King Xiang of Wei

King Xiang of Wei () (died 296 BC), personal name Wei Si (), was king of Wei from 318 BC to 296 BC. He was the son of

King Hui of Wei King Hui of Wei (; 400–319 BC), originally called Marquis Hui of Wei, and after 344, King Hui of Liang () was the third ruler of the state of Wei during the Warring States period, ruling from approximately 369–319 BC. He was a grandson of Marqu ...

. In 318 BC, at the suggestion of the Wei minister, Gongsun Yan, he entered into an alliance against

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

created by

King Huai of Chu King Huai of Chu (, died 296 BC) was from 328 to 299 BC the king of the state of Chu during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Huai () and King Huai (懷, a different Chinese character) was his posthumous title. Kin ...

which also included the states of Zhao,

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 ...

and

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

. Chu then betrayed this alliance. In 317 BC, at the suggestion of chancellor Zhang Yi, King Xiang entered into an alliance with Qin. To punish Chu for its betrayal of the 5-state alliance, King Xiang sent an army in 312 BC to attack the city of Dengcheng in Chu (modern-day part of

Shangshui County Shangshui County () is a county in the east of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It b ...

Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the north ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Province). Wei itself was attacked by Qi in 310 BC, and King Xiang met

King Wu of Qin King Wu of Qin (; 329–307 BC), also known as King Daowulie of Qin (秦悼武烈王) or King Daowu of Qin (秦悼武王) or King Wulie of Qin (秦武烈王), was the ruler of the Qin state from 310 to 307 BC during the Warring States period of Ch ...

at Linjin (modern day part of Linyi County,

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

Province). In 308 BC, the two kings met again at

Yingcheng Yingcheng () is a county-level city of about 600,000 inhabitants in Xiaogan, eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. History On December 26, 2019, a minor earthquake struck the area. Township-level divisions Five subdistricts: * Chen ...

(modern-day part of

Xiaogan Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the built ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

) to plan an attack on Han. In 306 BC, after the death of King Wu of Qin, the alliance with Qin broke down, and Qin invaded, attacking and occupying the city of Puban. Qin chancellor Gan Mao defected to Wei and the invading forces were withdrawn. In 303 BC, Qin took advantage of Wei's alliance with Qi and Han against Chu to launch a second invasion. In 302 BC, relations between Wei and Qin normalized, and King Xiang met

King Zhaoxiang of Qin King Zhaoxiang of Qin (; 325–251 BC), or King Zhao of Qin (秦昭王), born Ying Ji (, was the king of Qin from 306 BC to 251 BC. He was the son of King Huiwen and younger brother of King Wu. King Zhaoxiang reigned as the King of Qin for 57 ...

and Han Ying (crown prince of Han) at Linjin, in which Qin agreed to return Puban. This allowed alliance of Wei, Han and Qi in inflict a major defeat on Chu in 301 BC. In 299 BC, King Xiang met with

King Min of Qi King Min of Qi () (323–284 BC, ruled 300–284 BC) was a notoriously unsuccessful king of the northeastern Chinese state of Qi during the Warring States period. "Famous for his paranoia and megalomania, the king was the archetype of the unworth ...

and

King Wuling of Zhao King Wuling of Zhao () (died 295 BCE, reigned 325 BCE – 299 BCE) reigned in the State of Zhao during the Warring States period of Chinese history. His reign was famous for one important event: the reforms consisting of "Wearing the Hu (styled) A ...

at Han's capital

Xinzheng Xinzheng () is a county-level city of Henan Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. The city has a population of 600,000 people and covers an area of , of which is urban. ...

(modern day Henan) to propose a 4-state alliance of Qi, Han, Wei and Zhao against Qin. It was in this king's tomb that the ''

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history ...

'' were discovered in 279 AD, an event referred to as the

Jizhong discovery The Jizhong (汲冢 or Jijun 汲君, northern part of present Henan) discovery in AD 279 is an important event in the paleography of ancient China, recorded in the ''Book of Jin''. A grave robber Biao Zhun 不準 broke into the tomb of King Xiang o ...

. {{Monarchs of Wei (state) Monarchs of Wei (state) 4th-century BC Chinese monarchs 296 BC deaths