Ministers › Remonstrators
Zhuang Xin
Chu official who warned King Xiang against his favourites and, after Ying fell, urged him to mend the fold, earning the title Lord of Yangling.
At dawn in a palace courtyard, a large drum hangs in a small roofed frame beside a red pillar, with a bound bundle of scrolls on a low stand in front; a stone balustrade leads toward a large hall in the mist, and a row of tiny people stands far away.
Also known as Lord of Yangling
- Roles
- Remonstrators
Zhuang Xin was a Chu official descended from King Zhuang of Chu. According to the Zhan guo ce, he warned King Xiang that by surrounding himself with the lords of Zhou, Xia, Yanling and Shouling and living in luxury he was endangering the capital Ying; ignored, he withdrew to Zhao. Five months later Qin took Yan, Ying and other territories and the king fled to Chengyang, then summoned him. Opening with the saying that it is not too late to mend the fold after losing a sheep, Zhuang Xin used parables of the dragonfly, the oriole, the swan and the Marquis Sheng of Cai to show the king his peril. The shaken king made him Lord of Yangling, and the lands north of the Huai were recovered.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active under King Qingxiang of Chu (c. 278 BCE)