Duke Ligong of Qin (, died 443 BC) was from 476 to 443 BC the 22nd ruler of the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

Chinese state of Qin that eventually united China to become the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

. His

ancestral name 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, ...

was Ying ( 嬴), and Duke Ligong was his

posthumous title A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments o ...

. Duke Ligong succeeded his father

Duke Dao of Qin Duke Dao of Qin (, died 477 BC) was from 491 to 477 BC the 21st ruler of the Zhou Dynasty Chinese state of Qin that eventually united China to become the Qin Dynasty. His ancestral name was Ying ( 嬴), and Duke Dao was his posthumous title. ...

, who died in 477 BC, as ruler of Qin. In 461 BC, Duke Ligong dispatched an army of 20,000 men to attack the

Rong Rong or RONG may refer to: Places China * Rong County, Guangxi, Yulin, Guangxi, China * Rong County, Sichuan, Zigong, Sichuan, China Nepal * Rong, Ilam, a rural municipality in Ilam District, Nepal Norway * Rong, Norway, a village in Øygard ...

state of Dali (in present-day

Dali County Dali County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Weinan, in the east-central part of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi province to the east. It covers . The population in 2002 was 690 thousand. Its econ ...

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

), and captured its capital. In 456 BC, the State of Jin attacked Qin, taking the city of Wucheng (武城, in present-day

Hua County, Shaanxi Huazhou District (), formerly Hua County or Huaxian (), is a district of Weinan, Shaanxi province, China. It was upgraded from a county to a district in 2015. The district spans an area of , and has a population of about 324,300 as of 2012. H ...

). In 453 BC, the

Zhao Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chine ...

, Han, and

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

clans of Jin jointly attacked Zhi, the most powerful of Jin's four major clans, killed its leader

Zhi Yao Zhi Yao (), Xun Yao (), or Zhi Boyao (), posthumously known as Zhi Xiangzi (), was the ruler of Zhi, a vassal state of Jin during the late Spring and Autumn period. He was the son of Zhi Shen. He was the last Zhongjunjiang (Prime minister) of ...

, and divided the territory of Zhi amongst themselves. The state of Jin was effectively partitioned into three new states. Some of the survivors of the Zhi clan fled to Qin. In 444 BC, Qin attacked

Yiqu Yiqu (; Old Chinese (444 BCE): > Eastern Han Chinese: *,Schuessler, Axel (2014). p. 265 or ), was an ancient Chinese state which existed in the Hetao region and what is now Ningxia, eastern Gansu and northern Shaanxi during the Zhou dynasty, ...

(in present-day Ning County,

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

), another Rong state, and captured its king. Duke Ligong reigned for 34 years and died in 443 BC. He was succeeded by his son Duke Zao of Qin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligong of Qin, Duke Year of birth unknown Monarchs of Qin 5th-century BC Chinese monarchs 443 BC deaths