Fang states
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The Fang states (Chinese: 方国, Fāng guó) refer to tribes and/or countries in the vicinity of the Shang Dynasty. Modern-day scholars' understandings of these countries mainly derive from oracle bones from the old Yinxu capital site of the late Shang. In these divination texts, these countries are often called fang, therefore both their Chinese and English name are the "Fang states".
Description[edit]
The term fangguo (Fang states) was first proposed by Qing historian Sun Yirang in his book the Qiwen Juli (契文挙例). The ancient text I Ching states: "Fang is a state" (方，国也). Some oracle bone descriptions include the mention of "some fang" (某方), so it can be assumed that the word fang was used as an archaic term for the word "country".[1]
Most fang states were very small, some only primitive clan tribes, though some states were larger in scale and were complete with a state institution. Some of the larger states, including the Tu State (土方), Yang State (羌方), or the Zhou State (周方) have became powerful enough to compete politically with the Shang Dynasty.[1] Currently, more than 150 Fang states have been either absolutely or tentatively identified. The Shang appears to have used derogatory terms for hostile neighboring Fang, and neutral terms for friendly Fang.
List of identified fang[edit]
| Name | Approximate geographic location | Relationship with the Shang Dynasty |
|---|---|---|
| Shang (商方) | Anyang, Henan | |
| Zi (子方) | "Outskirts of Yinxu" Shangqiu, Henan | Enemy / neutral |
| Tǔfāng (土方)[lower-alpha 1] | "NW of Yinxu" Fen River basin, Shanxi | Enemy |
| Gōngfāng (𢀛方)[lower-alpha 2] | "NW of Yinxu, west of Tu state" northern Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Guǐfāng (鬼方) | "NW of Yinxu" northern/central Shanxi | Neutral |
| Qiāngfāng (羌方) | "NW of Yinxu" Shanxi and Gansu | Enemy / neutral |
| Rénfāng (人方) | "SE of Yinxu" coast of South China Sea, Huai River basin, | Enemy / neutral |
| Zhōufāng (周方)[lower-alpha 3] | "West of Yinxu" Qishan County, Baoji, Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Tang (唐方) | "NW of Yinxu" | |
| Jǐngfāng (井方)[lower-alpha 4] | "NW of Yinxu" Xingtai, Hebei | Neutral |
| Línfāng (林方) | "East of Yinxu" south of Huai River | Enemy / neutral |
| Xīngfāng (興方/兴方) | Enemy / neutral | |
| Mǎfāng (馬方/马方) | "West of Yinxu" Shilou County, Luliang, Shanxi | Enemy |
| Shi (豕方) | ||
| Wēifāng (危方) | Enemy / neutral | |
| Yúfāng (盂方) | "East of Yinxu" | |
| Eastern Yu (东盂方) | Enemy / neutral | |
| Western Yu (西盂方) | Enemy / neutral | |
| Zhǐfāng (沚方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Pángfāng (旁方) | "East of Yinxu" Qufu, Shandong | Enemy / neutral |
| Gēfāng (戈方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Neutral |
| Mu (木方) | ||
| Bāfāng (巴方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy |
| Gènfāng (亘方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Lóngfāng (龍方/龙方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Jīfāng (基方) | "West of Yinxu" Pu County, Linfen, Shanxi | Enemy |
| Jiānfāng (湔方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy |
| Yàfāng (亚方) | "West of Yinxu" Jiyuan, Henan | Friend |
| Jìfāng (祭方) | "West of Yinxu", between Shang and Zhou state | Enemy / neutral |
| Shi (示方) | ||
| Máofāng (髳方) | Enemy | |
| Shàofāng (召方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Yin (印方) | ||
| Hǔfāng (虎方) | Neutral | |
| Wei (微方) | ||
| Xi (息方) | "South of Yinxu" Luoshan County, Xinyang, Henan | Neutral |
| Die (眣方) | ||
| Zhi (止方) | ||
| Yin (尹方) | ||
| Bu (步方) | ||
| Gui (归方) | "South of Yinxu" Zigui County, Yichang, Hubei | Enemy |
| Ceng (曾方) | ||
| Zhu (祝方) | ||
| Nong (弄方) | ||
| Chui (吹方) | ||
| Che (屮方) (艸方?) | ||
| Yue Ji (月丮) (方) | ||
( 方)
|
"West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy |
( 方)
|
Neutral | |
| Ji (㠱方) | "North of Yinxu" Beijing, NE Hebei, West Liaoning | Neutral |
( 方)
|
||
( 方)
|
||
( 方) (Gu (古方)?)
|
||
( 方)
|
"West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
( 方)
|
||
| Que (雀方) | "South of Yinxu" Poyang Lake, Jiangxi | Neutral |
| Shǐfāng (矢方) | Enemy | |
| Xuānfāng (宣方) | Neutral | |
| Xiūfāng (羞方) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Name | Approximate geographic location | Relationship with the Shang Dynasty |
|---|---|---|
| North Qiang (北羌) | "NW of Yinxu" north of Qiang state | Enemy / neutral |
| Lower Wei (下危) | "North of Yinxu" | Enemy |
| Gu (雇) | "South of Yinxu" SW of Yuanyang County, NW of Yuanwu, Henan | Neutral |
| Bao (暴) | "South of Yinxu" Yuanyang County, Henan | Neutral |
| Lu (卢) | "South of Yinxu" between Zhushan County, Hubei and Ankang, Shanxi | |
| Dian (奠) | Neutral | |
| Shu (黍) | Neutral | |
| (竹方) | "North of Yinxu" NE Hebei, West Liaoning, SE Inner Mongolia | Neutral |
| You (攸) | "East of Yinxu" South Yongcheng, Henan, NW Suzhou, Anhui | Neutral |
| Yuan (元) | "East of Yinxu" Yongcheng, Henan | Neutral |
| Ji (及) | "East of Yinxu" Yongcheng, Henan | Neutral |
| Shen (侁) | "East of Yinxu" Cao County, Heze, Shandong | |
| Gao (告) | "East of Yinxu" Chengwu County, Heze, Shandong | Neutral |
| Dun (盾) | "East of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| Tui (魋) | "East of Yinxu" | Enemy |
| Chou (丑) | "East of Yinxu" Qingzhou and Weifang City, Shandong | Neutral |
| Ji (纪) | "East of Yinxu" Shouguang and Weifang City, Shandong | |
| Xue (薛) | "East of Yinxu" Tengzhou, Shandong | |
| Er (儿) | "East of Yinxu" Tengzhou, Shandong | Enemy / neutral |
| Feng (丰) | "East of Yinxu" | Enemy / neutral |
| Feng (逢) | "East of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| Baogu (蒲姑) | "East of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| Yu (郁方) | Neutral | |
| Qi (杞) | "East of Yinxu" Qi County, Kaifeng, Henan | Neutral |
| Song (宋) | "North of Yinxu" Zhao County, Shijiazhuang, Hebei | Neutral |
| Bei (贝) | "South of Yinxu" | |
| Cang (仓) | "West of Yinxu" Shangzhou District, Shangluo, Shaanxi | Neutral |
| Quan (犬) | "West of Yinxu" | Enemy / neutral |
| Yang (昜) | "West of Yinxu" Hongdong County, Linfen, Shanxi | |
| Fou (缶) | "West of Yinxu" | |
| Peng (彭) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Dan (丹) | "West of Yinxu" Qinyang and Jiaozuo City, Henan | Neutral |
| Qu (去) | "West of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| Shangsi (上丝) | "West of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| He (禾) | "West of Yinxu" | |
| Guang (光) | "West of Yinxu" | Neutral |
| Ke (可) | "West of Yinxu" Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo, Henan | Neutral |
| Er (耳) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Lü (吕) | "West of Yinxu" Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Bing (丙) | "West of Yinxu" Lingshi County, Jinzhong, Shanxi | |
| Xian (先) | "West of Yinxu" Fushan County, Linfen, Shanxi | Neutral |
| Gao (镐) | "West of Yinxu" east of Fenghe River Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Nuo (郍) | "West of Yinxu" Xinzheng, Henan | |
| Lu (鹿) | "West of Yinxu" Qinyang and Jiaozuo, Henan | Enemy / neutral |
| Qi (耆) | "West of Yinxu" Licheng County, Changzhi, Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Chong (崇) | "West of Yinxu" Xi'an, Shanxi | Enemy / neutral |
| Mixu (密须) | "West of Yinxu" Lingtai County, Pingliang City, Gansu | Enemy / neutral |
| Jian (戋) | Neutral |
Notes[edit]
- ↑ conquered by Wu Ding
- ↑ disestablished by Zu Geng's reign
- ↑ defeat of Shang by King Wu of Zhou, est. Zhou Dynasty
- ↑ Xing (state) during Zhou
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Zhenbao, Song (2011). 商代史 [Shang Dynasty History]. China Social Sciences Press. pp. 270–276. ISBN 978-7-5004-8928-3. Search this book on
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