 | Warring States Period: Encyclopedia II - Warring States Period - Early strife in the Three Jins Qi and Qin
Warring States Period - Early strife in the Three Jins Qi and Qin
In 371 BC, Marquess Wu of Wei passed away without specifying a successor, causing Wei to fall into an internal war of succession. After three years of civil war, Zhao and Han, sensing an opportunity, invaded Wei. On the verge of conquering Wei, the leaders of Zhao and Han fell into disagreement on what to do with Wei and both armies mysteriously retreated. As a result, King Hui of Wei (he's still a Marquess at the time) was able to ascend onto the throne of Wei.
In 354 BC, King Hui of Wei initiated a large scale attack at Zhao, which some historians believe was to avenge the earlier near destruction of Wei. By 353 BC, Zhao was losing badly, and one of their major cities--Handan (邯鄲), a city that will eventually become Zhao's capital--was being besieged. As a result, the neighbouring State of Qi decided to help Zhao. The strategy Qi used, suggested by the famous tactician Sun Bin (孫臏), who at the time was the Qi army advisor, was to attack Wei's territory while the main Wei army is busy sieging Zhao, forcing Wei to retreat. The strategy was a success; the Wei army hastily retreated, and encountered the Qi midway, culminating into the Battle of Guiling (pinyin: guì líng) (桂陵之戰) where Wei was decisively defeated. The event spawned the famous phrase "圍魏救趙", meaning attacking Wei to save Zhao.
In 341 BC, Wei attacked Han, and Qi interfered again. The two generals from the previous Battle of Guiling met again, and due to the brilliant strategy of Sun Bin, Wei was again decisively defeated at the Battle of Maling (馬陵之戰).
The situation for Wei took an even worse turn when Qin, taking advantage of Wei series of defeats by Qi, attacked Wei in 340 BC under the advice of famous Qin reformer Shang Yang (商鞅). Wei was devastatingly defeated and was forced to cede a large portion of its territory to achieve a truce. This left their capital Anyi vulnerable, so Wei was also forced to move their capital to Daliang.
After these series of events, Wei became severely weakened, and the Qi and Qin became two of the dominant states in China.
Other related archives2002, 221 BC, 222 BC, 223 BC, 225 BC, 230 BC, 299 BC, 307 BC, 316 BC, 318 BC, 323 BC, 325 BC, 334 BC, 340 BC, 341 BC, 353 BC, 354 BC, 359 BC, 371 BC, 376 BC, 379 BC, 389 BC, 3rd century BC, 403 BC, 475 BC, 5th century BC, Battle of Guiling, Battle of Maling, Chen Kaige, Chu, Confucianism, Daliang, Dynasties in Chinese history, Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Ge You, Gong Li, Great Wall of China, Han, Han Dynasty, Han Feizi, Hero, Hundred Schools of Thought, Jiang Wen, Jin, Jin (state), King Hui of Wei, King Wuling of Zhao, Legalism, Mencius, Military history of China, Mohism, Mozi, Qi, Qin, Qin Dynasty, Record of the Warring States, Seven Warring States, Shang Yang, Sichuan, Spring and Autumn Period, State of Han, State of Jin, State of Qi, State of Qin, State of Wei, State of Yue, State of Zhao, Sun Bin, Sun Tzu, Taoism, The Art of War, The Emperor and the Assassin, The Emperor's Shadow, Timeline of Chinese history, Trade, Warring States Period (Japan), Wei, Wu Qi, Yan, Yue, Zhao, Zhejiang, Zhou Dynasty, Zhuang Zi, bronze, expansionism, figurehead, movie, pinyin, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese
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