Duke Xuan of Wey (died 700 BC), personal name Ji Jin, was the fifteenth ruler of the state of Wey and its fourth Duke, ruling from 718 BC to 700 BC. He came to power following a succession crisis involving two of his brothers, but his nineteen year reign saw numerous moral scandals and the decline of Wey into a minor state of the

Spring and Autumn Period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

. He had a son with his father Duke Zhuang's concubine Yi Jiang, and later took the son's betrothed,

Xuan Jiang Xuan Jiang (730–690 BC), was the Duchess consort of Duke Xuan of Wey (r. 718–700).Lily Xiao Hong Lee, A. D. Stefanowska, Sue Wiles. 2007. She was the daughter of the Marquis of Qi of the Jiang clan. She married Duke Xuan of Wey and became t ...

, as his own wife because she was beautiful.

Biography

Jin was one of the sons of Duke Zhuang I of Wey and a younger brother of Wan ( Duke Huan of Wey). In 719 BC, Duke Huan was assassinated by his younger brother Zhouxu, who ruled for less than a year before he too was killed in a plot orchestrated by

Shi Que Shi or SHI may refer to: Language * ''Shi'', a Japanese title commonly used as a pronoun * ''Shi'', proposed gender-neutral pronoun * Shi (kana), a kana in Japanese syllabaries * Shi language * ''Shī'', transliteration of Chinese Radical 44 ...

and the ruler of Chen. Jin was installed as the next ruler and became known by his

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

Duke Xuan in Chinese historiography. Duke Xuan had a son named Jizi with his deceased father's concubine Yi Jiang. When Jizi became the "Noble Son of the Right", a girl named

from the state of Qi was selected to be his wife. Since Xuan Jiang was pretty, Duke Xuan took her for himself, and fathered two sons with her, Shou and Shuo. Shou became the "Noble Son of the Left". Yi Jiang hanged herself for reasons not explicitly stated. One time, when Jizi was about to go to Qi, Xuan Jiang ordered soldiers to ambush and kill him on the way so that her sons would succeed the throne. However, Shou, who was clearly close to Jizi, informed him of the plot. When Jizi still decided to depart, Shou got him drunk and took his place. Jizi chased after him but was a step too late; both of them were killed by assassins. Shuo became the heir apparent and eventually succeeded his father as the next duke, known in Chinese historiography as

Duke Hui of Wey Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

References

{{Monarchs of Wey (state) Monarchs of Wey (state) Zhou dynasty nobility Zhou dynasty government officials 700 BC deaths