Duke Jing of Jin (, died 434 BC) was from 451 to 434 BC the

titular ruler A titular ruler, or titular head, is a person in an official position of leadership who possesses few, if any, actual powers. Sometimes a person may inhabit a position of titular leadership and yet exercise more power than would normally be expecte ...

of the State of Jin. His ancestral name was Ji, given name Jiao, and Duke Jing was his

posthumous title A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments o ...

recorded in the '' Bamboo Annals''.'' Annals of Jin'', '' Bamboo Annals''. The accounts by the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

historian Sima Qian in the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' are self-contradictory, referring to Duke Jing as Duke Ai of Jin (晉哀公) in one chapter and Duke Yi of Jin (晉懿公) in another. Modern historians such as

Yang Kuan Yang Kuan (1914 − September 1, 2005) was a Chinese historian specializing in pre-Qin Dynasty Chinese history. He is considered an authority of the Warring States period, and his ''History of the Warring States'', first published in 1955, rema ...

Ch'ien Mu Ch'ien Mu or Qian Mu (; 30 July 1895 – 30 August 1990) was a Chinese historian, philosopher and writer. He is considered to be one of the greatest historians and philosophers of 20th-century China. Ch'ien, together with Lü Simian, Chen Yink ...

, and Han Zhaoqi generally consider the '' Bamboo Annals'' more reliable, as it was unearthed from the tomb of King Xiang (died 296 BC) of the

State of Wei Wei (; ; Old Chinese: *') was one of the seven major states during the Warring States period of ancient China. It was created from the three-way Partition of Jin, together with Han and Zhao. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and ...

, one of the three successor states of Jin.

Reign

Jin was a major power during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, but it had become increasingly dominated by a few aristocratic clans. In 455 BC, near the end of the reign of Duke Jing's predecessor

Duke Chu of Jin Duke Chu of Jin () was from 474 to 452 BC the ruler of the State of Jin, a major power during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. His ancestral name was Ji, given name Zao, and Duke Chu was his posthumous title. He succeeded his fath ...

, the clans of

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

, Zhao, and Wei defeated and annihilated Zhi, the most powerful clan, and effectively partitioned Jin into three new states named after the clans. The following year, Duke Chu fled to the State of Chu. Zhao, Han, and Wei, now effectively in control of Jin, installed Jiao, a prince from a

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...

of the House of Ji that ruled Jin, on the throne. Jiao, later known as Duke Jing, was a great-grandson of Duke Zhao of Jin. After 18 years of reign as the titular ruler of Jin, Duke Jing died in 434 BC and was succeeded by his son, Duke You of Jin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jing of Jin, Duke Monarchs of Jin (Chinese state) 5th-century BC Chinese monarchs 434 BC deaths Year of birth unknown