A Brief History of the Tujia — Origins and Early Development of the Tujia (III)
III. Early Activities of the Ba People: The earliest appearance of "Ba" is found in Yinxu oracle bone inscriptions. In the Yinqi Cuibian, Yinxu Wenzi Yibian, and Yinxu Wenzi Bingbian, five pieces mention "Ba Fang," the dwelling place of the Ba clan. During the reign of Wu Ding of Shang, Fu Hao attacked Ba Fang, indicating that the Ba clan existed before Wu Ding. In the 11th century BCE, the Ba people participated in King Wu's campaign against...
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III. The Early Activities of the Ba People
The earliest appearance of Ba is found in the oracle bone inscriptions of Yinxu. In the "Yinqi Cuibian," "Yinxu Wenzi Yibian," and "Yinxu Wenzi Bingbian," five pieces mention "Ba Fang," that is, the dwelling place of the Ba clan. During the reign of Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty, Fu Hao attacked Ba Fang, which shows that the Ba clan already existed before Wu Ding.
In the 11th century BC, the Ba people participated in King Wu's campaign against Zhou, and were renowned for their "bravery and sharpness," entering the historical record. During the Yin-Zhou transition, the Ba people were mainly active between the Jiang and Han rivers. "Ba, Pu, Chu, and Deng are our southern lands." And the "Zhengyi" explains: "Ba, Pu, Chu, and Deng were states of the central Xia; only Pu was a distant Yi." From these records it can be seen that the main area of Ba activity at that time would not have been too far from Yin territory; otherwise it would have been very difficult to participate in King Wu's campaign against Zhou.
After King Wu conquered Shang, he began enfeoffing many vassals on a large scale, enfeoffing his kinsmen of the Ji surname in Ba territory, naming it the state of Ba Zi. "Huayang Guozhi: Ba Zhi" says: "After King Wu conquered Yin, he enfeoffed his clan Ji in Ba and gave it the rank of zi," reflecting that the Zhou dynasty wanted to strengthen its rule over the Ba people. From then on, the Ba people maintained certain ties with the Central Plains region. "Yi Zhou Shu: Wang Hui Pian" records: "The Ba people presented the biyi bird (as tribute)." This shows that the Ba people participated in the Zhou dynasty's assembly of vassals and offered local products. In later documentary records, the eastern Chongqing and western Hubei area is called the state of Ba Zi. Chang Qu of the Jin dynasty, in "Huayang Guozhi: Ba Zhi," said: "At the time of Ba Zi, although the capital was Jiangzhou (present-day Chongqing), at times it governed Dianjiang (present-day Hechuan), at times Pingdu (present-day Fengdu), and later governed Langzhong (present-day Langzhong). The tombs of its former kings were mostly at Zhi (present-day Fuling), and its livestock were at Ju; below present-day Dongtu Gorge is where the Ju livestock were kept. ... Therefore Ba also had three gorges." It can be seen that the Ba people's main area of activity was eastern Chongqing and western Hubei.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the various vassal states contended for hegemony, and society was in constant turmoil. The power of the Ba people, whose main area of activity was eastern Chongqing and western Hubei, waxed and waned considerably. At the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period, Chu had only a territory of a thousand li (at its height during the Warring States period, six thousand li). "To the west of Chu, the state of Yong was the greatest; to the west of Yong it bordered Ba, and Ba bordered Shu. This was the great rivalry in the southwest during the Spring and Autumn period." The eastern part of the Ba state bordered the state of Yong in the ancient Shangyong area of Zhushan in western Hubei, and was also adjacent to Deng and Zheng in southern Henan and the state of Quan southeast of Dangyang in western Hubei. Ba and Chu were neighbors, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. In the spring of 703 BC, the viscount of Ba and the viscount of Chu both wished to establish friendly relations with the state of Deng and sent envoys with gifts, but as a result the envoys were killed and the gifts seized; the viscount of Chu again sent envoys to Deng and was again refused. Thereupon Ba and Chu jointly sent troops to besiege Bei, and the Deng army came to Bei's aid, three times repelling the joint Ba-Chu forces, but in the end, under the pincer attack of the Ba and Chu armies, "the Deng army was greatly defeated, and the people of Bei fled in the night." It can be seen that when Ba and Chu were on good terms, their power was not yet strong, and they still continued their activities between the Jiang and Han rivers.
In 676 BC, Chu wanted Ba to attack Shen, which caused a shock among the Ba people. By this time, the Ba people had already begun to gradually grow stronger, and not only did they not respond to the invitation to send troops north, but instead sent troops to attack Quan, a vassal state that Chu had moved to Na Chu (southeast of Jingmen, Hubei), advancing all the way to the city gate of Na Chu. The Chu prime minister fled by swimming, and Na Chu was occupied, after which the Ba army continued to advance toward the Chu capital Ying. In the spring of the 19th year of Duke Zhuang of Lu (675 BC), Chu set up defenses at Jin (present-day Zhijiang), and only then was the Ba army's offensive checked. Although Ba and Chu had been on good terms for a period, once either side's power slightly increased, they fought each other again. After the Battle of Chengpu, the Chu army suffered a blow from Qin and was somewhat weakened; Ba then made peace with Qin in order to preserve and strengthen its own position.
In 661 BC, "the Chu people, the Qin people, and the Ba people destroyed the Yong." After the Ba people destroyed the Yong, they gained part of the territory of the Yong people and the ancient Yu State (present-day Fengjie), once again opening the Kui Gorge gateway connecting eastern Chongqing and western Hubei, and their power grew even stronger. In the 5th century BC, King Gong of Chu formed an alliance with the Ba chief, and gave a Qin woman in marriage to the Ba leader in order to win over the Ba people. Subsequently, Qin also seized the former Ba lands occupied by Chu—Qianzhong, Wu, and other places—and thus the struggle between Qin and Chu became even more intense. In 312 BC and 299 BC, Qin twice took the opportunity to coerce Chu into ceding Qianzhong. In 277 BC, Qin took Wu Commandery and the lands south of the Yangtze and established them as Qianzhong Commandery. However, the following year, Chu counterattacked the Qin army with heavy forces and recaptured the area, until 223 BC, when Qin destroyed Chu, and the Ba people of Nan Commandery, Wu Commandery, and Qianzhong Commandery became registered subjects of Qin.