Qi (Henan)

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title: "Qi (Henan)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ancient-chinese-states", "states-of-the-spring-and-autumn-period", "states-of-the-warring-states-period", "xia-dynasty", "former-monarchies-of-east-asia"] description: "Minor feudal state in ancient China (杞)" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_(Henan)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Minor feudal state in ancient China (杞) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox country"]

Field	Value
native_name	杞
conventional_long_name	State of Qi
common_name	Qi
era	Zhou dynasty
today	China
government_type	Monarchy
year_start	11th century BCE
year_end	445 BCE
event_end	Annexed by Chu
::

|native_name = 杞 |conventional_long_name = State of Qi |common_name = Qi |era = Zhou dynasty |status = |today = China |government_type = Monarchy |year_start = 11th century BCE |year_end = 445 BCE |event_start = |event_end = Annexed by Chu |event1 = |date_event1 = |event2 = |date_event2 = |event3 = |date_event3 = |event4 = |date_event4 = |event5 = |date_event5 = |image_map = |image_map_caption = |capital = |common_languages = |religion = |Philosophy = |currency = |leader1 = |leader2 = |year_leader1 = |year_leader2 = |title_leader = Qi (, Old Chinese: {{cite book | surname = Baxter | given = William H. | author-link = William H. Baxter | title = A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology | location = Berlin | publisher = Mouton de Gruyter | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-3-11-012324-1 | page = 782

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 descendant 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 ) 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".{{cite book | editor-surname = Nienhauser | editor-given = William H. Jr. | editor-link = William H. Nienhauser Jr. | title = The Grand Scribe's Records, Volume V.1: The Hereditary Houses of Pre-Han China, Part I | publisher = Indiana University Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-253-34025-X | pages = 232–234

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.

The Shi Mi gui, discovered in 1986, details a battle fought between the forces of the Zhou dynasty (supported by the states of Lai 莱 and Bo 僰), led by Shi Su and Shi Mi, against the forces of the Zhou (舟) and Qi (杞) Yi. Shi Su is mentioned on other bronze vessels, and is thought to have been an important minister during the reigns of King Xiao and King Yih. Thus, Qi may have moved to Shandong at a much earlier period.

The state of Qi is perhaps best known from the popular Chinese idiom zh (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.{{cite book | given1 = Liwei | surname1 = Jiao | given2 = Cornelius C. | surname2 = Kubler | given3 = Weiguo | surname3 = Zhang | title = 500 Common Chinese Idioms: An annotated frequency dictionary | publisher = Rourledge | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-415-59893-4 | pages = 77–78

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."

Notes

References

References

1. Nienhauser (2006), n. 76, p. 232.
2. "史密簋 - 《中国大百科全书》第三版网络版".

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