Book VI 429Mencius said, ‘The purpose of learning some skill is to put it in practice
when one grows up.’^40 So I would like to speak based on what I have
learned.
“Establishing his capital in Jiaru—namely, Guanzhong—King Cheng [of
Zhou]^41 foretold that his dynasty, reigned over by thirty generations of
kings, would last eight hundred years. The Zhou moved its capital to
Luoyang during the reign of King Ping,^42 the eleventh monarch, and this
took place 449 years after the dynasty was founded. Then the Qin took over
the old capital of the Western Zhou as its new capital. The Zhou dynasty
came to an end during the reign of King Nan,^43 the thirtieth [thirty- sixth]
monarch and was finally replaced by the Qin dynasty. If we look at what
happened, the fortune of the Zhou shown in the thirty generations and eight
hundred years had little to do with the site of its capital. When Han Gaozu
[Liu Bang] and Xiang Yu attacked the Qin, Han Sheng^44 urged Xiang Yu to
establish his capital in Guanzhong, but Xiang Yu was reluctant to follow his
advice because he saw that royal palaces were burnt down and many people
were killed.^45 Someone said to Xiang Yu, using language characteristic of a
geomancer: ‘If you ring a bell in a room divided by a wall, a man in the next
room will be pleased to hear its sound though he cannot tell what the bell
looks like. So it is natural that one wants to see the land where his ancestors
lived once he has achieved fame and wealth.’ Listening to these words,
Xiang Yu made his way eastward to Pengcheng,^46 and Han Gaozu moved
- “King Hui of Liang,” Mencius.
- King Cheng (1042–1021) was the second Zhou king. His father was King Wu, and he
was young when he ascended the throne. So his uncle, the Duke of Zhou, became the regent
until he came of age. The exact location of Jiaru is not clear. However, if it indicates Guanzhong,
which literally means “within the passes,” it refers to the broad region of the lower valley of
the Wei River, which is the cradle of ancient Chinese civilization. It is known that King Cheng
attempted to move his capital eastward and build his residence in the heartland of the ousted
Shang dynasty. - As the nomadic tribes in the north continued to attack Haojing (present Xian), the
Zhou capital, King Ping moved the capital eastward to Luoyang, thus beginning the Eastern
Zhou and ushering in the Spring and Autumn Period. - The thirty- sixth Zhou king. He ruled for fifty- nine years and was killed after Qin
annexed his kingdom in 256 b c. - A retainer of Xiang Yu.
- According to Zeng Xianzhi, a Yuan historian, Xiang Yu said, “Not to go home after
achieving a great success is like walking in the darkness dressed in silk.” Then, Han Sheng
said to himself, “They say the people of Chu are like monkeys wearing scholars’ caps, and they
are right indeed.” Hearing of this, Xiang Yu had Han Sheng boiled alive. (Shiba Shilue) - Also known as Xuzhou, it is a major city in Jiangsu Province.