Wei (; ;

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

: *') was one of the seven major states during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

of ancient China. It was created from the three-way

Partition of Jin The Partition of Jin (), the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, refers to the division of the State of Jin between rival families into the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei. As a result, the three states were o ...

, together with

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 Zhao. Its territory lay between the states of

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 ...

and Qi and included parts of modern-day

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 ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

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

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. After its capital was moved from Anyi to Daliang (present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

) during the reign of King Hui, Wei was also called Liang ().

History

Foundation

Surviving sources trace the ruling house of Wei to the Zhou royalty: Gao, Duke of Bi (), was a son of

King Wen of Zhou King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...

. His descendants took their

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, Bi, from his

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

. After the destruction of Bi, Bi Wan () escaped to Jin, where he became a courtier of Duke Xian's, accompanying his personal carriage. After a successful military expedition, Bi Wan was granted Wei, from which his own descendants then founded the house of Wei.

Spring and Autumn period

Jin's political structure was drastically changed after the slaughter of its ruling dynasty during and after the

Li Ji Unrest The Li Ji Unrest or Rebellion (657–651 BCE) was a series of events that took place in the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, caused by Li Ji, the concubine of Duke Xian of Jin, in order to put her son Xiqi onto ...

. Afterwards, "Jin ha no princely house" () and its political power diffused into extended relations of the ruling family, including the Wei. In the last years 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 ...

, the founders of Wei, Zhao, and

joined to attack and kill the dominant house of Zhi () in 453 BCE, resulting in the

partition of Jin The Partition of Jin (), the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, refers to the division of the State of Jin between rival families into the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei. As a result, the three states were o ...

King Weilie of Zhou King Weilie of Zhou (), personal name Jī Wǔ, was the thirty-second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the twentieth of the Eastern Zhou. His reign started in 425 BC, after his father King Kao of Zhou had died and lasted until his death in 402 ...

finally legitimized the situation in 403 BCE, when he elevated the three houses' heads to the rank of

marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

().

Warring States Period

The state reached its apogee during the reigns of its first two rulers,

Marquess Wen of Wei Marquess Wen of Wei (Wèi Wén Hóu; died 396 BCE) was the first Marquess to rule the State of Wei during the Warring States period of Chinese history (475 – 220 BCE). Born Wei Si (魏斯), he belonged to the House of Wei, one of the noble ...

and Marquess Wu of Wei. The third ruler,

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 Marq ...

, declared himself an independent sovereign and concentrated on economic developments, including irrigation projects at the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

. Hui felt that

in the west was weak and their land a barren waste. He focused on conquering the well-settled eastern lands which were richer in known resources. However, a series of battles including the

battle of Maling The Battle of Maling () took place in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town (), Shen County (), Henan Province, in 342 BC during the Warring States period (476–221 BC). The combatants were the State of Qi, who fought on behalf of the State of Ha ...

in 341 BCE checked Wei's ambitions while Qin's expansion went largely unimpeded, boosting its economy and military strength. Early strengthening of the state of Wei resulted from adoption of Legalist reforms proposed by Li Kui (, c. 459 – c. 395 BCE).

Defeat

Wei eventually lost the western Hexi (河西) region, a strategic area of pastoral land on the west bank of the Yellow River between the border of modern-day

and

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, to Qin. Thereafter, it remained continuously at war with Qin, requiring the capital to be moved from Anyi to Daliang. Wei surrendered to Qin in 225 BCE, after the Qin general

Wang Ben Wang Ben 王賁, was a Chinese general of the state of Qin during the Warring States period. He was a son of the better known general Wang Jian. He played a key role in the Qin's wars of unification. Life In 225 BCE, a 600,000 strong Qin army ...

diverted the

into Daliang, destroying the capital in a flood.

Rulers

, personal name Si (斯) or Du (都), (445–396 BCE) # Marquess Wu of Wei, personal name Ji (擊), son of Marquess Wen, (396–370 BCE) #

, personal name Ying (罃), son of Marquess Wu, (370–319 BCE) #

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

(魏襄王), personal name Si (嗣) or He (赫), son of King Hui, (319–296 BCE) #

King Zhao of Wei King Zhao of Wei () (died 277 BC), personal name Wei Chi () was king of Wei from 296 BC to 277 BC. He was the son of King Xiang of Wei. During his reign, his state suffered from repeated attacks by the state of Qin. In 293 BC, he made an alliance ...

(魏昭王), personal name Chi (遫), son of King Xiang, (296–277 BCE) #

King Anxi of Wei King Anxi of Wei () (died 243 BC), personal name Wei Yu () was King of Wei from 276 BC to 243 BC. He was the son of King Zhao of Wei. He was the older brother of Lord Xinling (Wei Wuji). In 275 BC, after a Han general fled to the Wei capital Dal ...

(魏安釐王),personal name Yu (圉), son of King Zhao, (277–243 BCE) #

King Jingmin of Wei King Jingmin of Wei () (died 228 BC, ruled 242–228 BC), personal name Wei Wu () was the penultimate king of Wei. He was son of King Anxi of Wei. He made an alliance with the states of Han, Zhao Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), ...

(魏景湣王), personal name Zeng (增) or Wu (午), son of King Anxi, (243–228 BCE) # King Jia, (魏王假), personal name Jia (假), son of King Jingmin, (228–225 BCE) According to

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' written in the first centuryBCE, the list of rulers is slightly different: King Hui died in 335BCE and was succeeded by his son King Xiang in 334BCE. King Xiang died in 319BCE and was succeeded by his son King Ai (), who died in 296BCE and was succeeded by his son King Zhao. However, the majority of scholars and commentators believe that King Ai, whose personal name is not recorded, never existed. It seems that Sima Qian assigned the second part of the reign of King Hui (starting in 334BCE, on which date Marquess Hui probably proclaimed himself King) to his son King Xiang and added King Ai to fill in the gap between 319 and 296BCE. On the other hand, a minority of scholars believe King Ai did indeed exist.

Family tree of Wei rulers

Notable people

* Li Kui, a Legalist philosopher and

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

* Yue Yang, ancestor of

Yue Yi Yue Yi (), enfeoffed as Lord of Changguo (), was a prominent military leader of the State of Yan during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was the son of the prime minister of the state of Zhongshan, but when Zhongshan was destroyed by ...

and prime minister of

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

Pang Juan Pang Juan (died 342 BC) was an ancient Chinese military general of the Wei state during the Warring States period. Life Early life Pang Juan was a fellow student of Sun Bin and both of them studied military strategy together under the tutela ...

, a successful general who was defeated by

Lord Mengchang Lord Mengchang (; died 279 BC), born Tian Wen, was an aristocrat and statesman of the Qi Kingdom of ancient China, one of the famed Four Lords of the Warring States period. He was a son of Tian Ying and grandson of King Wei of Qi. He succeeded to ...

of Qi and

Sun Bin Sun Bin (died 316 BC) was a Chinese general, military strategist, and writer who lived during the Warring States period of Chinese history. A supposed descendant of Sun Tzu, Sun was tutored in military strategy by the hermit Guiguzi. He wa ...

at the battle of Maling

Legacy

Chinese legend

According to the ''Records of the Warring States'', a king of Wei had a lover named Lord Longyang, with whom he enjoyed fishing. One day, Longyang began to weep. When questioned, Longyang said he saw his own future in how he had treated a fish. Happy to have the catch at first, Longyang had wanted to throw it back when he caught a better fish. He wept, "I am also a previously-caught fish! I will also be thrown back!" To show his fidelity to Longyang, the king declared that, "Anyone who dares to speak of other beauties will be executed along with his entire family".

Chinese astronomy

In traditional

Chinese astronomy Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twe ...

, Wei is represented by one star in the "Twelve States" asterism of the "

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

lunar mansion Often called lunar mansion, a lunar station or lunar house is a segment of the ecliptic through which the Moon passes in its orbit around the Earth. The concept was used by several ancient cultures as part of their calendrical system. Stations ...

of the " Black Turtle"

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

and other star in the "Left Wall" of the "Heavenly Market" enclosure. Sources differ, however, in whether those two stars are (respectively) 33 Capricorni and

Delta Herculis Delta Herculis (δ Herculis, abbreviated Delta Her, δ Her) is a multiple star system in the constellation of Hercules. Its light produces to us apparent magnitude 3.12, as such the third-brightest star in the large, fairly dim constellat ...

or whether they are Chi Capricorni and

Phi Capricorni Phi Capricorni (φ Cap, φ Capricorni) is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Capricornus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +5.16. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 5.07 mas as se ...

.Star Names – R.H.Allen p.142
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wei Ancient Chinese states Jin (Chinese state) States and territories established in the 5th century BC