The origins of Zhongli are unclear,[3] but its inhabitants probably belonged to the Huaiyi people[4] that traditionally lived in the Huai River valley.

[4] Zhongli's rulers traced their origin to a man named "Ao Jue Shi", grandfather of Lord Bai.

[11] The city was fortified by Chu's Director of Remonstrance in 538 BC, but conquered by King Liao of Wu twenty years later.

[11] When Wu was destroyed by Yue, Zhongli was returned to Chu and remained part of its territory until the Warring States period's end.

[13] As little was reported about Zhongli in literary sources, knowledge about the state mostly stems from excavations of its ruined capital and the nearby tombs of its rulers.

[16] The city was an "important governmental, economic, cultural, and military center" for the Huai River valley, and maintained this role for over a thousand years after the fall of Zhongli state.

[3] The excavated tombs of Zhongli's royal family have led archaeologists to the conclusion that the state possessed a distinct material culture.

Identified as the burial site of Lord Bai of Zhongli, this tomb is unique in its design, though showed influences from the Chu culture to the south.

[8] It consisted of a cross-formed earthen shaft pit tomb that was located in a larger, circular funeral structure underneath a mound.