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Qi (Henan)

State of Qi
杞
11th century BCE–445 BCE
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraZhou dynasty
• Established
11th century BCE
• Annexed by Chu
445 BCE
Today part ofChina

Qi (Chinese: 杞; pinyin: Qǐ, Old Chinese: *khjəʔ[1]) was a minor feudal state in ancient China that existed from the beginning of the Zhou dynasty (11th century BCE) until it was destroyed by the state of Chu in 445 BCE (early in the Warring States period).

History

Chapter 36 of the Shiji, compiled the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, contains an entry for the hereditary house of Qi. It states that after conquering the Shang dynasty, 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 (usually rendered 'duke'), but the first four implausibly span a period from the reign of King Wu (died c. 1043 BCE) 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".[2]

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 province, and moved to eastern China during the Spring and Autumn period.[3]

The state of Qi is perhaps best known from the popular Chinese idiom Qǐ rén yōu tiān (杞人忧天/杞人憂天, 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.[4]

Since Qi claimed descent from the royal house of the Xia dynasty, Confucius 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."[a]<ref>{{cite book

Notes

  1. ^ 夏禮，吾能言之，杞不足徵也 (Analects 3:9).

References

  1. ^ Baxter, William H. (1992). A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 782. ISBN 978-3-11-012324-1.
  2. ^ Nienhauser, William H. Jr., ed. (2006). The Grand Scribe's Records, Volume V.1: The Hereditary Houses of Pre-Han China, Part I. Indiana University Press. pp. 232–234. ISBN 0-253-34025-X.
  3. ^ Nienhauser (2006), n. 76, p. 232.
  4. ^ Jiao, Liwei; Kubler, Cornelius C.; Zhang, Weiguo (2011). 500 Common Chinese Idioms: An annotated frequency dictionary. Rourledge. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-415-59893-4.
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