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Battle of Chengpu-Background

The Battle of Chengpu (城濮之戰) was a conflict between the states of Jin against Chu and its allies in China in 632 BC during the Spring and Autumn Period. It could be viewed as the first great battle in the protracted conflict between the states of the Yellow River valley, and the states of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley. The Jin victory confirmed the hegemony of Duke Wen and checked Chu ambitions in the north for at least a generation.

Following the death of Duke Huan of Qi in 643 BC, the state of Chu steadily extended its influence northward and had been absorbing half a dozen smaller states as its satellites. In 636 BC, Ji Zhonger, a prince and then Duke Wen of Jin who had spend fifteen years refuging in numerous states, came into power with the help of Duke Mu of Qin. Duke Wen assumed a position of leadership among the states and instituted numerous domestic reforms. In the years leading up to 632 BC, conflict between Jin and Chu was increasingly public and was characterised by frequent shifts in alliances between the various small states that lay in a band between the two giants.

In the winter of 633 BC, King Cheng of Chu struck at Song, the ally of Jin most accessible from the south. In retaliation, an expeditionary force under Duke Wen marched south in the spring of next year and occupied Wei and Cao, both satellites of Chu. Both sides sought out alliances in the following months. The states of Shen, Xi, Chen, Cai, all immediately contiguous to Chu, sided with King Cheng, as well as the more distant Lu.

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