Duke Wu of Qin (, died 678 BC) was from 697 to 678 BC the tenth 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 ...

state 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 ...

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 Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

. 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 (), and Duke Wu 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 or ...

Accession to the throne

Duke Wu was the eldest son and the crown prince of Duke Xian of Qin. However, when Duke Xian died in 704 BC at the age of 21, the ministers Fuji (弗忌) and Sanfu (三父) deposed Duke Wu and installed his younger half-brother Chuzi on the throne. Six years later, in 698 BC Sanfu and Fuji assassinated Chuzi and put Duke Wu, the original crown prince, on the throne.

Reign

In 697 BC, the first year of Duke Wu's reign, Qin attacked the Pengxi tribe (彭戏氏) of 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 Øygarden m ...

people and the Qin army advanced east to

Mount Hua Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as ...

. In 695 BC, Duke Wu executed Sanfu, Fuji, and their clans for the crime of murdering Chuzi. In 688 BC, he attacked the Rong people to the west, establishing counties in the former Rong territories of Gui (邽, in present-day

Tianshui Tianshui is the second-largest cities in Gansu, city in Gansu list of Chinese provinces, Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and ...

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 Tibet ...

) and Ji (冀, in present-day

Gangu Gangu County () is a county in the southeast of Gansu province, the People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Tianshui City and is the most populous county in Gansu. Its postal code is 741200, and in 1999 its population was 570, ...

, Gansu). The following year, he established the counties of Du (杜, in present-day

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

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 ...

) and Zheng (郑, 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. His ...

) in the east, and conquered the minor state of

Xiao Guo Xiao may refer to: * Filial piety (), or "being good to parents", a virtue in Chinese culture * Xiao (flute) (), a Chinese end-blown flute * Xiao (rank) (), a rank used for field officers in the Chinese military * Xiao County (), in Anhui, China ...

Death and succession

After 20 years of reign, Duke Wu died in 678 BC and was buried in Yong (in present-day

Fengxiang Fengxiang District (), formerly, Fengxiang County and its ancient name is Yong county (雍县), is a district administered by Baoji City in the west of Shaanxi province, China. The county covers an area of and as of 2004 had a population of 510, ...

, Shaanxi). Although Duke Wu had a son named Bai (白), he was succeeded by his younger brother

Duke De of Qin Duke De of Qin (, 710–676 BC) was from 677 to 676 BC the eleventh ruler of the Zhou Dynasty state of Qin that eventually united China to become the Qin Dynasty. His ancestral name was Ying (), and Duke De was his posthumous title. Duke De was ...

as ruler of Qin. Duke De moved the Qin capital to Yong, while Prince Bai was enfeoffed at the old capital Pingyang.

Human sacrifice

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 ...

, Duke Wu was the ruler who started the practice of funeral

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

in the state of Qin. When he died in 678 BC he had 66 people buried with him. The later ruler Duke Mu, who died in 621 BC, had 177 people buried with him, including several senior government officials. This practice would continue for almost three centuries until Duke Xian (Shixi) banned it in 384 BC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu of Qin, Duke Year of birth unknown Rulers of Qin 7th-century BC Chinese monarchs 678 BC deaths