Qi () was a Chinese king, the son of

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures prominen ...

and the second sovereign of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradi ...

. He ruled for roughly nine to ten years.戴逸, 龔書鐸.

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(2003) 中國通史. 史前夏商西周. Intelligence press. . p. 40.

Biography

Family

Qi's father, Yu the Great, also the founder of the Xia dynasty, married Nu Jiao and had Qi. Qi was not to be the next king but due to public pressure Qi was chosen as Yu's successor, starting the dynastic tradition. Later, Qi had a son named Tài Kāng who also became the next king.

Reign

Yu died 45 years into his reign. After Qi's rule, Qi's son

Tai Kang Tai Kang () was the third king of the Xia Dynasty. He was the son of the king Qi of Xia and paternal grandson of Yu the Great and queen Nu Jiao. Biography Tai Kang loved to hunt and did not rule well. According to the '' Bamboo Annals'', Tai ...

succeeded him as king. According to the historian

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Gao Yao, his Minister of Justice, but when Gao died Yu designated as his heir Yi (also known as Boyi), his former companion for thirteen years fighting the flood and his current Minister of Animal Husbandry. But due to Yu's great influence, all the leaders of the Xia states came to admire Qi instead of Yi, so Yi had no choice but to pass up the throne to Qi at the end of three years of mourning for Yu. 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 ...

'' also mention that Yu appointed Yi as his successor, but mention nothing of Yi's reigning, stating only that Yu's son Qi took the throne of Xia after the 3 years of mourning for Yu. It relates that Boyi (Yi or Yih) died in Qi's 6th year and that Qi "appointed a sacrifice for him". However, in a footnote, translator

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London ...

observes: "This account does not agree with the account of the death of Yih, which is often attributed to the Annals, and which was no doubt in some of the Bamboo Books; viz. that 'Yih was aiming at the throne, and K'e iput him to death'." Qi got his throne in the year of ''Guihai'' (癸亥), and he celebrated his

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

with all his vassals (諸侯) at Juntai (鈞臺,a platform that used to be in Yuzhou 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 ...

.). He died sixteen years after he got the throne (some source say 10 years or 29 years).

Events during his reign

The ''Bamboo Annals'' record the following events for Qi's reign: * In his first year, he held great feasts in both the former capital, and his new one. * In the second year, Boyi (伯益) "left the court and went to his state". Qi led his army to fight the rebellious prince of

Hu County Huyi District (), formerly known as Hu County or Huxian (, written as / before 1964, (same for both ways of writing)), is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. The ...

at the Battle of Gan (background of the "Speech at Gan" chapter in the ''

Shang shu The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

''). * In the sixth year, Boyi died, and Qi "appointed a sacrifice" to memorialize him. * In the eighth year of his reign, Qi sent Mengtu (孟塗), one of his ministers to Ba 'to preside over litigations'. * In the tenth year, he "made a tour of inspection, and celebrated a complete service of

Shun Shun may refer to one of the following: *To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group * Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬) Emperor Shun * Emperor Shun (� ...

's music" in Damu(大穆). Some sources may add that he created a dance named '' Nine Shao'' (九韶, see ''

Jiu Ge ''Jiu Ge'', or ''Nine Songs'', () is an ancient set of poems. Together, these poems constitute one of the 17 sections of the poetry anthology which was published under the title of the '' Chuci'' (also known as the ''Songs of Chu'' or as the '' ...

''). * In his 11th year, Qi banished his youngest son Wuguan ' beyond the Yellow River's western part'. * In the 15th year, Wuguan led a rebellion on the western Ho. Qi sent one of his ministers, Shou to lead an army to punish Wuguan, when Wuguan surrendered.

Literary references elsewhere

The Eastern Zhou anthology Discourses of the States mentions Qi as one of the examples of originally

virtuous Virtue ( la, virtus) is morality, moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is Value (ethics), valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that sh ...

kings who would beget wicked sons. The ''

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...

'' mentions Qi several times, as and : he is depicted as a fanciful shamanic intermediary who received sacred dances and music from the Supreme God (aka

Shangdi Shangdi (), also written simply, "Emperor" (), is the Chinese term for "Supreme Deity" or "Highest Deity" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later '' Tian'' ("Heave ...

).''A Chinese bestiary: strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas''. Translated by Richard E. Strassberg. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. (2002). pp. 50, 168-169, 219

Locations presumed to be related with reign

The city

Xinzhai __NOTOC__ Xinzhai () is an early Bronze Age archaeological site that was found 1979 in Henan, China. It is located about southeast of Xinmi, Zhengzhou. The culture in Xinzhai existed during the Xia dynasty and is dated from about 1870 BC to 1 ...

is believed to has been founded by king Qi of Xia, and was the capital of the Xia dynasty until Qi's descendant

Shao Kang Shao Kang (, his surname was Sì 姒) was the sixth king of the Xia dynasty of ancient China. He was the son of Xiang. His father was killed in a battle against Han Zhuo's two sons, Han Jiao and Han Yi; Shao Kang's mother Ji managed to escape a ...

took control of the dynasty. Chinese archaeologist Feng Shi () identifies

Taosi Taosi () is an archaeological site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi, China. Taosi is considered to be part of the late phase of the Longshan culture in southern Shanxi, also known as the Taosi phase (2300 BC to 1900 BC). Archaeology Taosi was surround ...

culture's site ''Wenyi'' 文邑 with ''Xiayi'' 夏邑, Xia dynasty's second capital and Qi's capital. He also points to traces of violence among the archaeological evidence there to propose that "Qi seized the royal power with violence and changed the abdication system into hereditary system."Feng, Shi (2009
"A Study of the Pottery Inscription 'Wen Yi 文邑'"
''Chinese Archaeology'', Vol. 9 (Issue 1), pp. 170-177
full text
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Notes

References

* Wu, K. C. (1982). ''The Chinese Heritage''. New York: Crown Publishers. . {{Kings of Xia Xia dynasty kings