King Ping of Chu (simplified: 平, traditional: 平, pinyin: Píng, jyutping: ping4; full title 楚平王 — Chǔ Píng Wáng) was a king of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period. His execution of Wu Zixu’s (伍子胥) father and brother led Wu Zixu to flee to the State of Wu, where Wu Zixu later helped Wu defeat Chu and desecrate King Ping’s tomb in revenge.
History
King Ping’s reign was marked by court intrigue. Wu Zixu’s father, Wu She (伍奢), served as a minister but fell victim to slander; the king had Wu She and one of his sons executed. Wu Zixu escaped to Wu, where he served the Wu court and later led a Wu army that defeated Chu, exhumed King Ping’s corpse, and whipped it—a famous story of filial revenge in the Spring and Autumn tradition.
In Sword of the Yue Maiden
King Ping is mentioned in Xue Zhu’s account of the sword Gongbu. When Wu’s army took Chu, Wu Zixu opened King Ping’s coffin to flog the corpse and found the sword in the tomb. He later sent it to Feng Huzi as a gift.1
See also
- Wu Zixu — The figure who fled Chu and later took revenge
- State of Chu — King Ping’s state
- State of Wu — Where Wu Zixu fled
- Sword of the Yue Maiden characters