Qi 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.

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. 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:

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. The Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions Qi several times, as and : he is depicted as a fanciful shamanic intermediary who received sacred dances and music from the Supreme God (aka Shangdi ).

Locations presumed to be related with reign

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. Chinese archaeologist Feng Shi 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."