Bo Qin’s State of Lu 伯禽治鲁 | Chinese History - The Western Zhou Dynasty E20

In this episode of the Western Zhou dynasty, we are going to talk about the state of Lu or Lu Guo, most famous for being the homeland of Confucius himself and the state with the reputation of being the guardian and transmitter of Zhou culture and traditions for the few centuries of its existence. Being the five-dom of arguably the most prominent branch of the How did it go from a promising young state to one that practically survived off the reputation of its ruling family in less than two generations? Hello and welcome to the show where we share the myths, legends and histories of the Chinese people from the first creator to the last imperial dynasty. More than 6,000 years of stories, one video at a time. If you are looking to learn more about the rich culture and history of the Chinese people, then you my friend are definitely at the right place. Now one of the first states founded after the establishment of the Zhou kingdom and Zhou dynasty was the state of Lu or Lu Guo. King Wu or Zhou Wu Wang granted the lands around Qu Fu to Zhou Gong as his personal five-dom. Now it was rumored that this area used to house the capital city of Shao Hao and his kingdom of birth. Although it was said that more than 800 autonomous states were created under the early Zhou rule, yes technically the real numbers would be much smaller but even then there were only a few that enjoyed special privileges and status among their peers. And even among these few states that stood above the rest, the state of Lu was the most prominent one of all. Right from the creation of this new state of Lu, six clans of Shang remnants were relocated to live under the supervision of their new lord and to assist in the building and the development of the lands. Now together with what was arguably the biggest amount of rewards and resources that the Zhou court granted to any newly established states of the time, the ruling family of the state of Lu was also granted the special privilege to enjoy the standards of protocol and etiquette that was reserved for the son of heaven or Tianzi or as we know it the king of Zhou. With the capital city established at Qu Fu, the state of Lu actually sits on a vast fertile plain with excellent natural irrigation, making it an excellent location for development of agriculture, livestock farming and silk production. People have been settling in the area and developing their own cultures since as far back as anyone could remember. Together with the neighboring state of Qi or Qi Guo, they would form the easternmost shield for the Zhou kingdom. But compared to the harsher terrains and the relatively undeveloped lands of their neighbor, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the state of Lu or Lu Guo was a land of milk and honey since time immemorial. Now although the rulers of this newly established state would only be granted the title of Marquess of Lu or Lu Hou, they would also be referred in history books as Dukes or Lu Gong for similar reasons as the rulers of Qi which we mentioned in the previous episode, namely out of respect for the founding ruler and also the achievements of various rulers over the centuries. However, while the state of Qi would produce powerful rulers who will wield massive influence over the realm, the rulers of the state of Lu would be better known for being the guardians and transmitters of Zhou culture and traditions. While Zhou Gong would technically be the founding ruler of Lu, he never personally administered to his five-dom due to his many duties in the royal court. Like Shao Gong, he would send his eldest son and heir Bo Qin to govern in his place. Now the grand historian Sima Qian would record Zhou Gong's I am the son of King Wen, the brother of King Wu, and uncle to King Cheng of the dynasty. Amongst the people, my status can be said to be pretty high. Yet every time I took a bath, I had to interrupt it three times, walking out with dripping wet hair in my hands. Every time I had my meal, I had to interrupt it three times, spitting out food that I did not have time to even swallow. And all that was because I wanted to greet and to pay the due respects to the renowned persons or talents that were passing through our city. And yet, I still worry that I might have missed out on some rare talents that could have helped us build a better kingdom. My son, when you arrive in the state of Lu, you must not become arrogant just because of your rank and status. The rebellion of the three gods exploded not long after Bo Qin arrived in Lu. The Xirong people in the east and Xiong Ying and his southern tribesmen and this general called All of them took the opportunity to invade the state of Lu. Bo Qin rallied his men and prepared them as well as he could to defend their homeland from these invaders. Now together with reinforcements from Jiang Taikong's state of Qi, the war for Lu was actually fought to a stalemate with neither side being able to gain an upper hand in this conflict. It was only after Zhou Gong successfully put down the three gods and Wugeng's revivalists that the main Zhou forces were able to come to the aid of Bo Qin. Even with the new reinforcements, it took another two years of hard fighting to finally restore peace to the state of Lu. Now after the successful subjugation of these eastern tribes during Zhou Gong's eastern campaign, the lands that used to belong to the clan of Yan together with all its native populations was merged into the state of Lu which greatly expanded its borders and populations. Now Bo Qin would actually rule over the state for 46 years, placing a heavy emphasis on strictly following Zhou rules and etiquettes as drawn up by his father regarding social structure and social hierarchy, and he was determined to build the ideal society envisioned by Zhou Gong. Lu society was strictly structured and regulated based on bloodlines and stratifications between the social classes were clearly marked out. Now etiquettes and protocols governing the lives of the people were strictly implemented and guided the people's every move. Native influences were greatly suppressed and local customs and traditions were generally abolished. Now this wholesale conversion of the local peoples to Zhou culture would result in an extremely organized society in the state, and it would bring about a massive improvement to the political stability and economic growth in the region. It would also allow the state to gradually expand its borders over time, becoming a major state in the east of the Zhou kingdom, and its strict adherence to Zhou customs would earn it the reputation of being the land of culture and etiquettes, allowing it to wield considerable influence in the east. Now although that reputation will accompany the state of Lu for the next few centuries of its existence, its growth trajectory would tell an entirely different story. Problems would start practically from day one as Bo Qin forced the local population to accept Zhou culture by issuing new laws and regulations. Now as we all can imagine the wholesale changes to the people's everyday life and the overhaul of the entire social structure would cause untold disruptions to the entire population in the state of Lu. Now please remember also that while the ruling class were Zhou migrants, they were only a very small minority in this new colony, and the majority of the population was still made up of the natives and the Shang remnants that were forcefully relocated from their original homes. Now a people's way of life, their customs, the traditions that they followed, their entire systems of belief were the results of centuries of evolution and refinement. They were not things that could be simply changed by the issuing of laws and some orders from the lord. I mean you can't simply legislate away cultures and traditions, and there is where the problem lies. Now we could argue that Bo Qin was extremely lucky when he decided on his course of action. The people living under his rule have just suffered at least two major defeats in the span of less than a decade, and they were basically a broken people that were carved into submission by a superior force. Now I can guarantee that if the population of Lu were not so thoroughly broken in spirit, the backlash to Bo Qin's policy of forced conversion to Zhou culture would be immeasurable, and even then throughout his entire lifetime, Bo Qin only ever managed to achieve a thin veneer of the ideal Zhou society in the state of Lu. Now while the people would openly follow the protocols and etiquettes as dictated or legislated by Bo Qin, many of them would still practice their old traditions and their old cultures in their own privacy. Now future rulers of the state would even have to backtrack and make concessions and loosen the laws to allow the preservations of some of these customs and traditions that were practiced by the native peoples and the Shang immigrants. Apart from that, while Bo Qin's strict policies would ensure the relative political stability of the Lu court, its inflexibility would severely stifle any future growth that the state might have experienced under loser control. Now over the next few centuries, and we are being extremely generous here by not saying in less than a hundred years, well over the next few centuries, various states of the realm would overtake the state of Lu's prominence by nimbly adapting to the times, while this grand old dame of a state would remain stuck in the past in this blinkered insistence on the preservation of their traditions. Now in fact, Zhou Gong himself predicted this eventuality for the state of Lu when he received the first report from his son only three years after his arrival. Now remember Jiang Taiguang sent his first report just a mere five months after his arrival, and while that is also another anomaly, three years after his arrival was still a long long time. Now according to the grand historian Sima Qian, the following is an account of what happened. Why did the report take so long to arrive? My lord father, I changed the customs of Lu and abolished the traditions of the people. Now the results can only be seen after a three-year period of mourning, and that is why it took so long. Now Zhou Gong also asked Jiang Taiguang who arrived at the state of Qi around the same time, but his report would have arrived within five months. Lord Jiang, how did you do it in such a short time? Well, I simplified the etiquettes between the lord and subject, and adapted our customs to suit the locals, and therefore when Bo Qin's late report arrived, three years later, Zhou Gong lamented Unless the state of Lu will surely be a servant to the state of Qi in future, the policies that are not simplified and adapted to suit the local jurisdiction will surely alienate the population, and only policies that are easily understood and agreeable to local customs can convince the people Yes, the Lu state will keep its reputation of the land of culture and etiquettes for the entirety of its existence, but it came at a price of becoming one of the most backward, and one of the most mocked states of the realm. Yes, the Lu state also produced arguably one of the greatest thinkers in Chinese history in Confucius himself, but many many of us forget that Confucianism of the time was viewed as an outdated idealism that was totally out of touch with the real situations happening on the ground. Now, during the late spring and autumn period, all the rulers of the realm would accord Confucius the highest respect. However, none of them would gamble with the fate of their states by adopting his philosophies in governing. Now, we could say that the state of Lu, together with its cultures, traditions, and customs, will become a living relic paying homage to a long lost idealistic world, a facsimile of an ideal society that only existed in the minds and the memories of the people. Now, the problem is those idealistic scenes never really existed to begin with. They were just abstract ideals from the day Bo Qin decided that he would legislate the wholesale adoption of Zhou culture on his subjects. Now, if you enjoyed this story, it would really help the channel to give this video a like, comment, and share, and if you feel that I'm doing a halfway decent job of presenting these stories and would like to contribute to the running of the channel, then you can do so at Patreon. The links are available in the description box down below. And with that, thank you so much for your time. I'm Api Ngo, That Chinese History Guy, and I'll see you, you beautiful people out there, I'll see you in the next episode.