Bai Qi
Lord Wuan Bai Qi | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Nickname(s) | Ren Tu |
Born | c. 332 BC Mei county |
Died | 257 BC Duyou |
Allegiance | Qin |
Bai Qi (Chinese:
Ancestry
[edit]The New Book of Tang, Volume 75 Second Part, wrote that he was descended from a general of Duke Mu of Qin, Baiyi Bing (
Though the poet Bai Juyi of the Tang dynasty wrote in his book Therefore, The Case of Bai Fujun, The Magistrate of Gong County (
Life
[edit]In 293 BC, Bai Qi led the Qin army to victory against Wei (
In 292 BC, he was promoted from Zuo Shu Zhang (
In 278 BC, he led the Qin army to capture Ying (郢), the capital city of Chu, in the process seizing considerable amounts of territory.[9] As a reward, he was given the title Lord Wu'an (
In 273 BC, the Qin army under his command defeated the joint armies of Zhao (
In 264 BC, he successfully besieged 5 Han fortresses and thereafter decapitated the 50,000 enemy soldiers.[11]
Sometines before 262 BC, after the split of alliance between Qi state and Wei state, Bai Qi was sent by the new king of Qin to lead 200,000 mens to attack Han, where they met the opposition forces of Han and Wei states of 300,000 mens. Bai Qi managed to capture Yowang, and disrupt connection between Shandong and the capital of Han.[12][13][14][15]
During the Battle of Changping in 260 BC, after Qin intelligence reported that the Zhao army was commanded by the inexperienced Zhao Kuo, who had replaced the experienced Lian Po as acting commander, Bai Qi was appointed to succeed Wang He as commander of the Qin army and was promoted to Shang Jiangjun (
Bai Qi wanted to end Zhao once and for all, as they were weary and psychologically affected by the losses incurred from the Battle of Changping, but the prime minister of Qin, Fan Ju (范雎), who was persuaded by a talker from Zhao, feared Bai Qi's rising power, and recommended that the king stop the attack on the pretext that the Qin troops ought to be rested, and to accept a ceded territory negotiation.[17] Bai Qi stopped the attack; on his return journey to the State of Qin, he fell ill.
According to the Shiji, in the year 257 BC, Qin started to besiege Handan, the capital of Zhao. Because Bai Qi was ill, the Qin king used another prominent general, Wang Ling (
This decision did not help the Qin army in the battle at all; Chu and Wei soon sent troops to assist Zhao. After more than five months of continuous defeat at Handan, Qin had suffered major losses. The king asked Bai Qi to become commander again, but he once more used his illness to refuse the request. In the Zhan Guo Ce, his true intentions were supposedly revealed when he stated that he would rather be executed for refusing the king's order, than lose his long undefeated fame on the battlefield. Having been refused several times, the king became angry, removed all titles from Bai Qi, and forced him to leave Xianyang, the Qin capital. In addition, Fan Ju persuaded the king that Bai Qi would join another state as a general and become a threat to the State of Qin. Convinced by Fan Ju's information, the king then forced Bai Qi to commit suicide in Duyou (
Legacy
[edit]Bai Qi sometimes appears as a door god on Chinese and Taoist temples, usually paired with Li Mu.
He is noted in Chinese history as a symbol of brutality rather than for his military talent. The traditional Tofu dish of Gaoping,[21] today's Changping, called Bai Qi meat, is well known. Some stories have been written about Bai Qi suffering for his brutal actions, such as one mentioned in the Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, which says that an ox with two Chinese characters, 'Bai Qi', tattooed on its back, was executed by lightning during the Tang dynasty.
Human remains used to and still continue to be found at the site of the Battle of Changping around Gaoping. The Emperor Xuanzong of Tang once decided to dedicate a temple over a collection of the remains there.[22][23]
In popular culture
[edit]- Bai Qi is played by Sun Ting in the 2012 television series The Qin Empire II: Alliance and by Xing Jiadong in its 2017 sequel The Qin Empire III.
- Bai Qi is played by Zeng Hongchang (曾虹畅) in the 2015 TV series The Legend of Mi Yue. His younger portrayals are played by Yang Yanduo (杨砚铎) (9-year-old Bai Qi) and Qiu Muyuan (裘慕遠) (15-year-old Bai Qi).
- Bai Qi, also known by the Japanese reading of his name, "Haku Ki", was the leader of the former generation of the "Qin Six Great Generals" in the manga series Kingdom. He was one of the best tacticians of his era and one of the most feared Generals in China, he personally led the infamous Battle of Changping, and under his cold gaze, executed and buried alive 450,000 Zhao soldiers.
- Bai Qi is one of the 32 historical figures who appear as special characters in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI by Koei. He has the highest military leadership statistics of all the characters, tied only to Han Xin.
See also
[edit]- King Zhaoxiang of Qin
- Lament for Ying
- Li Mu
- Lian Po
- Records of the Grand Historian
- Sima Qian
- Wang Jian
- Zhao Kuo
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Vol. 05 of Shiji indicated that Bai Qi died in the 12th month of the 50th year of the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin; this corresponds to 6 Jan to 3 Feb 257 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar. In the modified Zhuanxu calendar used in this era, the 50th year of King Zhaoxiang's reign began on 07 November 258 BCE and ended on 26 October 257 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar. However, Bai Qi's biography in vol. 73 of Shiji indicated that he died in the 11th month of the same year; this corresponds to 7 Dec 258 BCE to 5 Jan 257 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar.
- ^ Strategies of the Warring States.
- ^ "How many people had Bai Qi killed".
- ^ Thousand-Character Classic.
- ^ 《
新 唐 书·卷 七 十 五 下 ·宰相 世 系 表 》记载西 乞术、白 乙 丙 为孟明視 之子 ,而《史 记·卷 五 ·秦 本 纪》则记载西乞术、白 乙 丙 是 蹇 叔之子 ,所以 省略 前段 争 议资料 不用 。 - ^ 《
太 原 白 氏家 状 二道 ·故 巩县令 白 府 君 事 状 》:白 氏 芊姓,楚 公 族 也。楚 熊 居 太子 建 奔郑,建 之子 胜居于吴楚 间,号 白 公 ,因 氏 焉。楚 杀白公 ,其子奔秦,代 为名将 ,乙 丙 已 降 是也 。裔孙白 起 ,有 大功 于秦,封 武安 君 。后 非 其罪,赐死杜 邮,秦 人 怜 之 ,立 祠 庙于咸阳,至 今 存 焉。及始皇 思 武 安之 功 ,封 其子仲 于太原 ,子 孙因家 焉,故 今 为太原人 。 - ^ 《
史 记·卷 六 十 六 ·伍 子 胥列传》:叶 公 闻白公 为乱,率 其国人 攻 白 公 。白 公 之 徒 败,亡 走 山中 ,自 杀。 - ^ "Bai Qi
白 起 (www.chinaknowledge.de)". - ^ Hawkes, 162
- ^
史記 ·卷 七 十 二 ·穰 侯 列傳 - ^
史記 ·卷 七 十 三 ·白 起 王 翦列傳 - ^ liping guo. Modern Chinese History:
春秋 战国. liping guo. ISBN 9781304786272. Retrieved 1 May 2024. - ^ Li Shi. The Political History of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (ebook). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Sima Qian (2019). Historical Records
史 记: The First and Most Important Biographical General History Book in China. Deeplogic. Retrieved 1 May 2024. - ^ 孙毓
修 (2023).信 陵 君 (英文 版 ) (in English and Chamorro).露 露 . ISBN 978-1-304-91731-7. Retrieved 1 May 2024. - ^ Sima, Qian. The Grand Historian.
- ^ "Minister Fan Ju". Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ Sima, Qian. The Grand Historian.
- ^ Sima, Qian. The Grand Historian.
- ^ "An Exceptional Marshal and God of War - Bai Qi".
- ^ 就是
俺 们这里 的 :高平 烧豆腐 - ^ "长平
古 战场". www.sx.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2022. - ^ "Battlefield of Changping". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26.
Bibliography
[edit]- Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011 [1985]). Qu Yuan et al., The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044375-2
Further reference
[edit]- (in Chinese)
西 漢 ,司馬 遷.史記 卷 七 十 三 白 起 王 翦列傳 (Western Han Dynasty, Sima Qian, Biography of Wang Jian and Bai Qi, Volume 73 of Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji)) - (in Chinese)
清 , 蔡元放 .東 周 列國 志 (Qing dynasty, Cai Yuanfang. Records of the states during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty)
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
- (in Chinese) Bai Qi Time Line
- 257 BC deaths
- 3rd-century BC executions
- Suicides in the Warring States period
- Chinese gods
- Deified Chinese men
- Executed Qin dynasty people
- Forced suicides of Chinese people
- Generals from Shaanxi
- People executed by the Qin dynasty
- People from Baoji
- Qin dynasty generals
- Suicides by sharp instrument in China
- Generals of the Warring States period
- Qin state people
- Executed Zhou dynasty people