Wei (state)
| State of Wei | ||||||||||
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魏 *N-qʰuj-s |
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| Capital | Anyi (安邑, first) Daliang (大梁) |
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| Languages | Old Chinese | |||||||||
| Government |
Marquessate (侯) Kingdom (王; after 344 BCE) |
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| History | ||||||||||
| • | Partition of Jin | 403 BCE | ||||||||
| • | Conquered by Qin | 225 BCE | ||||||||
| Currency |
spade money other ancient Chinese coinage |
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| Wei | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg)
"Wei" in seal script (top) and regular Chinese (bottom) characters
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| Chinese | 魏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Wèi |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Wey |
| Wade–Giles | Wei4 |
| IPA | [u̯êi̯] |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Ngaih |
| Jyutping | Ngai6 |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Guī |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | *N-qʰuj-s |
Wei (Chinese: 魏; pinyin: Wèi; Old Chinese: *N-qʰuj-s) was an ancient Chinese state during the Warring States period. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and Qi and included parts of modern-day Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong. After its capital was moved from Anyi to Daliang (present-day Kaifeng) during the reign of King Hui, Wei was also called Liang (Chinese: 梁; pinyin: Liáng).
Surviving sources trace the ruling house of Wei to the Zhou royalty: Gao, duke of Bi (畢公高), was a son of King Wen of Zhou. His descendents took their surname from his fief. After the destruction of Bi by the Xionites, Bi Wan (畢萬) escaped to Jin, where he became a courtier of Duke Xian's, accompanying his personal carriage. After a successful military expedition, Bi Wan was granted Wei, from which his own descendants then founded the house of Wei.
Jin's political structure was drastically changed after the slaughter of its ruling dynasty during and after the Li Ji Unrest. Afterwards, "Jin ha[d] no princely house" (晉無公卿) and its political power diffused into extended relations, including the Wei. In the last years of the Spring and Autumn period, the founders of Wei, Zhao, and Han joined to attack and kill the dominant house of Zhi (知) in 453 BCE, resulting in the partition of Jin. King Weilie of Zhou finally legitimized the situation in 403 BCE, when he elevated the three houses' heads to the rank of (Chinese: 侯; pinyin: hóu).
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Wikipedia