Character Introduction
Qi (birth and death unknown), also known as Xia Qi, Di Qi and Xia Hou Qi, was a native of Yangzhai (present-day Yuzhou City, Henan Province), the son of Yu and the second monarch of the Xia Dynasty. His mother was a woman of the Tushan clan. There were at least five sons, among them Taikang and Zhongkang. According to the Bamboo Book Chronicle, King Qi of the Imperial Xia reigned for 39 years and died at the age of about 78.
Portrait of Qi
After the death of Yu, Qi succeeded to the throne in place of Bo Yi. After that, he defeated the powerful Youhu clan in the Battle of Gan and eliminated the opposing forces within the Chinese race. However, at the same time, he was also “desolate in music and food”. In the late reign, the Wuguan Rebellion occurred, resulting in political turmoil. He died of illness and was buried near Anyi after a lifetime of warfare. When Wu Zetian changed the name of her country to Zhou, she posthumously honored Qi as Emperor Qisheng.
The legends about the transmission of Qi by Yu are inconsistent, but they all reflect the transformation of the “public world” to the “family world” and the transformation of the military democratic election system (the Zen transfer system) to the hereditary monarchy. This was a long and complex process that continued after Qi’s death.
Biography
Legends of his life
Qi’s mother was Tushan, and Qu Yuan wrote in his “Heavenly Questions” that “Yu was on a flood control tour and traveled all over the world, and once, by chance, he met Tushan in Taisang, and the pregnant Tushan gave birth to Qi.
The Battle for the Throne
After Shun, the kingship was further strengthened, and the legend says that when Si Yu Tu Mountain alliance was held, “those who held the jade and silk were ten thousand countries” and “the ruler of the lords and princes would come to the top, and the ruler of the wind would come later, and Yu cut them down”. This Tu Mountain is the three Tu Mountain in Song County, Henan Province, which is also known as Huiji Mountain, is near the center of the Xia people’s activities. It can be seen by Jiuji, Yu two generations of management, after the Xia clan has formed a strong force, the foundation for the establishment of the Xia dynasty. With the emergence of kingship, the organs of the clan system has been partly transformed, partly abandoned, only the successor leader of the candidate to be approved by the council form survives. From Gui Shun to Si Yu is in the era of social development, a variety of talents, the first to be cited as the successor of Si Yu was in charge of the five penalties, responsible for prison litigation Gaotao. Gaotao died before Si Yu, the tribal association council and elected Yi, that is, Bo Yi. He is a descendant of Zhuan Xu and Shaodian, also known as Dafei, and Gaotao have certain blood kinship, has assisted Si Yu flat water and soil, meritorious and by the esteem of Ji Shun, was appointed to be in charge of the mountains and swamps, taming birds and animals “Yu”, ancient literature has “Yi main Yu, mountains and swamps to open up ” said, some scholars believe that his achievements in the first animal husbandry. Therefore, according to traditional customs, Si Qi as the leader’s son in the Council to discuss the successor candidate, although the nomination was given priority, but his achievements and prestige can not compete with Yi, Yi naturally became the legal successor recognized by the Council.
However, in the time of Yi and Kai, traditional customs were replaced by new values. Immediately after Yu’s death, Qi launched an attack on the legal heir and seized the position of leader. The story of this struggle is recorded as follows: “When Yi was established in Yu’s stead, he was imprisoned by Qi, who rose up to kill Yi in order to take over the sacrifice of Yu”; or “In ancient times, when Yu died, he would pass the world to Yi, and the people of Qi attacked Yi and established Qi”; or ” Yu granted the benefit, and Qi as an official, and old, and Qi is not enough to serve the world, passed on to the benefit. Qi and the branch party attacked Yi and took the world, is the name of Yu to pass the world to Yi, in fact, make Qi take it from “. In short, the struggle was fierce, and after several twists and turns, “rebellion” Si Qi had a powerful counter-attack by the benefit, once at a disadvantage, and even detained, finally because of Si Yu’s management and cultivation, Xia Hou’s roots deeper, stronger, with the support of the supporters, Xia Hou’s and its supporters united to wage war against Yi, finally killed Yi, so that Qi to seize the power of the leader.
Battle of Gan
After Qi seized the leadership position, he held an alliance meeting in present-day Yuxian County, Henan Province to inform the tribes within the confederation and nearby chiefdoms and to gain supporters in order to establish his rule, which is documented as Xia Qi having the enjoyment of Juntai. However, Qi’s usurpation of traditional customs caused discontent among some tribes, especially those powerful tribal leaders who also coveted the highest position of power in the alliance, represented by the Youhu clan, and openly expressed disobedience to Qi as the new leader, which led to the Battle of Gan in which Qi fought the Youhu clan.
The Battle of Gan
The Youhu Clan was a powerful tribe or chiefdom at that time. Legend has it that during the time of Si Yu, there was a war in which they “attacked Youhu” and “practiced their religion”. Before the war, Qi said in his oath speech, “In the middle of the day, now I am fighting with the Youhu clan for a day’s command, and you are a minister, a great official and a commoner, and I am not the desire of your field and field program, but I will perform the punishment of heaven together.” He declared his intention to fight the Youhu clan to the death, boasting that he did not want to covet the land, people, and goods of the Youhu clan, but to execute punishment on behalf of heaven. It is also said that “In the past, when Yu fought with the Youhu clan, three battles were fought and the clan did not submit, so Yu taught for one year, and the Youhu clan asked to submit.” All these legends reflect the battle between Si Yu and the Youhu clan, a power struggle. Youhu’s powerful, wanting to arrogate to themselves the right to unite the king and the army, so Qi attacked Youhu “to carry out its teaching”, “to carry out the punishment of heaven”, and the means of war and strengthen the means of political and religious means combined, and finally defeated the Youhu. In a certain sense, Qi’s conquest of Youhu was a continuation of Yu’s conquest of Youhu.
The battle of Gan, in which Qi fought against the Youhu clan, was an encounter between the two powers and was therefore fiercely fought, but not much written historical material remains, mainly a battle mobilization order by Si Qi, “Shang Shu – Gan Oath”, which reads: “The battle was fought in Gan, and the six ministers were summoned. The king said: contempt! Six things of the people, I swear to tell you: You Hu’s authority to insult the five elements, abandoned the three righteousness, the sky to exterminate its life. Now I only respectfully perform the punishment of heaven. The left does not attack the left, you do not respect the order; the right does not attack the right, you do not respect the order; not the right of the horse, you do not respect the order. If you use your orders, you will be rewarded by your ancestors; if you do not use your orders, you will be killed by the community.”
The first paragraph of the text introduces the background of the “Gan Oath”, which is the oath that Qi took before the war in Gan, gathering senior officials from the left and right to affirm discipline and precautions. “In fact, both the term “six ministers” and the term “six armies” appeared after the Zhou Dynasty and were borrowed from future generations when the book was written. In fact, “six ministers” and “six armies” both appeared after the Zhou dynasty, and were words borrowed from later generations when the book was written. In the ancient script, “事” and “史” are the same word, and the Shang oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty called “我史”, “我史”, “东史”, “西史”, “西史”, etc. were often involved in conquests. “Therefore, it is easy to understand that after Xia, Qi summoned the “six affairs of the people” to convey the war precautions. The second paragraph is the full text of the oath of office, firstly announcing that the crime of the Youhu clan was “insulting the five elements and abandoning the three corrects”, meaning that the enemy was accused of disrespecting the heavenly signs and the ministers, which caused the anger of the heaven and the discontent of the people, so the expedition of Youhu was a punishment on behalf of the heaven. Secondly, he announced the military discipline and ordered his subordinates to follow the orders, be faithful to their duties and fight hard, and also ordered that those who followed the orders would be rewarded in the ancestral temple, while those who disobeyed the orders would be executed in front of the altar of the society. Compared with the “Oath of Yu”, which was taken by the three Miao, it is clear that the authority of the supreme administrator at the time of Qi was incomparable to that of the previous historical era.
According to legend, at the beginning of the reign, Qi “fought with the Youhu clan at Ganze and did not win” and concluded that “my land is not shallow and my people are not small, but I did not win the battle because my virtue is thin and my teaching is not good”, so he tried to govern, “kissing the long and long, respecting the virtuous and making the capable, for a period of years and the Youhu’s subdue”. It can be seen that Si Qi achieved victory in the battle of Gan, “the destruction of the Youhu clan, the world’s salty dynasty” is not easy.
The Wukuan Rebellion
The pursuit of wealth and power finally broke the community power that naturally occurs under the clan system, the state emerged, but the pursuit of wealth and power not only did not end, but also intensified. After Si used violent means to end the “Zen transfer system”, his sons and flesh and blood fighting for the right of succession, which is the Wuguan rebellion.
In the Zhou dynasty literature, “Xia has Guan and Hu” and “Yu has three Miao”, of which Hu is the Youhu clan, while Guan is Wu Guan, or Wu Guan. Also compared him with Yao son Dan Zhu, Shun son Shang Jun, Tang son Taijia, King Wen’s son Guan Cai, said “is the five kings all have the first virtue, but there are treacherous son”, can prove that Si Wu Guan is Si Qi’s “treacherous son”. About Wu Guan’s rebellion left little record, only see the present “Bamboo Book Chronicle” has: “(Kai) eleven years, put the king’s quarter son Wu Guan in the West River. In the fifteenth year, Wu Guan to West River rebellion, Peng Boshou division division conquered West River, Wu Guan came back.”
The earlier “Yi Zhou Shu – taste of wheat” chapter also recorded the conquest of this rebellion: “Its five sons in Qi, forgetting the order of Bo Yu, false state without justice, with Xuxing rebellion, and thus fierce country. The emperor mourned Yu, gave Peng Shou, humble correct summer strategy.” In the text of the “five sons” when the “five view” error. According to the present version of the Bamboo Book Chronicle, Qi reigned for sixteen years. It can be roughly understood that in the late years of Si Qi has occurred in the sons of the turmoil, the quarter son Wu Guan was therefore banished to the West River. Later, when the succession issue further mentioned on the agenda, Si Wu Guan rebellion, following the example of Si enable violence to seize the succession, this power struggle almost dismantled the Xia dynasty’s rule, but fortunately Peng Boshou led a division to conquer the West River, to put an end to Si Wu Guan’s rebellion. About the West River of the place of hope has been different, more say is in the east of the river in the south of Jin or the west of the river in Shaanxi Hancheng area, and Henan Anyang near the Inner Yellow said. The most likely location is between Jinan and Heben, and the archaeological findings and research results on Xia culture also provide more proof for the Jinan theory.
Family members
Father
Yu: known as Da Yu, whose real name is Si Wenming, the founding monarch of the Xia Dynasty
son
Eldest son, Taikang
Second son, Yuankang
Third son, Bo Kang
Fourth son, Zhongkang, or “Zhongkang”
Fifth son, Wu Guan
Evaluation
Qi inherited the mandate of Heaven, praised the way of the Great Yu, and successfully achieved the hereditary line from the Zen transfer, it is really expected, Qi is undoubtedly a history of virtue and cultivation of wise and wise ruler – Xu Fengshen
Since Si Qi established the Xia Dynasty, gradually abandoned the frugal traditions of Si Yu, without scruples, “obscene overflow of recreation”, pipe and chime, “Zhan turbid in the wine, Yu food in the field”, drinking without limit, travel to the field without limit – -General History of Chinese Military
Records
The Chronicle of the Bamboo Book – The Chronicle of Xia
The Records of the Xia Dynasty