Qi (state)

Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a regional state of the Zhou dynasty in ancient China, whose rulers held titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong'' （公）, before declaring themselves independent Kings （王）. Its capital was Linzi, located in present-day Shandong. Qi was founded shortly after the Zhou conquest of Shang, . Its first monarch was Jiang Ziya (Lord Tai; 1046–1015 BCE ), minister of King Wen and a legendary figure in Chinese culture. His family ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family in 386BCE. Qi was the final surviving state to be annexed by Qin during its unification of China.

History

Foundation

During the Zhou conquest of Shang, Jiang Ziya, a native of Ju County served as the chief minister to King Wu, the same position he had held in service to King Wu's father. Following the Zhou victory, the lands comprising much of the Shandong peninsula and some nearby surrounds were established as the state of Qi, with Jiang charged with ruling and defending them. After King Wu's death, Ziya remained loyal to the Duke of Zhou's regency during the Three Guards' failed rebellion. The Shang prince Wu Geng had joined the revolt along with the Dongyi polities of , Xu, and Pugu, located within the boundaries of Qi. These were suppressed by 1039BCE, but the ''Bamboo Annals'' suggest that the native people of Pugu continued to revolt for about another decade before being destroyed a second time .

Transmitted documents from the Western Zhou period are scant, but it is known that King Yi of Zhou (865–858 BCE) attacked Qi and boiled Duke Ai to death. During the time of King Xuan of Zhou ( 827–782), there was a local succession struggle. Throughout this period, many of the native Dongyi peoples were absorbed into the Zhou cultural sphere.

Spring and Autumn period

The succession crisis following the violent death of King You of Zhou led to a dramatic and unrecoverable loss of political and military authority in the Zhou royal court. Under this new geopolitical situation, Qi rose to prominence under Duke Huan of Qi ( 685–643BCE ). He and his minister Guan Zhong strengthened the state by consolidating power in the hands of the central government at the expense of the landed aristocracy, establishing a system of counties () ruled directly by ministers of the state court. Qi annexed 35 neighboring polities – including Tan – and brought others into submission. Guan Zhong's administrative reforms also included state monopolies on salt and iron, and in general were characteristic of the later political philosophy of Legalism.

In 667BCE, the lords of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, and Zheng assembled in one of the first great interstate conferences, and Duke Huan was elected as their leader. Subsequently, King Hui of Zhou pronounced him ''Bà'' (), the "hegemon-protector" sworn to protect the royal house of Zhou and uphold the authority of the Son of Heaven (the Zhou king). The first of five such hegemons, he earned a tribute from the other states, and had the honour of paying the royal court a larger tribute than anyone else. His calls to arms were as binding as the king's own. Using this authority, during the first eleven years of his hegemony, Duke Huan intervened in a power struggle in Lu; protected Yan from encroaching Western Rong nomads; drove off Northern Di nomads after their invasions of Wey and Xing, providing the people with provisions and protective garrison units; and led an alliance of eight states to conquer Cai and thereby block the northward expansion of Chu.

After Duke Huan's death, a war of succession between rival claimants greatly weakened Qi and ending its reign of hegemony. In 632BCE, Qi helped Jin defeat Chu at the Battle of Chengpu, only to be defeated by Jin itself at the Battle of An in 589. In 579, the four great powers of Qin, Jin, Chu, and Qi met to declare a truce and limit their military strength.

Warring States period – Tian Qi

Early in the period, Qi annexed a number of smaller states. Qi was one of the first states to patronize scholars. In 532BCE, the Tian clan destroyed several rival families and came to dominate the state. In 485, the Tian clan killed the heir to the house of Jiang and fought several rival clans. Four years later, the Tian chief killed a puppet ruler, most of his family, and a number of rival chiefs. He took control of most of the state and left the monarch with only the capital of Linzi and the area around Mount Tai. In 386, the house of Tian fully replaced the house of Jiang as rulers of Qi. The Warring States period ended with the Qin conquest of Qi, which was the last to fall, in 222. So ended Qi, and the era of Imperial China began.

Culture of Qi

Before Qin unified China, each state's customs, culture, dialects, and orthography had pronounced differences. According to the '' Yu Gong'' or ''Tribute of Yu'', composed in the fourth or fifth century BCE and included in the '' Classic of Documents'', there were nine distinct cultural regions of China, which are described in detail. The work focuses on the travels of the titular sage, Yu the Great, throughout each of the regions.

Other texts also discussed these cultural variations. One of these texts was ''The Book of Master Wu'', written in response to a query by Marquis Wu of Wei on how to cope with the other states. Wu Qi, the author of the work, declared that the government and nature of the people were reflective of the terrain of the environment in which they inhabited. Of Qi, he said:

While visiting Qi, Confucius was deeply impressed with perfection of performance of Shao music () therein.

During the Warring States period, Qi was famous for Linzi's Jixia Academy, where renowned scholars of the era from all over China would visit. Modern scholarship understands the Jixia Academy not to be a physical institution, but an informal collaboration of sponsored scholars engaged in intellectual work. One impressive surviving achievement of the Jixia school of thought is the '' Yanzi Chunqiu''.

Qi architecture

The state of Qi was known for having well organized cities that were nearly rectangular in shape, with roads that were neatly knit into a grid-like pattern. The palace was strategically positioned facing the south. To the left (eastwardly direction) of the palace resided the ancestral temple, to its right (westward) the temple of the gods, both one hundred paces away. This ensured that balance was achieved. In front of the palace was the court also one hundred paces away and to the back of the palace was the city. This type of layout influenced greatly the way cities were designed in subsequent generations.

Smaller estates known as ''chengyi'' () were abundant throughout Qi. They typically stretched 450 meters from south to north and 395 meters from east to west. The perimeter was usually surrounded by a wall with the living headquarters situated within and a nearly perfect square-shaped courtyard occupying the center.

The Great Wall of Qi () is the oldest existing Great Wall in China. Construction of the wall started in 441 BCE to defend against attacks from the states of Jin and Yue. Construction ended during the Warring States period, with the wall enhancing Qi's defense against enemies states like Ju, Lu, and Chu. The wall stretches from Guangli village of today's Changqing District, Jinan, running across the mountain ridges of central Shandong Province to the Yellow Sea in the present-day city of Qingdao. Its total length has been estimated at . Most of the wall is still visible.

Qi in astronomy

Qi is represented by the star Chi Capricorni in the "Twelve States" asterism in the " Girl" lunar mansion in the " Black Turtle" symbol. Qi is also represented by the star 112 Herculis in the "Left Wall" asterism in the "Heavenly Market" enclosure.

Rulers

House of Jiang

House of Tian

Famous people

All dates are BCE
* Guan Zhong (720–645), prime minister to Duke Huan of Qi and known for making the state of Qi one of the most power Hegemons at the time.
* Yan Ying (578–500), prime minister to Duke Jing, known from '' Yanzi Chunqiu'', to which he is sometimes attributed authorship.
*Sun Tzu (544–496) Chinese strategist and writer, famously attributed authorship of ''The Art of War''. May not have existed.
* Sun Bin (?–316), military strategist known for '' Sun Bin's Art of War''.
* Chunyu Kun (386–310), official and master scholar at the Jixia Academy.
*Mencius (372–289), official and one of the most renowned Confucian philosophers.
* Xun Kuang (313–238), philosopher who joined the Jixia Academy when he was 50 years old, known for the '' Xunzi''.

References

Citations

Sources

*

Further reading

*
Unraveling Early Daoist Oral Traditions in Guan Zi's "Purifying the Heart-Mind (Bai Xin)," "Art of the Heart-Mind (Xin Shu)," and "Internal Cultivation (Nei Ye)
, Dan G. Reid

{{Coord, 36.865, N, 118.340, E, display=title

Ancient Chinese states
States of the Spring and Autumn period
States of the Warring States period
States and territories established in the 11th century BC
11th-century BC establishments in China
States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century BC
221 BC
Former monarchies