Duke Jing of Qin (, died 537 BC), born Ying Shi, was a duke of the state of Qin during the

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter two-thirds of the Zhou dynasty. The period follows the Western Zhou era and is named due to the Zhou royal court relocating the capital eastward from Fenghao ...

dynasty. Duke Jing succeeded his father Duke Huan, who died in 577 BC, as ruler of Qin.

Reign

In 562 BC, the state of Jin attacked the state of Zheng, which was then an ally of Qin and Chu. In order to help Zheng, Qin attacked and defeated Jin at the Battle of Li (栎, in present-day

Yongji, Shanxi Yongji () is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Yuncheng, in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level di ...

). Three years later, during the reign of Duke Dao of Jin, Jin led an alliance of 13 states to attack Qin. The allied army set up camp after crossing the Jing River. Qin poisoned the river from upstream, killing many soldiers of Jin and its allies, who were forced to retreat. This event is known as the Battle of Qianyan (迁延之役). In 537 BC Duke Jing died after 40 years of rule. He was succeeded by his son,

Duke Ai of Qin Duke Ai of Qin (, died 501 BC), personal name unknown, was a duke of the state of Qin (state), Qin during the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Duke Ai succeeded his father Duke Jing of Qin, Duke Jing, who died in 537 BC, as ruler of Qin. Marriage with Chu ...

Tomb

In 1976, Duke Jing's tomb was discovered in

Fengxiang County 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, ...

Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

. Yong, the long-time capital of Qin, was located in Fengxiang. Archaeologists spent the next ten years excavating the tomb, the largest of the 43 Qin tombs discovered in Fengxiang. Shaped like an inverted pyramid, the tomb is as deep as an eight-story building and is the size of a palace. It is the largest tomb ever excavated in China. More than 180 coffins containing 186 human remains were found in the tomb, victims of funereal

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 deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

, a practice that was started in the state of Qin by Duke Wu in 678 BC and subsequently abolished by Duke Xian in 384 BC. This is the largest number of human sacrifice victims discovered in a Chinese tomb dating from any period after the

Western Zhou dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 7 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jing of Qin, Duke Year of birth unknown Monarchs of Qin 6th-century BC Chinese monarchs 530s BC deaths