Wu (state)

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State of Wu 吳國
12th century BC–473 BC
Status	Kingdom
Capital	Wu (modern-day Wuxi and Suzhou, Jiangsu province)
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	Zhou Dynasty Spring and Autumn period
• Foundation by Taibo	12th century BC
• Defeated by Yue	473 BC
Succeeded by Yue (state)

Wu
"Wu" in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	吳
Simplified Chinese	吴
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wú Wade–Giles Wu2 IPA [ǔ] Wu Suzhounese Ńg (col.) Ghóu (lit.) Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Ngh Jyutping Ng4 IPA [ŋ] Southern Min Tâi-lô Ngôo Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Ngu Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *ŋʷˤa

Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: Wú; Old Chinese: *ŋʷˤa) was a state during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period, outside the Zhou cultural sphere. It was also known as Gouwu (句吳 /*[k]ˁ(r)o.ŋʷˁa/) or Gongwu (工/攻吳 /*kˁoŋ.ŋʷˁa/) from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu and south of the State of Qi. Its first capital was at Meili (梅里, in modern Wuxi), then Helü's City (闔閭, in present-day Xueyan town near Wuxi), and later moved to Gusu (姑蘇, probably in modern Suzhou).