Qi of Xia

Qi (Chinese: 啓 / 启) was a Chinese king, the son of Yu the Great and the second sovereign of the Xia Dynasty. He ruled for approximately nine or ten years.

Biography

Family

Yu married Nu Jiao and stayed at home for only three days before going back to stop a flood. While Yu was stopping the flood, Yu's wife bore a son. He named the boy Qi. After nine years, Yu had finished stopping the flood. When he finally went home, little Qi was very happy and rushed into his father's arms.

Reign

Yu died 45 years into his reign. Qi's succession to the throne is unclear.

According to the historian Sima Qian, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Gao Yao, his Minister of Justice, but when Gao died Yu designated as his heir Yi (also known as Boyi), his former companion for thirteen years fighting the flood and his current Minister of Animal Husbandry. But due to Yu's great influence, all the leaders of the Xia states came to admire Qi instead of Yi, so Yi had no choice but to pass up the throne to Qi at the end of three years of mourning for Yu.