Interpretation of the Chinese Characters: “Ba” and “Shu”

Cultural History of Bashu

Written by Yuan Tingdong

Translated by Dong Xun， Zhang Gong，

Zhang Jiao， Cui Can， Fei Bi

Sichuan Literature amp; Art Publishing House

January 2023

198.00 （CNY）

The Sichuan area was called “Ba” and “Shu” in ancient times. It was first called “Ba” and “Shu” separately， and later collectively “Bashu.” However， in ancient Chinese literature， there was a changing process in the connotation and denotation of “Ba” and “Shu.”

“The origin of Bashu could be found in classical works of the Yin and Zhou dynasties.”

It is quoted from Guo Moruo’s poem after visiting the Bashu culture exhibition at Chongqing Museum in February， 1960.

However， there was no record of “Ba” among the unearthed oracle bones and the bronze objects of the two dynasties. Some scholars believe that there are the Chinese characters “Ba Fang” and “Ba Dian” in oracle bone inscriptions， whose region was in the present areas between the Hanshui River and Danjiang River. There used to be big battles against the royal reigns of Yin in the Wuding Period of the Yin Dynasty.

Most researchers believe that since the character “Ba” has not been found on any oracle bones or bronze wares， the word “Ba” interpreted by some scholars may be a misunderstanding. We can’t have a further discussion about the study of the ancient characters in this book. Yet， I want to mention that quite a few scholars hold the same view in their great academic works of ancient philology that the character “Ba” did not appear in the oracle inscriptions. These works include Chen Mengjia’s Overview of the Oracle Inscriptions from Yin Ruins， Dao Bangnan’s Comprehensive Categories of the Oracle Inscriptions from Yin Ruins， Li Xiaoding’s Collective Definitions of Oracle Inscriptions， Xu Zhongshu’s Dictionary of Oracle Inscriptions， The Font Table of Ancient Chinese Characters， and The Grand Chinese Dictionary.

Character “Ba” first appeared in The Classic of Mountains and Seas as the name of places and kingdoms. For example， “There was a kingdom named Ba in the southwest. Hou Zhao was the ancestor of Ba people，” “he was the god in charge of Ba area，” “Ba snakes could eat up an elephant.” Since then， the character “Ba” has been found in the Yizhou Book （Book of the Zhou Dynasty）， Shi Ben （Generational Records， a collection of dynastic histories in antiquity）， and Zuo Zhuan （Zuo’s Commentary， ancient commentary on the Chunqiu， the first Chinese chronological history）. Originally， “Ba” should be the name of an ancient tribe， who mainly lived in the present day eastern Sichuan.

Since the Yuan Dynasty， the Sichuan Basin has been called Sichuan as an administrative region. Over the years， “Sichuan” has been not only the name of an area but also the name of a regional culture. Sichuan culture is Bashu culture. In 1997， the Municipality of Chongqing was established under the direct control of the former eastern Sichuan province. However， I always believe that Sichuan and Chongqing are one family. The Sichuan Basin has always been a regional cultural area with a single water system. It is difficult to separate eastern Sichuan culture from western Sichuan culture and to separate Ba culture from Shu culture， just as “Sichuan” of “Sichuan flavor，” “Sichuan accent，” “Sichuan cuisine” and “Sichuan Opera” always embodies Chongqing. For the sake of respecting this cultural tradition formed over thousands of years and for the convenience of narration， “Sichuan” and “Chuan” in this book refer to the entire Sichuan Basin， that is to say， from the Yuan Dynasty to contemporary times. Before or after its partition， Sichuan always contained today’s Chongqing， northern Sichuan， southern Shaanxi， western Hubei and even part of Dongting Lake， with their activities centered in western Hubei. The ethnic groups in this vast area were not of the same origin. Instead， they belong to various branches and different regions. However， the Ba people were the main body of the ethnic groups， so the related ones were once called the Ba people. Some of them were closely related to the Zhou people， whose surname was Ji， and were called Ba people of Zongji; some were the Pu people in the south， who were the descendants of Lin Jun （an ancestor of the Tujia ethnic group of today）; some belonged to the descendants of the Xia people and were called Ba people of Danshan Hill; some were the descendants of Taihao， namely the descendants of Houzhao; some lived in the present day eastern Sichuan area and were called Bandun ethnic group by the later generations， namely Ba of Cong people. Later all these people living and reproducing in the Ba areas were called Ba people， and the areas where they lived were also called “Ba.” Therefore， “Ba” has changed into a place name from a tribe name.

At the turn from the Yin Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty， the Ba people took part in the battle against King Zhou of the Yin Dynasty. “Ba troops were brave and sharp. Singing and dancing， they perplexed the Yin warriors so as to defeat them，” “Once King Wu conquered Yin， he granted the land of Zongji and conferred the title of nobility to the leader of Ba.” These were recorded in Chronicles of Huayang Kingdom： “Records of Ba.” Some people of Ba had therefore been surnamed Ji from then on. The earliest vassal state in the Ba area was established in the Central Plains. This was the Ba Kingdom， or Bazi Kingdom， recorded in ancient literature， which was the core of the Ba tribes. In 703 BCE， Bazi dispatched Han Fu to report to the Kingdom of Chu that Bazi would build friendly ties with the Kingdom of Deng. Chu sent envoy Dao Shuo to lead the Ba people to the Kingdom of Deng. However， Deng killed both Dao Shuo and the Ba attendants. Then the Deng troops suffered a crushing defeat. After that， Ba allied with Chu and annihilated Shen and Yong’s kingdoms， showing their incredible strength. As the record of “The Ninth Year of Duke Zhao” in Zuo Zhuan suggested， “since King Wu conquered the Kingdom of Shang， the kingdoms including Ba， Pu， Chu， and Deng have become southern areas of my reign.” Ba ranked first among the southern vassal states in the Zhou Dynasty. In Xunzi’s words， it was on the list of “outstanding vassal states in the world.” However， from the Western Zhou Dynasty （1046 --771 BCE） to the Spring and Autumn Period （770 --476 BCE）， the main activities of the Ba Kingdom were in the Hanshui River Basin rather than in today’s Sichuan Province. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period， due to the collapse of the alliance between Ba and Chu， wars broke out between them.

In the case of “the Kingdom of Chu ruling the Xia League while Qin governing the Western land” （Chronicles of Huayang Kingdom： “Records of Ba”）， the administrative center of Ba gradually shifted to the south， first to the Qingjiang River Basin in the southwest of Hubei Province， and then to the west along the upper reaches of the Qingjiang River， finally into the east of Sichuan Province. In the early Warring States Period （403 --221 BCE）， its administrative center was in the east of Sichuan Province and kept on moving. “Bazi set Jiangzhou （now Chongqing city） as its capital， then Dianjiang （now Hechuan）， then Pingdu （now Fengdu）， and later moved the capital to Langzhong. The royal cemeteries of the former kings were mainly in Zhi （now Fuling）.” （Chronicles of Huayang Kingdom： “Records of Ba”） In 316 BCE， the kingdom was subjugated by Qin， with the King of Ba captured. From then on， the Kingdom of Ba no longer existed. Until then， the word “Ba” had mainly been used as a name of the kingdom.

After subjugating the kingdom of Ba， Qin set up Ba prefecture in the areas of the former Ba Kingdom， with the administrative center in Jiangzhou （now Chongqing）. Ba prefecture was kept in the Han and Jin dynasties. In the Eastern Han Dynasty， Ba prefecture was divided into two parts： Badong prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Fengjie， and Baxi prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Langzhong. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty， another two prefectures were set up， including Beibaxi prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Langzhong， and Xinba prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Jiangyou. Baqu prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Daxian， was set up in the Liu Song Dynasty （420 --479）， and Bazhou， with the seat of government in present-day Fengjie， was set up in the Qi Dynasty （479 --502）. In the Liang Dynasty （502 --557）， new prefectures were set up as follows： Dongbazhou prefecture with the seat of government in present-day Nanjiang， Ningbazhou prefecture with the seat of government in present-day Donglin of Xuanhan， Bazhong prefecture with the government in present day Kaijiang， and Kaiba prefecture with the seat of government in present day Puguang of Xuanhan. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty （557 --581）， Ba county， with the seat of government in present-day Chongqing， and Sanba prefecture， with the seat of government in present-day Puguang of Xuanhan， were set up. In the Tang Dynasty （618 --907）， Bachuan prefecture was set up with the seat of government in present-day Hechuan. Until the Qing Dynasty， the central district of Chongqing city was still called Ba county. All these administrative divisions fully demonstrate the wide use of “Ba” as a place name in the ancient Ba Kingdom. Thus， people used to refer to eastern Sichuan as “Ba” after the Tang Dynasty; even if Ba prefecture was no longer set up there， people in modern times continued to do so as well. The eastern Sichuan area is still called “Ba，” although “Ba” is used only in several places， like Banan district， Bazhong city， and Bazhou district， which are in the original areas of Ba. Therefore， in modern times， “Ba” has changed into a common synonym from the name of the administrative division in the past.

The Chinese character “Shu” is found in the oracle from Yin and Zhouyuan ruins. At that time， “Shu” was already used as a kingdom or region name. In this region， the main ethnic group was the Shu people. That was probably why this kingdom was called “Shu” by the Yin people. Shu people were of multiple sources， but overall， the clan system and distribution of the Shu ethnicity were much simpler and clearer than that of the Ba ethnicity. The Shu ethnicity was originally a branch of the Diqiang ethnicity whose early activity was in the valley of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Gradually Diqiang moved to the Chengdu plain and even today’s southern Shaanxi province， with the Chengdu plain as its center for a long time. The ancient ethnicities living in the vast area， which ranged from western Sichuan to southern Shaanxi， were all called Shu people or of Shu ethnicity.

Yuan Tingdong

After graduating with a master’s degree in history at Sichuan University， he worked for the Sichuan People’s Publishing House in 1968. He then participated in establishing the Bashu Publishing House in 1983 and became a freelancer after 1993.