Xuzhou is a major city in and the fourth largest prefecture-level city of Jiangsu Province. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties (c. 2200-1600 BC), Xuzhou lay in an area inhabited by the Dongyi or Huaiyi peoples who were constantly at war with the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Xuzhou was at one time a capital of the State of Xu, a vassal state exterminated by the State of Wu in 512 BC. In turn, Wu was conquered by the State of Yue a few decades later. Chu gradually expanded its influence around Xuzhou after absorbing the nearby State of Cai in 447 BC followed by the conquest of the State of Yue in 334 BC. By the Warring States Period, it was firmly in the cultural and administrative sphere of Chu. The State of Chu moved to this area in 278 BC after the Qin army captured its old capital, Ying, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei.