Marquess Ai of Han () (died 374 BC), ancestral name Jì (姬), clan name Hán (韩), personal name unknown, was the ruler of the

State of Han Han (, Old Chinese: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Warring States period of ancient China. It is conventionally romanized by scholars as Hann to distinguish it from the later Han dynasty (). It was located in central China ...

between 376 BC and until his death in 374 BC. He was the son of

Marquess Wen of Han Marquess Wen of Han (Chinese: 韩文侯; pinyin: Hán Wénhóu) (died 377 BC), ancestral name Jì (姬), clan name Hán (韩), personal name unknown, was the ruler of the State of Han between 386 BC and until his death in 377 BC. He was the son of ...

. In 376 BC, Han, Wei, and Zhao deposed Duke Jing of Jin. They then divided his land, marking the end of Jin state. The following year, after two unsuccessful invasions, Han annexed

Zheng Zheng may refer to: *Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'') *Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China *Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges *Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ...

. It then moved the capital to

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. ...

(a city in

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 ...

). At this time, its territory contains south-eastern part of

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 ...

and central part of Henan. According to "

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

", Marquess Ai appointed Gui Han to be the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, but was much closer to Minister Sui Yan. They were archenemies of each other. In 374 BC, Minister Han plotted to assassinate Yan at the court. Han walked to Ai, who then hugged him. As a result, both were killed by the assassin. However, "

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 hist ...

" tells a different story: Ai was murdered by Han and Yan, and it was not an accident. The succession then passed to Marquess Gong, son of Ai. He later moved the capital back to Yangzhai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ai 374 BC deaths Zhou dynasty nobility Monarchs of Han (state) Year of birth unknown