Chu was a major state in the south, with strong economic and military power. In the early Zhou dynasty, Chu was granted the title of a son and lord. In the 35th year of King Wu of Chu (706 BC), he requested the State of Su to ask the King of Zhou to elevate his title. The ruler of Su conveyed the request of the people of Chu to King Huan of Zhou, but the king refused. King Xiong Tong of Chu angrily said, "My ancestor Yu Xiong was once a teacher of your Wen Wang. Cheng Wang only gave me a son and lord's territory. Now, all the barbarians have submitted to me. You won't elevate my title, so I will elevate it myself." Therefore, in the 37th year of his reign (604 BC), he declared himself king. After his death, his successors added the posthumous title "Wu" (Martial). This marked the beginning of vassal states calling themselves kings, excluding the Zhou king. It symbolized the resistance of Chu against the Zhou king.
Chu's northward expansion was repeatedly thwarted by two hegemonies, Qi Huan Gong and Jin Wen Gong, and never succeeded as intended. In the fourteenth year of Duke Wen of Lu, Zhuang Wang, the fourth-generation descendant of King Wu of Chu, succeeded his father Mu Wang, and for the first time, Chu made its mark in the Central Plains.
When King Zhuang came to power, both Jin Wen Gong and Qin Mu Gong had already died. Qi had no significant achievements. Although King Zhuang ascended the throne as a young man, he was a capable person with great ambition and strategy. At the beginning of his reign, he spoke little, observing political trends, which led to the saying of "three years of silence." His tutor Dou Ke and Prince Xie held power, conflicting with the chief minister Zi Kong and General Pan Chong over authority. King Zhuang used Lu Grand Master Ji Li to kill Dou Ke and Prince Xie, thus temporarily stabilizing the internal turmoil.
In the early years of King Zhuang's reign, he faced two major problems: one was natural disasters, with the people suffering from food shortages; the other was continuous threats from the Rong people in the northwest. King Zhuang decided to first eliminate the threat of the Rong people. In the autumn of the third year of King Zhuang (611 BC), he launched an attack on the Yong people, who were the most harmful among the Rong people. The Yong people lived in the area of Zhushan County, Hubei Province. The Chu army lacked food, and soldiers ate the same meals as the common people. They marched quickly to the battlefield. Based on the weakness of the Yong people's overconfidence, the Chu army first pretended to be defeated, lulling the enemy into a false sense of security. The Yong people believed that the Chu army was not a match for them and did not set up defenses.
The large Chu army suddenly attacked, and the Yong people were completely destroyed. After the destruction of the Yong people, other tribes that had previously rebelled against Chu also returned to allegiance to Chu.
With internal stability and the submission of the Rong people, King Zhuang then moved north to compete for hegemony. In the sixth year of King Zhuang (608 BC), he attacked the states of Chen and Song. Zhao Dun of Jin led an army to rescue them, meeting the Chu army at Beilin (southwest of Zhengzhou City). The Chu army captured the Jin minister Xie Yang, forcing Jin to retreat quickly. The following spring, Chu instructed Zheng to attack Song, defeating the Song army. In that summer, Jin gathered armies from Song, Wei, and Chen to attack Zheng in retaliation for Song. Upon hearing the news, the Chu army stationed itself outside the capital of Zheng waiting for the Jin coalition. The four-nation coalition led by Zhao Dun dared not come and retreated instead.
After two victories against Jin, King Zhuang gained a clear understanding of Jin's weaknesses and boldly moved northward.
In the eighth year of King Zhuang (606 BC), King Zhuang led the Chu army to attack the Lu Hun Rong people in the Yiluo region and advanced the army into the territory of the Zhou royal house, setting up battle formations. King Ding of Zhou sent his minister Wang Sun Man to comfort the Chu army, but King Zhuang asked him about the size and weight of the Nine Tripods. The Nine Tripods symbolized the imperial power. By asking about the size and weight of the tripods, King Zhuang clearly expressed his intention to replace the Zhou dynasty. Wang Sun Man understood King Zhuang's intentions and replied with words that subdued him, stating, "It is virtue, not the tripods, that determines the mandate." He further refuted him, saying, "King Cheng established the tripods in Jia Ru, predicting thirty generations and seven hundred years, as the decree of heaven. Even if the Zhou virtue declined, the heavenly mandate remained unchanged. The weight and size of the tripods are not something you should inquire about." Hearing Wang Sun Man's firm response, King Zhuang realized that Chu was not yet powerful enough to replace Zhou, and thus withdrew his army back to Chu.
In the seventeenth year of King Zhuang (597 BC), during the Battle of Bi, he decisively defeated the strongest vassal state outside of Chu, Jin, and thereby brought Chu to a period of strength without any rivals. In the twentieth year of King Zhuang (594 BC), the fourteenth states including Chu, Lu, Cai, Xu, Qin, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Qi, Cao, Zhu, Xue, and Zeng met at Shu (west of Taian City, Shandong) to hold a conference, officially appointing Chu as the leader. Thus, King Zhuang became the hegemon of the Central Plains. This marked the true question of the central plains by Chu, making King Zhuang one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.
