Duke Xian of Qin (Shixi)
| Duke Xian of Qin 秦獻公 |
|
|---|---|
| Ruler of Qin | |
| Reign | 384–362 BC |
| Predecessor | Chuzi II |
| Successor | Duke Xiao of Qin |
| Born | 424 BC |
| Died | 362 BC (aged 62) |
| House | House of Ying |
| Father | Duke Ling of Qin |
Duke Xian of Qin (Chinese: 秦獻公; pinyin: Qín Xiàn Gōng, 424–362 BC) was from 384 to 362 BC the 29th ruler of the Zhou Dynasty state of Qin that eventually united China to become the Qin Dynasty. His ancestral name was Ying (), and Duke Xian was his posthumous title. His given name was Shixi (师隰) or Lian (連).
Duke Xian was the son of Duke Ling of Qin, the 25th ruler of the state of Qin. However, when Duke Ling died in 415 BC, the throne was passed to Duke Ling's uncle Duke Jian, instead of his son. Duke Jian reigned for 15 years and was succeeded by his son Duke Hui II, who died 13 years later in 387 BC, and was then succeeded by his son Chuzi II. As Chuzi was only a baby, the power was controlled by his mother, the duchess dowager. In 385 BC, the second year of Chuzi's reign, the minister Jun Gai (菌改) rebelled against Chuzi and the duchess. He led his force to escort Duke Xian, who was at the time exiled in the State of Wei, back to Qin, killed Chuzi and his mother, and installed Duke Xian on the throne.
By the time Duke Xian finally became the monarch of Qin thirty years after the death of his father, decades of internal turmoil had greatly weakened the formerly powerful state of Qin. The neighbouring state of Wei, on the other hand, grew stronger and annexed Qin's Hexi territory (west of the Yellow River).
As soon as he ascended the throne, Duke Xian started to make a series of reforms. In 384 BC, the first year of his reign, he abolished the practice of funeral human sacrifice started nearly three centuries before by Duke Wu, the tenth ruler of Qin, who had 66 people buried with him in 678 BC. The fourteenth ruler Duke Mu had 177 people buried with him in 621 BC, including several senior government officials. Afterwards the people of Qin wrote the famous poem Yellow Bird to condemn this barbaric practice, later compiled in the Confucian Classic of Poetry, but the practice would still continue for more than two centuries until Duke Xian abolished it. Modern historian Ma Feibai considers the significance of Duke Xian's abolition of human sacrifice to Chinese history comparable to that of Abraham Lincoln's abolition of slavery to American history.
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