kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia
State of Ba
Origins
The Ba were peoples of the eastern Sichuan basin and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze. Tradition says their warriors fought alongside King Wu of Zhou against the Shang, singing and dancing as they advanced. A state led by a royal Ba lineage took shape in the 1st millennium BCE, its centre eventually at Jiangzhou in modern Chongqing.
Rule and society
Ba controlled valuable brine springs and salt production along the Yangtze, which gave it wealth and influence over trade with the State of Chu. Its elite were buried in boat-shaped coffins and used distinctive willow-leaf bronze swords marked with Ba-Shu symbols that remain undeciphered. Relations with Chu alternated between alliance and war.
Decline and legacy
Fighting between Ba and Ancient Shu gave the State of Qin its opportunity: in 316 BCE Qin armies conquered both and captured the king of Ba. Qin made the area Ba Commandery, while Ba elites kept local privileges. The name survives in the traditional term Ba-Shu for Sichuan and Chongqing culture.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
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- State of Ba was conquered by State of Qin316 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). State of Ba. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-ba
- MLA
- “State of Ba.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-ba. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “State of Ba.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-ba.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘State of Ba’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-ba (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻