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 |  The ancestor of this southern kingdom was Jilian 季連, his descendant Yuxiong 鬻熊 was a general of King Zhou Wuwang 周武王. the begin, the rulers of the region of modern Hubei province called themselves king (wang 王) and thereby took the same position as the kings of Zhou and challenged the position of the Zhou kings. King Zhou Zhaowang 周昭王 died during a military campaign against Chu. Although the kingdom of Wu was quickly growing in size in all directions, especially up and down the Yangtse River (Changjiang 長江) and to the south into modern Hunan, the Western Zhou (Xizhou) 西周 period was a turbulent time of inner struggles within the kingdom of Chu. King Xiongyi 熊繹 divided the territory among his sons (Jiakang 甲康 ruled Goudan 句亶, Zhijing 摯經 E 咢, and Zhici 執疵 governed Yuezhang 越章). King Fenmao 蚡冒 continued the territorial expansion of Chu. He defeated the Pu 濮 tribes, conquered the minor fiefdoms of Sui 隨, Shen 申, Xi 息, Deng 鄧, Xian 弦, Huang 黃, Kui 夔, Jiang 江, and Liu 六. His descendants conquered Yong 庸, Shu 舒, Liao 蓼 (Miu 繆), Xiao 蕭, Lai 賴, Chen 陳, and Cai 蔡. the 6th century on Chu was a powerful state that dominated the south of ancient China. The sixth century Chu saw an usurpation of some nobles like Zibi 子比, Qibing 棄病 and Zixi 子晳. Prince Wuxu 伍胥 sought help in the state of Wu 吳. Although the rulers and inhabitants of Chu had customs and dialects different the "proper" Chinese states of the Yellow River plain the rulers of Chu the 7th century of adopted Chinese-style dynastic titles. King Zhaowang 楚昭王 extended the territory of Chu to the east and northeast, swallowing the minor states of Tang 唐, Dun 頓, Hu 胡, and Chen 陳, and advanced into the area of the River Huai 淮河. At the court of King Daowang 楚悼王 an advisor named Wu Qi 吳起 reformed law and military organisation. As a powerful state Chu had now direct contact with the other powers like Qi 齊 in the east and Qin 秦 in the west. The Qin general Zhang Yi 張儀 defeated Chu, and King Huaiwang 楚懷王 died in Qin as a hostage. The tragedy of his death is expressed in the story of the loyal minister Qu Yuan 屈原 who drowned himself after the death of King Huai. Although Chu was not the last state swallowed by Qin (223 by general Wang Jian 王翦) the descendants of the last Chu ruler were long admired as national heroes in the battle against Qin. Xiang Yu 項羽, the military dominator after the downfall of Qin named himself "Hegemonial King of West-Chu" (Xichu bawang 西楚霸王). The name of Chu was often used as a name for imperial princedoms, and was one of the Ten States (Shiguo 十國) in the 10th century. 
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