Qi ( zh, c=, p=Qǐ,

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 a minor feudal state in ancient China that existed from the beginning of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

(11th century BCE) until it was destroyed by the state of Chu in 445 BCE (early in the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

History

Chapter 36 of the ''

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

'', compiled the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

historian

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

, contains an entry for the hereditary house of Qi. It states that after conquering the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

, King Wu of Zhou sought out a descendent of the legendary Yu the Great and enfeoffed him at Qi. There follows a list of rulers with the title ''

gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

'' (usually rendered 'duke'), but the first four implausibly span a period from the reign of King Wu (died ) to 677 BCE. Sima Qian states that Qi was destroyed in 445 BCE by King Hui of Chu, and concludes that it was "small and unimportant, its affairs were not worthy of extolling and narrating". According to Sima Zhen's commentary on the ''Shiji'', the state of Qi was originally located in Yongqiu county, now known as Qi County, Kaifeng in modern

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province, and moved to eastern China during the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

. The state of Qi is perhaps best known from the popular Chinese idiom (/, literally 'Qi person worried about the sky') based on a story in the '' Liezi'', in which a man of Qi often talked anxiously about the sky falling down. The idiom is used when mocking someone's groundless fears. Since Qi claimed descent from the royal house of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

went there to learn about the ancient rituals of the Xia, but was disappointed: "I could discuss the rites of the Xia, but Qi does not sufficiently attest them."

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External links

* {{Zhou Dynasty topics Ancient Chinese states States of the Spring and Autumn period States of the Warring States period Xia dynasty Former monarchies