other rebellions. One of
9112-449: The Qin army against Wuyue around the mouth of the Yangtze , capturing the descendants of the royal family of Yue . These conquered territories became the Kuaiji Prefecture of the Qin Empire. At their peak, Chu and Qin together fielded over 1,000,000 troops, more than the massive Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao 35 years before. The excavated personal letters of two regular Qin soldiers, Hei Fu ( 黑夫 ) and Jing ( 惊 ), tell of
9248-431: The Qin realm lacked the vast natural resources and waterways of Chu, the Qin government maximized its output under the efficient minister Shang Yang , installing a meritocracy focused solely on agricultural and military might. Archaeological evidence shows that Chu music was annotated differently from Zhou. Chu music also showed an inclination for using different performance ensembles, as well as unique instruments. In Chu,
9384-502: The Roman economy and administration collapsed . By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain , replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409): Common Brittonic , a Celtic language , and British Latin , brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc ) are both named after
9520-442: The Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations. Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language . In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than Ireland and Malta ). In
9656-486: The United Nations , the European Union , and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become the de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science , technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and the Internet . English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2021 , Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. Old English emerged from
9792-593: The Weaver Girl " and Zhang Qian with his magical raft . Similarly, an edition of the Jingchu Suishiji from the end of the Six Dynasties period of Chinese history is one of the few sources of the era that mention the Ghost Festival , a Buddhist holiday on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month supposedly started by the disciple Moggallāna to free his dead mother from her status as a hungry ghost . Zong quoted
9928-407: The base from which English spreads to other countries in the world. Estimates of the numbers of second language and foreign-language English speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1 billion, depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model,
10064-449: The basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of
10200-400: The beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, ... Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing. John Trevisa , c. 1385 Middle English
10336-611: The book after moving to Chang'an in 554. Aside from the Jingchu Suishiji and other fragments, the original text is now lost. Du Taiqing ( t 杜 臺 卿 , s 杜 台 卿 , Dù Táiqīng , w Tu T‘ai-ch‘ing ; born c. 536 ) drew from Zong's work in composing his own seasonal calendar, the Precious Canon of the Jade Candle ( t 《 玉 燭 寶典 》 , s 《 玉 烛 宝典 》 , Yùzhú Bǎodiǎn , w Yü-chu Pao-tien ), shortly after 581. It survives in an incomplete Japanese manuscript, probably from
10472-697: The consensus of educated English speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers. The settlement history of
10608-504: The culture of Chu and the Central Plains states to the north was negligible. Only in the late Spring and Autumn period does Chu culture begin to diverge, preserving some older aspects of the culture and developing new phenomena. It also absorbed some elements from annexed areas. The culture of Chu had significant internal diversity from locality to locality. Chu, like Qin and Yan , was often described as being not as cultured by people in
10744-476: The development of English was influenced by a long series of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and French dialects . These left a profound mark of their own on the language, so that English shows some similarities in vocabulary and grammar with many languages outside its linguistic clades —but it is not mutually intelligible with any of those languages either. Some scholars have argued that English can be considered
10880-467: The distinct characteristics of Early Modern English. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says, "The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests." This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with subject–verb–object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and
11016-401: The early period of Old English were written using a runic script . By the 6th century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms . It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ ƿ ⟩ and thorn ⟨ þ ⟩ , and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ ð ⟩ , and ash ⟨ æ ⟩ . Old English is essentially
11152-539: The educational reforms of King Alfred in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex , the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety . The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn , is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from
11288-684: The elite in England eventually developed into the Anglo-Norman language . Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking English, the main influence of Norman was the introduction of a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative cases
11424-408: The expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use the language. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in
11560-827: The fall of Ying, the Chu government moved to various locations in the east until settling in Shouchun in 241 BC. After a massive two-year struggle, Bai Qi lured the main Zhao force of 400,000 men onto the field, surrounding them and forcing their surrender at Changping in 260 BC. The Qin army massacred their prisoners, removing the last major obstacle to Qin dominance over the Chinese states. By 225 BC, only four kingdoms remained: Qin, Chu, Yan , and Qi . Chu had recovered sufficiently to mount serious resistance. Despite its size, resources, and manpower, though, Chu's corrupt government worked against it. In 224 BC, Ying Zheng called for
11696-419: The festival had originally been observed around midwinter and continued so as late as the Han . The best edition of the Jingchu Suishiji is that compiled as part of Mitsu Moriya 's Study of China's Old Seasonal Records . It has been translated into German by Turban and into Japanese by Moriya & al., which includes helpful commentary. The Jingchu Suishiji was very influential on writings about
11832-710: The growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, caused the language to spread across the planet much faster. In the 21st century, English is more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been. As Modern English developed, explicit norms for standard usage were published, and spread through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of
11968-500: The high priest of Chu, multiple entries in Zuo Zhuan indicated their role as oracles. Other Yins recorded by history were: Yuyin, Lianyin, Jiaoyin, Gongjiyin, Lingyin, Huanlie Zhi Yin (Commander of Palace guards) and Yueyin (Minister of Music). In counties and commanderies, Gong ( 公 ), also known as Xianyin (minister of county) was the chief administrator. In many cases, positions in Chu's bureaucracy were hereditarily held by members of
12104-479: The history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation. The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift , meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised , and close vowels were broken into diphthongs . For example,
12240-407: The history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time. Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where
12376-509: The history of the festivals as then understood. Some are traced to gods and legendary ancestors , others to agricultural rhythms, and others to historical figures or events . The work also includes irregularly observed rituals and celebrations concerning disease, bodily functions, marriage , childbirth, dancing , and the exorcism of evil spirits . Importantly, the Jingchu Suishiji records changing Chinese rituals, cuisine , and entertainment as religious and calendrical changes led to
12512-403: The inner-circle countries, and they may show grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries. In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as
12648-524: The introduction of loanwords from French ( ayre ) and word replacements ( bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol ). By the late 18th century, the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English
12784-467: The introduction of the printing press to London. This era notably culminated in the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare . The printing press greatly standardised English spelling, which has remained largely unchanged since then, despite a wide variety of later sound shifts in English dialects. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century as a consequence of
12920-426: The king and left the state very powerful until the late 4th century BC, when Zhao and Qin were ascendant. Chu's powerful army once again became successful, defeating the states of Wei and Yue . Yue was partitioned between Chu and Qi in either 334 or 333 BC. However, the officials of Chu wasted no time in their revenge and Wu Qi was assassinated at King Dao's funeral in 381 BC. Prior to Wu's service in
13056-453: The king's suspicion. Wang Jian's army passed through southern Chen ( 陳 ; present-day Huaiyang in Henan) and made camp at Pingyu. The Chu armies under Xiang Yan used their full strength against the camp but failed. Wang Jian ordered his troops to defend their positions firmly but avoid advancing further into Chu territory. After failing to lure the Qin army into an attack, Xiang Yan ordered a retreat; Wang Jian seized this opportunity to launch
13192-517: The lacquer did not peel off over time and in tombs sealed with coal or white clay. Chu used the calligraphic script called "Birds and Worms" style , which was borrowed by the Wu and Yue states. It has a design that embellishes the characters with motifs of animals, snakes, birds, and insects. This is another representation of the natural world and its liveliness. Chu produced broad bronze swords that were similar to Wuyue swords but not as intricate. Chu created
13328-431: The languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic . Some shared features of Germanic languages include the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, the use of modal verbs , and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws . English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as
13464-516: The late 4th century BC, however, Chu's prominent status had fallen into decay. As a result of several invasions headed by Zhao and Qin, Chu was eventually completely wiped out by Qin. The Chu state was completely eradicated by the Qin dynasty. According to the Records of the Warring States , a debate between the Diplomat strategist Zhang Yi and the Qin general Sima Cuo led to two conclusions concerning
13600-610: The leaders, Jing Ju of Chu, proclaimed himself the new king of Chu. Jing Ju was defeated by another rebel force under Xiang Liang . Xiang installed Xiong Xin , a scion of Chu's traditional royal family, on the throne of Chu under the regnal name King Huai II. In 206 BC, after the fall of the Qin Empire, Xiang Yu , Xiang Liang's nephew, proclaimed himself the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" and promoted King Huai II to "Emperor Yi". He subsequently had Yi assassinated. Xiang Yu then engaged with Liu Bang , another prominent anti-Qin rebel, in
13736-470: The means of intimidation and threats, Chu forced Zheng to ally with itself. On the other hand, Jin had to balance out Chu's influence by repeatedly allying with Lu , Wey , and Song . The tension between Chu and Jin did not loosen until the year of 579 BC when a truce was signed between the two states. At the beginning of the sixth century BC, Jin strengthened the state of Wu near the Yangtze delta to act as
13872-407: The old sexagenary cycle of heavenly stems and earthly branches . Similarly, the new reckoning gave added importance to the proper new year festival, which added features from the old popular "new year" La sacrifices and exorcisms that had occurred in the 12th month after midwinter. The Jingchu Suishiji is one of the first sources to record the combination of the stories of " The Cowherd and
14008-569: The pestilent son of the monster Gonggong ; the practice spread to Korea under the Goryeo and has continued as part of the Korean New Year celebrations. English language English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , whose speakers, called Anglophones , originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain . The namesake of the language
14144-481: The present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan , along with parts of Chongqing , Guizhou , Henan , Anhui , Jiangxi , Jiangsu , Zhejiang , and Shanghai . For more than 400 years, the Chu capital Danyang was located at the junction of the Dan and Xi Rivers near present-day Xichuan County , Henan, but later moved to Ying . The house of Chu originally bore the ancestral temple surname Nai ( 嬭 OC: /*rneːlʔ/) which
14280-426: The prestige varieties among the middle classes. In modern English, the loss of grammatical case is almost complete (it is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him , she and her , who and whom ), and SVO word order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support , have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it
14416-657: The reign of Henry V . Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents , and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard , developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands . In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from
14552-424: The resources to maintain their positions for long. To defeat them, we must strike swiftly, unexpectedly and retreat quickly before they can counter-attack. This will create unease in their weary soldiers and reduce their fighting spirit. Thus, with persistence, their army can be defeated. During the late Warring States period, Chu was increasingly pressured by Qin to its west, especially after Qin enacted and preserved
14688-515: The royal entourage. Many officials had no meaningful task except taking money and Chu's army, while large, was of low quality. In the late 390s BC, King Dao of Chu made Wu Qi his chancellor . Wu's reforms began to transform Chu into an efficient and powerful state in 389 BC, as he lowered the salaries of officials and removed useless officials. He also enacted building codes to make the capital Ying seem less barbaric. Despite Wu Qi's unpopularity among Chu's ruling class, his reforms strengthened
14824-528: The seasons and festivals of China throughout the Tang and Song , being quoted greatly more than any other non- classical text. The book is sometimes credited as the earliest reference to the Korean traditions concerning red-bean porridge and the beverages that became seju . The consumption of red-bean porridge around the new year had been common in China in order to stave off disease—particularly smallpox —spread by
14960-464: The sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English . Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries. As decolonisation proceeded throughout
15096-474: The southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them. The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ( nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and
15232-399: The state of Chu, Wu lived in the state of Wei, where his military analysis of the six opposing states was recorded in his magnum opus, The Book of Master Wu . Of Chu, he said: The Chu people are soft and weak. Their lands stretch far and wide, and the government cannot effectively administer the expanse. Their troops are weary and although their formations are well-ordered, they do not have
15368-446: The states to the north. The Chu viscount Xiong Qu overthrew E in 863 BC but subsequently made its capital Ezhou one of his capitals. In either 703 or 706, the ruler Xiong Tong became the ruler of Chu. Under the reign of King Zhuang , Chu reached the height of its power and its ruler was considered one of the five Hegemons of the era. After a number of battles with neighboring states, sometime between 695 and 689 BC,
15504-408: The strategic Hangu Pass but were defeated. King Kaolie blamed Lord Chunshen for the loss and began to mistrust him. Afterwards, Chu moved its capital east to Shouchun , farther away from the threat of Qin. As Qin expanded into Chu's territory, Chu was forced to expand southwards and eastwards, absorbing local cultural influences along the way. Lu was conquered by King Kaolie in 223 BC. By
15640-455: The study of English as an auxiliary language. The trademarked Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words, designed to represent the highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English . The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into
15776-580: The thorny chaste tree (genus Vitex ), Schuessler (2007) proposes two Austroasiatic comparanda: The Mo'ao ( 莫敖 ) and the Lingyin ( 令尹 ) were the top government officials of Chu. Sima was the military commander of Chu's army. Lingyin, Mo'ao and Sima were the San Gong ( 三公 ) of Chu. In the Spring and Autumn period, Zuoyin ( 左尹 ) and Youyin ( 右尹 ) were added as the undersecretaries of Lingyin. Likewise, Sima ( 司馬 )
15912-451: The unification of China. Zhang Yi argued in favor of conquering Han and seizing the Mandate of Heaven from the powerless Zhou king would be wise. Sima Cuo, however, considered that the primary difficulty was not legitimacy but the strength of Qin's opponents; he argued that "conquering Shu is conquering Chu" and, "once Chu is eliminated, the country will be united". The importance of Shu in
16048-486: The vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death , and to claims of linguistic imperialism , and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives. State of Chu Also known as Jing ( 荊 ) and Jingchu ( 荊楚 ), Chu included most of
16184-473: The word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages. English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during
16320-785: The world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries. This is particularly true of the shared vocabulary of mathematics and the sciences. English is a pluricentric language , which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. Spoken English, including English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents , but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English . The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by
16456-539: The world, but the number of English speakers in India is uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India. Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca , is also regarded as the first world language . English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty,
16592-422: The world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India , Ireland , and Canada ). In some other countries, it is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom ). It is a co-official language of
16728-438: The worldwide influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media in these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation , and law. Its modern grammar is the result of a gradual change from a dependent-marking pattern typical of Indo-European with
16864-485: The worship of gibbons and other animals perceived to have auspicious amounts of qi . Later Chu culture was known for its affinity for shamans . The Chu culture and government supported Taoism and native shamanism supplemented with some Confucian glosses on Zhou ritual. Chu people affiliated themselves with the god of fire Zhurong in Chinese mythology. For this reason, fire worshiping and red coloring were practiced by Chu people. The naturalistic and flowing art,
17000-405: Was adopted in parts of North America, parts of Africa, Oceania, and many other regions. When they obtained political independence, some of the newly independent states that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political and other difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century
17136-458: Was an important outpost in the mountainous western border of Chu. It was located in today's Wuguan town of Danfeng County , Shaanxi . Any forces that marched from the west, mainly from Qin, to Chu's realm would have to pass Shaoxi. In traditional Chinese astronomy , Chu is represented by a star in the "Twelve States" asterism , part of the " Girl " lunar mansion in the " Black Turtle " symbol . Opinions differ, however, as to whether that star
17272-430: Was assisted by Zuosima ( 左司馬 ) and Yousima ( 右司馬 ) respectively. Mo'ao's status was gradually lowered while Lingyin and Sima became more powerful posts in the Chu court. Ministers whose functions vary according to their titles were called Yin ( 尹 ). For example: Lingyin (Prime minister), Gongyin (Minister of works), and Zhenyin were all suffixed by the word "Yin". Shenyin ( 沈尹 ) was the minister of religious duties or
17408-463: Was from the state, Chu culture would later become a basis of the culture of the later Han dynasty, along with that of the Qin dynasty's and other preceding states' from the Warring States period. Early Chu burial offerings consisted primarily of bronze vessels in the Zhou style. The bronze wares of the state of Chu also have their own characteristics. For example, the bronze Jin (altar table) unearthed from
17544-511: Was fully developed, integrating both Norse and French features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , and Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer. The next period in
17680-443: Was initially subjugated by King Fuchai of Wu until he released their king Goujian , who took revenge for his former captivity by crushing and completely annexing Wu. Freed from its difficulties with Wu, Chu annexed Chen in 479 BC and overran Cai to the north in 447 BC. By the end of the 5th century BC, the Chu government had become very corrupt and inefficient, with much of the state's treasury used primarily to pay for
17816-565: Was later written as Mi ( 芈 OC: /*meʔ/). They also bore the lineage name Yan ( 酓 OC: /*qlamʔ/, /*qʰɯːm/) which would later be written Xiong ( 熊 OC: /*ɢʷlɯm/). According to legends recounted in Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , the ruling family of Chu descended from the Yellow Emperor and his grandson and successor Zhuanxu . Zhuanxu's great-grandson Wuhui ( 吳回 )
17952-500: Was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to indicating possession . The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. The transition from Old to Middle English can be placed during the writing of the Ormulum . The oldest Middle English texts that were written by
18088-533: Was only used in question constructions, and even then was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing , appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt ), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer ). British English
18224-480: Was put in charge of fire by Emperor Ku and given the title Zhurong . Wuhui's son Luzhong ( 陸終 ) had six sons, all born by Caesarian section . The youngest, Jilian , adopted the ancestral surname Mi . Jilian's descendant Yuxiong was the teacher of King Wen of Zhou (r. 1099–1050 BC). After the Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty , King Cheng (r. 1042–1021 BC) enfeoffed Yuxiong's great-grandson Xiong Yi with
18360-426: Was the area reckoned as the former territory of Chu , now mainly in Hubei and Hunan around the middle stretches of the Yangtze River . The Suishiji is an annotated record of its major festivals in the mid-6th to early 7th century, during the chaos of Sui 's creation and collapse and just before the stability and grandeur of the Tang . The surviving 37 or so paragraphs also draw from literary sources to outline
18496-401: Was the vivid depiction of wildlife, mystical animals, and natural imagery, such as snakes , dragons , phoenixes , tigers, and free-flowing clouds and serpent-like beings. Some archaeologists speculate that Chu may have had cultural connections to the previous Shang dynasty , since many motifs used by Chu appeared earlier at Shang sites such as serpent-tailed gods. Another common Chu idea was
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