Wu Qi

Trained the Wei Martial Soldiers in Wei to defend Xihe, led reforms in Chu, and was shot dead by the old nobility.

Life

Killed his wife to win command

Wu Qi was a native of the State of Wey who once studied under Zengzi. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, while in the State of Lu he killed his wife, who was from Qi, to win trust and be made a general; he crushed the Qi army, but was distrusted because of it.

Commander of Xihe

He went over to Marquis Wen of Wei and became governor of Xihe, where he created the elite "Wei Martial Soldiers." He fought 76 major battles against the other states and won 64 outright, and the State of Qin dared not advance east. He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as his soldiers, and once sucked the pus from a soldier's sore.

Reforms in Chu

Under Marquis Wu of Wei he was pushed aside and went over to the State of Chu, where King Dao of Chu made him lingyin (chief minister) to lead reforms. He cut redundant officials and curtailed the privileges of the nobility, and Chu grew strong for a time. When King Dao died in 381 BCE, the old nobility attacked and killed Wu Qi. He threw himself over King Dao's body, so those who shot him also hit the king's corpse, and afterward more than seventy of their families were exterminated for it.

Legacy

Wu Qi was a military strategist as famous as Sun Tzu, the two known together as "Sun and Wu"; his reforms in the State of Chu came about thirty years before Shang Yang's.

Major works & achievements

• Created the Wei Martial Soldiers
• Led reforms in Chu
• Wuzi

Did you know? As he was dying he threw himself onto the King of Chu's corpse, so that the nobles shooting at him committed the crime of shooting the king's body—and thus he had his revenge.

Key dates

• 410 BCEServed as a general in the State of Lu (approx.)
• 409 BCEBecame Governor of Xihe in the State of Wei (approx.)
• 385 BCEWent to Chu to lead reforms (approx.)
• 381 BCEShot dead by the old nobility