Husband

King of the Wu state in the late Spring and Autumn period of China (reigned 496-473 BC). His father, Helü, took advantage of the death of King Yunchang of Yue, a great state in Jiangsu, in 496 BC to attack Yue, but was defeated and injured by the ascendant King Goujian of Yue, and died. The so-called story of lying on firewood and tasting gall is famous for Fuchai and Goujian enduring their shame and achieving their revenge. In the Eighteen Histories, "lying on firewood" is Fuchai's achievement, and "tasting gall" is Goujian's achievement, but in the story that appears in the Zuo Zhuan, both "lying on firewood" (the original story) and "tasting gall" were Goujian's achievements, and they were "looking up to gall every time he sat down and lay down, and tasting gall every time he ate and drank." In any case, Fuchai did not forget the shame and forced Goujian to surrender (494 BC), and Goujian did not forget the shame either. In 486 BC, Wu excavated a canal, the Han River, linking the Huai River with the Yangtze River. This was the basis for the Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of Sui. Using this canal, Wu attacked Qi in Shandong from the sea in 485 BC. In 482 BC, Fuchai made an alliance with the lords of the Central Plains at Huangchi (Henan Province) and competed with Duke Ding of Jin for the position of leader, but King Goujian of Yue, who had been waiting for an opportunity for many years, suddenly invaded Wu, forcing Fuchai to return home. Thereafter, unable to resist successive invasions from Yue, Fuchai committed suicide in 473 BC and Wu was destroyed.

[Takao Hirase]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、春秋時代末の呉(ご)国の王（在位前496～前473）。父の闔閭(こうりょ)は前496年、江蘇(こうそ)の大国越(えつ)の王允常(いんじょう)の死に乗じて越を攻め、即位した越王勾践(こうせん)に敗れて傷つき、死去した。いわゆる臥薪嘗胆(がしんしょうたん)の故事は、夫差と勾践が恥を忍び復讐(ふくしゅう)を成就させたことで有名。『十八史略』に「臥薪」を夫差、「嘗胆」を勾践の事績とするが、そもそも『左伝』に見える説話では、「臥薪」（の元の話）、「嘗胆」いずれも勾践の事績で、「坐臥のたびに胆を仰ぎ、飲食のたびに嘗胆する」であった。いずれにしても夫差はその恥を忘れず勾践を降伏させ（前494）、勾践もその恥を忘れなかった。前486年、呉は運河である邗江(かんこう)を掘削し、淮水(わいすい)と長江(ちょうこう)を連結した。これがのち、隋(ずい)の煬帝(ようだい)の大運河の元になる工事である。この運河を利用し、呉は翌前485年海上から山東の斉(せい)を討っている。前482年、夫差は黄池（河南省）に中原(ちゅうげん)の諸侯と会盟し、晋(しん)の定公と盟主の座を争ったが、長年時期をうかがっていた越王勾践が不意をついて呉に侵攻したため、帰国のやむなきに至った。以後、越の相次ぐ侵攻に抗しきれず、前473年、夫差は自害し呉は滅亡した。

［平勢隆郎］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例