Teng

Teng was a minor vassal state of Zhou China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, located in the south of modern Shandong province; its territory corresponds to the present-day county-level city of Tengzhou. The ruling family was the Ji clan, and its founder, Shu Xiu of Cuo, was the fourteenth brother of King Wu of Zhou. Teng was a vassal of the neighbouring state of Lu and is remembered as the birthplace of the philosopher Mozi and the architect Lu Ban. According to the Book of Han, the line passed through thirty-one generations of rulers, while Gu Yanwu counted thirty-two. It was conquered and annexed by the Yue state during the reign of King Goujian. Its nobility later re-established the country, but it was finally annihilated by King Kang of Song in 297 BC. The name of the state survives in the city of Tengzhou and in the Chinese surname Teng.