Duke Mu of Qin

Duke Mu of Qin (秦穆公) (died 621 BC), born Ying Renhao (嬴任好), was a ruler of the State of Qin from 659 or 660 to 621 BC in China. One of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, he greatly expanded the territory of Qin during the reign of King Xiang of Zhou.

He acquired many talented advisors, such as Baili Xi, Jian Shu (蹇叔), Pi Bao (丕豹), and Gong Sun (公孫).

He was the son of Duke De and the younger brother of Duke Cheng. He married the daughter of Duke Xian of Jin (晉獻公), and married his daughter, Huaiying (懷嬴), to Duke Wen of Jin. He helped his son-in-law win the Battle of Chengpu (城濮之戰) against Chu; these two marriages led to the saying 'the Friendship of Qin and Jin' (秦晉之好) to denote political marriages and alliances based on marital bonds. His posthumous name Mu means "reverent".

At this time Qin and Jin were the most powerful states in China. Duke Wen of Jin expelled the Di barbarians and drove them into the region west of the Yellow River between the Yun and Luo rivers; there they were known as the Red Di and the White Di. Shortly afterwards, Duke Mu of Qin, having obtained the services of You Yu, succeeded in getting the eight barbarian tribes of the west to submit to their authority. Thus at this time there lived in the region west of Long the Mianzhu, the Hunrong, and the Diyuan tribes. North of Mts. Qi and Liang and the Jing and Qi rivers lived the Yiqu, Dali, Wuzhi, and Quyuan tribes. North of Jin were the Forest Barbarians and the Loufan, while north of Yan lived the Eastern Barbarians and Mountain Barbarians. All of them were scattered about in their own little valleys, each with their own chieftains. From time to time they would have gatherings of a hundred or so men, but no one tribe was capable of unifying the others under a single rule.^[1]

Footnotes

References

• Watson, Burton. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson. Revised Edition. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08167-7.