King Xiang of Wei () (died 296 BC), personal name Wei Si (), was king of
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 ...
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 by
King Huai of Chu which also included the states of
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
Yan.
Chu then betrayed this alliance.
In 317 BC, at the suggestion of chancellor
Zhang Yi, King Xiang entered into an alliance with Qin. To punish Chu for its betrayal of the 5-state alliance, King Xiang sent an army in 312 BC to attack the city of Dengcheng in Chu (modern-day part of
Shangshui County,
Zhoukou
Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the north ...
,
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 a ...
Province).
Wei itself was attacked by Qi in 310 BC, and King Xiang met
King Wu of Qin at Linjin (modern day part of
Linyi County,
Yuncheng
Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...
,
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-leve ...
Province). In 308 BC, the two kings met again at
Yingcheng (modern-day part of
Xiaogan
Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the buil ...
,
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...
) to plan an attack on Han.
In 306 BC, after the death of King Wu of Qin, the alliance with Qin broke down, and Qin invaded, attacking and occupying the city of Puban. Qin chancellor Gan Mao defected to Wei and the invading forces were withdrawn. In 303 BC, Qin took advantage of Wei's alliance with Qi and Han against Chu to launch a second invasion.
In 302 BC, relations between Wei and Qin normalized, and King Xiang met
King Zhaoxiang of Qin
King Zhaoxiang of Qin (; 325–251 BC), or King Zhao of Qin (秦昭王), born Ying Ji (, was the king of Qin from 306 BC to 251 BC. He was the son of King Huiwen and younger brother of King Wu.
King Zhaoxiang reigned as the King of Qin for 5 ...
and Han Ying (crown prince of Han) at Linjin, in which Qin agreed to return Puban. This allowed alliance of Wei, Han and Qi in inflict a major defeat on Chu in 301 BC. In 299 BC, King Xiang met with
King Min of Qi and
King Wuling of Zhao at Han's capital
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 urb ...
(modern day Henan) to propose a 4-state alliance of Qi, Han, Wei and Zhao against Qin.
It was in this king's tomb that 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 ...
'' were discovered in 279 AD, an event referred to as the
Jizhong discovery.
{{Monarchs of Wei (state)
Monarchs of Wei (state)
4th-century BC Chinese monarchs
296 BC deaths