Solitary Elegy / Splendor: Cultural Imagery of the <i>Chuci</i> and the Dragon Boat

In 313 BCE, Zhang Yi (d. 309 BCE), the chancellor of Qin, traveled to the state of Chu and lured King Huai of Chu (d. 296) with the promise of “six hundred li of land in Shangyu.” This inducement persuaded Chu to sever diplomatic relations with Qi and form diplomatic ties with Qin. However, once Chu fell into strategic isolation, King Huiwen of Qin (356–311 BCE) immediately reneged on the promise. Enraged, King Huai of Chu launched a military campaign, only to suffer a crushing defeat. This episode of diplomatic deception severely damaged Chu’s international standing. Qu Yuan, who had strongly advocated maintaining the Chu–Qi alliance earlier, consequently lost favor at court and ultimately drowned himself in the river.

Qu Yuan’s political career spanned the reigns of King Huai and King Xiang of Chu, during which he witnessed Qin–Chu relations deteriorate from alliance to split. The text “Prayers Cursing Chu” is a proclamation issued by the King of Qin, invoking divine authority to denounce Chu for betraying alliances and for moral failings in governance. Although the precise date of this text remains debated, it is undoubtedly a reliable source for studying the intense geopolitical rivalry among major states of the time. Notably, the renowned scholar Guo Moruo (1892–1978) argued that it was composed under King Huiwen of Qin to legitimize Qin’s military campaign against Chu.

The shifting territorial boundaries of Qin and Chu vividly reflect the brutal nature of their struggle for supremacy. Initially, Chu was the larger power and Qin the smaller; however, during King Huai’s reign, Chu lost regions such as Wu and Qianzhong. By the time of King Xiang, even the capital Ying had fallen to the Qin general Bai Qi (d. 257 BCE), forcing Chu to relocate its capital and rendering itself incapable of rivaling Qin on equal terms.

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  Prayers Cursing Chu at Chaona, Invoking Wu Xian

  State of Qin, Warring States Period 
  Paper
  Gu tie 000042

  Dating to the late fourth century BCE, this political proclamation, issued by King Huiwen of Qin (356–311 BCE) during a ritual invocation, denounces the State of Chu’s breach of covenant while justifying Qin’s military campaign as legitimate. Although this example is a Northern Song (11th-century) recarving from the Jiang Tie modelbook, the text preserves an authentic record of rivalry among the major states.

  Regarding script development, the writing appears more rectilinear than standard Qin seal script, with thin, pointed strokes and pronounced angular turns that recall oracle-bone inscriptions. Some characters bridge the tradition of Zhou bronze inscriptions and the later small seal script, making this writing an important witness to the transition from bronze script to Qin small seal script during the Warring States period.

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  Qu Yuan Walking and Chanting

  Chen Hongshou, Ming Dynasty 
  From an illustrated edition of the Chuci, published in the eleventh year of the Chongzhen reign (1638)
  Paper
  Zeng shan 003924–003925

  This image of Qu Yuan, wearing a tall cap, carrying a long sword, and chanting by the riverbank, synthesizes elements drawn from “Crossing the River” in the “Nine Pieces”— “with a dazzling long sword and a towering, cloud-cleaving cap”—and “The Fisherman,” which portrays the exiled poet “wandering by the riverside and chanting by the marshes,” his “face haggard” and “form emaciated.”

  The book contains twelve illustrations by Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), reflecting the flourishing publishing culture of the late Ming, when painting and book production became closely intertwined. Chen’s distinctive rendering of Qu Yuan not only translates literary imagery into visual form, but also became an iconic image of the poet for later generations.