Chu: the kingdom of the phoenix

楚文化 · chǔ wén huà

For 800 years before China was unified, Hubei was the heart of Chu — a southern kingdom that worshipped the phoenix, wore silk, painted lacquer red and black, and wrote the first great poetry in Chinese.

Chu (c. 1030–223 BC) grew from a small fief on the Han River into the largest state of the Warring States era, with its capital Ying near today's Jingzhou. Where the northern states revered the dragon, Chu revered the phoenix — you will see it on museum lacquerware, on Wuhan's logo, and in the name of the province's airline.

Chu culture is why Hubei feels different from Beijing or Shanghai: a taste for the mystical, for shamans and river gods, for bold red-and-black lacquer and for music. The Zeng Hou Yi bells and the Sword of Goujian in the Provincial Museum are its greatest surviving objects.

Qu Yuan, the Chu minister-poet, wrote the 'Songs of Chu' (楚辞), the first named poetry in Chinese literature. His death in the Miluo River became the Dragon Boat Festival.