page_title: King Huai of Chu
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: King Huai of Chu / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Bronze zhou jie with gold inlay. Warring States Period (475 - 221 B.C.) Excavated at Shou County, Anhui Province, 1957 This shou jie (shipping pass) was issued by the King of Chu to Prince Qi, Lord of E. Prefecture. Such permits, reserved for royalty and aristocrats, specified the kind and quantity of goods to be transported; they also stated tax exemptions and tariffs. Verification of its authenticity consisted of the perfectly fitted halves of a section of bamboo.
context_page_description: King Huai of Chu was from 328 to 299 BC the king of the state of Chu during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Huai and King Huai was his posthumous title.
  King Huai succeeded his father King Wei of Chu, who died in 329 BC. In 299 BC King Huai was trapped and held hostage by King Zhao of Qin when he went to the state of Qin for negotiation, and his son King Qingxiang of Chu ascended the throne. King Huai managed to escape but was recaptured by Qin. Three years later, he died in captivity.
  One of his grandsons was later reinstated as King of Chu as the Qin dynasty descended into chaos, also under the name "King Huai of Chu"; this grandson was later known as Emperor Yi of Chu.
context_section_description: King Huai's historical fame is especially due to the poetry of Qu Yuan, and other early Classical Chinese poetry, as preserved in the Chu ci: particularly and seminally the poem "Li Sao" (sometimes translated as "Encountering Sorrow") is thought to reflect the political and personal relationships between Qu Yuan or the poet writing in his persona and King Huai. The main themes of "Li Sao" and the poems of the Sao genre include Qu Yuan's falling victim to intrigues in the court of Chu, his resulting exile, his desire to nevertheless remain pure and untainted by the corruption that was rife in the court, and his lamentations at the gradual decline of the once-powerful state of Chu. At the very end the poet, resigned, states his resolve to die, by drowning in the river.
caption: Detail of  shou jie (shipping transit pass) issued to Prince Qi. Gold inscriptions on bronze in the shape of bamboo, issued by King Huai of Chu to the subkingdom of E, in 323 BCE.
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