Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Duke Huan of Qi
Ruler of Qi who made Guan Zhong his chief minister and became the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period, rallying the other states in the name of the Zhou king
Mural of the event “Hegemony of Duke Huan of Qi”, which this person took part in.
The decline of the Zhou court drove the lords of the Central Plains into mutual annexation, while peripheral Rong and Di tribes invaded the heartland and threatened the fracture of Huaxia culture. Qi rose first thanks to its coastal salt-and-iron wealth.
Also known as Jiang Xiaobai · Huan Gong
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Duke Huan of Qi, personal name Xiaobai, was a younger brother of Duke Xiang. After Duke Xiang was murdered he reached the capital from Ju ahead of his brother Jiu and took power in 685 BC; on Bao Shuya's advice he pardoned Guan Zhong, whose arrow had once struck his belt hook, and put him in charge of the state. Rallying the lords in the name of the Zhou king, he struck the Shanrong in 663 BC to relieve Yan and leading a coalition against Chu in 656 BC that ended in a covenant at Shaoling. At the Kuiqiu assembly of 651 BC King Xiang of Zhou sent an envoy with sacrificial meat, the high point of his hegemony. When he died in 643 BC his sons fought over the succession; the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says his body lay untended for sixty-seven days. The Analects records Confucius crediting Guan Zhong with letting the duke unite the lords nine times without war chariots.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Zhou - 651 BCEHegemony of Duke Huan of Qi
Took partDuke Huan adopted Guan Zhong's coalition strategy, convened the lords, and established Qi's hegemony under the banner of supporting Zhou.- Duke Huan Appoints Guan Zhong685 BCEDuke Huan appointed Guan Zhong as prime minister, enacting land tax and state monopoly reforms to enrich Qi.
- Lu Defeats Qi at Changshao684 BCEThe year after Duke Huan took power in Qi, his army invaded Lu and was routed when Duke Zhuang, advised by Cao Gui, held back until Qi had drummed three times.
- Guan Zhong's Campaign to Rescue Yan663 BCEDuke Huan marched north to rescue Yan from Rong nomads, establishing his moral leadership among feudal lords.
2 more
- Qi Restores Wei at Chuqiuc. 660 BCEAfter the Di overran Wei and killed Duke Yi, Duke Huan of Qi guarded the survivors and led the lords in walling Chuqiu to re-establish the state.
- Covenant of KuiqiuDuke Huan convened the great summit of lords at Kuiqiu, officially acknowledged by the Zhou King as first hegemon.
- Qi Restores Wei at Chuqiu
- Duke Huan Appoints Guan Zhong
- 643 BCEDiedr. 685–643 BCE
