Abstract:

This paper clarifies the location changes of several different E's at Xiangning, Qinyang, Suizhou and Nanyang and their relationship between each other based on archaeological material and previous scholarship. The earliest E State was established at modern Suizhou by the court of the Western Zhou in order to control the nearby Huai and Jing Barbarians. During king Yi's reign, it was moved to the West E located in modern Xindian township of Nanyang city, marking the shrinking of the southern defensive line. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the West E State was extincted and the Nanyang Basin was incorporated into the Chu State. Around the mid-Warring States Period, this place became the fief of the Lord of E. It was not until the War at Chuisha that the Lord of E moved eastward to the capital city of Daye, which was the beginning of the East E. In the Qin and early Western Han Dynasty, the central court established E County at the place of former East E, and later established another county in the Nanyang Basin, the West E, so as to distinguish from the East E. As for E being Hubei's abbreviation, it was not directly related to the E State in Western Zhou or the West E in the Nanyang Basin, but rather to the provincial capital. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Jiangxia (in modern Wuchang of Wuhan) was an important transportation hub. Since Wuchang was also named as E, the later eventually became the abbreviation of modern Hubei Province.

Key words: State of E, West E, East E, E'zhou, Jiangxia