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Ziying of Qin

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"Ziying" redirects here. For other uses, see Ziying (disambiguation).
Ziying, King of Qin
秦王子嬰
King of Qin
ReignOctober – December 207 BC
PredecessorQin Er Shi
BornUnknown
DiedJanuary 206 BC
Names
Ancestral name: Ying (嬴)
Clan name: Qin (秦) or Zhao (趙)
Given name: Ziying (子嬰)
Posthumous name
Emperor Shang (殤皇帝)
HouseQin dynasty
FatherUnknown (no firm consensus; candidates include Fusu, Chengjiao, Zheng, Yiren)
Ziying
Traditional Chinese子嬰
Simplified Chinese子婴
Literal meaningInfant son
Qin Sanshi
Chinese秦三世
Literal meaningQin Third Generation
Qin Shangdi
Chinese秦殤帝
Literal meaningQin Emperor Who Died Young

Ziying, King of Qin[a] (Chinese: 秦王子嬰; pinyin: Qín-wáng Zǐyīng, died c.January 206 BC[2]) was the third and last ruler of the Qin dynasty. He ruled over a fragmented Qin Empire for 46 days, from mid-October to early December 207  BC. He is referred to in some sources with the posthumous name Emperor Shang of Qin (秦殤帝) although Qin abolished the practice of posthumous names. (In Chinese tradition, even someone who never held a ruling title while he was alive might be given the posthumous title "emperor" after his death.)

Identity[edit]

There is no firm consensus as to what Ziying's relationship to the Qin royal family really was.

He is mentioned in historical records as either:

  1. A son of Qin Er Shi's elder brother (who, according to Yan Shigu's commentaries,[3][4] was Fusu);[5]

    二世三年，赵高杀二世后，立二世之兄子公子婴为秦王。
    In the third year of [Qin] Er Shi (207 BCE), Zhao Gao, after killing [Qin] Er Shi, installed [Qin] Er Shi's elder brother's son Prince Ying as the King of Qin.

    — Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, "Records of Qin Shi Huang"
  2. An elder brother of Qin Er Shi;[6]

    三赵高反，二世自杀，高立二世兄子婴。
    In the third year [of Qin Er Shi], [Zhao] Gao made a coup d'etat, [Qin] Er Shi committed suicide, and [Zhao] Gao crowned [Qin] Er Shi's elder brother Ziying.

    — Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, "Chronology of the Six States"
  3. A younger brother of Qin Shi Huang;[7] or

    叙述赵高杀二世后，引皇帝玺自佩，有篡位的意图，左右百官都不跟从，于是高自知天弗与，群臣弗许，乃召始皇弟，授之玺。子婴即位，患之，乃称疾不听事，与宦者韩谈及其子谋杀高。
    It is said that Zhao Gao, after killing [Qin] Er Shi, took the Emperor's Seal and had the intention to usurping the throne, but none of the courtiers would join his cause. And so [Zhao] Gao, knowing that his actions were not accepted by Heaven and not supported by the courtiers, summoned [Qin] Shi Huang's younger brother to give him the [Imperial] Seal. Ziying ascended the throne, but was concerned, and claimed illness to remain absent from court, conspiring with the eunuch Han Tan [zh] to assassinate [Zhao] Gao.

    — Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, "Chronicle of Li Si"
  4. A son of a younger brother of Qin Shi Huang.[8]

    乃召始皇弟子婴，授之玺。
    ... summoned [Qin] Shi Huang's younger brother's son Ying to give him the [Heirloom] Seal.

    — Xu Guang [zh], Commentaries on Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, "Chronicle of Li Si"

While Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian does not specify Ziying's age, it implies that he had at least two sons, whom he consulted.

Being Qin Er Shi's nephew[edit]

According to the historian Professor Wang Liqun's analysis,[which?] the maximum possible age of Ziying when Zhao Gao assassinated Qin Er Shi was 19. Therefore, his sons would have probably been around the ages of 1–2 and so it was not possible for him to consult them.

For Ziying's sons to be old enough to be consulted, a traditional age for them would have been around 14–16. Since they were 14–16 in 207 BC, when their supposed great-grandfather (i.e. three generations apart from them) Qin Shi Huang (born 259 BC), if he had been alive, that he could have been only 52 is highly improbable.

It seems unlikely that Ziying was either Fusu's son or any other grandson of Qin Shi Huang.

Being Qin Er Shi's brother[edit]

Ziying being another elder brother of Huhai (Qin Er Shi) is as unlikely as a grandson of Qin Shi Huang. Since Huhai showed no restraint at killing at least 20 of his siblings after ascending to the throne, sparing one elder brother is possible but rather incredible.

Being Qin Shi Huang's brother[edit]

Li Kaiyuan in his study[9] stated that Qin Shi Huang only had three brothers of any kinds: one paternal half-brother (Chengjiao) and two maternal half-brothers (sons of Lao Ai), therefore Ziying, if indeed being another brother of his, would have had more mentions in Chengjiao's supposed betrayal.

Being Qin Shi Huang's nephew[edit]

Ziying being Zhao Chengjiao's son bore no threat to Huhai's reign and was neither one of Qin Shi Huang's direct descendants nor in a higher position in the succession to Huhai. Ziying was also said to have tried to persuade Huhai not to kill Qin Shi Huang's other sons and daughters, which could have been a difficult task if he was among them.

Life[edit]

After Qin Er Shi's death, Zhao Gao chose Ziying to be successor and changed the ruling title "emperor" back to "king" because the Qin dynasty then was as weak as the former Qin State, which no longer ruled the whole of China but held onto only Guanzhong.

Ziying was the only person in the Qin imperial court to defend and to try to persuade Qin Er Shi against the wrongful executions of Meng Tian and Meng Yi. He lured Zhao Gao, the regent who had assassinated Qin Er Shi, into a trap and killed him. Ziying later surrendered to Liu Bang, the leader of the first group of rebel forces to occupy Xianyang, the Qin capital. He was eventually killed, along with his male family members, by another rebel leader, Xiang Yu.

Legacy[edit]

Ziying sometimes appears as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples, usually paired with his successor, Emperor Yi of Chu.

According to the assessment by Han dynasty historian Jia Yi (200 – 169 BCE), Ziying of Qin was a mediocre sovereign.[10] Historian Ban Gu (AD 32–92) disagreed; he believed Ziying of Qin enthroned the dynasty under its last lag, and he achieved everything he could by assassinating Zhao Gao, the conspiring eunuch that caused the political chaos in the first place, and surrendered the kingdom to the rebel forces, preventing further loss of life and dignity.[11]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Although the last Qin ruler is often referred to as "Ying Ziying" according to modern Chinese naming conventions, it was not customary to combine ancestral names (姓; xìng) with given names in ancient China.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Baxter, William & al. "Baxter–Sagart Reconstruction of Old Chinese Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine", pp. 6 & 148. 2011. Accessed 10 December 2013.
  2. ^ 12th month of the 1st year of Liu Bang's reign. The month corresponds to 12 Jan to 10 Feb 206BC in the Julian calendar.
  3. ^ Ban Gu; Ban Zhao; Ban Biao. Yan Shigu (ed.). Han Shu 漢書 [Book of Han] (in Chinese).
  4. ^ Sima Qian; Sima Tan. Yan Shigu (ed.). Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian] (in Chinese).
  5. ^ Sima, Qian. "Records of Qin Shi Huang". Records of the Grand Historian (in Chinese).
  6. ^ Sima, Qian. "Chronology of the Six States". Records of the Grand Historian (in Chinese).
  7. ^ Sima, Qian. "Chronicle of Li Si". Records of the Grand Historian (in Chinese).
  8. ^ Sima, Qian. "Chronicle of Li Si". In Xu, Guang (ed.). Records of the Grand Historian (in Chinese).
  9. ^ Li Kaiyuan (李开元) (2006-07-16). 秦王子婴为始皇弟成蟜子说——补《史记》秦王婴列传 [Qin prince Ziying was Qin Shihuang's younger brother Chengjiao's son: supplement to the biography of Qin Ziying in the Shiji] (in Simplified Chinese). 象牙塔网络. Archived from the original on 2018-03-25.
  10. ^ 《史记·秦始皇本纪》太史公曰：秦之先伯翳，尝有勋於唐虞之际，受土赐姓。及殷夏之间微散。至周之衰，秦兴，邑于西垂。自缪公以来，稍蚕食诸侯，竟成始皇。始皇自以为功过五帝，地广三王，而羞与之侔。善哉乎贾生推言之也！曰：秦并兼诸侯山东三十馀郡，缮津关，据险塞，修甲兵而守之。然陈涉以戍卒散乱之众数百，奋臂大呼，不用弓戟之兵，鉏耰白梃，望屋而食，横行天下。秦人阻险不守，关梁不阖，长戟不刺，强弩不射。楚师深入，战於鸿门，曾无藩篱之艰。於是山东大扰，诸侯并起，豪俊相立。秦使章邯将而东征，章邯因以三军之众要市於外，以谋其上。群臣之不信，可见於此矣。子婴立，遂不寤。藉使子婴有庸主之材，仅得中佐，山东虽乱，秦之地可全而有，宗庙之祀未当绝也。秦地被山带河以为固，四塞之国也。自缪公以来，至於秦王，二十馀君，常为诸侯雄。岂世世贤哉？其势居然也。且天下尝同心并力而攻秦矣。当此之世，贤智并列，良将行其师，贤相通其谋，然困於阻险而不能进，秦乃延入战而为之开关，百万之徒逃北而遂坏。岂勇力智慧不足哉？形不利，势不便也。秦小邑并大城，守险塞而军，高垒毋战，闭关据阨，荷戟而守之。诸侯起於匹夫，以利合，非有素王之行也。其交未亲，其下未附，名为亡秦，其实利之也。彼见秦阻之难犯也，必退师。安土息民，以待其敝，收弱扶罢，以令大国之君，不患不得意於海内。贵为天子，富有天下，而身为禽者，其救败非也。秦王足己不问，遂过而不变。二世受之，因而不改，暴虐以重祸。子婴孤立无亲，危弱无辅。三主惑而终身不悟，亡，不亦宜乎？当此时也，世非无深虑知化之士也，然所以不敢尽忠拂过者，秦俗多忌讳之禁，忠言未卒於口而身为戮没矣。故使天下之士，倾耳而听，重足而立，拑口而不言。是以三主失道，忠臣不敢谏，智士不敢谋，天下已乱，奸不上闻，岂不哀哉！先王知雍蔽之伤国也，故置公卿大夫士，以饰法设刑，而天下治。其强也，禁暴诛乱而天下服。其弱也，五伯征而诸侯从。其削也，内守外附而社稷存。故秦之盛也，繁法严刑而天下振；及其衰也，百姓怨望而海内畔矣。故周五序得其道，而千馀岁不绝。秦本末并失，故不长久。由此观之，安危之统相去远矣。野谚曰“前事之不忘，後事之师也”。是以君子为国，观之上古，验之当世，参以人事，察盛衰之理，审权势之宜，去就有序，变化有时，故旷日长久而社稷安矣。
  11. ^ 《史记·秦始皇本纪》：孝明皇帝十七年十月十五日乙丑，曰：周历已移，仁不代母。秦直其位，吕政残虐。然以诸侯十三，并兼天下，极情纵欲，养育宗亲。三十七年，兵无所不加，制作政令，施於後王。盖得圣人之威，河神授图，据狼、狐，蹈参、伐，佐政驱除，距之称始皇。始皇既殁，胡亥极愚，郦山未毕，复作阿房，以遂前策。云“凡所为贵有天下者，肆意极欲，大臣至欲罢先君所为”。诛斯、去疾，任用赵高。痛哉言乎！人头畜鸣。不威不伐恶，不笃不虚亡，距之不得留，残虐以促期，虽居形便之国，犹不得存。子婴度次得嗣，冠玉冠，佩华绂，车黄屋，从百司，谒七庙。小人乘非位，莫不怳忽失守，偷安日日，独能长念卻虑，父子作权，近取於户牖之间，竟诛猾臣，为君讨贼。高死之後，宾婚未得尽相劳，餐未及下咽，酒未及濡唇，楚兵已屠关中，真人翔霸上，素车婴组，奉其符玺，以归帝者。郑伯茅旌鸾刀，严王退舍。河决不可复壅，鱼烂不可复全。贾谊、司马迁曰：“向使婴有庸主之才，仅得中佐，山东虽乱，秦之地可全而有，宗庙之祀未当绝也。”秦之积衰，天下土崩瓦解，虽有周旦之材，无所复陈其巧，而以责一日之孤，误哉！俗传秦始皇起罪恶，胡亥极，得其理矣。复责小子，云秦地可全，所谓不通时变者也。纪季以酅，春秋不名。吾读秦纪，至於子婴车裂赵高，未尝不健其决，怜其志。婴死生之义备矣。
Third Generation of Qin
 Died: 206 BC
Regnal titles
Recreated
Title last held by
Qin Shi Huang 		King of Qin
207 BC 		Extinct
Preceded by Ruler of Qin
207 BC
Ruler of China
207 BC 		Succeeded by
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