Qin2

秦

QIN

(Warring States Period)

 

537 – 501 Qín Āi-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 哀-公 嬴 趙), Fifteenth Duke of Qin. His reign saw the neighbouring State of Jin begin to collapse into civil war. He was called upon to save the King of Chu, then Hegemon of China, from the depredations of the State of Wu. He died in 501, but had issue:

501 – 491 Qín Huì-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 惠-公 嬴 趙), Sixteenth Duke of Qin. His uneventful reign coincided with the life of Confucius, whom he neither met, nor heard of. He died in 491, but had issue:

491 – 477 Qín Dào-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 悼-公 嬴 趙), Seventeenth Duke of Qin. His reign saw the States of Wu and Qi struggle for Hegemony over China and the death of Confucius. He died in 477, but had issue:

477 – 443 Qín Lìgòng-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 厲共-公 嬴 趙), Eighteenth Duke of Qin. His reign saw Qin return to an aggressive and successful foreign policy: Shu became vassals of Qin in 475, Qin dug canals to the Yellow River and conquered the State of Dà-Lì in 461. Jin, Qin’s eastern neighbour and most-immediate rival, collapsed into three states in 453, removing the main check on Qin expansion. The nomadic Yìqú were defeated in 441. He died in 443, but had issue:

443 – 429 Qín Zào-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 躁-公 嬴 趙), Ninteenth Duke of Qin. His reign saw a rebellion in Nán-Zhèng and an attack from the nomadic Yìqú, which penetrated deep into the Qin heartland. He died in 429.

429 – 425 Qín Huái-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 懷-公 嬴 趙), Twentieth Duke of Qin. He was besieged by his own Chief of Staff and committed suicide in 425. He had issue:

425 – 415 Qín Lìng-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 靈-公 嬴 趙), Twenty-First Duke of Qin. He attacked the State of Wei in 419 and died in 415. He had issue:

415 – 400 Qín Jiǎn-gōng Yíng Zhào Dào (秦 簡-公 嬴 趙 悼), Twenty-Second Duke of Qin. He expanded the Qin state to the west, and died in either 400 or 399. He had issue:

400 – 387 Qín Huì-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 惠-公 嬴 趙), Twenty-Third Duke of Qin. He fought a war with Shu in 387, and died the same year. He had issue:

387 – 385 Yíng Zhào Chū-zǐ (嬴 趙 出-子), Twenty-Fourth Duke of Qin. Born in 388, he was only a year old when he succeeded his father. In 385, his second cousin and his Chief of Staff overthrew him, killed him and his mother and had them thrown into deep water.

385 – 362 Qín Xiàn-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 獻-公 嬴 趙), Twenty-Fifth Duke of Qin. Son of the Twenty-First Duke, he was passed over for the throne in favour of his uncle, presumably on account of his youth. In 385, with an infant second cousin on the throne, he colluded with the Qin Chief of Staff to overthrow and murder the Twenty-Fourth Duke. His reign saw a number of auspicious events which indicated the imminent rise of Qin. He moved the capital to Yuyáng, attacked the State of Wei in 362, and died either that year, or the next. He had issue:

362 – 338 Qín Xiào-gōng Yíng Zhào (秦 孝-公 嬴 趙), Twenty-Sixth Duke of Qin & Hegemon of China. Born in 381, he was twenty-one when he succeeded his father. He appointed Shāng-jūn Wèiyǎng as his advisor and, with his help, reformed the legal system of Qin into a harsh punitive regime which would encourage his people to fight to the death for their state. He moved the capital to Xiányáng, and established a land tax. From 343 he was Hegemon of China, the chief of the feudal lords of China. He spent most of his reign in a highly successful war with the State of Wei. He died in 338, but had issue: