Yiqu

Yiqu (simplified Chinese: 义渠; traditional Chinese: 義渠; pinyin: Yìqú; Wade–Giles: I-ch'ü; Old Chinese (444 BCE): *ŋaih-ga > Eastern Han Chinese: *ŋɨɑiᴴ-gɨɑ, or simplified Chinese: 仪渠; traditional Chinese: 儀渠; pinyin: Yíqú), was an ancient Chinese state which existed in the Hetao region and what is now Ningxia, eastern Gansu and northern Shaanxi during the Zhou dynasty, and was a centuries-long western rival of the state of Qin. It was inhabited by a semi-sinicized people called the Rong of Yiqu (Chinese: 義渠之戎), who were regarded as a branch of western Rong people by contemporary writers, whom modern scholars have attempted to identify as one of the ancestors of the minority people in Northwest China.

History

Contemporary textual evidence for the Yiqu is sparse, beginning only with the foundation of the state of Yiqu in the late eighth century BCE. It lasted approximately four-and-a-half centuries, until its end in the early third century. However, the origins of the Yiqu people as descendants of other "non-Huaxia" Chinese peoples have been traced back to the time of the Shang dynasty on the basis of textual scholarship and archaeological evidence, although this remains controversial (see "Ethnic identity of the Yiqu").

Spring and Autumn period

Around 720 BC, the Yiqu Rong migrated eastwards. Indeed, this is the first mention of Yiqu in textual sources. At this time, the Zhou kings have been weakened by war and natural disasters. In 770 BC, Ping, King of Zhou moved the capital east to Chengzhou in present-day Luoyang, Henan, and the weakened royal authority spelled the dawn of the Spring and Autumn period.

According to The Treatise on the Western Qiang in the Book of the Later Han, "During the late reign of King Ping, Zhou was undergoing decline. The Rong harried the many Xia from Mount Long to the east.