Qi
啓
Portrait of King Qi of Xia from Sancai Tuhui
King of the Xia dynasty
PredecessorYu the Great
SuccessorTai Kang
FatherYu the Great
MotherNu Jiao

Qi (Chinese: 啓) was a Chinese king, the son of Yu the Great and the second sovereign of the Xia dynasty. He ruled for roughly nine to ten years.[1][2]

Biography

Family

Qi's father, Yu the Great, also the founder of the Xia dynasty, married Nu Jiao and had Qi. Qi was not to be the next king but due to public pressure Qi was chosen as Yu's successor, starting the dynastic tradition. Later, Qi had a son named Tài Kāng who also became the next king.

Reign

Yu died 45 years into his reign. After Qi's rule, Qi's son Tai Kang succeeded him as king.

According to the historian Sima Qian, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Gao Yao, his Minister of Justice, but when Gao died Yu designated as his heir Yi (also known as Boyi), his former companion for thirteen years fighting the flood and his current Minister of Animal Husbandry.[3] But due to Yu's great influence, all the leaders of the Xia states came to admire Qi instead of Yi, so Yi had no choice but to pass up the throne to Qi at the end of three years of mourning for Yu.

The Bamboo Annals also mention that Yu appointed Yi as his successor, but mention nothing of Yi's reigning, stating only that Yu's son Qi took the throne of Xia after the 3 years of mourning for Yu. It relates that Boyi (Yi or Yih) died in Qi's 6th year and that Qi "appointed a sacrifice for him". However, in a footnote, translator James Legge observes: "This account does not agree with the account of the death of Yih, which is often attributed to the Annals, and which was no doubt in some of the Bamboo Books; viz. that 'Yih was aiming at the throne, and K'e [Qi] put him to death'."

Qi got his throne in the year of Guihai (癸亥), and he celebrated his inauguration with all his vassals (諸侯) at Juntai (鈞臺,a platform that used to be in Yuzhou city in Henan.). He died sixteen years after he got the throne (some source say 10 years or 29 years).

Events during his reign

The Bamboo Annals record the following events for Qi's reign:[4]

  • In his first year, he held great feasts in both the former capital, and his new one.
  • In the second year, Boyi (伯益) "left the court and went to his state". Qi led his army to fight the rebellious prince of Hu County at the Battle of Gan (background of the "Speech at Gan" chapter in the Shang shu).
  • In the sixth year, Boyi died, and Qi "appointed a sacrifice" to memorialize him.
  • In the eighth year of his reign, Qi sent Mengtu (孟塗), one of his ministers to Ba 'to preside over litigations'.
  • In the tenth year, he "made a tour of inspection, and celebrated a complete service of Shun's music" in Damu(大穆). Some sources may add that he created a dance named Nine Shao (九韶, see Jiu Ge).
  • In his 11th year, Qi banished his youngest son Wuguan 'beyond the Yellow River's western part'.
  • In the 15th year, Wuguan led a rebellion on the western Ho. Qi sent one of his ministers, Shou to lead an army to punish Wuguan, when Wuguan surrendered.

Literary references elsewhere

The Eastern Zhou anthology Discourses of the States mentions Qi as one of the examples of originally virtuous kings who would beget wicked sons.[5]

The Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions Qi several times, as 啟; Qǐ and 開; Kǎi:[6] he is depicted as a fanciful shamanic intermediary who received sacred dances and music from the Supreme God (aka Shangdi 上帝).[7][8][9]

The city Xinzhai is believed to has been founded by king Qi of Xia, and was the capital of the Xia dynasty until Qi's descendant Shao Kang took control of the dynasty.[10]

Chinese archaeologist Feng Shi (冯時; 馮時) identifies Taosi culture's site Wenyi 文邑 with Xiayi 夏邑, Xia dynasty's second capital and Qi's capital. He also points to traces of violence among the archaeological evidence there to propose that "Qi seized the royal power with violence and changed the abdication system into hereditary system."[11]

References

  1. ↑ Mungello, David E. The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800. Rowman & Littlefield; 3 edition (28 Mar 2009) ISBN 978-0-7425-5798-7 p.97
  2. ↑ 戴逸, 龔書鐸. [2002] (2003) 中國通史. 史前 夏 商 西周. Intelligence press. ISBN 962-8792-80-6. p. 40.
  3. ↑ Wu, 116
  4. ↑ Bamboo Annals "Thearch Qi"
  5. ↑ Guoyu (annotated by Wei Zhao), "Discourses of Chu 1", quote: "故堯有丹朱，舜有商均，啟有五觀，湯有太甲，文王有管、蔡。是五王者，皆有元德也，而有姦子。"
  6. ↑ Shanhaijing, "Classics of the Great Wastelands: West" 50 quote: "按：夏后開即啟，避漢景帝諱云。" rough translation: "Sidenote: Xia Sovereign Kai is Qi; [so called] to avoid voicing out the taboo name of Emperor Jing of Han."
  7. ↑ Shanhaijing, "Classics of the Regions Beyond the Seas: West" 4: "大樂之野，夏后啟於此儛九代；乘兩龍，雲蓋三層。左手操翳，右手操環，佩玉璜。在大運山北。一曰大遺之野。" Strassberg's translation: "On the Plain of the Grand Music, the Xia Sovereign Qi danced “The Nine Dai Dances.” He rode on two dragons, and the clouds formed a canopy for him three layers high. In his left hand he held a feathered pennant, in his right, a jade ring, and he wore a jade semicircle from his belt. This is north of the Mountain of the Grand Movement. According to another version, this occurred on the Plain of the Great Bestowal."
  8. ↑ Shanhaijing, "Classics of the Great Wastelands: West" 45 "西南海之外，赤水之南，流沙之西，有人珥兩青蛇，乘兩龍，名曰夏后開。開上三嬪于天，得九辯與九歌以下。此天穆之野，高二千仞，開焉得始歌九招。". Strassberg's translation: "Beyond the Southwest Sea, south of the Red River and west of the Desert of Shifting Sands, is a man who wears two green snakes through his ears and rides on two dragons, named the Xia Sovereign Kai. Kai ascended to heaven three times as a guest and obtained “The Nine Arguments” (Jiubian) and “The Nine Songs,” which he brought down when he descended. At this place called the Plain of Celestial Majesty, two thousand ren [16,000 feet] high, he first sung “The Nine Summons” (Jiuzhao)."
  9. ↑ A Chinese bestiary: strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas. Translated by Richard E. Strassberg. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. (2002). pp. 50, 168-169, 219
  10. ↑ "Carbon dating confirms age of 3,800-year-old pottery bird statue". Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IA CASS). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Feng, Shi (2009) "A Study of the Pottery Inscription 'Wen Yi 文邑'". Chinese Archaeology, Vol. 9 (Issue 1), pp. 170-177. full text

References

  • Wu, K. C. (1982). The Chinese Heritage. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54475X.
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