Chong (state)

Chong appears to have been written as (虫) in Oracle bones, which mention an Earl of Chong (虫伯) who was allied with the Shang and was mentioned in oracular inscriptions in Zhouyuan. Linguistic evidence implies that the character Chong (虫) is a near-homophone with the Chong 崇 state in received texts even in Old Chinese, and these are thus thought to be the same state.^[3][a][4]

Later Oracle bones mention a Marquess Hu of Cóng (虎琮侯) and a Marquess Bao of Cóng (豹琮侯), whose state was a military ally of Wu Ding, and thought to be the same one through similar linguistic evidence.^{[5][6][7][4][b]} The corpus details the Marquess attending Wu Ding's court, receiving blessings for their invasions of Predynastic Zhou and other polities, receiving permission for hunting, receiving resources, and more. However, the reading and reconstruction for this figure are disputed.^[8] However, as it is very rare for personal names to be used in oracular inscriptions, it is difficult to tell which marquess is being talked about.

The earliest historical records of the State of Chong comes from various Zhou-Qin dynasty texts, such as the Book of Documents and Bamboo Annals. In these documents, during the period of Emperor Yao and the Youyu clan, a severe flood occurred around the Yellow River and River Yangtze, causing severe suffering to the populace. The Bamboo Annals claim that during the 61st year of his reign, Emperor Yao turned to Gun, then-Earl of Chong, for assistance. However, after 8-9^[c] years, Gun still failed to successfully control the floods, and was dismissed from office. The Book of Documents records that Gun was imprisoned at Yushan following him taking a special kind of earth that expands in response to water, without permission from Yao. Due to this crime, Gun was defined as one of the Four Criminals of the Yao-Shun period, and his son, Yu the Great, would redeem himself by controlling the floods and founding the Xia dynasty.^{[2][9][10][d]}

During the Late Shang period, Marquess Hu of Chong was among a trio of feudal leaders defending the southern parts of Shang dynasty territory, along with the Marquess of E and King Wen of Zhou (then Ji Chang). In return for acting as the state's vanguard, these states received the benefits of Shang hegemony. The Shang dynasty king, Di Xin, repeatedly went to war against the Dongyi to subdue tribal states. However, Predynastic Zhou became increasingly dissatisfied with Di Xin's rule, and King Wen resolved to gain support to overthrow him. When Marquess Hu heard of the plot, he told Di Xin, which resulted in King Wen's imprisonment. He was eventually released after San Yisheng flattered Di Xin with gifts and women, but the plot continued. Eventually, Predynastic Zhou went to war with Chong and besieged its walls for thirty days. As King Wen's army was unrelenting in its pressure, Marquess Hu eventually surrendered, and his state dissolved, being replaced with Chengyi (程邑) and later Fengjing as the new capital of Predynastic Zhou, within the historical region of Guanzhong. After that, Predynastic Zhou began the Battle of Muye against Di Xin's kingdom and won, beginning the Western Zhou period.^[2][12][13] The region where Chong once stood was sacked by the Quanrong in 771 BCE during the Battle of Mount Li between King You of Zhou and the Marquis of Shen.^[14][15]

Zuo Zhuan records a state from the Spring and Autumn Period also named Chong, but it appears to be unrelated.^[16]

• Marquess Hu of Chong
• Gun, Earl of Chong