Zi'ao

Who is Zi'ao?

Zi'ao was a king of the state of Chu, although his reign lasted less than twenty days. His birth name was Xiong Bi and his courtesy name was Zigan.

Bi was the third son of King Gong of Chu. He was once appointed as a minister as known as Youyin. In 541 BC, his second elder brother Wei murdered his nephew Jia'ao and usurped the throne. In fear, Bi ran off as well as his fourth younger brother Heigong. Wei became King Ling of Chu. Later, King Ling conquered Chen and Cai, while the former ministers of both states planned to restore them. In 529 BC, King Ling led his troops to attack Xu. Bi and Heigong were then recalled by former Chen and Cai ministers and they then together visited their youngest brother Qiji. Their plot finally succeeded, King Ling was overthrown and his sons were killed. As the eldest of the three brothers, Bi took the throne. King Ling committed suicide days later, but his corpse was not found at first.

Later, Chaowu, a former minister of Cai, tried to persuade Qiji to become the new king. However, Qiji said he would be objected if he took the throne in spite of his elder brothers. Chaowu knew the purpose of Qiji and they made a plan. They pretended to be defeated by the returning King Ling and acted as King Ling would soon enter the capital. Bi and Heigong were so fearful that they both committed suicide. However, the army pretended to be of King Ling was indeed led by Qiji. Now, Qiji took the throne indisputably as King Ping of Chu.