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King Ling of Chu was king of the State of Chu between 540 and 529 BC. His birth name was Xiong Wei (熊圍) and before ascending the throne he was known as Prince Wei (公子圍). ==Taking the throne== Wei was the second son of King Gong of Chu, younger brother of King Kang of Chu and uncle of Jia'ao. When Jia'ao took the throne, Wei served as prime minister and always behaved as if he himself were king. By then he had married someone from the Feng clan from the State of Zheng. Taking advantage of Jia'ao's sickness, Wei finally murdered Jia'ao along with his two sons. He buried Jia'ao at Jia, thus making the placename the style for the late young king. Wei took the throne himself and changed his personal name to Xiong Qian (熊虔).〔Du Yu, ''Commentary on the Zuozhuan – First Year of Duke Zhao of Lu''〕 In the wake of his regicide, two of his younger brothers, Bi and Heigong ran off in fear for their lives. As King Ling did not get the throne in a legal way, he was eager to gain fame among other lords. At that time, Qing Feng, former prime minister of Qi and one of the murderers of Duke Zhuang II of Qi, had taken refuge in the State of Wu where the king of Wu had placed him in Zhufang. King Ling sacked Zhufang, captured Qing Feng and killed all the Qing family. In the face of other lords, he ordered Qing Feng say, "Never follow the example of Qing Feng, who murdered his duke, bullied the people and threatened other ministers to get them to support him." But Qing Feng rebuffed the king, saying, "Never follow the example of Prince Wei of Chu, who murdered the king who was son of his elder brother and threatens other lords in order to gain their support." King Ling was so ashamed that he immediately ordered Qing Feng executed. In his third year after taking the throne, King Ling tried to gather lords at Shen (in the State of Chu), but he was disappointed. In 534 BC, the State of Chen suffered internal disorder. Duke Ai of Chen favored his second son Liu rather than his legal heir Yanshi, so he asked his younger brothers Zhao and Guo to ensure that Yanshi would pass the throne to Liu in the future. But Zhao and Guo knew that Yanshi would rather pass the throne to his own grown son, Wu. So they planned an assassination and killed Yanshi, which also led to the death of Duke Ai, who was too regretful to hear this. Zhao and Guo installed Liu as the new marquis of Chen, so Wu and Sheng, the youngest son of Duke Ai, went to King Ling for help. King Ling soon conquered Chen. Liu fled whilst Zhao killed Guo and attributed the blame to Guo. Instead of installing Wu as the new marquis, King Ling made Chen a prefecture of Chu, destroyed its ancestral temple and took Wu back to Chu. He then appointed a general named Chuan Fengshu (穿封戍) Duke of Chen. In 531 BC, King Ling tricked Marquis Ling of Cai into a party and captured him, blamed him for killing his own father (Marquis Jing of Cai) and executed him. What was more, he ordered his youngest brother Prince Qiji to attack the State of Cai. Other lords tried to mediate, but their attempts were finally in vain. Eventually Qiji sacked Cai and captured the heir to Cai named You. In order to show worship to the gods King Ling ordered You executed. Qiji was made Duke of Cai. Later, after becoming frustrated by Wu troops, King Ling built a grand palace to enjoy himself. The palace was named Zhanghua Palace and possessed a high terrace. He also conquered some other minor states and had their people resettled. He considered the family of his consort too humble for a queen so instead sought marriage to a high born woman from the State of Jin. King Ling subsequently installed a new wife from Jin as his queen. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King Ling of Chu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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